A cold breeze carrying with it the type of freshness associated with morning air brushed past Lilith's nose soothing her nerves that were stretched taut from the endless nightmares that had been tormenting her. The faint smell of smoke from a cooking fire and the mouth-watering fragrance of meat porridge made it very difficult for her to keep closing her eyes. With a faint groan she turned to her side and because she had her eyes closed she didn't realize she was sleeping on a stone bed.
BAM!
The loud sound of flesh colliding with the floor attracted the attention of whoever was outside the cave. A young girl about the same age as Lilith rushed inside holding a half filled bowl in her hand.
She was about to call out to the young miss when she was met with an unladylike string of curses and vulgarities.
"Fuck…. Ah, shit…. I think I broke my fuckin back," cursed Lilith completely breaking her image as a gracious lady with the demeanor of a holy goddess. At this moment she looked more like a roguish girl at the flea market.
The little girl whose three world views had been shattered, "…."
Lilith struggled to get up with her hand pressing down on her abdomen. Enduring agonizing pain, she sat up with her back leaning against the makeshift stone bed.
She pushed back her messy hair revealing a smooth forehead with a faint Linus pack symbol gleaming under the light rays seeping in through the cracks in the roof of the cave. She hadn't even realized that her jet-black hair had changed drastically.
It was at this moment that she noticed someone else's presence. Her senses were surely sharper than that but because of the grievous things her body had gone through she couldn't even sense the girl's presence in time. Her brows creased as she asked with slight vigilance, "Who are you?"
Startled, the girl lowered her head and nervously rubbed the edge of the bowl she was holding. So many things had happened ever since their Linus pack was attacked and almost annihilated. In the two weeks that Lilith had been out of it a lot had transpired. The girl had no idea where to begin.
Lilith could sense her tremulous emotions so she didn't rush her. She got up with great difficulty and the girl hurriedly rushed over to support her. She placed the bowl on the ground before stretching out her hand to assist her. Lilith wanted to refuse her help but seeing that she could barely support herself she let it go.
Lilith sat on the bed with her back to the cave wall. That much movement left her panting with beads of cold sweat lacing her forehead. She was in so much excruciating pain and she had never had to endure such a grievance before. She leisurely closed her eyes as she rubbed her forehead listening to her body when she heard the girl stutter.
"I... I… my name is Merida," she said before pointing at herself, "I am the pack, pack doctor's granddaughter."
Lilith vaguely recalled a red-haired girl with a timid appearance hiding behind the pack doctor. She had seen Merida a couple of times but the girl wasn't memorable except for her red hair. She gulped and realized her throat was parched like she hadn't drunk anything in the past few days. Lilith licked her chapped lips and said in a raspy voice, "Merida, can you get me some water….. if it's not too much trouble."
Hearing her name coming out of Lilith's mouth her body stiffened for a moment before she replied, "Oh," before rushing over with a waterskin.
Lilith opened it and tilted her head drinking from it. As the cool liquid flowed down her throat she suddenly felt a sense of relief wash over her like rains after a long drought season."
Because she drank too fast some of the liquid flowed down from the corners of her lips. Merida was a little worried that she would choke so she reached over while saying, "Young miss, please slow down."
As expected, Lilith overdrank. She began to cough violently her eyes instantly turning watery. "*Cough, *cough, *cough, I am fi-, *cough…. I am fine," she said while pushing the girl's hand away.
Merida worriedly stood there at a loss. When her grandfather entrusted her with this task, she knew it would be heavy on her shoulder. Lilith was the only direct bloodline of the Linus pack left and the only hope left to save them. If anything happened to her and she fails to complete her task then the pack will perish. Merida vowed to do her very best to complete her task.
She hurriedly grabbed the bowl and gave it to Lilith. "I ma-made meat porridge. Please eat….. I will go make your medicine," she said in a trembling voice. The two stared at each other for a while making Merida a little nervous.
Lilith pursed her lips before silently accepting the bowl. "Thank you," she said. With a slight nod, Merida left the cave, and as soon as her figure disappeared Lilith wilted.
Her strong appearance from just now completely vanished and she broke down. She placed the bowl down on the ground and curled up into a ball on the stone bed. Unrestrained tears flowed down her cheeks as she buried her face in her bundle of clothes used as a makeshift pillow.
She wasn't crying due to the pain in her body. She was crying because she had lost everyone she loved. Conflict at the shores of Odessa had always been there and for years they had stood their ground.
Three years before she was born the attacks on her pack amplified and because werewolves were extremely territorial, they couldn't take refuge with other packs unless they denounced their Linus lineage and bow to another alpha.
Her father was a very stubborn alpha. He refused to relegate and chose to stand his ground. For years he defended against both the witches and vampires but the attacks from the witches suddenly intensified overnight. Soon his sons began to die one after the other. By the time he realized that he was at risk of losing his pack, it was already too late.
It took only a year…. only one year after his death for the pack to lose its last remaining alpha and two-thirds of the pack to get annihilated. Recalling how her brother shielded her from an incoming arrow laced with wolfbane her spirit broke down. He shielded her but she still got poisoned and now her brother was gone. The fate of the entire pack now rested in her hands.
She was forced to grow up overnight and take on the mantle as the female alpha of whatever was left of the Linus pack.