CHAPTER 7
ANNA'S VIEW
I woke up in a hospital room, and I felt a bandage on my face, and I saw my knees and the rest of my leg bandaged. I looked up and saw Drake speaking with a nurse. They both looked at me. "Your wife was lucky to survive after losing all that blood." The nurse told Drake. My eyes widened. Did the nurse call me Drake's wife? I looked at both of them baffled. "How long have I been out?" I questioned the nurse. "You were out the entire night and until midday today. It's a miracle, you awoke so suddenly, with all that trauma." The nurse informed me.
"How did I get here?" My memory was a bit foggy. The last thing I remembered was the encounter with the wolf and Drake saving me in his werewolf form and me trying to escape as fast as I could with a wounded leg. "You were brought in yesterday. An elderly lady saw you wounded and called the ambulance," the nurse replied.
"You were in pretty bad shape, my dear. Don't you remember anything?" Drake said as he interrupted the nurse. His eyes fell on my bandage on my face. "It was a pity that the animal scraped your beautiful face, but it will heal, and so will you," Drake assured me.
"Yes," I stammered as my gaze locked onto Drake. "You told the paramedic that a wild dog attacked you, honey," Drake told me as he gazed at me. I was nervous,and I collaborated on the story I told earlier, even though I didn't remember what I had said.
My thoughts then turned to my son.
"Oh my God, Mathew!" I yelled as I tried to wake up from the bed. The nurse restrained me and placed me back to bed. "Don't worry, my dear Mathew is doing fine.." Drake assured me, giving me a wicked smile. Does he know who Mathew is? How does he know about Mathew? There were billions of questions he needed to answer, but I didn't have the strength to interrogate him.
"I think you should take it easy. You lost a lot of blood," Drake said to me as he fluffed up my pillow and placed it on my back. I still didn't know what was going on. "Your husband is right. Take it easy. The last thing we need is your pressure going up, like last night," the nurse warned me. "
"I will leave you with your husband now. He was very concerned when he came in to see you and demanded the best treatment. You're a lucky woman," the nurse said. He smiled at me as he did on that weekend we had spent together. I nodded before she left. My heart leapt. I was alone with Drake now, and I had a lot of questions I needed answered. "I am glad that you are well!" He said, sounding almost sincere. "What are you doing here?" I needed to know what was going on, and that was the first question that uttered through my mouth.
"I came here to see if you are all right. You were silly to walk in an alleyway at night," he scolded as if he cared. "It was a shortcut that I always used since I have been working here for six months. I had no idea that I would be attacked by a werewolf. I don't know why, since I promised you that I would never enter Devolonte's Peak ever again," I said. "What is going on, Drake? Why are you here in my hospital room, pretending to be my husband?"
"Yes, I promised you that I wouldn't attack you, and I wasn't the one who did. I thought that you would be safe out of town; I was wrong." He told me in a serious tone. "Why did that wolf try to kill me?" I questioned him. He looked away before sighing. "I don't have the answers to your questions at this moment. The wolf is my brother, and he is aware that you know the secret and want to kill you."
"How did he find out that I know? The only people involved in this plot to expose you, were the committee, and I don't think they would've told your brother.
"They didn't tell him, I did," Drake confessed. "Why did you do that?"
"Because that night, I was supposed to kill you. I spared your life, and Drenmore found out about it. I lied to my pack that I ended your life so they think that you're dead. Drenmore didn't believe me for one second. He sensed I lied so he wanted to kill you himself and expose my lies to them so that he could take over the pack."
"Why don't you just kill me and come clean to your pack?" I asked him. Because you are going to be useful to me in the future, and besides, you are the mother of my son." My thoughts raced to Mathew. "Oh my God! Mathew! What if your brother goes after my son?" I said it in panic mode. "Our son is safe." Drake assured me. "While you were serving people, I relocated our son and his nanny to a safe place. He is fine now. He is not in danger, and besides, I don't think Drenmore knows about Mathew as yet. He is so full of venom that he just pounces on his victims without thinking. If he dares to touch a hair on my son's head, he will die by my hands. Promise or no promise to our father."
"What do you mean? I don't understand what's going on."
"I made a promise to our father that I wouldn't kill Drenmore. That's why he is still breathing." He revealed.
"None of this is making any sense to me!" I said. "It doesn't need to make sense to you right now. All you have to do is make a speedy recovery," Drake ordered me
in a stern voice. "It's easier said than done," I sighed. He handed me a green potion, and I looked at it as if it were poison. "Drink it now!" He demanded. I was skeptical. I didn't want to, but the look on his face instilled fear in me.
"Relax! It's going to heal your wound, or unless you want to sit here until eternity." Drake informed me. "What is it?" I questioned him suspiciously. "I can't drink something that looks like that. "Suit yourself!" He said as he snatched the bottle from my hand. "If you must know, it is a potion that heals werewolf attacks," he said. I got it for you this morning from a local Sharman before I could come here.
"How does it heal you?" I asked him curiously. "You don't want to drink it, so you don't need to know its properties," he said with a hint of sarcasm. " I didn't know what it was. I thought you could be poisoning me." I confessed to him. He arched his eyebrow and gave me a mocking grin. "If I wanted you dead, my sweet thing, I should've killed you in the woods, when I had the chance."
"I am sorry for doubting you. I haven't been attacked by a werewolf before, and my mind is going nuts while my body is numb with painkillers."
"Then drink it." He suggested, handing over the bottle to me. "How long will it take for the pain to go away?" I asked him. "When you drink, you will soon find out," he retorted.
I opened the bottle and closed my eyes. I gulped it in one go. It tasted horrible as it looked. It left a bitter taste on my tongue that made me want to hurl. "That's a good girl." He mocked me, and by his eyes, it seemed that he was amused. "It tastes dreadful!" I snorted. "Well, I didn't mention that it had a pleasant taste. Anyway, it will do it's job in five minutes," he said, while counting five minutes on his watch.
He was right on the nail. It did make me feel better. My body had strength, and my leg was healing. It was unbelievable. Five minutes were up, and the results were outstanding. My eyes flung open with amazement. "Wow! Your Sharman is a miracle worker. I feel almost healed." I said in astonishment. I felt like I could use my legs again. "How did this happen?" I placed my legs on the floor and walked. The wound was healing right in front of my eyes.
"Oh my word! I can walk like I did yesterday before the attack. I can't wait to tell someone about this miracle drug. You know you could make a lot of money with this." I wailed excitedly. He held my wrist tight before threatening me in his authoritative voice. "You will tell no one, or else I will kill you myself! You are not going to run your mouth." He tightened his grip on me.
"I have enough wealth of my own. I run Develonte's peak, and I have no need for money. I can get what I want anytime. This, my dear, is not a miracle drug. As I told you, it's only used for werewolf bites and scratches, only for humans. It heals the victims instantly. It is very difficult to come by.
The Sharman who concocted this used every power he had. He was drained. The native people of this land are the only ones who can produce this. No one else," he informed me, in a hostile tone. It made me a little afraid. I swallowed hard and apologized. "I didn't mean to say that," I said in a small voice as I bowed my head. "I was overjoyed with me having healed so quickly," I explained to him. He shook his head at me. "You should watch you say!" He said it in a threatening voice.
"I told you I apologize for my mistake," I mouthed to him. "Now do you really mean it?" he said as he arched his eyebrows. "What are you trying to insinuate, Drake? I told you I got caught up in the moment. That's all…" I defended. By the look on his face, he didn't look like he bought anything I had said. "Why are you really here?" I finally got to the question that first came into my head when I opened my eyes.
He looked at me with a crease forming on his forehead before answering me. "That's a very good question, but I think we covered it when you asked me why I didn't let Drenmore kill you. The answer is the same. You are the mother of my heir. I don't care much about you as you know, but my son loves you, and I came here to see if you were basically alive."
Damn, that answer hurt! But it was probably the truth. I did read about werewolves before my entanglement with Drake, and it did say that they are protective over their next of kin. I read that they need the mothers until they grow, and then the mothers become dispensable. It made me wonder what will become of me when Mathew grows up and learns to fend for himself. And in werewolf years, that would come sooner.
"Thanks for the truth," I said simply. I was trying to pretend that I wasn't affected by the coldness of his answer. "Don't mention it," he replied in an icy tone. "Why did you lie to the nurse that you were my husband?"
"She didn't want me in the room, so I made up the husband thing. I couldn't wait for visiting hours. I had to give you this potion as soon as possible, or else it wouldn't work. Anything else?"
"No, not at the moment," I said, shaking my head. "Ok, than," he said. "I will go now," he announced. "Are you leaving?" I asked him. "There's no need to stick around here. Before I go, here is the address of the hotel of Mathew and his nanny. They are in room number 11. The suite is paid and booked for a month, so you have a place to stay until then, no one can get in there, beside you. I suggest you stay there." he said to me.
"Where are you going?" I asked. I didn't want him to leave us alone. "What if your brother comes after me again? You can't leave us to fend for ourselves." I pleaded in a shaky voice. He swung around before heading to the door. "Why not?" he questioned. "I am not your keeper, nor your protector. My brother is not going to be a threat to you. He only changes on the full moon, and when he does, I will make sure he is no way near you or Mathew. I have to go back to Develonte's Peak."
I felt empty inside as the words from his mouth uttered sounded so cold. "Don't you want to get to know Mathew? I said. "Mathew is still a baby. He is no use to me now. Don't use that father crap on me! I am going to pay towards Mathew. I will do my duty to him but not you. My lawyers will contact you to arrange visitation rights when Mathew is a bit bigger and Drenmore is no longer a threat. For now, I suggest you stay away from me and not mention Mathew. I will pay a sum of money into your account for Mathew's expenses, but other than that we will have no contact. If you need anything to do with our son, contact my lawyers."
He walked out, slamming the door shut. He was never going to come back. I doubted that I was ever going to see him again. My heart felt sore. Wait, what's that shadow in the back. Could it be Drenmore! I was scared to death!!!