The man looked to be swelling in the face. He was soon holding his hand to his waist and baring his teeth at me as the wolf had done him.
"Did you not hear me say leave?" he repeated,
I struggled to my feet – as before, without help from the werewolf – using a tree for support and balance subsequently.
"I would leave." I assured. "Once –"
I was interrupted by a rich sound, calling out an odd name. "Levine?" it went, reaching almost the highest pitch the voice could have, stopped to make sure 'Levine was answering' and once there was no answer from Levine, proceeded to call out the name once again. "Levine."
"That is my brother, our alpha and you do not want him to meet you here." The werewolf whispered.
"Oh." I whispered back. "Are you Levine?"
I had the satisfaction of seeing his lips quiver with anger.
"Levine." The sound went once more, filling our ears that we could tell the owner of the voice would soon be upon us.
"Levine!" the voice repeated unenthusiastically and once, I knew the owner of the voice had found the owner of the name.
"Liam!" The werewolf exclaimed.
"You must have heard me all those times I called?" Liam asked, clearly not happy about being ignored.
"I –" his eyes darted towards my direction. "I, was busy."
With this, Liam took notice of me and for the first time, looked in my direction. His eyes widened in shock.
"What is going on here? You were supposed to be patrolling."
"Yes, I know. Then I found her."
"What do you mean found her?" Liam's eyes glanced at me and back at the werewolf whose name I now knew to be Levine.
"That's what I mean. I just found her, she was lying there when I came, with the wolf over her."
Liam's face couldn't look more shocked. "Lying there?"
"Yes." Levine answered dutifully. "Just lying there and –"
Liam turned towards me, his eyes squinted and his lips pouted. "Do I know you from somewhere?"
I was going to answer, my mouth had opened in an attempt to form words but suddenly, I was getting tired and sore and dizzy and I was soon falling back to the same ground I had struggled to get up from.
I woke up the next morning on a cozy foam and a woman sitting beside me. I felt my insides turn almost immediately, so I got that feeling of Deja vu and I began to kick against the bed, ready to run away when the woman fled from the room and returned with a team of three men, one of which held me down.
"shhh. Shhh. You're fine." the man soothed as he held and rocked me like a child. "You're safe. You're fine."
For a moment, I could not help but be reminded of my father and the many times he had rushed into my room to hug and cuddle me when I woke up from a bad dream. Couldn't help but be reminded that my father was gone and never coming back and this was as close I would get to father's love – a hug from a strange man whom –
I kneed the man in the chest and pushed myself out of his embrace. My arms were spread out before me and although I was seated on the bed, I was ready to strike. I could feel my wolf stirring within me. I could feel her agitation as she mulled over all that transpired yesterday and what this would mean for us.
"How are you doing?" a voice asked me, startling me from my thoughts.
"I am sorry." The voice said a beat later, following my reaction.
"No, no. It is fine." I answered.
I looked around. The room I was in was small, nothing fancy. It represented mediocre well and the owner of the voice who had spoken earlier was concentrated on my face.
"I am sorry." He apologized again.
"No, it's fine. I am the one who is sorry." I winced, remembering how I kneed him in the chest. "Are you okay?"
He rubbed his chest and then shrugged. "I guess?" His lips formed a sly smile. "Do you remember me?"
"Yes, of course. You're the guy from yesterday, Liam."
"Yes." He confirmed. "We have a small pack here and I am its leader. Yesterday, one of my men found you in the woods, care to talk about it?"
"I –"
"No, no. Take your time, uhhh…"
"Amelia." I inputted.
"Amelia." He repeated, rolling the name heatedly. "Please take your time Amelia. I would not want to rush you, it looks like these past few days have been rough for you and your wolf. Our Doctor found something in you that has been killing you –"
"Killing me?" I gasped. "She said it was to put down my wolf!"
"Yeah and she did put it down real good and you too." He shook his head. "Look whatever she gave to you would've killed any normal person – werewolf – I don't know how you are still alive. But you need time to regain your old strength, to heal from whatever wounds you may have now. Mentally, emotionally, physically, you know what I mean. You're welcome to stay in the pack for the being."
I jumped from my bed. "I am?"
"Alpha!" another voice called out. I had failed to note the presence of the other people in the room seeing as all I was focused on was Alpha Liam.
Liam glanced at the woman who had called him out and raised a neatly carved brow.
"She cannot stay here. Is that not the rule?" she complained.
"I make the rules." Liam replied.
"But, Alpha –"
Liam cut her off. "Amelia will be staying here for the time being and I expect every one of you to behave and attend to her as you would for me. This is not a request." He looked pointedly at the lady who had spoken. "You do not want to break my rules."
She stared at him defiantly for a moment before blowing her head.
Liam tapped my shoulder reassuringly. "You'll be fine here. They will make you as comfortable as they can."
"Thank you." I answered meekly.