As I arrived at the place the warriors were gathered, I stopped running.
I squatted down next to the most severely injured warrior, who was in his wolf form. 'I see. This warrior was badly injured when he was in his wolf form. His energy is completely depleted. It's no wonder that he's not in his human form like the other warriors. He doesn't have the energy to shift into his human form. He is currently stuck in his wolf form unless I treat him'. I thought.
My right hand moved and had almost touched him, but someone grabbed my hand. When I looked up, I saw that it was beta Damien.
"What do you think you're doing, Anastasia? Are you trying to mess around here?". Damien asked me.
The mention of my name caused the warriors to be on high alert. All of them retreated from me, except for the badly injured warrior who was in his wolf form.
"You see, beta Damien? You shouldn't have brought her to the border". The Gamma stepped in and said. I bet he was trying to find a good excuse for Damien to send me away.
"What do you think I am doing, beta Damien? My warrior is badly injured, and I want to help treat him". I said. The disbelief look on Gamma's face didn't escape my eyes.
Damien furrowed his eyebrows while his eyes were fixed on mine. He asked me, "And how do you want to treat him, Anastasia? As far as I know, you are not a doctor. Or do you have a skill in medicine that we are not aware of?".
"She is bluffing, beta Damien. I know what she is probably thinking. She wants to try to treat him while knowing fully well she is not capable of doing that. In the end, if she is not able to treat him, she wants everyone to look at her in a new light and forget about her bad reputation". The Gamma explained. I saw hatred in his eyes as he stared at me.
'Are you going to allow this annoying Gamma to insult us, Clara?! Quick, give me control of our body, let me deal with him for you! I hate that he looks down on us! You are clearly a doctor! I'm aware you can easily heal the injured warrior'. Elektra hissed and quarrelled. She was angry.
I clenched my fist, before I forcefully dragged my hand away from Damien's grip. I have had enough of people treating me like this, when I was not the Anastasia they thought I was!
My eyes were bloodshot because I suppressed the anger in me that wanted to escape. I didn't want to get angry at a time like this, lest Elektra take control and ruin everything for me.
I felt pain in my heart as I gritted my teeth and smiled. "If you think I am bluffing, why don't you allow me to prove myself? Or do you have a better option, Mr. Know it all? If I don't treat him now, he's going to die before the doctor or paramedic makes it here. In the end, it's three warriors we lost today, instead of two". I calmly said to the Gamma.
"You-!".
"Stop delaying and allow me to treat him, Gamma! Can't you see that he's dying?!". I shouted at him, and he flinched, before his eyes fell on the warrior and saw that he was dying. "Excuse me. I am going to find some herbs to treat him with. I don't care what you think of me. You can confront me after I save his life first!". I added, before I walked past the Gamma, and my shoulder purposely brushed against his.
As I glanced behind my back, I saw that Damien was looking in my direction but wasn't saying anything.
It was as if he was calculating my movements and was waiting for me to fall into a trap.
I won't lie, I felt goosebumps. But that won't stop me from doing what I must do.
I walked into the forest and stopped when I saw that I had almost crossed the border. "That was close". I sighed in relief because stepping foot outside the border would mean that I had left the shadows' pack territory.
Though, I wouldn't have lost my life if that had happened, because the land outside the shadows' pack territory was unclaimed. Anyone could walk through there.
My eyes widened as I found the herb I was searching for. I quickly went and picked them with a proud and relieved smile on my face.
As I turned around, I bumped into a hard wall. No, I meant I bumped into Damien's broad chest. 'What is he doing here?'. I wondered.
"Don't get me wrong. I am simply making sure you do not get lost and die out here". He said, without me asking him anything. He added, "Are you sure you know what you're doing, Anastasia? Can you really treat him like you claimed? Stop this madness, it's not too late to stop. If that warrior dies in the process, your reputation is going to be far worse than it already is".
"I know what I'm doing, beta Damien. I need you to believe in me. And, if anything goes wrong, I am more than ready to bear the consequences". I told him.
Damien didn't say anything as usual, and I left his side, as I wasn't ready to delay time trying to explain my actions to him.
Damien followed me back to the camp.
After I returned to the warriors' camp, I ignored the Gamma and approached the injured warrior. I knelt down beside the warrior and left the herbs I had picked on the ground. I placed my hand on his head, later his back, and then, his stomach.
'Will he survive?'. Elektra asked me. She was worried about the warrior.
'He will survive'. I answered her.
I began to squeeze the herbs and mixed them together using my fingers.
When the herbs became juicy enough, I made the warrior eat them. The remaining herbs... I applied them to his external injuries. Now that he had stopped bleeding, I took out the emergency pills that were inside my trousers' pocket. Earlier, before I left my mansion with Beta Damien, I removed my purple gown and changed into a more comfortable outfit.
Also, I always bring these pills wherever I go.
The pills were my signature saving pills, which I re-made after I entered Anastasia's body, because the previous ones I had must have scattered during the car crash.
After I fed the warrior two of the pills, his life was no longer in danger, and that was when a doctor arrived.
"Hey, doc! Check up on him immediately". Gamma hurriedly told the doctor to check up on the warrior I had treated.
I chose not to say anything. Instead, I rolled my eyes and scoffed at the Gamma.
The doctor went ahead to check up on the warrior. The minute he examined the warrior's current condition, his eyes widened. "Wh- who treated him?". He asked.
"I knew it. You've made his condition worse, Luna Anastasia! You know nothing at all about medicine, and yet, you dared to treat him!". The Gamma rebuked me, but I remained calm.
Meanwhile, the doctor approached me. Admiration was written all over his face as he stared at me. "Lu- Luna Anastasia, you were the one who treated him? I never knew you had medical skills. I thought you were a good-for-". The doctor instantly stopped talking, and I knew at once, what he had almost spilled out. He continued to say to me, "I noticed that his chances of survival were very slim. He could have died, but you saved his life. I admit, I wouldn't even have been able to treat him. Please, can you take me under your wing and teach me? After ten years of being an experienced doctor, it was now that I knew I was a novice doctor".
I laughed inwardly after hearing what the doctor said. 'Of course, compared to me, you're a novice doctor. Ever since I became a doctor at the age of twenty, I've been rewarded with countless golden medals because of the countless lives I've saved. Be it humans' lives or animals' lives, I've saved many of them. So far, my skills in medicine are unmatched! Too bad I drove fast and died on my way to save a patient's life. I hope that, just like me, the patient miraculously survived'. I thought.
Seeing the stupefied look on everyone's faces, especially the Gamma's face, made me grin. "You flatter me, doctor. I am in no position to teach you. You're an expert, while I'm a good-for-nothing Luna". I smiled after purposely saying this. I added, "Oh, and since you're here, doctor, you can treat the remaining injured warriors for me. Make sure they're treated properly".
As I finished saying that, I saw no reason to remain there, so I left and went to a far corner, where I sat down alone.
"Who taught you medicine?".
"Gosh! You scared me". I flinched as soon as I heard Damien's voice. He was standing behind me. When I turned around to look at him, he came and sat beside me.
"Who taught you medicine, Anastasia? You might be able to fool others, but not me. Recently, you have been acting strangely. You're behaving like a completely different person".
I chuckled and used my hand to cover my mouth. When I stopped chuckling, I said to him, "I am not fooling anyone, beta Damien. Also, I've not been acting strangely, nor have I been behaving like a completely different person. Just know that this is the real and true me. The Anastasia you once knew is gone". "Anyway, aren't you supposed to find the spy or something?". I asked him.
"There is no need for me to search for the spy. Previously, I didn't know there was a spy. But now that I know, I will be able to catch him when he makes a move". Damien said. The tone of his voice made it look as if he wasn't in the mood to stress himself about fishing out the spy.
"What is that supposed to mean?". I frowned as I asked him, but out of the blue, he returned to his usual aloof self and didn't reply to me.
'Fine. Don't talk again. You're so annoying!'. My frown deepened as I ranted inside my mind. I looked away from beta Damien because I found him annoying.
My gaze was fixed in the direction that led to outside the border. I put two fingers on my chin and thought to myself, 'If I become very strong, I will leave the shadows' pack territory and go to the human city. I must see my parents again!'. I nodded in agreement, before my eyes mistakenly caught a shadow of someone sneaking out along the way that led to outside the border.
I was surprised. When I reasoned that the shadow might belong to the spy, I exclaimed, "Look-!". I couldn't finish talking because Damien covered my mouth using his large palm.
"I know. That must be the spy. I've been waiting for him to make a move ever since Gamma told me about the spy". Damien, who was not looking surprised, said to me and removed his palm from my mouth. He stood up. "Let's go".
"I- I can go with you?". I stuttered out of surprise. I never expected him to say this to me.
"Yes". He answered me and I rose from the place I was sitting and followed him, because I trusted that he would not allow any harm to befall me.