Kill The Luna

62

I kept drifting in and out of darkness, hearing muffled whispers bouncing around the empty corners of my mind. Every single time I woke up or went to sleep, I was completely covered in deep wounds, severe cuts, and painful injuries. It felt like this endless cycle of physical pain had somehow become my normal daily routine. It was almost laughable. Since the very first day I arrived at this pack house, everything in my life had completely gone south, and everyone probably looked at me like some kind of bad luck freak.

"She is always completely unconscious," a sharp, familiar voice murmured, the words cutting directly into the heavy fog of my dream. "Every single time you look around, she is either sleeping or heavily bandaged up from another disaster. Honestly, it is just ridiculous at this point."

I could hear these random sentences floating over my consciousness, along with a dozen other distant murmurs, but my brain was far too exhausted to catch all of them. This small piece of conversation was the only little part I actually managed to hear small through the darkness. Even then, I wasn't entirely sure if the voices were real or just a trick of my mind. It felt as though my soul had been trapped inside a deep, endless void for literal years, forcing me to dream about confusing things I couldn't even begin to understand. I lay there in the quiet, completely unable to separate my wild dreams from actual reality.

Eventually, the heavy darkness began to lift, and I slowly forced my sticky eyelids open. The bright light of the room hit my face, making me blink back a wave of dizziness. As my blurry vision finally cleared, a familiar figure materialized right beside my mattress. It was Veronica. The moment she noticed my eyes moving, her tense face instantly relaxed, and a warm, relieved smile spread across her lips. She stepped closer to the edge of the bed, gently reaching down to touch the side of my face with her cool fingers.

"Finally," she breathed out, letting out a long, heavy sigh of relief as she looked down at me. "You are finally awake, Fedora. You had us all completely terrified."

I blinked up at her, my throat feeling as dry as sandpaper as I tried to form a single word. "Veronica..." I croaked out slowly, my voice sounding incredibly small, weak, and completely raspy.

Needing to assess the damage, I slowly shifted my neck to look down at my own body under the white sheets. A gasp of pure horror caught in my throat. There were thick layers of medical gauze and tight white bandages wrapped securely everywhere across my frame. My chest, my stomach, and my limbs were completely covered in heavy dressings, hiding the deep, gruesome cuts Elda and her knives had left behind. I looked like a broken mummy.

Veronica noticed my shocked expression, and a playful, teasing smile quickly returned to her face as she sat down on a wooden stool beside the mattress. "At this exact point in your life, Fedora, I honestly think you need to start walking around with a massive first aid kit permanently strapped to your back," she chuckled softly, shaking her head in amusement. "Because somehow, no matter where you go or who you are with, you always manage to end up completely and badly injured."

She leaned forward, resting her hands on her knees as her expression turned a bit more serious. "Yesterday, I heard a rumor around the hallways that you had gotten into another massive, physical fight with Lucy in the forest. The moment I heard the news, I came looking all over the building for you so that I could treat your minor cuts and make sure you were okay. I was initially so incredibly angry at you, wondering why on earth you would get into a reckless fight with a trained warrior without being fully strong or healed yet. But then, Michael brought you back through the gates, and you came back with something much, far worse than a few scratches from Lucy."

She paused, throwing her hands up in the air with a look of pure, utter disbelief. "Like, seriously, who even are you, girl?" she questioned, her eyes widening as she stared at my bandaged frame. "I think the Alpha needs to hand you a professional award for the most injured person in werewolf history. I swear, I have never seen you walking around looking normal or healthy like a regular human being since you got here. You are always dealing with one severe injury here or another painful wound there. It never stops!"

I hesitated, closing my eyes for a brief second as I gathered every single ounce of my remaining strength. I took a deep, shaky breath in and out, forcing the cool air into my aching lungs. Gritting my teeth until my jaw throbbed, I grabbed the edge of the mattress and forcefully pushed my upper body upward, trying to slide into a sitting position. The sudden movement was a terrible mistake. A sharp, blinding wave of agony exploded directly from my waist, shooting up through my arms, my mangled palms, and my... wait. The agonizing, white-hot pain didn't just come from one spot; it came from absolutely everywhere all at once, making my head spin violently.

I collapsed slightly against the propped-up pillows, panting heavily as hot tears of pure frustration pricked the corners of my eyes. As soon as I managed to steady my breathing, I glared blankly at the wall, my voice dropping into a dark, furious growl. "That total bitch... Elda..."

The moment the name left my lips, the playful warmth instantly drained from Veronica’s face. Her eyes widened in absolute shock, her entire posture freezing solid as she stared at me in pure disbelief. She stopped what she was doing, her mouth dropping open. "Wait... did you just say Elda?" she stammered out, her voice dropping into a tense, frightened whisper. "What on earth happened to her? What does she have to do with this?"

A bitter sob escaped my throat, and I quickly wiped a stray tear from my cheek with my heavily bandaged wrist, my chest heaving with old terror. "She is the whole cause of this nightmare," I wept, my voice trembling as the horrific memories of the cave flashed through my mind. "She literally kidnapped me right off the road. She was going to drain me. But Michael... Michael tracked us down and saved my life from that basement. She is probably completely dead by now after what they did to her hideout."

Veronica swallowed hard, her face turning incredibly pale as she processed the terrifying news. She sat in a heavy, stunned silence for a long moment, looking down at her hands. Finally, she cleared her throat, her expression shifting into one of deep concern and seriousness as she looked back up into my eyes.

"And about that..." Veronica murmured, her voice turning very quiet and cautious as she gestured toward the bedroom door. "Michael has officially summoned you to his office the very moment you open your eyes."