The Lost Princess - Saving Lupin Borealis

Chapter Three - Awake In The SUV

Elise’s POV

I woke up to the sound of an engine. God my body hurt. Everything hurt, I could feel fresh bruises vibrating against the seat as we rumbled down the road. Wait, the seat?! I stretched out, realising I was laid across the backseat of an enormous SUV. I went to sit up, then suddenly realised that under the thick blanket on top of me, I was entirely naked. As I shuffled my weight, I realised my blanket had sleeves, almost like a dress. My mind slowly coming to, I started piecing together the events of last night. Where on earth am I?!

“Ah, she’s awake! Good morning pup”

My head snapped towards one of the front seats, where a large man was sat in the passenger seat. He had his window open and a smile on his face, his shoulder length deep brown hair blowing in the breeze coming in through his window. His teeth were stupidly white. I looked towards the driver who was intently focused on the road ahead. They both had tanned skin, but the driver's head was shaved and he appeared to be far more serious than his companion. They were some of the biggest men I’d ever seen, even in an SUV they seemed to fill the entire space, their backs wider than the seats. Before I could speak, the long haired man spoke “We have some clothes in the back for you, we guessed your size so hope they’re okay. We would have dressed you but you’re just a pup”. Did these men see me naked in my human form?! I sent up a silent thanks to the moon that they at least hadn’t dressed me, but even the thought of men seeing me was so embarrassing. Noticing my deep blush, he smiled “Don’t worry pup, we carried you into the car in that blanket”.

I looked around and noticed a small carrier bag with a pile of clothes inside. I quickly dressed, using the blanket as a giant cloak to hide myself, not that either of the men were looking. Black leggings, plain white trainers, a sports bra and a huge hoodie. The hoodie was incredibly soft. I clutched the fabric gratefully. I think these are the first clothes I have owned new, I’ve always just had hand me downs or charity shop finds. I didn’t realise clothes came this soft. It was kind, but I still had no idea where we were.

“So… W-w-who are you guys?” I stammered. Looking around the vehicle, I realised I was trapped. My panic rose, I couldn’t hear Fern either. The passenger spoke again.

“We found you and your wolf in a pretty sticky alleyway situation. We stepped in and brought you here, you’re lucky we were just in time”. He picked at the edge of the window, not meeting my gaze.

“You were the man in the hood?” I asked, inspecting his face. I could only see through his mirror, but his eyes didn’t look amber. They looked more green to me.

“No, that was a rather unsavoury visitor. Seems a vamp picked up your scent. Your wolf was putting up a heck of a fight though” he said, smiling. Looking up into his mirror, he spoke again “Damon, by the way, and this charmer next to me is Jason”.

The driver, Jason, nodded in acknowledgement. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Vampires?? Vampire’s don’t exist! And that still doesn’t explain who you are or why I’m in this car! And how do you know about my wolf!”. I couldn’t stop myself from continuing to panic, calling Fern but there was no reply. Damon let out a low chuckle “if only you were right, pup”.

He licked his lips before speaking again “Jason and I are like you, we’re werewolves. Shifters. I’m not sure how much you know of our kind?” He looked at me questioningly, but I didn’t speak, wanting more story from him before I gave anything more away. My head swam. They were werewolves? There were more of us? “We go around Europe, picking up strays, rogues and orphaned pups. When we rescued you, we couldn’t catch the scent of anyone else, and we knew you didn’t have a pack so we brought you with us. That’s our job, after all”.

“How did you know I didn’t have a pack?” I asked, confused.

“We can smell it. Every pack has a distinctive scent, and we know every pack there is in the UK” he said, smiling at me “Actually, we can recognise most in Europe. Unless we’re wrong?”

“We’re never wrong,” Jason said sternly, his first time speaking. He still didn’t take his eyes off of the road, hands firmly on the steering wheel traveling at quite some speed.

“Jason here was actually the first to catch your scent. Just thank the Goddess we got there when we did”.

“So who, what, was attacking me? At first it was two drunk men, but then, I don’t know, there was a dark figure and so much pain”. Damon’s eyes looked away, and he shifted in his seat uncomfortably.

“That was a vampire, a young one and he traveled alone, luckily for us. He had caught your scent and was no doubt planning to take you to his coven when we stepped in. There was a huge uprising in England around 16 years ago led by one of the martyrs of our kind, Healer Annie. She freed and saved hundreds of werewolf lives from one of the oldest and largest covens in England. The vamps still have thousands of werewolves in slavery and under their control though, and one of their favourite hobbies is rounding up any escapees and collecting more slaves. That’s why we do the job we do, we try to find the packless and save them before the vamps get a chance to sink their teeth in”. Damon spat angrily out the window, even telling the story seemed to anger him and put him on edge. I didn’t want to push him further, so I quickly changed the subject.

I couldn’t remember anything after I blacked out, just Fern asking to take over and silence. “I… I haven’t heard my wolf since the attack. Is she okay? Do you two have wolves?” Damon burst out laughing at my question, and even Jason cracked a small smile. The change of mood was welcome. “Yes, we have wolves pup, that’s a pretty big part of being a werewolf” he chuckled. “You probably haven’t heard from her as she’s exhausted, but I can sense her within you. You’re both very young, and she was fighting with pretty much everything you two have. There are elder wolves who have never faced a vampire, and you took one on face to face at what, a few years since your first shift?”

“Eleven months actually. Eleven months since the first time this happened to me”

“Have you shifted many times?” Jason asked, taking interest in me for the first time. I could see him inspecting me in his rear view mirror.

“Only at the full moon, same as you guys I guess?”

Damon smiled again “Oh no pup, we can shift any time we like. Heck, I could shift right now in this car!” Jason looked worriedly to the side “Hey I won’t, I’m just saying I could…” Damon said, holding his hands up with a wide smile.

“You fought well for such a young pup” Jason spoke again, still inspecting me in his rear view mirror.

“Er, thank you, but it wasn’t really me. Fern, er, my wolf, she asked to take over and I just sort of let go”

“She was probably conserving your energy. Wolves fight better without human thoughts or worries clouding their mind and instincts”.

“So where are you taking me? Back to your house? Are we still near London?” I picked at my sleeve, anxious to know what was happening.

Damon looked across to Jason before speaking “We are taking you back to our home. Usually, we would offer, give you a choice and give you time to pack your belongings, but the vampire who attacked you escaped before we could finish him so his coven would have known your rough location and found your scent within hours. We couldn’t take the risk, and with you being so young it seemed just wrong to leave you behind”. I nodded. Their presence made me feel calmer but my head was swimming with more questions.

“Do you have any family you need to ring pup? We did take you without warning and we’d hate for your family to be worried about you, I’ve got a phone on me and you can call whoever you like” Damon said, searching his jacket pockets.

“Actually” I said quietly “I don’t have any family. I’m an orphan, and I’ve been fostered my entire life. I moved out at sixteen into my own place and besides the friends I’ve made working a few shifts a week at my local coffee shop, I don’t really have anyone”.

“Ah, a lone wolf, more common than you think. England has had a lot of orphans and rogues since the great freeing, don’t worry pup it has sadly happened a lot over the years since then. You have us now, you won’t be alone anymore” Damon said, looking behind him into my eyes, his expression kind and reassuring. Even Jason’s eyes in the rear view mirror seemed to soften.

“Are you sure Fern is going to be okay? I can feel her, but she isn’t responding. This hasn't happened before” I was relieved to finally voice my worries, but scared about what had happened to her. Being able to speak about her openly for the first time gave me a buzz, and a strange sense of belonging. I felt calmer than I had in years, despite being told more information in an hour than Fern had given me in months.

“Your wolf is okay, and she is still with you. She too is young, still a pup, and she almost completely spent herself defending the two of you. We rarely have to exert so much energy, and being so young she just needs a good sleep. Our kind don’t mature until 25, you’re still very much a pup and it’s honestly impressive you lasted as long as you did. You’ve got a powerful little wolf in there pup”. Damon looked back at me, with kind eyes and a small smile on his face. I was reassured. Fern was okay, she was just sleeping. I couldn’t believe she had managed to defend us, as much as it sometimes feels like a curse, she really is one of my biggest blessings. It was also my first time giving her full control, something the control freak in me hated, but I realised in that choice that I trusted Fern with my life, and now I always would. She had cemented her place as my closest friend.

My eyes felt heavy as I rested my head against the glass of the window, and I drifted off into another deep sleep, the presence of my two new friends giving me more peace than I’d felt in my entire life so far.