Hidden In Plain Sight: Book 2 (Wolves)

Chapter 10- Halyn

I woke again and the sun had risen. I figured it was sometime after 6AM. I couldn’t help but wonder if anyone was awake? My bladder was screaming at me to use the restroom. Just then I heard noise overhead. Luna Cat must be up with her five kids. As much as I love children, I cannot imagine five of them.

I press the button on the walkie talkie and speak to no one in particular, “when you get a chance, could someone please assist me to the bathroom?”

A feminine voice I recognized as Susan’s responded, “I’ll be down shortly cousin.”

I attempted to throw the covers back, and wished I hadn’t, as the pain that streaked through my abdomen made me gasp. Damn the metabolism of werewolves; pain meds help very little or for a very short time because we burn them off too quickly. Well at least the human, Alistar he said his name was, could benefit from them. I lay impatiently in the bed, but within minutes, Susan enters the room to assist me to the restroom. Susan makes it look so easy, as she throws the covers the rest of the way back. Next she grabs non slip slippers from under my bed and places them on my feet. I feel like a burden. I wouldn’t have bothered with the slippers. Susan flips the switch for the bathroom light before returning to my bedside. “Okay, do you think you can sit up with my help, or should I just sit you up?”

I let out a sigh before saying, “I can try to pull myself up if you give me your hand.” With our hands clasped like we are going to arm wrestle, I begin to sit up while pulling on Susan, but wince and take in a gasping breath at the pain. Susan automatically puts her free hand behind my shoulders and assists me. Once I’m sitting upright, she releases my hand and lifts my legs over the edge of the bed as I continue to grit my teeth.

“Okay, sit there a few minutes and get your bearings. I’m so sorry it hurts so much. I wish I had something to give you that would last,” Susan explained with a look of dismay.

“Yeah, me too.” I gave Susan a weak smile, took a cleansing breath, and nodded to let her know I was ready. One hand on my abdomen to splint it as I attempt to get up, the other hand again grabs Susan’s and I pull myself into a bent version of standing upright. Susan’s arm had slid around my waist as soon as I was standing in case I needed support. Gingerly, I shuffled into the bathroom, pulled up my nightshirt, pushed down my bikini underwear, and after what feels like forever, finally sat on the toilet stool. Susan steps out to give me privacy and straighten my bed. Lifting my nightshirt, I look at the bandages on my abdomen and see just a trace of blood had soaked through. If the wound isn’t worse, why does it hurt so much? I do my business, wipe, and wait for Susan to return.

As if on cue, Susan returns to the bathroom, helps me stand, straighten my clothing, sets the soap closer to the sink, and turns the water on before assisting me to wash my hands. I also take the opportunity to throw some water on my face. A brief look in the mirror shows healing bruises and puncture wounds on my neck, and the side of my face. Once I’ve dried off, I slowly turn around and head back to bed. I see a tray with food and smell coffee, my one true vice, sitting on the top of my dresser. Susan asks, “would you rather sit up in bed or in the overstuffed chair to eat?”

“I think I can sit in the chair a while,” I reply before heading to the chair. Susan places a pillow behind my back so I don’t sit back too far and pull on my lacerations. “Thanks Susan.” Susan places another pillow on my legs and then the food tray on top of that. “Wow, quite a spread. Thank you!”

“Remember, protein is extremely important while healing to build and repair tissues. I’ll bring your antibiotic and a mild pain reliever when I return to assist you back to bed and collect your tray.”

I nod and pick up a sausage patty with my fingers and begin to eat. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until I smelled the aroma of the food and saw the tray. My tray was filled with various forms of protein: sausage, ham, cottage cheese, scrambled eggs with cheese, buttered toast with a side of peanut butter, and milk, coffee, and water for beverages. It dawns on me my IV is no longer in my arm, so it must have been removed at some point while I slept. There was a folded gauze pad and a piece of tape in its place now. Just as I finished eating and was almost done with my drinks, Susan returned as promised with medications in hand.

I thank Susan again, swallow them down, and grab my coffee. Susan smiles and takes the rest of my tray, placing it back on my dresser.

“Your color is looking better this morning. You were very pale yesterday. Likely from blood loss. You were lucky your intestines weren’t perforated.” I simply nod in response before Susan continues, “Oh, Fred said Alistar is doing okay. They are trying to stay ahead of the pain, pushing fluids, nutrition, and encouraging him to rest.”

“Who is Fred?” I ask.

“Oh sorry, Fred is Alistar’s father. I’m sure you’ll meet him eventually, since he works as a security guard for us. He is one of several humans that man the towers with guns and binoculars to watch the other side of the fence. Fred is a veteran . He feels awful that his son was hurt when he is a security guard,” Susan explained. “Unfortunately, the incident was too far out for them to see it from the tower.”

“Okay, time to spill. How did you know it was so important for me to blood bond with Alpha Gannon yesterday?” I asked my cousin. Susan’s face actually became flushed. “Oh my gosh, I’ve never seen you blush before.”

Susan laughed uncomfortably, took a deep breath, and began, “what I’m going to tell you goes no further than you and me.” I simply nod in return to her request. “Okay… Halyn, I’m a Seer. I sometimes have visions in which I see future events. Of course the future can be altered, but I don’t always know when things will occur. I had no idea when you would be attacked, just that it happened eventually. I didn’t see who or when, but in my dream, you died because you couldn’t mind-link with other pack members. That’s why I insisted you do your bond yesterday.”

“That bond and Alistar saved my life. Thank you cousin. I’m finally where I want to be and starting to work on my goals. I’d prefer not to die.” I laugh nervously but hold my stomach because it hurts.

“I’m happy to have you here. I don’t want to lose you. Now my turn… why were you in such a hurry to go on your run yesterday?”

At Susan’s question, my eyes became big, my breathing sped up, and my hands became clammy. I took a slow, deep breath to try to calm myself, but the deep breath also caused pain in my abdomen. “Well, this is just between you and I as well. I’ve never told anyone this before, but I guess it’s only fair.” I took a drink of my coffee, set it on the stand and explained, “since I was little, I have this intuition that is like a feeling that guides my actions. Yesterday the feeling was that I had to hurry on my run to the river bank; I just knew it was important. When I arrived, Delta Jerome was attacking Alistar. He actually had Alistar’s leg in his teeth when I lunged at him. Later, when Delta Jerome had my throat in his jaws, Alistar hit him with a branch and the momentum forced him to let go and stunned him so I could get the upper hand. Neither Alistar nor I would have survived without the other’s help.” I take my cup and finish my coffee before meeting Susan’s eyes. “So you see the future and I sense things? Quite an interesting bloodline we have.”

Susan smiles before repeating what Gannon had told her, “ Gannon told me that these are gifts from The Creator to help us survive because we are the original werewolf bloodline. Since we were tasked with protecting humans as much as possible, we were given gifts to help us do so. In my case, my ability didn’t start until I met my mate. I didn’t believe in fated mates and wasn’t interested in having a mate, but destiny had a different plan for me, and here we are.”

“You and Travis seem so happy together though. I don’t need to point out how special Colson is.” I smile affectionately at Susan. I begin to feel tired, so figure my bed might be the best option.

“Your eyelids are looking heavy. Are you ready to get back into bed?” Susan offers.

I nod and scoot forward to the very edge of the chair. Whatever Susan gave me has definitely decreased the pain, since it’s less uncomfortable to move now. Using the armrests, I push myself to a hunched standing position and shuffle back to bed. Once on the edge of the bed, Susan put one hand behind my back, one under my knees, and turned me while lifting my feet up on the bed. She fixed my pillows, removed my slippers, and

pulled the blanket up to cover me. “Sleep well cousin,” she said with affection before leaving with the tray.

I couldn’t help but ponder what other abilities members of our bloodline might have that we are unaware of. I and apparently Susan, are aware that these abilities make us targets if the wrong people found out. What Alpha wouldn’t want someone who could tell the future or could use their intuition to guide actions? It had the ability to make an Alpha much more powerful.

The last thing I remember was seeing his face in my mind again. Alistar’s strong jaw, straight nose, and piercing blue eyes were handsome, and I simply could not deny in my current medicated state that I was attracted to him. Me, attracted to a human. Who would have thought?