Hidden Creek

Chapter Five

                                                                                        Haven

    Consciousness eluded me. From time to time, I was aware that I was moving, but as soon as the lucidity arrived, it disappeared. “f**k!” I roared as Vik cleaned the wound in my side, bringing me back to full consciousness. 

    “Careful, Alpha, I’m almost done.” He murmured reassuringly. 

    “I’m fine.” I hissed through the pain. 

    “You are not. You got quite the nasty wound and will need time to properly heal.” He chided. 

    “I don’t have time. The coyotes attacked us again. Luckily, only twelve were killed, but one would have been too many.” 

    “Nothing you can do about that right now. Davidee is taking over until I sign off that you are recovered enough to resume your duties.” He patted my arm gently. “You’re all sewn up, the wound is clean and bandaged. Now, go to your room and relax. I’ll check on you in an hour.”

    I let out of huff, but followed his instruction. The door to my room was slightly ajar, stopping me in my tracks. Inhaling deeply, I got traces of cinnamon and relaxed marginally. Bammiuk. My mind hissed. 

    “What are you doing in here?” I asked as I stepped into the room. 

    “Checking on you.” He stated simply from his lounging position on my bed.

    “Cool, you see I’m fine. Get out.”

    “You could’ve been killed.” He murmured blankly, his eyes staring up at the canopy hanging from the ceiling. 

    Letting out a sigh, I forced myself to relax further. “Where were you, Bammi?” My voice took on a childlike whimper, surprising me with its sincerity. 

    Clearly it surprised him as well, because his eyes turned to lock on mine, filling with sorrow. “The yote that attacked you trapped me in your office. We were facing off when you guys rushed in and attacked the others. He was surprised, I took the advantage and shifted but he ran. I guess he saw his chance to take out the Red Moon Alpha…” He trailed off, shaking his head. I crawled into the bed next to him and he wrapped his arms around me. “I miss this, Ven. I miss you.”

    “You made your decision. You know as well as I do that once done, it can’t be taken back. Whether you regret it or not.”

    “If it means anything, I do regret it.” His voice was barely about a whisper and would have been inaudible if I didn’t have heightened hearing. 

    “You should go. Noovik told me I need to rest.” To punctuate my words, I moved from his embrace. Far enough away that he couldn’t pull me back in, but not so far that I risked falling off the bed. 

    “You’re right.” He sighed as he slid out of the bed. “I’ll check on you through Davidee.” Without another word, he stalked from the room, leaving me alone. Always alone...

                                                                                            ***

    At some point, I managed to fall into a restless sleep. Claws raking down my side, blood splattered on the hardwood floor, but then a smell. Spring blooms, a fresh cut tulip. Inhaling deeply, I smiled and burrowed deeper into the smell. The dream changed, taking on a light and airy feel. Eyes the colour of a clear sky looked back at me in surprise, maybe a little fear. I wanted to take that fear and destroy whatever caused it.

    “Hey, you okay?” His deep voice echoed around me. I wanted to nod, to reassure him, erase his worry. I never got the chance. My body wrenched backward, and I woke up in a cold sweat. 

    “Haven?” Davidee loomed over me, his hazel eyes lit up with concern.

    “I just had the weirdest dream.” I murmured as I pushed myself into a sitting position.

    “Are you feeling alright?” Noovik asked from behind Davidee.

    “Hm? Oh, yeah, I’m fine.” I responded absentmindedly.

    “I need to check your wound, is that alright?” He asked.

    “Yeah.” I rolled to the side and lifted my shirt.

    He pulled the bandage to the side. “It’s healing really well, Alpha.” He said happily. “You should be back on your feet in a couple of hours.”

    “Thanks, Vik.”

    “Of course. I’ll be back to check on you in another hour. Try to get some more rest.” I nodded my head, and with a satisfied smile, Vik left me alone with my brother.

    “A human saw us. Saw you, covered in blood.” He stated simply.

    “What?” I hissed.

    “He was on the sidewalk, you talked to him, Ven.”

    “What... What did I say?” Have I ever even met a human? “Did it seem like I knew him?”

    “Not sure.” Davidee shrugged. “None of us were paying attention to what you said, we were too focused on making sure you didn’t die.”

    “This isn’t good. Would you recognize him if you saw him again?” I asked.

    “Maybe. He looked like every white guy in Toronto.”

    “Good thing we aren’t in Toronto then, huh? There are more natives and wolves in Tetlin than white people.” I smirked.

    “So... Are we going to hunt down a human now? Doesn’t that go against our accords with Half Blood and Salt Water?”

    “We aren’t going to hunt a human, Davidee. We’re shapeshifters, not animals.” I rolled my eyes and leaned back. “We need to make sure he wasn’t snooping around Red Moon for information. Word has it Salt Water is looking to let our peace treaty die instead of renewing next month. Maybe Half Blood is trying to get some dirt on us so that they don’t have to renew either.”

    “That sounds like the kind of thing that bastard Meztli would do.” He hissed. “What do we do if they are looking for a reason to break our accord?”

    “We go to war.”