Explanation
1309 Words
Dr. Lauren’s POV
I was grateful my cousin Serene had allowed us to come. I had to get Kayla out of that place. She had endured too much, and I could no longer sit by. When she was r***d the first time, I made a promise to myself to do everything in my power to make sure it never happened again. I visited her every day, gave her whatever hope I could, and prayed for her. She was like the daughter I never had. I felt a strong pull to protect her that I couldn't fully explain — and so did my wolf.
She had been falling apart, and I had done everything I could to hold her together. That last shift had been a long one — stitching wounds, running between patients — until I finally let myself sleep. When I returned to the hospital the next morning, I overheard co-workers laughing about what had happened to her. Something in me snapped. I went home, packed what I could, and made my decision. I could not continue treating that pack while they did what they did to her.
I didn’t know how to pull her back from this. I had pieced her together before, but she had barely been hanging on then. Now I wasn’t sure there was anything left to hold onto.
We pulled up to my cousin’s packhouse. I stepped out of the car and immediately caught the sound of Serene in distress — a panic attack. I rushed to her and checked her vitals using my wolf hearing. As I did, I heard two male voices nearby say the word mate and tracked the sound to two young men staring in Kayla’s direction.
Mate? Kayla didn’t have a wolf. I filed it away to deal with later and shouted at the two of them to get her to the hospital. They looked startled. Then one of them scooped her up and ran — faster than I expected. I pushed myself to keep up. Once inside, I began calling out instructions while carefully removing her clothes. I heard growls behind me and tried to shield what I could of her body, but I knew they had already seen some of the damage. Eventually, she stabilized — but she didn’t wake up.
A small crowd had gathered at the door. Serene was among them, worry written across her face.
"I’ll be back," I told Kayla quietly. I wasn’t sure she could hear me, but I hoped so.
I stepped outside and pulled my cousin into a hug, barely holding myself together. Then Serene went still. She began to convulse, her eyes rolling back until only white showed, her hand still clasped in mine. After what felt like a very long time, she let go, pressed her palm over her mouth, and stepped back into the arms of a tall, blonde man I assumed was her husband Nate. She started to cry.
Everyone looked from her to me, and I understood — she had seen Kayla’s past. Every injury. Every time I had been the one to put her back together.
A group was making its way down the hall. Two young women around Kayla’s age — one with deep brown wavy hair and jeweled blue eyes, the other with reddish-orange hair and green eyes. Behind them walked a woman unlike anyone I had ever seen. She was not tall, but her presence filled the hallway. Power radiated from her quietly but unmistakably, and she moved with effortless grace. Her hair was silver and curly, her eyes a deep jeweled blue. The man directly behind her carried nearly the same energy — dark hair, golden eyes. The twins looked just like him, though one had her eyes.
Our Luna and Alpha. And their family. I hadn’t known Serene had a daughter. We had a great deal of catching up to do.
I dipped my head respectfully as they approached. The silver-haired woman extended her hand to me with a gentle smile.
"My name is Elena," she said. "This is my husband and mate, Roland." She gestured to the man behind her. "These are my twin boys, Ethan and Aiden." The twins’ eyes hadn’t left the direction of Kayla’s room. "And this is my daughter, Elle."
"And this is Bonnie," Serene added. "My daughter. Elle is her mate." Bonnie gave a small, quiet smile.
"Bonnie, this is your cousin Lauren," Serene said.
"Nice to meet you," Bonnie said softly. She was clearly shy.
"What happened to our mate?" both twins asked in unison. Waves of energy rolled off them so thickly I felt slightly ill.
"I’ll tell you everything," I said. "But first — she isn’t a werewolf. I’ve been her doctor since she was a child. As far as I’ve ever known, she’s human. How did you recognize her as your mate?"
Surprised looks moved through the group. The twins themselves seemed to be wrestling with the question.
Serene stepped back into the room and took Kayla’s hand. She hummed softly, and her eyes went white. We all watched. After a moment, a confused look crossed her face.
"She isn’t human," Serene said.
I blinked. What?
"Human energy reads as pale blue to me. Her aura is a deep red-orange. I don’t know what she is, but she isn’t human," Serene said.
Everyone turned to me. I took a breath.
"I’ll start at the beginning."
"Kayla came to our old pack when she was eleven years old. According to her previous pack, her parents were its Alpha and Luna — but they had adopted her since they were unable to have children of their own. They had no love for her. They saw her as a bargaining chip and arranged a treaty with our pack’s Alpha, promising her in marriage to his son, Liam."
The twins growled. I kept going.
"Her entire pack treated her as less than nothing from the day she arrived, because they despised humans. I have been patching her up her whole life."
I watched Roland pull Elena close. She held onto him.
"Once she was married, Liam was the worst of them all. He made her sleep in his closet on a thin mat and kept her locked in with a chain. He cut her, burned her, and abused her in every way he could imagine." I trailed off. Serene moved to my side and took my hand. She already knew. She nodded for me to go on.
"They were married when she was sixteen. He took mistresses and bound Kayla’s hands, forcing her to watch. His mistresses would cut into her skin. She still carries the scars. I did everything I could to heal her — to build her back up each time he tore her down."
"And on her eighteenth birthday, he drugged her and r***d her." My voice broke. Tears blurred my vision.
The room erupted in growls.
"That bastard r***d our mate," one of the twins said, his aura surging through the room like a shockwave.
"Tell them the rest," Serene said quietly, still holding my hand.
I wiped my eyes and kept going. "I treated her after. The trauma devastated her — she went completely mute for months. And through all of it, he still tortured her. He is a sick man who feeds on her fear." I swallowed. "I nursed her back as best I could. I visited her secretly every day, brought her food when I could, prayed with her, tried to remind her she was worth something. She started talking again — only to me — and even though she wasn’t fully herself, she was getting better. Even as the abuse continued."
"And then yesterday —" My voice gave out entirely. I pressed my hand over my mouth and tried to hold myself together.
- Writer
