Bitten by My Enemy Alpha

Chapter 3: Something Change

Henrietta woke to the sound of her own breathing. It was uneven, shallow, and too loud for her own good. Her body was burning, her skin felt itchy, covered with sweat. Her sense of smell heightened as the scent of herbs and metal with a faint traces of medicine and blood wafted in the air.

For a moment, she thought she was still in the forest that the hunt mission hadn't ended. It felt like she could still hear the growls and snarls of the beasts that came from the dark.

But when her gaze found the wall lamp flickering, she blinked upon realizing that she was home. The Argenthal Fortress. Her chamber.

Safe and sound.

Or so it should have been.

She slowly got up and hissed. Every inch of her body ached as if she'd fought a dragon. She brushed her hair back from her face, only to find her hand trembling.

She remembered the clash...

Those wounded wolves inflicted by her squad... The blood-soaked snow... The silver flash of her blade towards Gideon... The cracking ground trembling... Gideon on top of him, and then the next thing she recalled was her screaming from pain.

A horror gasp escaped from her lips.

'The bite!' she exclaimed.

Her hand instantly went to her shoulder, her fingers brushing the spot above her collarbone where Gideon's fangs had sunk deep. She dragged her body out of the bed and went to her vanity mirror to take a look of it.

Her breath caught when the wound was gone. Not even a scar. Just smooth skin, warm to the touch. It was as if her flesh remembered what her mind tried to forget.

"That's impossible..." she murmured in disbelief. "I am sure that I feel it..."

For a moment, she stared in her reflection, on the spot where she felt the bite. That wound should've taken weeks to heal, if it hadn't killed her first.

She could even see her face looking pale, her eyes hollow from exhaustion, yet her skin looked untouched.

Why did she feel light? And stronger than ever?

Her surroundings... She could feel every sound clearer as crystal. She could hear the faint creak of wood, the murmur of voices far down the hall, even the steady rhythm of her own pulse.

She pressed her palms against her ears, but it was futile. It was all too loud, too vivid, too alive. She felt the need to tear her ears off from her to stop it.

And her heartbeat... She felt calm but deep, echoing in her chest louder than before.

'Something's wrong,' she thought, creasing her forehead as she returned to her bed.

It didn't make sense to her.

She knew that no hunter could heal this fast. No human could.

And then she felt it.

The faint throb beneath her skin, where the bite had been. As she glanced in the mirror once more, her eyes widened as the light briefly reflected in them.

No, it wasn't just a simple light. She saw a flicker of gold crossed through her pupils before it vanished.

Henrietta stepped back, heart hammering. "No," she whispered, shaking her head. "No, that's not possible..."

Her breath kept hitching. She wasn't sure if it was fear or denial that kept her frozen, but one truth slapped her.

She had really been bitten by a werewolf.

And somehow, she was still alive. Then, the memory of Gideon's ocean-blue eyes, looking wild, confused, and desperate, flashed in her mind.

The door opened with a creak, causing her to snap her head.

"Hetta?"

Hezekiah stood in the doorway, his expression softening when he saw her awake. "You shouldn't be up. Father said you needed—" He stopped when he saw her face, looking pale and shaken while her hand was pressing over her shoulder. His gaze dropped to her arm, blinking. "You're... healed?"

She looked at him helplessly. "I shouldn't be."

Hezekiah stepped closer, though looking bewildered at her good condition, his brows were knitting. "I carried you while you were half-conscious. And I grazed that bastard with my bullet when I saw him carrying you." He gently cupped her face. "I was so worried about you, Hetta. I thought he was going to hurt you. The healers even feared you wouldn't make it through the night."

Then, he hugged her so tight, fearing his twin sister might disappear any moment.

"I thought the same," she said, her voice came out faint. She leaned her head on his shoulder. "But when I woke up... it was gone."

"Gone?" He held her shoulders to look at her.

She swallowed. "The bite."

He froze, disbelief flickering in his eyes. "What bite?" He didn't waste any moment and checked her arms.

Henrietta hesitated, her throat tightening. She hesitated, uncertain if she should tell him. But this was her twin brother. He was the one she trusted, even though she often felt overshadowed by constant comparisons to him. In the end, he was still her twin.

"Their Alpha... He bit me." She caressed her shoulder where she felt it.

The color of Hezekiah's face drained, his shoulders slumped as he slowly shook his head. "Don't say that, Hetta," he whispered, glancing toward the door as if even the walls had ears. "You don't know what you're saying."

"But it's true." She pulled down her nightgown to show where, but it was nothing but smooth skin was showing. "I know it. But it's gone. I can still feel—"

"Enough," he hissed, grabbing her shoulders. "You can't let Father hear this. Do you hear me? You can't." He emphasized the last word of the sentence. He wanted to alert what dangerous it was.

His fear seeped into her bones. She knew what was going to happen if the founder had learned about this.

This made her question her loyalty to the Argenthal Order. It wasn't right that she was keeping this, but something like this wasn't such a trivial matter.

As Henrietta met his trembling gaze, she knew it was already too late. Somewhere in the corridor, she heard footsteps.

Someone had heard.

With quivering lips, she clenched her hands as Hezekiah hugged her, knowing what was happening.

And the word she knew would never see her as human again.