Cursed, Loved, Redeemed

Unanswered Questions

My body feels strange and heavy, my head feels foggy, almost like my brain and body are no longer connected. I try to open my eyes but it’s not working, I can’t move my body either. I can’t even manage to wiggle my fingers. Suddenly an overwhelming wave of pain comes crashing over my body, causing me to groan.

“Dominic, open your eyes. Wake up, man. Just wake up.” I can hear Alex saying to me, but the sound is distorted. It sounds slow, and almost like he’s speaking to me from under water.

“What the f**k Dominic, you can’t pull this s**t again, WAKE UP!” Xander’s voice is barely above a whisper, but I can understand it clearly.

Another wave of pain courses through my body, and this time I open my eyes as another groan escapes my lips.

I’m hit by blinding white light, and I can’t see anything. The light hurts my eyes and makes my head throb. I have no idea where I am, and when I try to shield my eyes from the light, I realize I’m chained down.A sharp burning sensation starting in my wrists begins to course through my arms and into my body as I struggle against the bindings, squinting my eyes and trying to look for the source of the pain.

“Hey man calm down, you’re in the pack hospital” Alex says to me and I immediately freeze. Flashes of what happened before I passed out slowly coming back to me.

“Who was that girl?” I ask to no one in particular as I try to comprehend the gravity of the situation I’m in. I must be in serious trouble if I’ve been chained to the hospital bed with wolfsbane-infused silver handcuffs. Even my legs are chained to the bed.

“What girl? What are you talking about? Dominic, what happened? Your father is dead, and you were covered in blood. Alpha Stevens has questions for you. You might be in serious trouble.” Xander says, staring at me with the most serious expression I’ve ever seen on his face.

“It’s a long story, and not a good one unfortunately. Everything is kind of a blur after he latched onto my paw and wouldn’t let go.”

Just then Dr. Phillips walks in followed by Alpha Stevens. Alex and Xander immediately stand up and bow their heads to the alpha as he approaches my hospital bed.

“Leave us” Alpha Stevens commands in a low voice, and my friends scurry out of the room quickly, glancing back at me with worry etched across their faces as they leave.

“Dominic, I understand there was an incident involving Anthony late last night, and it also appears you have gained your wolf. Congratulations are in order on that front, and I want to wish you a happy birthday.” Alpha Stevens looked at me with his lips pressed into a tight frown. “However, this incident can not be ignored. It’s going to require an investigation, the elders may get involved. The killing of a pack member is serious business, as you well know. It’s why you are chained to the bed, and have been injected with wolfsbane. Unfortunately for you, that prevents your wolf from being able to heal you, so your injuries are going to heal slowly and cause you tremendous pain.”

After Alpha Stevens nods his approval, Dr. Phillips approaches me and begins treating my injuries. “Young man, your entire wrist has been completely shattered. Since you are without your wolf right now, I’m going to have to set it and place it in a cast. It’s going to hurt, so I’ll be administering some pain medication prior to the procedure. You have some minor lacerations that will heal fine on their own, but this injury on your shoulder is going to need to be stitched up. You’re lucky you didn’t bleed out, even with your wolf trying to heal you.” Dr. Phillips says before getting to work sewing up my shoulder.

“While he’s attending to your injuries, I need you to tell me the events that took place last night. You need to be entirely truthful with me.” The alpha commands me in his alpha tone, forcing me to comply, even though I would have anyway.

“Last night my adoptive father came home drunk and angry again. After he sent me into the coma last week, I just couldn’t bear to face his abuse again. So I ran into the woods. I was trying to keep away from him for the night, hoping he would be more calm when I returned home the next morning, but he came after me. I was sitting by the lake when I heard my wolf inside my head, and was so distracted by the surprise appearance of my wolf, that I didn’t notice my father slowly approaching me. He was very angry and smelled of were-whisky. My wolf told me that I was in serious danger and encouraged me to shift before he made it all the way to me. After a moment, he recognized me in my wolf form, and told me to shift back, but my wolf wouldn’t let me. Then my father shifted, growling at me, and began attacking me. I did my best to just avoid him but after he took a chunk out of my shoulder, I knew I was going to have to fight back… when he bit down on my paw, my vision got fuzzy and I don’t remember exactly what happened after that. All I remember is shifting back to my human form as some girl I’ve never seen before came out of the woods and pulled me into her lap as I blacked out… who was that girl anyway? I thought I knew all the wolves around my age?” I finished, looking at the alpha hopefully.

The alpha ignored me and looked directly at the doctor “was there a girl with him when he was found?”

“Yes alpha,” the doctor answered without looking up from the wound he was stitching. “It was that girl who arrived recently, the one staying with her aunt who lives in the cabin by the lake.”

The alpha went silent as his eyes clouded over, I can only assume he was mind-linking the pack warriors to ask about the girl. After a few moments sitting in complete silence, Alpha Stevens looked back at me with an amused expression on his face. “The young lady you took for an angel last night is in the waiting room, I’ll be speaking with her about the events of last night. For your sake, you’d better pray to The Moon Goddess that she can back up your story, otherwise serious action will have to be taken against you. This situation is very serious and can not be taken lightly.” And with that, Alpha Stevens spins on his heels and exits the room. I sit in silence as Dr. Phillips prepares to set my hand, completely lost in thought about the mysterious girl who just happened to be nearby as I was attacked. Why was she there? Who was she really? What did she see? What could have happened if she hadn’t been there when I succumbed to my injuries? And most importantly, why am I so drawn to her, after such a brief interaction?