Chapter Six
1227 Words
"Do something!" Someone roared next to me and I struggled to open my eyes. I managed to get them cracked. Bright light split my head wide open. Nope. I let my eyes flutter closed again.
"Xander, calm down!" Rhys was here too. Someone moved my arm and a scream ripped itself from my throat.
"It's okay." A soft feminine voice this time. "The muscles are torn but it will heal. The fever will take her soon though, so if you want to say something, now is the time."
Fever? What fever? "We'll leave you alone with her Xander." Rhys' voice moved further away.
Soft, cool fingers brushed hair from my forehead. His hands were more calloused than I expected. The pads of his fingertips scratched at my skin.
"This isn't what I wanted, Syndony. Why didn't you stay put?" His voice wrapped around me, anguish making him hoarse. We barely knew each other. Why did he feel so much for me? We only had two whole conversations in the last week.
I wanted to snap at him, but his hands were blessedly cool against my fiery skin. And his voice soothed my frazzled nerves.
"I did my best to seal the wound." He continued with a breathy chuckle. "It's damn near impossible in wolf form, but I licked it clean."
Yuck.
"Our saliva holds some healing properties. Something about canines having astringent drool." He huffed another laugh. "I wish I knew how much you were taught of our culture. You're going to be a big part of it soon."
Unless I died. Dying was still an option. Most humans couldn't withstand the lycanthropy disease. The same reason a Vampyr had to be careful not to inject venom when feeding. We humans were not built of sterner stuff.
I wanted to scream. This entire situation was unfair. I was only eighteen! I wasn't ready to be a wife. Much less a wolf. Or dead.
Lips whispered across my forehead. "I will let the healer keep an eye on you, Wife. Come back to me."
I couldn't move, couldn't react, darkness snatching me under again.
~*~*~*~*~*~
I was in a desert. Which should have been odd since I'd never seen one in my life outside the slideshows in school. But still, I was.
The moon hung low in the sky above rolling dunes. The air, while cool, was dry and arid. It licked across my flaming skin, both soothing and irritating.
"I've waited so long to meet you!" The voice was high and light. I whirled, looking for the speaker.
She was behind me. Something about her was familiar. The tilt of her eyes was amused as she took in my confusion. She was absolutely beautiful, from her silvered waist-length hair to her stormy pale eyes.
"Welcome to Zolon, Syn."
"Zolon?" I blinked in confusion. Hadn't I just been on a bed in the pack-house, in the middle of dying?
"Yes, the realm of the gods." Shitballs. I was dead. "I've been so eager to meet you!"
"And you are?" I crossed my arms, vaguely aware that my shoulder felt fine. So we didn't bring our wounds into the afterlife. Good to know.
"My name is different wherever you go. Selene, Luna, Mother, Goddess… I am all of those." She stepped forward, grabbing my shoulders and gazing at me with adoration.
Maybe I should have been groveling. Or weeping. Or asking a plethora of questions. However, as she stared at me with those luminous eyes, I could only blink stupidly at her.
"Is this the part where you tell me I died?"
"What?" To her credit, she looked taken aback. My tone was a bit surly. Dial it back, Syn. A pissed off Goddess was not exactly a good thing.
"Am I dead?" There. I was proud of myself. My tone was loads better, coming out more a question than an accusation.
"Oh, dear heart, no! You're currently in a fever dream." She gave me an enigmatic smile. "I like to meet my new children personally. Welcome you to the pack."
"So, I'm not dead?" Relief washed over me, followed by an anger so searing I nearly throat-punched the immortal being in front of me.
"Thanks, by the way." I shrugged out of her grip. "For all of this!" I gestured roughly. "The enhanced fertility, the whole ruining my life gig, and hey, make me a Were on top of it. Appreciate it."
Her face fell and she stepped back. "It wasn't my intention to ruin your life, Syn. This is the plan. The Fates weave and we all fall in line. This is your thread in the tapestry."
"Oh! So where are those witches? I'd like a word." I stalked toward her. "I'd like to personally thank them for the next level hell I've been introduced to."
"Keep that wild streak, Syn. You're going to need it." She spread her arms, the bell sleeves of her gossamer dress catching the moonlight. "I don't have long, but know that you were created in love. You are love, and it is your purpose to love and be loved."
I stopped my advance, my feet slowing. "This is how you show I'm loved?" My screech echoed across the shifting sands. "A Husband I don't know, a task to bear him children when I don't even know if I want kids. This is love?!"
"You'll understand with time." Her voice was fading even as she flickered in and out of view. "Every single soul has a purpose, Syn. To love."
"That's not a purpose!" I screamed into the darkness as the desert winked out of existence. "It's a state of being!"
"Exactly."
~*~*~*~*~*~
I groaned. The dream slipped from my grasp. Had I been in the desert? Weird. My eyes fluttered open. The canopy of the bed I was in was closed, but light filtered through the thick material.
How long had I been asleep? My clothes were soaked through, clinging to my body uncomfortably. At least I wasn't dead.
I moved my arm gingerly. It ached, but not nearly as bad as it should have. My shirt sleeve had been torn off, and a bandage wound around my shoulder.
I sat up slowly, unused muscles protesting the movement. My head spun, but I stayed upright. Yay for small victories.
The dizziness increased for a moment, then a pounding ache split my skull. I closed my eyes against the pain.
'Hello there.'
Uh, no thank you. Internal voices were not okay.
'I am Eclipse.' The voice slid through my mind, unfurling in a presence that rolled in the back of my head. What fresh hell was this?!
'We are friends now. Pack. I can hear your thoughts human.'
Nah, I wasn't doing this. I was not discussing anything with a figment of my imagination. I must still be fevered. That was the only explanation.
The presence chuffed softly, a distinctly canine sound. 'You are perfectly fine, human. We are one. Soulbound.'
"The least you could do is explain it better." I muttered aloud.
Pinpricks of invisible pain teased across my mind. I got the sense that Eclipse was using blunted claws to scratch at me. This was odd.
'I am you. You are me. We are one.'
"One what?!"
'Were. You are human, I am wolf. Together, we are Were.'
Fan-freaking-tastic.
- Writer
