The Tortured Luna

Lorna Awakes

After a few hours, Lorna woke up from the anesthesia and groggily looked around. When she went to lift her right hand, she felt a warm heaviness. Looking over, she saw Beta Jack hunched over on the edge of her bed holding her hand. Stunned and touched by his show of comfort, she smiled a bit and groaned as she tried to lift her left arm to run her fingers through his hair to wake him up, only to cry out in sudden agony at the unexpected burst of pain. Immediately, Dr. Waters, Nurse Greene, and two other people in a white coat rushed through the door and over to her bedside just as Alpha Atlas and Beta Jack jumped up out of a knocked-out cold sleep ready to fight whatever intruder may have made it past the guards.

"I'm sorry, Beta, Alpha.... this wasn't how I wanted to wake you up. Dr. Waters, why does my arm hurt so much just to move it? I thought it was a simple extraction of the serum capsule." apologized Lorna, immediately launching into a question to the doctor, the nurses checking and changing her bandages while another changed her IV.

"Unfortunately, it wasn't as simple as just an extraction. It appeared you had the capsule in your body somewhere between five and six years. The way the capsule was designed, it caused silver poisoning as well as additional wolvesbane damage. It caused a massive amount of your flesh between your shoulder and left breast to be severely infected and your flesh was discolored. I had to remove a good portion of the damaged tissue and reconstruct it using animal lining. Your movement is going to be pretty restrictive for the next few months while you heal." Dr.Waters told her.

"But.... it's just until you can reverse the serum.... right?" Lorna questioned, pain obvious in her voice.

"Unfortunately, because of the way the capsule was designed, there was a slow and steady flow of wolvesbane and silver entering your bloodstream from roughly a year or so after you implanted it in your body. This means that the damage is irreversible. Even though I got out as much as I could, you'll always have them in your system. Eventually, you'll die from it. Even if we are able to reverse engineer the serum, the capsule design and the effects from it being in your body won't save you. We can give you medicine to keep them from getting to any future pups, but we can't reverse it. I'm sorry."

"How long do I have left?" Lorna asked softly as she squeezed Jack's hand.

"Ten years at most, if I can get the right medicine to you. I had to combine the medicine we have for both poisons and add additional elements to it to keep it from spreading. Right now, I have it simmering. Then, after it cools, I can put them in pill form and give them to you. You'll have to take one in the morning and one at night. The only time you take one in the afternoon is if you find out your pregnant." Nurse Greene looked up at the clock and continued. "I'll bring your first dose in a few hours. I have to go to the lab to finish it up." she said as she turned around and rushed out of the room towards the lab.

"So.... I'm on limited time to fulfill the Alliance Peace Treaty Contract for you so Krassus doesn't make do on his promise to wipe you out." Lorna said to herself.

"What do you mean his promise to wipe us out?" Atlas asked her, his defenses up.

"He told me that if I didn't get pregnant within the first three months that I'm here, he's going to take that as a defiance of the treaty and destroy us all. From what I understand of what the doctor told me, I don't have much time to do much of anything. This is the first time I've had true medical treatment since giving birth six years ago. The Alpha wouldn't allow me, nor any other she-wolf, to have medical care. Especially omegas. He thinks that omegas are the lowest of the low. You guys actually cared about my health and tried to help me. I don't want anything to happen to you guys or your pack." Lorna revealed. Before Atlas and Jack were able to respond, Nurse Greene walked in with a large bottle of pills.

"These are the pills I told you about. You have a good three to six-month supply of these. If you find yourself feeling weak, take another pill and come back here for a stronger supply. I'll have them ready for you."

"Thank-you. How long do I have to stay here?" Lorna asked.

"At least overnight so we can monitor the infection. I want to make sure we won't have to amputate your arm." Lorna's eyes went wide before she spoke in disbelief.

"I... I can lose my arm? How? Why?"

"The combined poisons of the wolvesbane and the silver along with whatever else he put into that serum created a very powerful toxin that we haven't quite figured out yet. This means that we don't know what the effects are in regards to it, nor how your body will react after having it in your body for so long. Unfortunately, this also means that we will need to see you every few days to run tests and check your health. It also means that your pregnancies will be dangerous. Mostly for you. Your pups will have the possibility of inheriting your illness if you miss even one dose, so you have to take them religiously." Lorna was quiet for a moment before she spoke again.

"Alright.... I...I'll get comfortable. Thank-you all for what you've done for me, and what you plan to do for me... and my future pups."

"I'll stay with you, Lorna. Alpha, with your permission, I'll perform my Beta duties from here until she's released."

"Take the time off. Like I said earlier, Gamma Ray will act in your place. With this new information, the two of you can decide when to have the mating ceremony and produce the heir that he demanded through the treaty." Before they could continue the conversation, Lorna spoke.

"As much as I want to have time to grieve the loss of my family, I don't want him to make good on his threat. I think we should start as soon as possible. It's my duty as a Beta Female to put the pack first. There are too many innocents here. I refuse to be responsible for the m******e of an entire pack... and he will blame it on me. When he comes, he'll find me and make me watch. So, Beta Jack.... whenever you're ready... I'm ready." They were stunned into silence at her words.

"Alpha, will you make arrangements for Lorna to move into my Quarters? Also, for a home away from home house on the border lands between our packs? I want us to occasionally go there to keep an eye on things along the border with having time to relax. I'm thinking we can do this every ten acres and fence the properties in, we could also use them for long term guests that don't want to stay in the pack house."

"I like that idea. I'll get started on that right away. Lorna, as soon as your stuff comes from Dark Raven, I'll make sure that they're up in the Beta Quarters with Jack."

"Thank-you, Alpha." Lorna replied sincerely as she snuggled down into her medical bed, falling back to sleep almost instantly. Alpha Atlas and Beta Jack noticed this and stepped outside her door to talk without disturbing her.

"Atlas, I don't like this idea of being forced to be with someone without having a chance to get to know them. Especially since I just lost my mate! Don't blame me if I eventually just walk away...especially if I meet my second chance mate."

"I know, and I won't. Just make sure that you do right by Lorna. We may not like how she got here or the information she told us, but we owe her. We need to make the last few years of her life better than how it was until now."

"I will... but that's one of the reasons I mentioned the houses on the border. We're gonna be spending most our time there after they're built and I'll be going back and forth between our house and my quarters in the pack house. I'll think of something as to why we move there when the time comes." Beta Jack told Alpha Atlas.

"I don't like it, but I understand. You've always been like my brother... even more so after my parents took you in after yours died. I'll support your decisions, as long as you do right by Lorna completely."