Wolf Girl (Book 4)

Chapter 5: Carys

Carys' POV

If I tell Jana who I saw out in the woods, she'll definitely start to think I'm off my meds or my PTSD is kicking in. If I'm honest, it's starting to, but that's only because of the crash. But if I keep it to myself, then I'll probably wind up having another breakdown.

"Come on, you know you can trust me," she begs.

"Okay," I take a deep breath, "I saw Ingrid."

"Ingrid? As in, crazy-in-love-with-you, stole-your-pills and tortured-you-and-your-brother Ingrid?" She can't believe what she's hearing, that's not surprising though, I barely believed it myself.

"Yeah, remember we saw something running in front of us, at first I thought it was someone from the pack, but I caught her scent. It was her. In wolf form, and she transformed and that's when I realised it was her. I got distracted while I was driving, and that's why I crashed the car. You do believe me don't you?"

"Of course. But you don't have to worry, she won't come anywhere near you, she wouldn't dare come to the city. The pack has probably found her by now. If a Wolfblood is caught breaking banishment, another trial takes place. I promise you, Carys. She's nothing to worry about, okay?" She takes my hand.

"Thank you, you've always been the voice of reason."

All I want to do is kiss her again. I hate her for making me love her so much.

"Anyway, you asked about Emilia." I nod. "She has cancer in her leg, she's already started chemo."

"Cancer? Oh my god, she must be terrified. And Matei must be heartbroken." I think about the look on his face when he saw us kissing, we really made his terrible day so much worse.

"He is," Jana fumbles around with the hem of her hospital gown, "He's angry at you. He wants to blame you, but you know it wasn't your fault, right?"

"Yeah, I know, but I get where he's coming from. Maybe you should go and check on him and Emilia," I suggest.

"Come with me, I want you to meet Emilia properly."

"I don't think I should, Matei doesn't want me around, and that's fine."

"It's not about what Matei wants. I've told Emilia all about you, I want you to meet. Come on," she stands up and takes my hand.

The nurses here probably wouldn't want me to leave my bed, but I go with Jana anyway. We meet with Dr Whitewood who takes us to Emilia's ward. I'm still holding onto Jana's hand like my life depends on it. I don't know why it's so nerve-wracking. Technically, I've met Emilia, she just hasn't met me. The floor feels so cold on my bare feet. We walk into the room they're in and see a few patients lined up in armchairs having their treatment done, Emilia is right at the end by a window, looking out at the trees blowing in the wind. She still looks really sick, but much better than she did when we first got to her. Matei is on a small stool next to her. He's reading something to her, but she ignores him when she sees Jana.

"Jana!" She says, she sounds less croaky than before. We walk over to them and take a seat on two spare stools.

"How are you feeling?" She takes Emilia's hand while still holding mine.

I can feel Matei's eyes burning on me, and I can sense that he's ready to pounce on me at any second. Maybe if I weren't all bandaged and broken, he wouldn't hesitate to start a fight. Still, I drop Jana's hand, no need to upset him further.

"Not great, but a lot better than I've been," Emilia coughs.

"That's good to hear," Jana smiles. "This is Carys."