Broken Soul

Chapter 17

MYA

A FEW DAYS LATER

Staring out of the window and looking over the ocean settled me. The way the sun hits the water, it looks sparkly and magical. It makes me feel safe.

For the last few days, I haven't left my room. After the talk with my mother's family, I needed time to process everything.

It was all so real for one to have family that found me and took me in. Never in a million years have I thought there were people out there looking for me. My mum told me about her family, but I never met them due to the distance. There were phone calls and letters until one day, there was nothing.

When my mother died, there was nothing; it was like I was all forgotten. No letters. Whenever my mother got a letter from Tom, she made a big deal. We would sit on the couch while she read to me. He would bring up what his family was doing to the ocean. I had never left the pack before now, and the ocean was the one thing I longed to see.

A feeling of movement in my head brought me back to the present. I looked back to see Anya waking up. Ever since being here, she seems to be sleeping more, which is a little worrying, but she always reassures me it's making for rest.

"Hey," she murmured with a slight yawn before looking at me. "Why are you awake?"

I stared at her for a moment before I spoke. "I couldn't sleep," I said with a sigh. "I watched the sun come up and watched the sea."

Anya moved slightly and stretched her paws out before she sat back down on her hind legs to look at me. "You've been doing that quite a lot lately," she said, moving her head to the side.

"I know," I said, looking back and looking back at the ocean. "I just—" But I stopped and took a deep breath before beginning again. "I just want to do more now," I said, feeling her move closer to look through my eyes at the scene before me. "I want to train," I said. "I want to do more. Learn, feel free."

I felt Anya's warmth swipe through me, wrapping me in a blanket. "You are free, Mya," she said. "It will take some getting used to. You have been on your own for so long that it will be strange, but I believe this family does care about you."

"And you," I added. "They care about you, too."

"I—" Anya said but stopped when a knock on the door flooded through. Anya said nothing while I turned around and looked to see the door open. A head popped everywhere and looked at me—Lexi. The corners of her lips curled up into a smile while she pushed the door open and walked into the room.

"Hey," she said. "You're awake."

I said nothing but smiled back while she continued.

"We all thought that we would give you some space and let you come around before bombarding you with more questions," she said, slightly laughing.

That was one thing that they did let me be. No one came and bothered me. I knew they were nearby or someone was in my room while I was sleeping, but no one woke me. The only person who came to see me was the nurse to change the bandage on my arm, but she never uttered a word to me either. I always looked away from her removing it; I didn't want to see what it looked like, not yet. It was lovely not to speak, but I just let everything set in so that I was nowhere near the pack anymore. The only unnerving thing was all my mother's stuff was back there, and there was no way I could get it back until I was ready, and I didn't even know when that would be.

Anya cleared her throat, which pulled me back from my thought, and looked back at Lexi, who was looking around till her eyes landed back on me. "Uncle Tom was wondering if you wanted to join him and me for breakfast on the patio."