n o v a (incomplete)

t w e n t y - s i x

It's cold water on her skin, calming it down.

It's a quiet retreat to her room, pulling on some grey sweatpants over the her waist. Her door knocks, and her head turns knowing who it is. She uses the towel to cover her chest, letting the doctor come in.

Aaron gives her a warm expression, but no words are exchanged. She pulls up her wet hair, letting him properly bandage the back that was still amidst healing, but looking much better. He takes his leave after, and she shrugs on her black hoodie, going without a bra.

It's not like the difference was visible, and she didn't want the strap digging into the sore flesh of her back. Her hair is dried after.

Nova feels a little rejuvenated, but her body isn't used to being on her feet for so long, already growing a little lightheaded. Some breakfast would be good, and her eyes narrow into the clock. Sonya told her the night prior she was more than welcome to join them if she was feeling up to it, or she could just stay in her room.

Nova was done being bedbound.

The female quietly thinks as she walks, her shoes squeaking across the polished floors. She didn't really know where she was going, so just followed the buzz and hum of the house this morning.

She chants the word in her head, hoping that perhaps it would make something click inside of her, have her turn her heel and run before reaching the tiger's den.

Werewolves. Werewolves. Werewolves.

It doesn't work.

Maybe it was the bond that the blonde had told her about, making the process of accepting it easier. Maybe it was the fact that Nova's hurt and worn and exhausted – it was easier just accepting the extraordinary now. Maybe it was the fact that she was starving right now.

Even so, her mind mills over every encounter she's had. With Kelsey it was different. She's known the blonde for so long now, that their trust is simply something she doesn't question. Then again, she hasn't seen the blonde shift as they call it.

Not like Romaeus. Maybe that was why she was so hesitant to reach out to him. She'd physically seen him embody his fur form, something traumatic just to witness. It could also be due to the fact that she'd newly known him but had grown so attached extremely quickly. Whatever they shared was intense and seeing a new light to him scared her.

Her heart pounds.

Soulmates? They were predestined to be together? The fact that he was purely made for her, just as she was made for him?

The idea was absurd, but both Sonya and Kelsey spoke incredibly highly of it, both firmly sure that it was between them. The moon goddess, or the being they regarded religiously, was something she didn't have faith in yet. She didn't know any of this, just following along until she did.

The breakfast hall is full when she enters, several men – or wolves- sitting around the table. They don't acknowledge her, eyes cast down to what they were occupied with. Nova is thankful for it, taking a deep breath and quelling her growing anxiety.

The atmosphere is different now; or maybe this was how it always was and she just never noticed. The testosterone is thick in the air, a primal and animalistic energy sifting through the air. She was seeing this in a newer light – it all had been swallowed down by her intimidation before. She had failed to see the source.

But she can see now.

These weren't mere mortals. They walked like gods. Ethereal. Out of this world.

Nova's vision is clear.

It's a clearly established where she sat in this hierarchy, at the bottom. The hairs on her arms and the back of her nape rise alongside with goosebumps forming, her heat pattering even harder with this newfound perspective.