Rise of the Makoce Pack

The Battle Within

Machines protested with loud beeping and alarms disrupted the silence of the pack hospital. The thundering sound of feet running to those sounds echoed through the halls as nurses and Dr. Matthews ran to the room where Alpha Casey lay thrashing in her bed. Her eyes were closed but her hands had shifted into claws and swung at demons only she could see. Tearing at her various tubes and gasping for breath, Casey was not in control. Her wolf was lashing out in fear and the silence in her mind propelled her further. Casey's presence was slipping in her mind and the frightened wolf was fighting for her life. The injuries Casey had sustained were great and her determination to walk by herself back into the pack house proven to have done more damage than expected. Her organs were failing and her heart was racing to keep up with the situation. Casey's wolf gnashed her teeth and nurses arrived to help subdue her. Wide, shocked eyes gave everyone pause as Casey's wolf side was pushing through passed her human side. Dr. Matthews knew what this meant and he had to act fast. Casey's human side was fading and if she did, her wolf would die and Casey would be no more. Dr. Matthews barked out orders to restrain the poor, frighted wolf and prepared a special sedative. Sometimes when a wolf was gravely injured the human and wolf needed rest, it only came from the help of a shot of pain medication mixed with a strong additive that shut down the body and allowed both the body and mind to truly heal. It was a strong course of action, one kept for emergency use only. It was a sort of coma that was used for werewolves who were hurt in battle or were attacked by rogues. The injured would only wake when the body was strong enough to do so but not before. The only thing was not knowing if the wounded would make it. It was up to the wolf and the person. They needed to heal together enough to pull through the worst of the injuries and in Casey's situation, she had to heal for the sake of two hundred others.

Dr. Matthews pushed the air bubble from the syringe and quickly tore Casey's blankets back to find her thigh. Five nurses were holding her down and another whispered reassurance into her wolf's frighted ear. Plunging the needle deeply into the muscle and standing back, Dr. Matthews told everyone to let go. Everyone stood against the wall catching their breath as Chayton's thrashing slowed and with a whimper she quieted. The chaos still and the machines beeped and hummed, satisfied with the settling of their charge. A nurse shakily stepped forward and covered Alpha Casey's body with her blankets and tucked them securely around her. Casey's steady breathing kept the machines company as she slept. The nurse brushed her sweaty hair from her face and whispered in her ear, "Rest, alpha, rest and heal so that we can rise again."

Casey's pov:

Everything hurt, everything was a sheet of white hot pain and even thinking brought pain. I couldn't bring myself to try and open my eyes and I felt myself sinking deeper into my mind as I felt Chayton emerge. She was scared and rightfully so, the body didn't seem to want to function and I could barely hear through Chayton's perspective the sounds of beeping and people yelling. Chayton was frantically pacing and I could feel her anxiety even if the feeling felt far away. I was tired, more tired than I have ever felt before and when that feeling began to take over the fear Chayton felt only increased and I felt my heart react to the fear Chayton felt, only, I couldn't do anything about it. Suddenly, everything was silent and Chayton's fear and panic ceased. I didn't have the energy to try and think why that could be, it was too hard, so I slipped further into my mind and felt an overwhelming sense of peace through the diminishing pain. I suddenly felt Chayton's presence and smiled to myself as I felt her warmth. Even though it felt as if Chay was far away, she was there and if she was there, there was hope for us. I no longer could hear any of the chaos I heard bits of previously. Silence was blanketing my subconscious and I welcomed it. My pain was fading and I felt peace envelope me. I felt myself smiling as I heard, "Rest, alpha, rest and heal so that we can rise again." And everything became nothing.

Chayton's pov:

I fought my hardest and pushed desperately against death's claim on us. Casey seemed to welcome it and feeling her pain, I could not fault her. Our pain was overwhelming and seemingly infinite. It had no end and we could not find relief. When I felt Casey sliding further into our mind, I knew we were in danger. She could not handle the severity of her injuries, so she simply gave up control to me but her injuries were too much for me, too and my desire to protect, my desire to live punched through the walls of impending death. Broken bones would heal and organs would slowly mend, but our mind was scarred and that required time and rest to come back from. Our fighting was something to be proud of and my exhausted body smiled at the effort. We did good, we proved ourselves today and we would rise again, I knew it. We just needed time and I knew I could not let Casey fade. I was too weak to make a push to shift for her, but my actions got the attention of the nurses and doctors. I did not mean to fight so violently, but I am scared. We are weak and fading and our injuries are severe. We endured surgery but multiple broken bones, a blood transfusion, and a couple of punctured organs is enough to overwhelm the body, even a werewolf's. The only thing I can do now is curl up and protect Casey and let the healing do it's job. I couldn't reach her and it caused a soft whine to break the silence in our mind. It spoke volumes and carried with it a burning desire: survival.