Shadows of the Past

Fifteen

Saturday wasn't much better, and I spent the better part of it still in bed. Mom got so worried she called Holly, who told me I probably just overworked myself and that I should take advantage of the weekend to rest and rejuvenate. I told her I needed to study and she told me, very firmly, not to even glance at a book. My mind and body needed a break.

She explained that because of the emotional stress I had been through last weekend—from entering new territories and meeting alphas, to finding and nearly rejecting my mate—my wolf and I simply just needed to catch up. So, everyone left me alone to sleep. And I did. A lot.

When I came to on Sunday, my limbs were heavier still, and I felt hollow. This was different than the emptiness leaving Crescent Moon gave me. It was like, a part of me I always had but never really noticed had shriveled up and disappeared from somewhere inside of me. I couldn't place my finger on it, but it was enough to make me cry.

Holly's new diagnosis was that my mate's absence was taking a toll on my body.

Dad frowned from where he stood at the foot of my bed. He was studying me and subtly disagreed with the pack doctor. "That doesn't make any sense. It hasn't been long enough for it to result in this." He gestured to my feverish state. My eyes had been in and out of blurry for hours now, usually remaining blurry more than clear.

Holly stared at me too. "That's the most reasonable explanation, Alpha. Werewolves don't get sick like this; our wolves heal us before we even know we catch something. My guess is that her mate's absence affected her so quickly because both of them are alphas, and she has some powerful wolf genes in her DNA. Alpha Williams' is less, for he is only a second generation after his father won a challenge, but he is a born alpha nonetheless."

"Maybe we should call him." Mom gripped Dad's arm, her face creased with worry for me. "We'll see if it helps at all, and I'm sure he would be more than willing to come up."

"It's worth a shot." Holly said before bowing her head and leaving the room.

My lungs felt like they just set themselves on fire inside of me. "Ah!" I gasped, not expecting that. My lungs had the worst of it, but everything else in me just felt sore and bruised. Like I just spent the week training and fighting instead of pouring over books to study for finals.

"Let's do it. I'll call him." Dad said, sending me a sympathetic look I could barely discern through my hazy vision.

I wanted to call out and tell him not to bother River, that I was fine. But the next burn seared from my lungs and traveled like an explosion into my trachea and out my nostrils. Before I could breathe another to speak again, he had the phone to his ear.

"River." Dad said. I still thought it was funny that he wouldn't be formal with him. The humor disappeared when a cough overtook my body, shaking my ribs and making my voice grow hoarse. I missed the rest of what he told River before he was hanging up. "He'll be here tomorrow."

My head rolled to the side, feeling as heavy as a thousand rocks, and I couldn't straighten it back up. Instead my eyes closed and I was plummeting down, down, down, until there was only darkness.

Monday morning felt normal. I woke up, I took care of my personal hygiene, and I went to school with Skylar's siblings and the gammas' kids like any other day—despite my parents' looks of astonishment and attempts to keep my home. I had exams to take, classes to finish! I couldn't just skip!

Besides, I felt normal again. Maybe my body really did just need the weekend to recover, and yesterday had been my breaking point before it got better.

Sure, my limbs still had rocks in them, and something was missing from somewhere inside of me—almost like my soul, not a physical body part—but I was up, I was awake, I was walking, and I could see straight. Most of the time. Black spots threatened me in the corner of my eyes about once per hour, but no one needed to know that. As long as I got through exams, I could rest tonight and I'd be fine.