Silver Skin

15

Sealing wounds
~
Cadence
~

"The claws didn't go in deep, just the tips of them. Perhaps her intentions weren't meant to hurt you. You will be fine, hunter." The bright-haired healer explained and Cadence hopped off the bed, creeping her hand to the back of her neck.

It had been cleaned with a washcloth and inspected by a werewolf healer. Cadence felt fine, a slight pain, but it would be easy to ignore.

"Are you sure?" Accalia questioned and scanned Cadence warily. "She doesn't need stitches, band-aids or even a healing remedy?"

The healer gave an inquiring look to Cadence. "We have healing properties that can heal the wound if you'd like."

"What's in it?" Cadence asked, jutting her chin at the cabinet of medicine.

"Lycan blood."

Cadence grimaced and shook her head, shrugging her shirt over her neck. "I'll heal it on my own."

Accalia grumbled under her breath.

Frowning with brows knitted together, Cadence stalked up to the healer and the werewolf quickly backed away, eyes pitted wide with anxiety.

"I—er ... thanks," Cadence said in an unsure tone and took a step back, realising she posed more as a threat than anything else. "For doing your job and whatever."

The healer nodded unsurely with the same nervous gaze and went to clean up, bidding the two women a good night.

Accalia formally thanked the healer and left with Cadence, slipping out of the healer's cabin and into the nightly forest.

As the trees towered around them and swallowed them into the thicket of the woods, there was no sight of the moon, but clusters of stars that could be seen through the cracks of dancing branches. The full moon was a few days from now and it wasn't a time anyone look forward to.

It didn't come without struggle. Werewolves were on edge more than ever before. The full moon seemed to weigh heavier than an iron fist. They were injected with a new needle of anxiety and it couldn't be lessened without the presence of their leader.

Lycus was tuned in with restraining his wolves and each month with him gone, it was more difficult.

For the first time since Lycus's disappearance, Cadence begrudgingly helped take the weight off Accalia and restrained the wolves in silver and chains. Each moon cycle has become worse and worse, a constant fight of defiance.

The second and third, Accalia's hand was forced and she had to bring the lycans to enforce violent retaliation to make sure they made no effort to free from their confinements.

The werewolves and lycans didn't take a liking to Accalia's presence as acting Alpha. Cadence understood it, she was human and a hunter, the sworn enemy. But at the end of the day, her cousin was Lycus's mate, his Luna and he would be damned if anyone dared challenge her position as the Luna of the Fenris pack.

Cadence wondered if the next full moon would be worse than the last.

"Is Erisa sleeping over?" Accalia asked softly from Cadence's side.

After they returned to the pack, everyone slipped out of the car and disappeared in different directions without a single word to each other.

Cadence shrugged. "Can she? I think she's already in my room asleep. Tristan's in your old room, by the way. I had to walk him up the stairs, the dumb loser."

Accalia laughed airily, but the quiver in her vibrance gave no trace of humour.

Accalia had been slumbering in Lycus's room these past weeks and Cadence noticed Accalia always woke up more tired than last with heavy-lidded eyes and deep plum bags hanging under her once warm brown irises.