Under The Crescent Veil

5. Traitor and Hero

"Where are we going?" Nyx asked as Nora took her on a walk. The human girl was surprised they let her out of the Alpha's house. Even though she was the so-called mate of the Alpha, she felt more like a prisoner. A glamorous one, but still.

"You shall see when we get there, but for now just enjoy the nature." Nyx had to admit it was indeed nice to walk between the trees, even if it was together with a werewolf.

After ten minutes the two women walked into a more populated area with multiple buildings, cars driving by, and children playing on the sidewalk. It felt strange to Nyx, nowhere there were any signs of the war going on. Back home, you could feel it everywhere, but here it was peaceful.

Nyx's confusion only grew more when she saw humans in small quantities living and going about their day next to the werewolves. She had a hard time concealing her surprise, but mostly her disgust. They were traitors she thought.

"Here we are," Nora announced as they stood in front of a parking lot connecting to a building with the words clinic on it.

"Why did you bring me here?"

"You still need to be checked out. Silas may be a pushover, but I am not. Let's go." And with that, Nora took Nyx's hand in hers and slightly dragged the girl with her.

Nyx despised her actions, but she had learned from that morning that she was no match for Nora and therefore obliged. She knew when and how to pick her battles.

It wasn't a busy day in the local clinic and Nora and Nyx were quickly helped and settled in a room. In a painful silence, they waited for the doctor. When she finally arrived Nora let out a sigh of relief. She tried hard to get to know her sister-in-law and she knew it would be hard to connect. Nora was aware of the propaganda HPS used and she was absolutely sure Nyx was affected by it. But Nyx was something else to her.

The doctor worked in silence noticing the awkward and heavy tension in the room. Eventually, she asked, "How much pain are you in? According to the x-rays, two of your ribs are broken."

Nyx shrugged her shoulders. Her pain tolerance was quite high. "It's uncomfortable," She finally replied.

"Okay, and how high of a number would you give your pain, with one being the least and with ten being the most pain you have ever been in?"

"Between a four and five, I guess."

The doctor raised her eyebrows. "Hmm, okay. I will still prescribe you a pain medication because normally a human would be in a significantly huge amount of pain with your injuries. Let me write it for you." As she was busy, Silas walked in bewildered and out of breath. "What happened? Why is Nyx here?"

"Easy there lover boy, I just wanted to make sure Nyx is in top condition," Nora winked at her brother. Silently Silas mouthed a 'thank you'. Once the doctor was done Silas asked for a summary of her findings.

"Nyx seems to be in good health, despite the trauma she has suffered. Two of her ribs are broken and her left cheekbone is broken as well. I cleaned the cut there and I will put her on some antibiotics and pain medication. It looks like it is about to be infected, or well it is but in its very early stages. Next to that she has some bruising here and there but is all healing nicely. It's a good thing Nora brought her in. For now, she just has to take it easy and eat well with the medication, that's all."

"Thank you, Susan," Silas said as the doctor left the room. He turned to Nyx. "Next time I send the doctors you will let them see you. I can't lose you," Worry laced in the Alpha's voice. He carefully placed his hand on Nyx's good cheek.

Nyx accepted his touch. It was warm and comforting. It felt strange to her to be looked after. She couldn't even be angry at it. For that short moment, she let her body speak for itself and didn't fight her thoughts that this was wrong. She knew it, but a part of her told her it was good. Nyx couldn't even explain that side of her, but she let it be right there and then.

Closing her eyes she enjoyed it. Silas noticed her acceptance and kept his hand on her cheek. He had found it adorable that his mate was so compliant all of a sudden, by just his touch.

When Nyx finally snapped out of it she jumped off the exam table and declared loudly and clearly, "I can take care of myself, it was no need to be here."

"Well, from what I heard and seen, you have a hard time doing so," Nora replied.

"I have been in worse scenarios and survived them just fine."

"How about we all go home?" Silas offered before a fight would develop between the two women.

Nora nodded her head and Nyx silently agreed by following them to the car Silas brought with him. During the drive, Silas tried to make conversation with Nyx. "I have decided that you can roam free in the house, just not outside yet. I would like you to bring someone with you. Nora is going to stay with us for a couple of days while her mate is on a trip, so she could keep you company if you want." Silas tried to be reasonable.

"Why thank you," Nyx muttered sarcastically.

Silas sighed. "Like I said, this situation is far from ideal-"

"You can say that, yeah," Nyx interrupted.

"But as I was saying, I would like to make this work the easiest way possible... What would you have me do then?"

"How about you let me go?" Nyx said as a matter of fact.

"You know I can't do that, and besides, do you think HPS will take you in when they see you not on the brink of death? Unharmed from enemy territory is a suspicious sight. They might kill you, seeing you as a traitor-"

"I am not a traitor!"

Silas brows raised, surprised he hit a snare, taking a mental note to not use the term 'traitor' lightly around Nyx.

"Just think about it Nyx. Would you let someone back similar to your situation without actually knowing what went on?" She knew Silas was right, but she didn't want to believe it. She didn't want to imagine The Major looking down at her and putting a bullet between her eyes. She just couldn't.

Nyx remained silent the rest of the drive and fled to her room when they arrived at the house. She didn't want to believe Silas' words. She just couldn't.

As more time went by, the more insecure Nyx felt. The young woman's trust in her guardian's loyalty to her withered away. Anxiety filled her, making Nyx restless. Unable to think about anything else. Silas' words echo in her mind over and over again.

Nyx bit her nails – which she never did – she paced, she bounced her legs up and down while trying to sit down. Nyx couldn't even enjoy her precious view. She was at a loss. Losing the Major's trust meant losing a part of her identity, a big part of it. She didn't know who she was without HPS. It was all she ever knew. When arrived at the pack she somehow thought she would either die or escape, staying was not a part of it, but was a huge probability as of now.

Frustrated Nyx grabbed her short hair and yanked at it. Desperate, hopeless, annoyed, and anxious. All emotions she hardly had to deal with at the headquarters. Nyx was feeling homesick. She missed her bed, the training, the cold concrete block she called her home. Hell, she even missed her small window where she could only see the sky from.

Then, in a split second, a genius plan crossed her mind. It would be hard indeed to get back to HPS and even harder to convince them she wasn't a traitor, but she remembered something The Major liked to say: actions speak louder than words. All Nyx had to do was get intel about this Alpha HPS was after for months. Maybe harm him or even kill him while escaping. A sinister smirk settled on Nyx's face.

Nyx was going home, not asa traitor, but as a hero. 

Thank you for reading!