Blood Wolf

Chapter 7

I woke up the next morning covered in a silk duvet the sun shining on my face. Alone.

This flight had really drained the last drop of energy out of me and I realized, just as I sat up and felt the world around me move and shake like I was in a spinning wheel.

"Kaven?", I exclaimed in hopes that he'd be close by. It wasn't a sickness where my stomach rebelled or my mouth watered with stinging motions it was more like I had lost orientation.
Just when I reached the door frame I heard the rushing and heavy steps Kaven made on the parquet climbing up the stairs.
"Wait! I'll help you", he said, grabbing my elbow. "Are you okay? You look really pale"
"Yes. I just-...everything spins"

Kaven blinked a couple of times and exhaled.
"Do you think that's normal?", I asked my legs shaking like jell-O while gravity pulled at me.
"I-...Let's go downstairs first."
He lifted me into his arms and I squeaked before he steadily walked back to the stairs to let me down on this dark leather couch.
The TV was on discovery channel showing a desert and a couple of lions preying on antelopes behind high grass.
I turned around. The kitchen was busy in itself. Steam escaped the kettle on the stove right next to the pan which sizzled with something that smelled so delicious that I got hungry in an instant.
Kavens phone lit up on the coffee table and he ignored it. I looked up at him.
"That's just Anakin. He's been harassing me this entire morning. I'll call him back later"
He hastily grabbed the keys and swang his coat over his shoulders. "I'll be back in 5 minutes. Stay put."

Stay put.

Despite the fact that I felt a knot in my stomach hearing those words I nodded with a smile hiding the awful feeling I had for 3 months for a period of my life. He rushed outside the door falling in its frame with an elegant clicking sound and I returned to the lions on TV.
This time a gepard was shown with its lean body panting after a short bit intense hunting attempt which was unsuccessful. I frowned and sighed looking for the remote to turn up the volume when Kavens phone started ringing.
It was Anakins name that popped up.

I hesitated at first but then my curiosity got the best of me and I pressed the green button to accept the call.
"Hey, Anakin"
"Where the fucking hell are you?!", he yelled back. So loud that I flinched.
"It's me, River. Are you guys okay?"
"River?!", he wheezed and mumbled something that sounded like a curse. "Oh my god. Where are you guys? We thought the shucks had kidnapped you or some shit. And Riley is on edge I didn't know how to calm her down!"
Confusion blurred my thought process. "What is going on?", I asked. "Didn't Kaven tell you that I was released from the hospital?"
"Released?", he asked, his voice raising a pitch. "The doctors have been looking for you as well! Where the hell are you guys?"

A slam hit me in my chest area and I almost dropped the phone. "What?", I asked with a shaky voice.
"Where's Kaven?", Anakin demanded and I swallowed.
"He'll be here in 5"
"My god.", he sighed. "Are you guys in Tofino?"
"Y- yes?" I don't know why but him knowing where we were helped me relax a bit.
Then I heard the keys in the door and multiple steps. Kaven came in with an older looking man who wore glasses and carried a rectangular suitcase in, while staring at me with a concentrated look on his face.
Kaven gestured him in my direction and followed him as they approached me sitting on the couch. I was dumbfounded - the phone still in my hand and Anakins voice on the line.

"Hello River", the old man said softly. "I'm doctor Thompson. Kaven told me you had a fever and now you're feeling dizzy. Do you mind if I check on you?"
My worried look went up to Kaven who stood behind doctor Thompson, arms crossed.
"What?", he said shrugging. "You said you felt dizzy"
I let out a relieved exhale and nodded at Thompson who kneeled eager to check and opened his bag which turned out to be a medical supply suitcase.

"Who were you talking to?", Kaven asked his chin pointing at his phone in my hand.
"Anakin", I replied hesitantly as he walked around the doctor to take it out of my hand.
"Kin?", he said into the device walking away to the kitchen and angrily yelling some words I couldn't understand.
"Kaven is not happy about Anakin calling.", Thompson said while he measured my temperature and felt my pulse. My brows raised themselves. "You know Anakin as well?"
"Yes. I've known them since birth. Well, to be honest, I was there when Kaven was born"
Surprise covered my expression. "I didn't know that", I mumbled just to have said something.
He just smiled. "You guys were really lucky. Kaven just called when me and my wife had decided to depart from here"
"I'm sorry"
"No, don't worry about it. My wife didn't want to leave anyway. Now we have an excuse", he laughed. "How did you get this wound?"
I stared down at my arm the bitten part where a deep carnivore bite had left its painful marks. He examined it with a concerned expression on his face.
"Have you been bitten by a wolf?"
I wanted to say that I hadn't been around wolves but that wouldn't be true. But why on earth would Kaven bite my arm?
Dogs hadn't been around either - so I had no reply to his question.

"I don't know what happened.", I replied eventually. 

Thompson just nodded slightly a genuine but slight smile curling on his face. "I think you're fine. Kaven has just been overly cautious. Like always"

He got up with a suppressed grunt looking for Kaven who just reentered the living room, clicking away on his phone. "She's fine.", he said. "False alarm I guess. But if that happens again, please do not hesitate to call for me. I'll come over and check on her"

Kavens brows raised before his relieved gaze lowered onto my face. Walking up to me he turned to the doctor and offered him to walk him to the door while thanking him for coming. 

I perked my ears when they continued talking. 

I was okay. I was healthy. Maybe my body was just acting up. 

But then my blood froze, caused by a whisper. 

"Kaven. Be really careful. She might turn any minute."

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