Scarred Strength

Chapter 13

Kestrel's POV

I gasp for breath and look around. Ash sits next to Tundra sleeping. Liam sits next to me and I admire him.

His dark brown hair was shaggy around his head. I admire his chiseled abs and his tall frame.

I lay back down and look at the ceiling. It's darker than usual, so I can tell that it's night.

The door opens and I see one of the doctors. "Good, you're awake." She smiles and walks over to me.

"How long have I been out?" I ask her. She thinks for a moment. "Can't be more than 7 and a half hours."

My eyes widen at the answer. I lie back down as she checks my temperature. "It's way cooler, tomorrow I will have to change your bandages, you lost a lot of blood."

I nod as she walks out of the room. I curl up into a ball and wander my thoughts.

Is the war still going?

Is anyone dead?

Can I stop this?

Then a plan forms in my head. I look over at Liam, Tundra, and Ash. I will need their help, but we can do this.

I smile and close my eyes. I slowly fall back asleep.

Tundra's POV

I weakly open my eyes and see that Ash is sleeping beside me.

'Ash.' I try to say, forgetting I can't talk.

Tears form in my eyes. I'll never be able to talk again. Ash stirs and wakes up. When he saw I was awake, he carefully pulled me into an embrace.

"Thank god, I thought you left me." Ash cried softly.

"I could never leave you." I said through the mind link.

Ash let's go and frowns. His fingers softly graze my neck and I shiver. A pained look crosses over Ash's face.

"I felt it... It hurt so much. I just couldn't imagine how much more it hurt for you." Ash whispered.

Tears spill from my eyes as I let out a quiet sob. Ash hugs me and soothingly rubs my back.

"I want you to mark me." I stated in the mind link.

Ash looked at me, flabbergasted.

"You want me to what?" He questions.

"Mark me." I repeat.

He feels my forehead and my cheeks.

"Are you feeling okay?" He questions.

"Please Ash. I want this." I begged.

He looked at me with worried eyes.

"Do you want to do the full mating process?" He asks in my head.

I thought about it for a moment. Eh, why not? It's not like I have anything to lose. Plus I love Ash and I want this. I nodded my head. Ash bites his lip.

"Now?" He asks.

I nod my head once again.

"Okay, just give me a minute." Ash kissed my forehead and got up.

He came back a few minutes later and picked me up.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"Our room." Ash smiles.

I smiled as well and snuggled into his chest. I wouldn't have this any other way.

Kestrel's POV

I stir and open my eyes. I look at Liam and see that he is now up. I smile "Do you know who I am?" I ask him.

He shakes his head "All I know is that your my, ummm." He scratches the back of his neck.

"Mate?" I question. He nods and bites his bottom lip. "I'm Kestrel." I say. "I'm Liam." He says.

I nod, I don't think I want to freak him out just yet. I look behind him and see that Ash and Tundra are gone.

"Where are they?" I ask. "They left a few hours ago." I nod as the door opens.

The same doctor from last night comes in and I sit up. She walk over to the giant medical shelves and opens them.

She grabs bandages and a wound cleaner in a brown bottle. She closes the shelf with a click and sits on the bed.

"This may hurt since your wounds are fresh." She says. I nod as she comes closer to me.

She takes off the clip on my bandages and slowly takes them off. I wince in pain as she applies the cleaner. Then she puts on fresh bandages.

She repeats this process a few times on my other wounds and then walks out. Liam holds my hand.

I smile and lay back down on the cot. "Did you feel it to?" I ask him. He nods "It's okay."

"You should go and explore, you're part of the pack now." I say. He shakes his head "I'm not leaving until you're better."

I nod. Once Tundra and Ash return I will tell them my plan that may or may not work.

Tundra's POV

My body was a bit sore, but I managed to deal with it. And Ash was as gentle as he could be. I touched my neck and shivered. The mark rested on my collarbone. After I got dressed, I went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror.

The mark was a moon with a wolf howling and it had Ash's name at the bottom. The bathroom door opened and arms went around my waist. Ash put his face in my neck and pecked my mark with his lips. He also had a mark from when I marked him.

It was similar to mine except his had my name across the bottom of it. I turned around in Ash's arms and his hands were on my back now. He leaned down and kissed me.

"Let's go check up on Kestrel." I said in Ash's head.

Ash groaned but nodded. "What's so bad about going to see your sister?" I question.

"It's not that I don't wanna see her, it's just I wanna snuggle in bed, with you." Ash whined.

"Maybe later." I smiled.

He sighed and then we went back towards the infirmary. Ash opened the door and I walked in. I went over to Kestrel's cot and I saw another guy there, holding her hand. He was familiar and I backed away, whimpering.

"What's wrong?" Ash asked me as he came up behind me.

"H-he's Jack's brother..." I whimpered in Ash's head..

"I'm not going to hurt you, remember I tried to help you?" Liam questioned.

Flashbacks flew through my head. He did try to help me. I took a few deep breaths and nodded. Ash kissed my cheek and I smiled. I looked at Kestrel.

"Can you ask her how she is doing for me?" I ask Ash.

"Tundra was wondering how you were doing." Ash said.

"Why doesn't she ask me? Is she shy?" Kestrel chuckled.

I looked down. "Kestrel, she can't." Ash stated sternly as if saying "drop it".

"Why not?" She asks.

"Because, her vocal cords were cut." Ash said sadly.

Tears fall from my eyes. I was so ashamed of myself. Ash hugged me tightly, as if I was going to fall apart at any given moment.