Pain of the Past

Chapter Eight

What is a Mate

You've never lived until you've almost died. For those who have fought for it, life has a flavor the protected shall never know.

Fern's P.O.V.

As we were running through the trees something shiny caught my eye. I pause for a moment before deciding to go and investigate. I realized to late that it was a gun, I yowl in pain as the bullet enters my back leg, burring deep into the muscle. The hunter laughs as I begin running trying to catch the others scents as I go. The hunter is quickly catching up to me following the blood trail i'm leaving behind.

I catch Shays scent and start following it to find him and the others, I break from the trees into an open meadow and the nine wolves snap their heads to me, taking in my appearance. I run over to them as they look at me with worry filled eyes, and collapse behind them. The hunter breaks through the trees shortly after me and his eyes widen at the nine wolves standing before him.

The wolves form a protective circle around me and then Shay's russet brown wolf takes a step forward and lets out a deep angry growl. The hunters eyes widen even more and he slowly begins to walk backwards back into the tree line. As Shays growl becomes louder the hunter turns completely around and sprints off, as he fades from view the pack turns and begins looking over me. They begin to blur together but I do my best to keep conscious. Shays russet wolf looks over to Dylans gray one and they make eye contact, Dylan nods his head and takes off into the woods in the opposite direction the hunter went. The rest of them continue looking over me and gently prodding my body, Roses dark brown wolf pokes my back leg with her snout and I can feel the blood begin to gush out of the bullet hole again and my sight get blurrier. Shay shifts back to his human self and begins to adding pressure to the wound.

"Fern do you think you can transform back into your human form?" His deep voice is filled with worry, and I give him a slight nod.

I can feel the energy change as the others shift back as well, with me following shortly after. The grass is soft on my head and lulls me deeper into the darkness, I can faintly hear Scott telling someone about my injury, my eyes begin dropping further and I hear a growl come from Shay before the darkness completely consumes me. The last thing I see is Opals panicked face.

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When I open my eyes, I immediately snap them shut. Ugh, who turns on the light when someone is trying to sleep. Wait where am I? The last thing that I remember is being shot and then passing out.Where are Shay and the others? Where the hell am I? Something begins beeping faster and I reopen my eyes and look around to find the source. There is a heart monitor stationed next to the bed i'm lying on. The white walls that surround me begin to feel as though they are closing in, y chest starts to feel heavy and my breathing shortens.

People wearing blue shrubs begin rushing into the room and begin pumping something into the IV that is hooked up to a plastic bag full of cloudy liquid. The room begins to spin and I close my eyes hoping to make it stop. I soon begin to get drowsy and the nurses start to leave. The heart-rate monitor begins to slow down and my chest starts to clear up, making it easier for me to breathe. Just as i'm about to fall asleep the door to my room opens again and I open my eyes to see who it is, another nurse walks in holding a cup full of some kind of liquid probably water.

"Get some rest dear, you're still healing." Her voice is soft and I nod my head letting my eyes close yet again. The darkness claims me as a victim yet again, but this time I don't fight it.

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When I wake up again I see the nurse from before walk in and walk over to my IV bag. She notices that i'm awake and pauses for a moment before she continues to check the plastic bag hanging off the metal pole. Once she's done with the baggie she turns to me with a smile on her lips.

"Good you're awake." She takes the cup of water off the small table next to my bed and hands it to me, after helping me sit up. "Here you go. Do you think you're ready for some visitors, I know a few people have been waiting for you to wake up." I nod my head yes and she leaves the room, after taking the cup from my hands and setting it back onto the table.

'Hello?' A small voice speaks in my head.

'Hello, who are you?' There's a small sigh of what sounds like relief.

'Thank god, I thought I had lost you. I'm your snow leopard, my name is Lily.' The door to my room opens and the group walks in. Raven runs over to me and hugs me tightly.

"C...Can't b..breathe." I manage to get out around my crushing lungs. She quickly lets go and backs up.

"Sorry, I'm just happy that you're ok." She says and I let a giggle slip before looking up at the others.

"Are you guys just going to stand there or what?" They laugh and crowd around my bed giving me gentle hugs.

'Mate!' Lily screams and I wince as a headache begins to form.

"Are you ok?" Shay asks with worry filled eyes.

"Ya, I just moved my leg wrong." I lie to him and luckily he buys it.

'What the hell Lily!' She purrs and begins talking.

'The one you call Shay is our mate.' I focus back to the present and continue talking to the others. Not too long after the nurse walks back in.

"I'm sorry, but visiting hours are over." She states and motions for the group to leave.

"Bye guys." They all give me hugs and they begin leaving the room but pause at the door.

"Bye Fern, we'll see you tomorrow." Opal states and then closes the door behind her.

'Hey Lily.'

'Yes?' Her voice pops up after a few seconds of silence.

I tilt my head to the side. 'What's a mate?'

'Get comfy it's going to be a long night.' I nod my head and lay the bed down and fix my pillow and blankets.

'Ok, i'm ready.' She sighs, but before she can speak the nurse walks back into the room. I groan inwardly as she walks towards me.

"Are you feeling better?" She asks while looking at the monitor.

"Ya but my leg hurts a bit." I tell her and she nods her head and then walks to the door.

"I'll get you some painkillers. I'll be back shortly." She closes the door behind her.

'This'll have to wait until she leaves again.' I tell Lily and she growls a bit.

'I hate being interrupted.' She grumbles.

'Me too.' I say to her as the door opens again.

The nurse hands me a cup of water and a small pill. "Here you go." I put the pill in my mouth and wash it down with the water. "When it takes effect you'll feel drowsy, so it's best for you to go to sleep when that happens, or if you prefer, now." I nod my head and as she leaves she turns out the lights.

'I'll tell you the story some other time Blue.' I hear Lily mutter as my head get foggy.

'Blue?' I question the name she has given me.

She purrs. ' It's my nickname for you.' I close my eyes and let a small smile come to my lips.

'I like it.' I hear her purr some more.

'Goodnight Blue.'

'Night Lily.' I say as I drift off into dreamland.