In The Shadows (Re-written)

-TEN-

By day three of my mandated bedrest, I was finally able to muster up the strength to stand for more than five minutes before needing to sit back down to ease the burning of my leg.

The wound on my calf had been worse than I'd anticipated. Adding to that the pain I felt every time I breathed and trying to keep my shoulder absolutely still, the posture I needed to adopt for minimal pain took a tremendous amount of concentration.

Still, I knew I needed to starting moving my stiff limbs at some point. I would need to be cautious not to tear any of my stitches because the last thing I wanted was an extension of the time it would take for me to heal to a point Coda would be willing to resume my training.

I was a little obsessed over my lessons with Coda. Yes, because I liked learning how to fight, but not only for that reason. Without my training sessions, I didn't see much of the beta.

He didn't have an excuse to see me and he wasn't going to carve out time just to check on me when my own father hardly cared.

For Moon's sake, the alpha lived in the same house as me but never once made the short trek to my room just to look in to see if I was even alive.

My eyebrows furrowed and I shook my head to expel the thoughts of my father. Thinking about the alpha never brightened my mood, only soured it.

Gingerly making my way out of the house, I milled about the rows of cabins, using my hand to support myself up against one of the buildings if needed. I made three trips, snaking through the rows.

When my legs began to tremble, I forced myself to come to a stop, sagging against a house that, as far as I knew, was one of the few unoccupied ones. The last row of cabins closest to the tree line were used as storage sheds more than anything.

These cabins were the oldest ones, not worth the materials it would cost to repair the broken windows or the holes in the roof.

Looking in through the said broken window, my eyes scanned around the dark room. One corner was stocked with old wooden racks that were used for the tanning process and to string up the game for skinning.

They smelt of blood and guts which is why they were kept here instead of in the main building where the pelts were completed.

My eyes had nearly finished their examining streak when they snagged on a tall wardrobe set up against the back wall. There was a clear path to it, making it stand out of place compared to the clutter filling up the rest of the space.

What truly caught my attention though, was the chain threaded through the handles.

Naturally, I wanted to know what was inside of it. So, pushing myself away from the window, I limped my way around to the doors of the house. Entering the cabin stocked with objects, I made a beeline for the wardrobe, following the only path that wouldn't require twisting and odd footwork to dodge through the clutter.

Upon reaching the wardrobe, the first thing I noticed was that the lock hung askew. It hadn't been clicked back into place. Impulsively, I fiddled with the lock. I tried to pop it back into place in an attempt to lock it, but it only fell open again. Without the key it was useless to try and re-lock it.

Humming I began to pull at the chains, unlooping them form the wardrobe handles. I wondered what was in here that needed to be locked up. Well, used to need it anyway. Apparently, it wasn't a concern anymore if the broken lock hadn't been exchanged for a working one. Or maybe the wardrobe was still meant to be locked and someone had merely forgotten to lock it or hadn't checked the lock afterwards to notice it was broken.

Either way, I was satisfied that I'd get to sate my curiosity after all.

I swung open the doors and instantly slammed them shut again when I was hit by a grotesque smell. One I recognized all too well.