Arabella Dimitri
We all woke up around the same time, due to the sunlight pouring through the entrance of the cave. I stood up and relit the fire with my powers, as it had gone out at some point in the night, and it was still fairly cold. "Alright, we need breakfast," I said to the crowd.
"I'll go with some people, you stay here Ari and work out the next part of the plan," Jason suggested. I nodded my head in acceptance of idea. He left the cave pretty soon after that with Damien. Pearce was still pretty weak and injured, and the run yesterday had taken a lot out of him, Haley was also weak and injured, Madison was too young and probably not safe to go out, and Jessica didn't want to leave Madison alone, which was understandable.
I figured one of the next parts of the plan should be healing all of the injured. "Come here," I gestured to Madison, who was busy poking the stony ground with a stick. She looked up, nervously, and then turned to look at Jessica, who smiled warmly and nodded as if to say it was okay. With Jessica's confirmation, Madison stood up and came and sat next to me. "What did they do to you?" I asked.
"Um... I have a few burns, cuts, scrapes..." she answered nervously.
"Is that the same for all you guys?" I asked, looking at the other three. They nodded their heads.
"Alright, one second." I got up and left the cave, grabbing a handful of soil, and then I walked back in, putting the soil on the ground. I put both of my hands on the soil and imagined certain herbs and plants growing from the soil.
"Woah," I heard Madison say.
"What... how?" I heard Jessica say in awe. Pearce and Haley had similar reactions.
"This," I pointed to a large leafed plant, plucking some of the leaves off it, "will help with any bruises." I rubbed the plant together slightly to release some of the juices. I handed some leaves to Pearce and Haley, as well as Jessica. I showed them what to do with the leaves, and then I demonstrated how to apply them onto some of Madison's bruises, attaching them with some bandages from the first aid kit in the bag we picked up yesterday. I did the same to my brother's mate, Logan. His were the worst.
"This," I grabbed another plant, "this is for burns." I grabbed the plant and used my claw to rip it open, releasing the goo-like substance from inside it. I grabbed a large flat stone from somewhere in the cave and put all of the goo on the flat stone, then I applied it to Madison's burns, and Logan's. Once I was finished, I passed the stone over to the next person.
"Finally," I grabbed another large leafed plant, "this should go on your cuts." I passed some round again, after applying it to Logan's and Madison's wounds. Most of Logan's back was all cut up; it looked like he had been whipped a lot. I was also fairly sure he was pumped full with wolfsbane, to prevent him from healing, and to make him weak.
The final plant I grew was sage. Once I lit it on fire, I blew it out, and let the smoke drift into Logan's lungs. Sage is supposed to counteract the effects of wolfsbane.
"Thank you so much," Jessica was the first to say, followed by words of appreciation from everyone else.
"How can you do that?" asked Madison, grabbing my hands and inspecting them.
"Watch," I said, opening my palm and showing her my empty palm. I imagined a daisy forming in my palm, and just like that it appeared. I put it in her hair and she giggled softly. Jessica mouthed a 'thank you' to me.
"Hey, can I have a rose?" asked Pearce. I shrugged my shoulders and made him one, passing it over to him. "I know we met in shitty circumstances, and it's been pretty hard. I am so sorry for how you have been treated, and believe me, it was hell watching and hearing it. I love you, Haley, and I hope now we are out of that god-awful place we can blossom as mates, and once we find safety, we can go on a date. This is the first of many flowers and gifts I will shower you with," he handed the rose to Haley, who was blushing and tearing at the same time. They kissed softly, and it was really quite romantic and sweet. Maybe having a mate wouldn't be too bad... who am I kidding? It would be awful, it just looks okay on the surface.
"What the fuck happened in here? Looks like someone let Poison Ivy loose," laughed Damien, walking in with a couple of rabbits thrown over his shoulder.
"I got deer," Jason announced, dragging a huge deer in. We cooked the meat over the fire, and dug in. For dessert I formed some fruits and we basically inhaled them all.
After food, we were all sat around the fire, yet again. This time Pearce and Haley had disappeared, and gone on a walk. "Thanks Ari, for doing that," Jason said, gesturing over to his mate, who still lay unconscious, breathing in some of the smoke from the sage, covered in different herbs and plants to help the healing process.
"You don't have to thank me," I shrugged my shoulders, "I know you'd do the same for me."
"When do you think he will wake up?" he asked.
"Could be days, could be within the hour. I have no idea how much wolfsbane they pumped him with," I answered honestly.
"I think it was quite a lot," Jessica added, from the other side of the circle. "Logan is the second strongest werewolf in the world right now, second only to the king. The only way they could keep him so long is by constantly pumping him with wolfsbane."
"It might be a little more than a few days then," I said to Jason, who just put his head in his hands, and sagged.
"Tag," Damien blurts, touching my forearm, then jumping up and running around the cave, with Madison doing the same. I knew he was just trying to keep the mood light, not just for Jason's sake, but for Madison's sake too, so I played along.
"Oh, it's on," I grinned, jumping up and chasing after them. That led to a big game of tag, which led to 'Duck, duck, goose', which led to various other games. Everytime Damien was caught he would yell a swear word, and Madison always told him off for it, telling him he had to put money in a swear jar. Jason even came out of the shell he'd recently put himself in, and I even saw a faint smile occasionally decorate his face.
"I have a swear jar back at home, but for now you just have to put money under this rock," Madison announced. Damien rolled his eyes and forked out some money.
"What even happens to the money, your highness," joked Damien. Madison giggled at his behaviour.
"We use it to go out on an adventure," Madison grinned up at him.
"Oh really," Damien laughed, "alright then." Watching Damien with Madison was actually kind of cute... he is really sweet. Damien would make an amazing mate to someone someday, but I wasn't his mate, and he wasn't mine, and one day we would both find our mates, and that would lead to inevitable heartbreak, which I just didn't want.
"Once this is all over," Damien started, sitting down next to me and pulling me into his warm embrace, as the others slept, "maybe we could do something."
"I don't know Damien, and you know why," I looked up at him with a soft expression.
"I like you a lot Belly, in fact, I love you, you have been in my life for so long, you make me feel things, love, lust, jealousy, anger, warmth... I- I wish we were mates," confessed Damien.
"Believe me, that would make this situation a lot easier," I smiled softly. "For now, let's just stay as we are, this will end in heartbreak and we both know it. Your mate will be the luckiest girl in the world."
"Your mate will be the luckiest fucking guy," I smacked him on the chest for saying a swear in front of Madison, even if she was asleep. "If he does anything to hurt you, I will murder him, I'm not even joking."
"Yeah, you as well as Jason, and Seth probably."
"Don't say his name," he deadpanned. I playfully shoved him, and he chuckled at me.
"I don't think he will be awake by the time we reach the kingdom," I said to Jason.
"I'll have to let him go, I'd be shot on sight if I turned up there, carrying their unconscious beta. It would be kill first, questions later," Jason ran his hands through his hair.
"Would you join the pack?" asked Jessica.
"Would the king even let me join?" Jason asked back.
"I'll talk to him. He would be grateful for what you have done in saving us, surely he would let you. Plus, you're the beta's mate."
"But the beta is unconscious. I can't risk being killed, or imprisoned, what if the beta wakes up and rejects me, then kills me? When we get close to there, you'll have to go ahead, take the others. Explain to the king, and Logan when he wakes up, then call me."
"You won't be imprisoned, I won't let him," Jessica said.
"I know how this works out. I mean, we're the Dimitri twins, our parents are wanted. Haven't you heard all the stories about us? We will never be accepted, all we can hope is one day we won't be hunted as much as we currently are."
"You are so different from all the stories," Jess spoke softly, "the way you cared for us all, saved everyone in that prison. Both of you should be praised, not ridiculed.
"They are all just stories though, but they didn't come from nowhere," I shrugged my shoulders.
"Ari, that isn't fair, we aren't our parents, we don't hold their burdens, or their murders. We only hold their name, and a couple of their features."
"Yeah, I guess."