Grace stared out of the window. Trees. There were so many trees. She had opened her eyes late into the morning to find that the day before had not been a dream and she was in in fact in supernatural village. Or family. Hive. Pack. Whatever they called it. The 'they' hadn't been established yet.
For all she knew, they could be blood sucking vampires waiting for the opportune moment to turn her into a living blood bank. The heart monitor still strapped to her chest began to beep faster.
Looking over to the machine, she flicked the off button. It wasn't as if her heart wasn't beating, and by her very nature her heart would always beat differently. The beep was beginning to annoy her. The incessant noise against utter silence would drive anyone mad.
The door to the room opened with a thud. A man stood in the doorway, his gaze raking over her, the heart monitor and then back to her.
Grace stared back at the man, eyes blinking, eyebrows raised in confusion as she took him in. He looked familiar.
With a small gasp she realised who he was. She would never be able to mistake his brown eyes.
"Sorry, it was annoying me, I turned it off." She whispered as the man stayed stood still in the doorway.
He nodded slowly, spacing out for a moment before looking her over.
Pulling the covers up her body a little further, she did the same to him.
His hair was light brown, still long, only no longer cut as though he had taken gardening shears to it himself. It was brushed back, revealing his tanned, freshly shaven face.
She liked his face. His strong jaw bone. The small scars running up and down his cheeks even more visible. He was dressed in a cotton t shirt and dark washed jeans. He looked gorgeous. He looked strong. He looked-
Realising they had just spent the past few minutes staring at each other in silence she tore her gaze away from him to her hands, which she was now nervously wringing.
"How are you feeling?" He asked, slowly walking into her room, shutting the door behind him.
"Sore. Bruised. But nothing I can't handle." She replied, looking up to see him moving a chair to her bedside.
Self-consciously she brushed her fingers though her hair, wincing at a shooting pain in her shoulder.
Brown eyes sat down, staring at her hands, which she lowered once again and rested in her lap.
"You saved me?" She asked, wanting to know if what she remembered had actually happened.
"Yes." His voice had gone from sounding like velvet to gravel. She watched as his fists clenched on the chair sides. He was angry.
Was he angry at her? Is that what he was here for? To tell her off for being so stupid for walking home alone. To tell her that she wasn't really welcome here, wherever here was.
"Thank you." She whispered. Because she was. She was so thank full. The man that had attacked her obviously hadn't intended for her to survive their encounter. She shuddered at the thought.
"I'm just glad I was there to get that thing off of you." He replied.
"So am I!" She chuckled, smiling at him as he met her gaze.
"The Doctor said that it will take you a long time to heal." He said, changing the subject.
"Yes, injuries like these usually take me a couple of months of rest and gentle exercise to recover from." She replied, sighing dejectedly as she thought about the months of pain and energy she would go through to get back to her normal.
"You are talking as though you have been this badly injured before. This isn't the first time you have been attacked?" He asked, his fists balling up as he leaned forward to look straight into her eyes.
"No! No, I haven't been attacked before." She replied, resting her hand gently on top of his balled up fist, reeling back as a shock went through her hand.
He had felt it too, she was sure, as he leaned away from her and moved his hands to where she could not reach.
The act made her heart sink. He didn't like her touching him. Though she knew not to take it personally- as she had come across many people who did not like strangers randomly touching them- for some reason his rejection hurt her more.
"But you have been this badly injured?" He asked through clenched teeth.
"Yes. I have. It's a hazard of my condition. Dislocating joints at a single touch and a heart that beats too quickly when I stand up make for a bad mix." She replied sadly, leaning back into the bed.
"Is there a cure?" He asked, glancing at the further space she had made between them.
"It's genetic. There is no cure. Unless you know a witch I can trade my first born child with for one?" She joked.
Looking at his surprised and then stricken expression she knew that he, however, had not taken it as a joke.
"I'm joking!" She exclaimed.
"It is just as well. I'm afraid I know of no witches." He replied stoically.
"No witches? What sort of supernatural community are you?" She asked jovially.
"Werewolves." He replied, matter of factly, watching for her reaction intently.
Werewolves. That explained the forest. She breathed a sigh of relief, they weren't out for her blood at least. She had enough of that at the hand of the phlebotomists at the hospital.
"Werewolves. Like full moon, rip your head off werewolves, or shift whenever you like werewolves ?" She asked.
"The 'shift whenever you like' kind." He replied, smiling widely. Apparently her reaction had been what he was hoping to hear.
"That's interesting." She said. The fact that he was a werewolf, an actual living, real to touch werewolf only just settling in.
"Are you ok?" He chuckled, watching as she assessed her situation.
"Just peachy." She replied. "Where exactly am I? I didn't think that there would be werewolves so close to the city?"
"We are still close to the city, in a forest just north of it actually. This place is good for us to let us shift without revealing ourselves to humans, and the city is close enough for when we feel like fitting in." He answered her question without hesitation.
Grace was glad to hear that she hadn't been taken too far away from her home.
She looked out of the window, watching as the trees swayed gently in the summer wind.
"I can take you outside, if you like. Maybe we could go for a walk?" Brown Eyes asked, noting her longing gaze.
"Perhaps another time, my legs don't support me very well normally, so walking is never very fun." She replied, gesturing to the braces that were wrapped around both her knees and ankles.
"Of course. I'm sorry." Brown Eyes replied, sounding mad at himself for even suggesting it.
"Perhaps you could open the window a little though? So I can feel the breeze?" She asked.
"Yes, I can do that." He jumped from his chair and walked quickly over to the window, pushing it open, the light summer breeze flowing through the room.
"I don't even know your name?" She asked, watching him as he stood looking out of the open window.
He stilled, his gaze remaining fixed on the view outside.
The sinking feeling in her chest returned as he didn't answer her.
Grace had thought she had been friendly enough, at least nice enough to learn his name. She had obviously been wrong.
A name was so personal, yet anyone would give it to a stranger on the street. The fact he didn't want to tell her it, hurt.
She chastised herself for feeling so miserable about it all. A name was nothing. Not really.
"My name is Grace. You know, if you wanted to know." She said, starting to feel irritated at his continued silence.
"I know what your name is." He replied, still staring out of the window.
"Well, that sounds a little unfair. You knowing my name, me not knowing yours." She replied.
Brown Eyes turned his back on the window. Looking down at her, he opened his mouth a few times, struggling to actually say anything.
"Whatever, you don't have to tell me." She said, rolling her eyes and looking away from her.
"Grace... I..." Brown Eyes started, stammering.
Before he could get out what he wanted to say, the door to the room opened once more and in walked the lady from the day before, followed by a younger version of her.
"Good afternoon Grace! How are you feeling?" The lady asked, sitting down in the now vacant chair by her bedside.
Looking at her closely, Grace figured she was maybe five or six years older than her. With curly black hair and vibrant blue eyes she was beautiful. There were long scars down her arms that looked like they were only a few months old, Grace didn't want to ask any inappropriate questions, so let her eyes skim over them before focusing on the little girl who was looking at anything but her.
"I'm feeling much better than yesterday, thank you." Grace replied.
"This is my daughter, Hannah. I'm Lily, you met my husband Thomas yesterday as well. " The lady said, pointing the young girl, she jumped up onto the end of her bed, looking between her and Brown Eyes with a huge grin on her face.
At least they were willing to tell her their names
"Hello, Hannah." Grace said, laughing as the young girl hid her face under her hair
"She is a little shy, especially as she hasn't met many humans before." Lily said apologetically.
"That's ok, the feeling is mutual." Grace laughed.
"I know it's a lot to take in right now, but you are welcome here, and I will make sure you are well taken care of Grace." Lily said.
"Thank you. Honestly I'm still trying to get my head around actually meeting werewolves. I knew you all existed, but not in this country and certainly not so close to the city." Grace replied. The woman smiled kindly, patting her hand reassuringly.
At least she didn't flinch away from her touch.
Brown Eyes was still stood silently in front of the window.
"What do you know about werewolves?" Lily asked.
"Um, well he-." She said, pointing to Brown Eyes, "Told me that you can shift at will. Apart from that, just what I have read in text books."
"If you like, I can lend you some books on our history so you can learn more. Feel free to ask any questions you have as well." Lily offered.
"I would like that, thank you. I am sure I will have lots of questions." Grace replied.
"I don't want to push you, but when you're feeling well enough perhaps you would consider moving into the pack house? You will be around more people there and far more comfortable." Lily said.
"If that's ok with the others, I don't want to intrude. In fact, in a few days I think I should be well enough to walk again. I can just go home." Grace replied, not wanting to over stay her welcome.
"No." Brown Eyes said bluntly. "Not yet."
"Ok?" Grace replied sarcastically, sitting back up in bed and shooting him a glare before turning her back on him to look at Lily. "I can be gone in a few days."
"You aren't going anywhere until the doctor tells me that you're going to be ok on your own. In the meantime, recuperate here. The forest is a beautiful place to be in and everything will be done for you." Lily replied, sending Brown Eyes a matching glare as he began to object again.
Grace couldn't help but feel confused at his actions. At first it sounded like he couldn't wait to get rid of her, and now he was telling her that he didn't want her to leave.
"Well, you don't have to make your mind up right now, you have a few days to make your mind up." Lily said, standing up and dusting some invisible dirt from her trousers.
"Thank you." Grace said, settling back into the bed as her back grew tired from moving around.
"We will leave you be. I don't want to make you too tired. I will come back tomorrow afternoon with some books. Come on Hannah." Hannah waved timidly as she slid from the bed, still not relenting from looking back and forth between her and Brown Eyes.
They left the door open and after Lily sent a pointed look towards Brown Eyes, disappeared into the corridor.
Brown Eyes walked slowly to the door, kicking his boot on the door frame as though waiting for her to say something.
She wasn't sure what he wanted to hear. He was so confusing.
"Brandon." He said, turning to face her, his expression turning from contemplative to determinative.
"What?" Grace wasn't sure he had actually said what she thought he did. Her heart rate quickened, she could feel it in her chest, responding to the word he had just said, wanting to hear it again.
"Brandon Evans. My name."
"Brandon." His name rolled off of her tongue, sending a shiver down her spine. Her body's response to saying a strangers name startling her. But he wasn't a stranger. At least he didn't feel like one.
"Have a good afternoon." Brandon walked out of the door, shutting it behind her.
His sudden and rather dramatic exit startled her, though she knew she shouldn't have been surprised. His track record with her so far consisted of sketchy conversations, anger control and silence. Grace wasn't quite sure what to make of him.
Looking up to the ceiling she closed her eyes, her muscles aching profusely as they rested into the mattress. Letting her thoughts wander, no matter how hard she tried to change them, they always went back to him.
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I just couldn't stop writing! haha! To get all the chapters written in a month I have given myself a word limit of 1K words per chapter... this was twice that and more!
I really hope your enjoying reading the story! Any feedback you could give me would be appreciated.
Rachael x