My head was thumping and my whole body burned in pain. I felt like hell. There was a irritating consistent beeping that made me guess I was in a hospital. I frowned, what happened?
"Winter?" A tired voice asked.
I heaved my eyes open and I was met with a concerned set of emerald eyes. Brad.
"Hey. How are you feeling?" He asked, pulling my hand into his, seeming relieved to see I was awake. Sparks danced across my skin where he touched it.
"I feel like someone just hit me with a bus" I told him honestly.
He nodded. "I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I shouldn't have left you to go in there alone ." He frowned at himself.
I suddenly remembered everything that happened. Going back to the house, Ian being there and beating me, Brad launching him into a wall and then the wolf. Jackson. Jackson turned into a wolf. "JACKSON IS A WOLF!" I screeched.
Brad cringed at my sudden outburst and sighed. "I know. He isn't the only one either. Me, Brittney and all of our friends are too. In fact most of the school is."
I gulped and my heart thumped against my chest. My hands started shaking and my breaths came out short. Brad's eyes widened when he noticed. "Winter. It's okay, you're safe. Remember what I told you last night? You're safe here. No one is ever going to hurt you again." He brushed my hair away from my face and held my cheek, gently, in his hand. "You're safe"
My heart rate and breathing slowed down and my body stopped shaking. I took a deep breath and leaned my head back against the pillow. "How do you do that?" My voice came out quiet.
Brad didn't reply he only smiled and sat back down. " There's a lot you need to know about us Winter but not now. Right now you need to rest and recover."
I shook my head. "I'm okay."
He gave me a pointed look which told me he knew I wasn't and sat on the bed beside me and gently caressed my face, causing my eyes to flutter closed. After a while, I sighed.
"I didn't tell you everything." I admitted. "I wasn't being thrown out. I was being sold" I tried to hold back tears but I just couldn't do it. "He's going to find out where I am and he's going to come after me." I cried.
He shushed me softly and continued to comfort me. "Sh, Sh,sh. No he won't. I'm going to protect you and so will Brittney, Jackson, my family and our friends. I know that you must be confused and I have a lot I need to tell you when you are well enough to hear it. But I promise you one thing. You are safe here. No one is going to hurt you ever again." He spoke softly, wiping my tears. He kissed my forehead and I found myself calming down again. I found myself wondering if he was magical or something by the way he calmed me down so easily.
"Get some rest, Winter. I'll be right here" He whispered, noticing my eyes drooping.
*****
I fell into a deep slumber and when I awoke a few hours later, Jackson, Brittney and Brad were in the room with me, as well as a plate of steaming food. I looked at the plate and grinned when I saw and smelt the delicious lasagne. My favourite.
"Hey are you okay?" Brittany asked, helping me to sit up so I could eat.
I nodded and picked up the fork. Brad smiled. "My dad thought you would like some of what we had rather than the horrible hospital food" He shuddered when he mentioned the hospital food.
I chuckled lightly. "Tell him thank you. That was so kind," I smiled.
"I can't believe what that man did to you! I swear I could kill him" Brittney screeched.
Brad coughed, trying to get her to change the topic and her eyes widened when she realised. "Sorry" She muttered.
My eyes wandered over to where Jackson was and I noticed he seemed like he was avoiding me. I gave him a look and he sighed. "I didn't want to scare you. I'm sorry for shifting in front of you. I should've thought that through."
I shrugged. "That's in the past now. I Just need to get used to the idea of you guys being wolves"
What else was they're to say? I had always remembered my father reading me stories about werewolves as a child but I didn't think they were a real thing. Wolves couldn't be half as bad as my previous situation. Could they?
"So..." I trailed off. "What now?"
"Simple" Brittany shrugged. "We go shopping"
"Shopping?" Jackson stared at her in disbelief.
"Yeah. Whenever I'm stressed I go shopping."
"That's probably the worst stress relief I know of" I laughed.
"Oh trust me. Having new clothes, makeup and accessories all paid for by Jack's card is so stress relieving" Brittany laughed. "It just shifts the stress onto him"
I laughed. "True. But still. I hate shopping" I cringed at the thought of it.
Rushing around and being pushed, shoved and walked into while finding that clothes you like don't fit isn't exactly my idea of fun. Plus I never really shopped, if you get my meaning.
They all looked at me like I shot a hamster.
"What?" I raised an eyebrow and shoved a forkful of food into my mouth.
Brittany stood up abruptly.
"We cannot be friends anymore" she growled, playfully
"I didn't like you anyway" I shrugged, earning a laugh from Brad and Jack.
"That's harsh" She grumbled, slumping back onto the bed.
The guys stiffened all of a sudden and their eyes fogged over.
"What the fuck?!" I screeched, moving to the opposite edge of the bed,almost falling off.
"Hey calm down. They're mind linking." Brittany caught me before my sorry ass hit the floor and helped me back onto the bed.
I nodded, with a sigh and relaxed again.
"We need to go." Brad stated, standing up abruptly.
"Look after her" He said, turning to Brittany. She nodded.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Rouges" he sneered before him and Jack left the room.
My eyes widened. From what my dad had told me before, and from what I could remember, rouges were basically lost souls. They felt nothing and they killed anything and everything in their way. They were usually stuck in wolf form because they didn't have a pack. Sometimes they would make their own packs in order to get at another, usually, the ones they have been kicked out of.
"How big is this group of rouges?" I asked Brittany.
"Maybe 30 or so" She shrugged. "Our wolves can take them easily. We're a pretty strong pack." She reassured me when she noticed I tensed up.
"You should get some rest it's pretty late" She smiled.
I nodded. Even though I had just woken up I was pretty tired. My last thought before I fell asleep was Brad. For some reason I felt empty when he wasn't around. I almost laughed at myself. I was acting like I was with him. I only knew him for a few weeks.
-------------------
The next week seemed to drag by at a snails pace. I was stuck in the infirmary and was healing slowly. Very slowly. Brad and the doctor both agreed that I was better off staying in the hospital where I could regain my strength. Apparently I was close to dying from being malnourished for so long. If I hadn't have ended up here, I may have died.
"Ugh. I'm so bored of this freaking place!" I groaned.
"Oh thanks" the doctor, Felix, laughed.
"No offence but you try being stuck in a freaking rock hard bed for this long with a stupid body that won't hurry the fuck up and heal!" I growled.
"Okay, okay! You'll be happy to know you can leave today" he grinned.
"Really?" I asked, excitedly.
"Yep. I believe that you've healed enough to leave but you need to be careful." He warned. I nodded.
"Can i go now?" I pushed, giggling.
"When Brad gets here."
"Oh for crying out loud why does everything revolve around him in this place!" I growled.
"He is the alpha" Felix chuckled.
"I know but I'm not a wolf. Or a part of his pack for that matter." I sighed. "I don't belong here"
"Actually. You do." Brad shrugged, signing off my papers.
Where did he come from? I didn't even see him walk in.
"I'll leave you to it then" Felix smiled.
He started walking away.
"Oh Doctor Felix!" I called.
"Yes?"
"Thank you" I smiled.
He nodded. " My pleasure"
"How much do you know about werewolves?" Brad asked, leaning on the table thing on wheels.
I shrugged. "I don't know a lot. I was quite young when my father was around"
I swallowed the lump in my throat from thinking about my father. He left me and Mom after an argument they had and he never came back. Well. That's the story she had told me anyway.
"Well. Erm. There's something you need to know" Brad said, scratching the back of his neck nervously.
I had learned in the time I knew him that he did that when he was nervous or felt awkward. He had come to the infirmary everyday and spent as long as he could with me. I found a lot out about him.
I gave him a questioning look.
He sighed. "Do you know what mates are?"
I nodded " Werewolves have them and they're stuck with the them until they die"
"Is that all you know about them?"
I nodded. Where was he going with this?
"Well er. You're kind of... my mate."
I stared at him in disbelief. "How...? That's impossible"
"It isn't. I can prove it." He walked over to me and took my hand in his. The sparks were back again.
"Those sparks. They prove it." He grinned.
He crouched down beside the bed, looking me in the eyes. "We're mates Winter. You are mine and I am yours."
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