* * *
After an abrupt turn, the once paved road had turned into dirt. And Liam couldn't contain Sage from taking a look out the window. Causing the Mystic Grimm warrior beside him to laugh.
"Listen here, asshole. She asked us what a tree was...If you have a problem—" Liam started up, but the Beta had instantly settled the matter.
"There is no problem. Is there?" Josh remained firm and defended the young wolf, who couldn't contain her excitement over the change of scenery.
However, the second that the car had crossed over pack lines, a blaring right started buzzing into her ear. Soon a painful whine escaped her lips as she leaned in closer to Liam—who is trying his best to calm her down, even going so far as to run a hand through her hair.
"What's wrong? What is it?" Her hands clamped over her ears in an attempt to stop the increasing ring, but it was only getting worse the closer they get to the pack's settlement.
Something's wrong with Sage.
Brother, can you handle anything?
Look, she's holding her hands over her ears like she's hearing something. You tell me what to do, and I'll fucking do it.
Luke couldn't even manage to give a suggestion on what to tell his brother to do. They would just have to wait it out. And if Josh's guilt wasn't high enough, seeing Liam struggling to help Sage manage her pain had cause said guilt to skyrocket further.
The dense woods finally led to a clearing. The assortment of cabin neighborhoods more or less replicated Crescent Moon, and Liam smiled at the familiarity.
Right now, even if it wasn't his pack's territory, the smell of wolves allowed him a moment of tranquility. For the first time in a while, he was able to close his eyes and relax. Tonight they would be able to sleep calmly and recharge, with the protection of being on pack grounds.
Or so he hopes.
As the others left the car, Liam waited for someone to open his door. And held onto Sage, worrying how she would react in finally being let out of the car.
She was light enough to pick up with one hand, but her head was planted into his neck and whined through the movements that disrupted her peace.
"Alpha's on his way over. My mate is preparing the guest cabin for you three with the Luna. He already agreed for you to stay." A sigh of relief escaped Liam as he looked up to Luke, though his only concern right now was. "She's burning up..." he issued, causing the Beta to take a feel of her forehead as well, and sure enough, she is.
"Is she suppressing a shift?" Sage shook her head as another whine escaped her lips.
As the Alpha of the land approached the group, he was immediately introduced to the dread coming from the three newcomers.
It wasn't common for wolves to leave their pack, but on account of a family member in another pack having a litter of pups to take care of, it was a decently fabricated story.
One he back-checked before coming down to meet them.
"Alpha Harlow, I want to apologize for making you send your men out." Luke had said with a greeting, trying to be entirely straightforward and tilting his head down in submission to the Alpha before him.
But the shift of his eyes back to Sage, it was clear to Harlow that the female's health was more of a concern at the moment.
"Running from a facility still caught my attention, and now you have it. What's wrong with this little she-wolf?" The phrase had turned into something of a trigger word for Sage as she turned her gaze towards the new male. Her eyes pooling a sickly black color as she darted her head forward towards the Alpha in defense, pairing it with a flash of her teeth.
She wasn't scared in any regard, even if she was withering in pain.
"We'll discuss this in my office. My pack healer will meet us there." That was enough incentive for the brothers to follow him and continue forward with the escorted party. But Luke had offered his arms to hold Sage, and while the movement earned them a low growl from her, she soon snuggled under Luke's neck.
The added calmness surrendered any fight left in her as she closed her eyes once more.
The poor female shivered, and tears started to leak out from underneath her eyes as the cursed ringing continued to ping through her ears.
"What is it, Sage? What's hurting?" She didn't answer as she didn't know what was causing the demanding noise in her head, but she pointed to her head, and he sighed.
Was this because she's never entered a pack's borders?
Was the connection too strong for her and her wolf to endure?
How much does it hurt? From ten to zero, bad bad is ten.
"Tenten." The double saying of the word was her emphasis on how bad it was draining her, but luckily they were now within the air-conditioned packhouse. As if the summer was doing any good for her in all these layers anyway.
Alpha Harlow offered the couch for Sage to take refuge while they waited patiently for the pack healer to come.
Without warning, a she-wolf had entered the room with a heavy breath. "Is this her?" She questioned, looking up to Harlow in question. And he nodded in confirmation. Luke noted the combined scent and understood that this female wasn't just a pack member.
This was Harlow's mate, Luna Jade of Mystic Grimm.
Harlow crossed his arms as he watched Jade hover over Sage. His Luna had caused quite the commotion in wanting to meet the group.
Jade was just about to introduce herself, but the expression she had seen on Sage's face had stopped her in her place. The tears streaming paired with black eyes was a worrying factor, one she couldn't understand entirely.
But the remembrance of what Harlow mentioned of them being escapists meant a whole line of health consequences. Having the Luna call upon the HealerHealer to make this her priority.
On the other hand, Sage was in a bit of a trance to battle out the pain. It was in replication of how she dealt with the scientist's methods, and had her go into a state of gritting her teeth every so often to ease the tension. Absolutely hating the medical stench blooming over her sickened body.
"My Beta tells me you're from Crescent Moon?" Harlow offered out, sitting down behind his desk, while his mate took the position of leaning against his desk right in front of him.
Though Jade's eyes remained on Sage as the HealerHealer would be more helpful.
"Yes, sir. We were visiting our Aunt, who just had another pup. Our mother sent us to help her handle her other pups." Luke took control of explaining the situation once more, and Harlow nodded.
Given his connection with White Paw, he could retain the information with ease.
"What do you know about the female?" Liam chuckled and shook his head. "Close to nothing, really. She's the reason we escaped." That mere sentence had even the Healer's attention as she continued to run the diagnostic.
Luke hummed in agreement with his brother, "She ripped a guard's throat out. They messed with the wrong she-wolf." He spoke, his eyes gleaming with a sense of pride as he turned towards Sage. Hoping that he wasn't being rude in shifting his attention back and forth.
"Alpha, I called my assistant. She's more than malnourished and dehydrated." The tone the HealerHealer had given had caused the Alpha to nod, seeing how severe it must be. "Anything that needs to be done. I'll get her a change of clothes." It was the Luna who had jumped into action and left the room, passing by the Beta who nodded the brothers another greeting.
"Is she your mate?" Josh questioned Luke, and he was quick to deny the title.
"No. But we've bonded as siblings." The Alpha hummed at the realization. "Course, after what you three have endured, I wouldn't expect otherwise. And this facility?" The smirk rose on either of the brother's faces as it was a blessing for Liam to say.
"Burned to the ground, sir. Hope those doctors find their place straight in hell." Luke nudged his brother, "Take it easy. We're not home yet." He reminded, before they both turned their attention back to the Alpha.
"I have a few techies getting rid of the car. We don't need any government agents trailing around us now ether. Grace? Is it safe for her to keep traveling?" Harlow questioned, and the young she-wolf kept falling in and out of sleep on his couch.
Exhausted was an understatement.
"I can't tell right now, sir. After a night's rest, it will be easier to tell. I'm still trying to determine what's hurting her." Luke sighed, coming over and kneeling beside his sister in hopes of tuning into her pain.
"Is there anything you can do to check how old she is?" The question left an eery tone in the room as Josh walked closer. "You didn't ask?"
Liam took the defense now as he gritted his teeth. Even if he didn't have the same bond as Luke does, he was her brother now too.
"You think humans would bother teaching her anything? What part of not knowing what a tree was didn't—"
"Liam." Luke interrupted his brother's anger, prompting him to take a deep breath and sit down on the leather seat across from Sage.
It finally occurred to the Alpha that he had just allowed three stressed wolves onto his territory under his Beta and Luna's suggestion and demand.
There wasn't any regret, but there was still some worried.
"I'm sure you need proper rest and food. Once my mate comes back, we'll head over to the guest house." The two males nodded, and their faces alone had shared just how much they appreciate the offer.
Alphard Harlow of Mystic Grimm wasn't as awful as he was known for. It was partly because his father was the one to end the war among the packs across America. That's why werewolves in the states were still worried about crossing his path.
Good.
They should be scared.
But these wolves standing right in front of him held nothing less than being heroes. He's heard of far too many wolves going missing in the past. And the exhausted she-wolf on his couch is more than enough for him to feel generous in providing shelter and anything else they need.
"Alright, I have a few things that—What happened?" The males turned to see Jade, the female now wearing a tight ponytail and a suitcase trailing behind her, causing his mate to laugh lightly to himself.
"Plan her outfits for the whole week?" Her eyes narrowed to his tease, and Luke knew too damn well what was going on between the mated couple. He's seen it many times with his own parents, causing his heart and wolf to howl lowly in the same tune.
"Uh...No offense, sir. But I could use a shower...Or two." Liam shyly asked, and Jade quickly jumped into action for them to follow. While Luke took hold of Sage in his arms once again. While the HealerHealer packed up her kit and followed off towards the group.
The Luna was already making plans of getting the she-wolf all washed up and dressed, as well as providing fluids into her body.
"Alpha and the males asked to know how old she is...I can't even begin to guess." The HealerHealer spoke, knowing that the body weight wasn't enough to go off of. But judging by her developed breasts and height, it gave Grace the estimate that she was at least in her high teens.
"This is awful, just awful...They don't even know her age, just her name?" The pack healer didn't want to even begin to theorize what other complications the poor pup before them would be facing in the future. But they could start by setting her into one of the guest bedrooms in the cabin and getting her cleaned up.
After an hour of scrubbing the dirt and sweat from Sage's body, Jade found herself combing the black hair that fell well past the girl's shoulders. Humming along to a random tune as she soon noticed it soothed Sage through her slumber, given that there was a small smile forming on her lips from time to time.
But perhaps it had to do with the nutrition being pumped into her system that gave her the color back into her cheeks.
As Jade finished up, she returned back into the main area of the cabin, only to be greeted by a feast. And both of the newcomers were digging in mercilessly to what the Omegas had cooked up.
"Of for goddess sake you two! We aren't savages." She hissed, and instantly it was as if their mother walked into the room and caught them—Their backs straightened following her shriek.
"Jade. They've been starved for a month. Let them eat in peace." He growled, and the woman felt terrible, but didn't verbally say anything regarding an apology.
At least they were now eating at a decent pace instead of nearly choking to death.
"Is there anything else that Sage knows?" The Luna asked, clearly interested to know about the girl's past, but Luke wiped his mouth with the napkin and shook his head.
"No, ma'am. I looked through most of her memories. There wasn't anything but the facility. At first, we assumed she was submissive to it all, but if—" Luke struggled to finish the thought, so Liam picked up the rest.
"We think she was taken as a young pup..." Jade's heart shattered to even begin to think of how any mother or father would be feeling for losing their child.
"Harlow..."
"We'll send out a message to all the packs, see if we get any bites, and send them your way." It made his mate smile, but even that didn't stop her aura of sadness feel out for the unconscious she-wolf.
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Date: 11-07-2020
Time: 10:48
Words: 1974
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EDITED
DATE: 08/01/2021
WORDS: 2340