Chapter 5

Louisa's POV

"She looks so tiny. She wouldn't make it." I heard a boy's voice. 

"You're a doctor or something?" I recognized that was Lucian's voice.

"It wouldn't need a doctor to see that she wouldn't make it. She's dying," the boy said.

I'm not dying. I'm still alive!

I opened my mouth, but there was no sound coming out of it except a series of scratchy sounds.

I felt my throat burning.

I didn't know how long I had slept. 

"Wa… water…" I gasped.

Every time I breathed, I felt my throat was burning on fire. 

The cloth covering my eyes was lifted. 

In a blurry vision, I saw a boy's face. 

He was holding a bowl of water in his hand. 

I struggled to get up, but my back was hurting so badly that I couldn't move.

"She can't even sit up straight by herself…" 

"She'll be fine, Leon," Lucian said.

I grabbed the boy's arm and said, "Leon... Water…"

"Aha, she's calling my name and she's grabbing my arm now," said Leon.

"I've told you, she's not dying. She just needs some time to recover." Lucian said. 

Leon looked at Lucian and said, "Do you mind giving me a hand, brother? Hold her up still…"

"Her back's broken. That's why she's lying on a stretcher." Lucian said.

Leon rolled his eyes and said, "Aha, I see. That's why she's on the stretcher. Thank you very much for pointing it out to me. That's very insightful." 

Lucian sighed and took a clean bandage. He dipped the bandage in the water bowl and wiped my chapped lips carefully.

I licked the water on my lips very carefully and I felt a little bit moist in my throat.

The boy got closer to me. 

He looked like a miniature version of Lucian, about 13 or 14 years old, with blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. But his hair was cropped and spiky. 

"Do you have a name?" He asked, blinking his puppy eyes at me.

"She doesn't have a name, Leon. Leave her alone." Lucian said.

"Everyone has a name." Leon frowned and said. 

"Not me," I whispered. 

"Can I call her Lina? Layla? Lucy?" he paused and suddenly got sparks in his eyes, "Ah! Can I call her Luna?"

It seemed that he was very fond of names starting with the letter "L". 

Lucian replied with a poker face, "No. She's not your pet. You can't randomly name her."

"You're such a party pooper, brother, and people hate that." Leon pouted. 

"A man doesn't have to be liked by everyone, especially not by naughty little brats who don't have their manners in front of ladies." Lucian roughly stroked his younger brother's hair.

Leon swiftly shifted into a small white wolf, scowling at Lucian. 

"Leon, I don't have time to play with you," Lucian said. 

Leon showed his sharp fangs and paws at Lucian and he growled as if he was making a cute threat to his elder brother. 

Then, he took a bite at Lucian's hand, but only closed his mouth around his fingers, instead of biting it. 

Lucian sighed as Leon started a fight against his imaginary hand monster, growling and jumping around at his fingers. 

Lucian looked at me and said, "You have to figure out how to heal yourself. Alpha Lucas won't accept a sick girl like you in our pack, especially the one who stabbed him in the chest."

I bit my lips. It started coming back to me.

I stabbed Alpha Lucas in the chest with a knife.

He didn't die because, apparently, freaks like him just don't die.

They just live forever and make everyone's life miserable.

"Why didn't you kill me?" I asked. 

"Why would I do that?" Lucian frowned.

"I stabbed your Alpha..."

Lucian shrugged and said, "You've seen him. You know how handful he could get. Everyone who stays under the same roof with him for over ten minutes wants to stab him with a knife or jabbed themselves to death."

"You get along with him," I said and bit my lips.

"My brother gets along with everyone," Leon said with admiration in his eyes. He looked up to Lucian. 

Lucian stared at me with a blank face while approaching me -

"If I were you, I would focus on regaining my strength first. You're always in fear. That distracts you. You have to stay focused. Then, you'll get the power of healing yourself. Meanwhile, Leon will stay here and take care of you. You can tap his nose like this when he gets too naughty." He tapped gently on Leon's nose.

Leon roared and snorted, then he shifted into a boy.

"Don't do that, brother! It hurts!" He covered his nose and whined. 

I couldn't stop but chuckle. He was so cute.

"She's smiling!" Leon looked at me with a sparkling smile on his face, "Does that mean she likes me?" 

"I don't know, you have to ask her," Lucian said patiently.

He popped up his head next to my stretcher, holding the edge of it like a little puppy, "My brother let me ask you if you like me?" 

"Yes, I do," I replied with a faint smile.

"Woo hoo!" He jumped up and down. Then, he jumped on my stretcher and hugged me. 

It was very painful, but I could take it.

Somehow, a hug from this little werewolf made me feel a bit better.

"Why don't you have a name?" Leon looked up at me and asked. 

"My mother passed away shortly after she delivered me. She didn't have time to give me a name." I replied.

"How about your father?" Leon asked. "Didn't he give you a name?"

"Not really. He barely even noticed my existence." I lowered my head and said.

Leon noticed my sadness and tried to encourage me, "I saw a black wolf once. He was a rouge. He didn't have a name, either. Not everyone has a name, you know. That's just what it is. That's life."

I smiled faintly at him. He was just too cute to talk like a grown-up.

Lucian cleared his voice and said, "So this is what's going to happen. You'll focus on recovering first. Then, you'll become Alpha's breeder."

"And after that?" I asked.

"You'll be killed." He answered in a plain voice and walked away. "Like all of Alpha's other breeders."