Chapter Six

Jasmine’s POV.

Just as Luke had said, a red haired woman had come to fetch me before night fall.

A knock on the door pulled me from the arms of the peaceful sleep I had been in. It took a moment to gather my thoughts and remember where I was when I finally opened my eyes.

Biting down on a groan, I brought my aching body to a sitting position, then pushed myself to stand and make my way to the door.

I opened it to see a pretty red haired woman with freckled cheeks standing before me with a smile.

She looked to be a bit older than me and her smiling brown eyes showed a warmth I was not familiar with receiving.

“My name is Lena”, she said. “It’s short for Elena. May I come in?” She asked almost immediately and it took me a moment to respond.

“Yes, you may”, I said, opening the door wider to let her in.

I was still in a state between shock and disbelief and automatically shut the door after she made her way in.

It was as I turned around to look at her that I noticed she held a wooden tray of food in her hands. How it had escaped my notice before I do not know.

There was also a small stack of what seemed to be clothes under her right arm that she allowed fall onto the bed before she placed the tray of food beside them.

“I know you must be hungry by now”, she said, rearranging the stacks of clothes into a neat pile. “Luke told me you might need new clothes so I brought you some of mine, though now I see they may be a bit big for you”, she said and finally turned to me.

She ran her eyes over me, taking in my torn cloak and patched dress underneath as well as my thin figure and matted blonde hair.

I looked away, feeling more embarrassed with each moment that passed under her scrutiny.

“You are quite pretty”, she suddenly announced causing a blush to heat my cheeks. “With a bit more flesh on your bones, a comb through your hair and a pretty dress I dare say you would be a beauty”, she said and began taking steps towards me.

I shrunk back instinctively and she stopped.

“Don’t be scared dear, I couldn’t hurt a fly if I tried”, she said. “I just want to take a closer look at you”, she explained and resumed her steps towards me.

I held my breath as she came to a stop before me and shut my eyes as she brought a hand to my face.

I don’t know what I was expecting but the soft brush of fingers against a bruise on my cheek was not it.

My eyes gradually opened to see what I could only describe as pity in her warm brown eyes.

“I can help with that”, she said softly as if afraid to spook me. Her hand on my cheek slowly moved to my messy hair. “This too”, she said with a somewhat teasing smile on her face withdrawing her hand and turning away from me to move towards the bed.

“But first, you must eat”, she said, taking a seat on a small corner of the bed and patting the opposite side for me to do the same.

I slowly made my way over and sat on the bed as well.

“Eat”, she encouraged when I made no move to do so.

I cautiously reached for one of the blueberries on the tray and slowly popped it in my mouth. As I bit into it, a burst of sweet flavor engulfed my taste buds, causing my eyes to widen in surprise.

It was so tasty.

She laughed softly at my expression and I blushed in embarrassment once again.

“I’m glad you like the berries”, she said. “Try to finish the food while I go and fetch something”, she rose from the bed and began making her way to the door. “I’ll be right back”, she called before the door shut after her.

Too hungry to ponder on her destination, I turned back to the tray of food and all but wolfed it down in moments.

I had cleared the tray of food and was drinking water from the cup when the door to my room opened once again and Elena walked through with a big bowl of water and a towel slung over her shoulder.

“Since you seem very shy, I was sure you would not want to use the bathhouse so I brought this instead for you to wash up”, she said somehow managing to open the door to my washroom and taking the bowl of water inside.

I wouldn’t have been able to carry something so heavy but she did with ease thanks to her wolf.

She came out a moment later and revealed what looked to contain a salve.

“This will help with your wounds”, she said. “I can help you put it on after you wash up”, she offered.

I immediately looked away, not comfortable with the thought of someone seeing my body let alone the bruises on them.

“I am only offering because you need to properly apply the salve for your wounds to heal faster and I don’t think you can do that yourself”, she said as if reading my mind. “If it will make you more at ease, I can shut my eyes while I do it”, she said.

I thought about it for a moment.

I had never met the woman before today and I wasn’t sure I could trust her enough to show her the scars on my body.

Especially the hideous marks on my back.

A part on me wanted to refuse and keep my scars hidden. But another part of me wanted to know if she would still treat me the same after seeing them. If those brown eyes would still have warmth in them and not disgust after she sees the atrocity that is my back.

I wanted to know.

So I gave a small nod that brought a bright smile to her pretty face.

“Good”, she said. “Now go and wash up while I choose a dress for you”, she instructed, handing me the towel on her shoulder and gently pushing me towards the wash room.

I did as I was told.

I used the bar of soap and piece of clean cloth to scrub and clean the dirt and dried blood stains from my body.

When I felt that I was clean enough, I wrapped the big towel around my body and stepped out to see Elena sitting on my bed holding the salve and the empty tray of food nowhere to be found.

I didn’t even hear her leave or renter.

I slowly made my way towards her, suddenly feeling nervous and regretting my choice.

“I will not hurt you”, she said soothingly. “I will be very gentle”, she promised, pulling me gently to sit beside her on the bed and turning me to face her.

Without saying anything else, she began to apply the salve to the wounds and bruises on my body, starting with the one on my cheek she had touched earlier.

When she had finished applying it to the bruises visible to her, she spoke.

“Turn around so I can apply the salve to the bruises on your back”, she said and I froze.

I was suddenly afraid.

Afraid that she would see that I was cursed. Afraid to see those warm brown eyes filled with disgust at me.

I felt soft fingers gently grab my chin and lift my head to look at those brown eyes filled with sympathy.

She gave me a soft smile as if to encourage me.

“You are safe”, she told me. “You can trust me”, she assured.

Despite the kindness I saw in her eyes, I doubted she would still be kind to me after she saw my mark.

Still, I turned around slowly so I wouldn’t have to see the look on her face then loosened my towel to allow it fall, revealing my back to her.

I heard her gasp in shock and shut my eyes.

Tears were threatening to escape my eyes despite it being shut and I could feel my body tense as I waited for her to push me away in disgust like everyone else who had seen my back had.

“Who did this to you?” I heard her ask quietly from behind me.

I hung my head in shame.

“No one”, I said. “I was born with them”, I told her, my voice barely above a whisper.

I felt her hands on my shoulders and waited for her to push me away.

She surprised me when she gently turned me around to face her again instead.

My hands clutched the towel tightly to cover the upper parts of my front as I faced her.

Once again, she gently lifted my chin to bring my now open eyes to hers.

The look in them confused me.

Her eyes weren’t filled with disgust. Rather, her eyes were hard and her brown eyes were darker, as if her wolf was at the surface.

I wondered what I had done to get her angry but before I could ask, she spoke.

“I’m not talking about your birthmark, Dear”, she said. “I’m asking what animal was heartless enough to have you flogged like this?” She asked as her eyes flickered between brown and black, a clear indication of her wolf’s presence.

It took me a moment to answer. Mostly because I couldn’t believe she wasn’t disgusted at my birthmark, but also because I had never had anyone angry on my behalf.

She was clearly angry.

But not at me.

She was angry that someone had flogged me, hurt me.

My eyes began to fill with tears again.

“My mate’s lover had me flogged whenever she was displeased with me”, I told her as tears rolled down my cheeks.

I don’t know why I was so teary that someone was angry for me. Perhaps because no one had ever been.

“She said she was helping fix my cursed marks”, I said before dissolving into sobs.

I felt her soft arms envelope me in an embrace so warm that it reminded me of my mother and I sobbed harder.

She held me tightly, whispering words of comfort that I couldn’t make out through my tears and rubbed soothing circles over my back.

When my tears finally subsided, she still didn’t let go.

“I pray the Moon Goddess never brings them my way”, I heard her say. “Because I will send them back to her”, she said and it somehow made drew a weak laugh from me.

She pulled away from me to look at my teary face and tenderly wiped them away with her soft hands.

“He does not deserve you”, she said and I know she was referring to Tyler. “And she is a witch who is jealous because she can never be as beautiful as you are”, she said with a smile that I couldn’t help but return.

“Why are you so kind to me?” I asked, truly wanting to know.

She smiled at that.

“Everyone deserves kindness, my dear”, she said. “Especially those who don’t believe they do”.

“But don’t you think my birthmark is hideous as well?” I asked.

She turned to face me fully.

“I have seen a lot of things through my work as a healer”, she said. “I will admit it is not a pretty sight. But it is certainly not hideous, Jasmine”, she told me firmly.

I smiled as her reassurance before realizing she had called me by my name.

“You know my name”, I said, smiling.

She laughed at that.

“Of course I do”, she said. “Now let me attend to you back and comb out those knots in your hair”, she said turning me around. “I still have to show you where you’ll be working here”, she informed me and got to work.

For the first time ever, I believed I had finally found something I had never had.

A friend.