One

Doing my best to ignore the shooting pain in my side, I limped through the forest, trying to stay hidden. The creaking noise of the leaves beneath my feet would usually make it harder for anyone to go unnoticed, but the rain covered the sound of my steps; something I was thankful for. I hid behind one of the enormous trees and looked down at my hand. The gash on my side did not stop oozing blood and its pain did not cease.

My body strongly shook as my torn clothes did not help with keeping me warm. My clattering teeth affected my ability to think clearly. I wiped the blood dripping from my nose with the back of my hand: the punch was so strong. Maybe it broke my nose.

“Come out come out wherever you are.” The menacing voice taunted me, making me squeeze her eyes shut as my tears rolled down my cheeks. My head was pounding and I was getting more exhausted.

I struggled to make my way through the darkness, not knowing if I would be able to survive the night or not. If only I were a werewolf, maybe my chances of survival would have been better, but I wasn't eighteen yet. The hope in me was almost nonexistent. My pace was getting slower, yet I tried to pave my way amongst the tall trees. I pushed my aching body to keep moving forward despite how lightheaded I was getting.

I looked around me and I realized that I was lost, but my whereabouts were my last concerns. I just wanted to stay alive. There were so many things I wanted to do in my life and I wasn't ready to give any of that up.

“Stay where you are!” A male voice yelled at me from the high tower that appeared among the trees. Had I reached another pack? Were they going to help me out? Were they going to consider me an intruder? Too many thoughts rushed through my head.

“Help me, please!” I desperately cried out, quickening my pace although the pain in my body increased, but I was just a couple of steps away from the borders.

“You can't get away from us,” the voice I dread spoke and before I could grasp what happened, another type of pain found me as a solid object made contact with my head.

The little strength I had was slowly being stripped away from me. Dark dots blurred my vision as I felt death nearing me.

“Do not approach her! She is in our territory!” The voice was so far and I could barely distinguish what was said.

Failing to stay on my feet any longer, my knees buckled and hit the ground and once my head made contact with the muddy ground, I closed my eyes as I tried to make peace with whatever fate would throw at me.

******

Slowly, I could feel myself gaining consciousness. My head throbbed that I wanted to cry out in pain. Not just my head was in pain, but my whole body. Even wiggling my toes ached me.

Fighting the heaviness of my eyelids, I opened my eyes. They wearily travelled around the place I was in and I realized that I was somewhere I didn't know. I tried to sit up, but a harsh wince escaped my lips. I rolled down the blanket that covered my body and found myself in a hospital gown.

            “Is somebody here?” I thought I had the ability to raise my voice, but the moment I spoke, I harshly coughed, which intensified the pain in my body. My side was on fire.

What happened to me? What was this place?

My thoughts were interrupted by two people opening the door and walking inside the room. A very tall man with broad shoulders and a muscular body walked inside first followed by a girl who seemed to be so small compared to him. I did not know any of them.

“Hey, it’s fine. You're fine. Calm down.” The girl gently placed her hands on my shoulders and made me lie down on the bed. “You shouldn't be moving a lot. You're hurt.” She tried to ease my nerves, but they were all over the place. I had no control over myself.

  My lungs were getting tight as I tried to fight her despite the shooting pain in my side, but she was much stronger than I was.

“She's bleeding, again. She opened the stitches.” That was the first thing the male said since he walked inside with the girl. Who were they? “Allow me,” he spoke, but I wasn't sure whom he was talking to.

The girl released me and before I was able to breathe out in relief, I felt two strong arms gently engulf me, preventing me from moving frantically without causing me any pain.

“I don't want to hurt you. Nobody here wants to cause you any harm.” I was restrained by his arms, yet his hold wasn't rough or painful.

“Who are you? Where am I? What are you going to do to me?” Many questions rolled out of my mouth in hopes that they would be answered.

“I'm Xander. The Alpha of Silver Moon pack. You sought help at our borders, and you were in a terrible state. You have been asleep for three days because of your injuries,” he dumped the information upon me, and my mind failed to process what came out of his mouth. Terrible state? Three days? What happened to me?

“Promise me that you're not going to hurt me,” I uttered the most pathetic sentence I could ever think of. Wait. Alpha? Pack?

Who were these people?

“I promise that nobody will touch you or cause you any harm as long as you're in our territory.” He sounded promising and he made me feel… secure? How could a stranger make you feel secure? “I’m only holding you like that because you have stitches and you’ve just opened them. I don’t want you to hurt yourself more.” He was sweet and his tone was soft. I found myself nodding to his words even though I shouldn’t be this meek.

“I have so many questions,” I blurted, taking in a shaky breath. I hoped that his patience with me would not wear thin.

“Let us fix your stitches first, then I will gladly answer whatever you want to ask.” His smile was gorgeous and assuring. For some odd reason, I didn’t want him to leave.

“Can you stay?” I requested. Why was I speaking my mind so freely like that? “I mean… while they check the stitches. I’m sorry if I’m asking for too much, but I’m scared and you’re… you make me feel safe,” I foolishly said. I was making an idiot out of myself.

“Sure.” The warm smile did not leave his face, which only increased the sense of security he provided me with.

The girl approached me again and he moved away, but I found myself reaching for his hand, not wanting him to be far.

“I’m right here,” he mumbled, rubbing small circles with his thumb on the back of my hand.

Attentively, the brown-skinned girl raised my gown and I blushed. I was basically half-naked in front of a stranger. A wince came out of my mouth once she touched the wound, causing her to immediately apologize.

  “It’s fine.” I sighed. Looking at the nasty wound on my side, my eyes widened. This was definitely going to leave a scar.

“You opened two stitches and I’m going to need to redo them, okay? I will do my best to make it less painful,” she informed me, and I found myself nodding.

She brought a spray bottle close to the wound and I found myself scooting away out of instinct.

“Don’t be scared. This is going to numb the area. I don’t want you to be in so much pain,” she attempted to relieve any sort of doubt I had in me.

It took her five minutes to finish up her job.  I must admit that she was very skilled. Yes, I did feel some pain, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Once she was done, she left me alone with Xander, probably giving us the space to talk. 

“Drink this,” the man, whose name I had just learned was Xander, said, handing me a glass of water. I was really thirsty and famished, but I wasn’t going to ask for food now.

“Thank you.” I offered him a small smile as I gulped down the whole glass of water.

“Do you want more?” I shook my head, turning to place the empty glass on the table beside me.

“Who hurt me? Do you know?” My voice was barely audible as I fiddled with my fingers.

“Unfortunately, we don’t know. One of the patrols saw you from the watchtower and you were being chased. Your attacker hit you and you fell. Luckily, you literally fell inside our borders, so they couldn’t trespass. You were then brought to my house and seeing how you looked, I had to take you to the pack’s clinic to treat your wounds,” he filled me in with the details he thought I might need, but that only increased my sense of loss.

So many things did not make sense in my head and I didn’t know how to voice that out loud.

“You seem bewildered,” he observed, and I slowly nodded. I was grateful for his patience.

“What do you mean by borders, watchtower and all of that?” It was his turn to be confused.

“The borders of the pack?” He made it seem more of a question than an answer.

“What pack? What’s even a pack?”

Baffled as he was, he did his best to appear composed before her. She could see the struggle on his facial expressions.

“Let me ask you one question. Perhaps it may clarify things to the two of us,” he said, running his head through his black hair.

“Go on.” I nodded, waiting for his question.

“Who are you?”

“I am…” I stopped, unable to answer his question. I tried to squeeze my memory, hoping I could give Xander any information, but I couldn’t. That was when it hit me. I didn’t know who I was. “I don’t know.” My eyes went wide out of shock and I bet anybody could sense the absolute fear that coated my tone.