‘Rei, I was so worried.’ I heard Maat. ‘I couldn’t open my eyes, Maat.’ I whined to her. I knew I woke up now I could feel the pain of my body and the sore muscles. There was water nearby as I could hear but I was too tired to open my eyes. I wanted to drink. I needed to drink, my mouth was dry and a dessert and I could not feel my tongue anymore. ‘Slowly, your body is too exhausted. We were starving and searching for drinking water. I remember you blackout. Your body gave up.’ She informed me. That would explain why I feel like being under the rock for several days. I felt my body crash.
‘Try to move a little bit, we need water and I hear the stream nearby.’ She told me and I tried. When I tried to move the hand or at least try if my fingers could move excruciating pain shot up onto my shoulder. I gritted my teeth trying to handle the pain, but a small cry escaped my lips. ‘It hurts Maat.’ I whined and complained. I could sense her distress. If I would be older, she could just take over my body and take me away from the pain but we couldn’t. I still couldn’t shift so traveling as a little human child is not very convenient. I could take a bus or train but with my appearance, I would be easy to see.
‘Slowly. I know you could do it Rei.’ She encouraged me more. I gritted my teeth stronger preparing myself for another wave of pain before I tried to move my hand again to turn my body. Seemed my eyes finally decided to follow my orders and I was able to open them a little bit. It was early morning or late afternoon I could not tell right now but the light was not so sharp. My eyes accustomed quickly and I turned my gaze to the direction from where I heard the water. It was a small stream and just a few steps away from me but the water looked clear and clean. ‘I see it.’ I told her and she nodded to me. ‘I could try to help a little bit with your pain but I can’t block it completely since I still don’t have access to your body Rei.’ She told me and I agreed. We could do this together. ‘Let’s do it.’ I encouraged more myself than her before I made another attempt to move my body to be on my belly. I left out a scream from pain and I could sense Maat being in pain and distress too. She tried to connect herself to my nerve system and share the pain with me. Not like I felt any difference but little help is still helping.
We were finally on the belly, now somehow crawl a few steps towards the water. I made an attempt to lift myself on my hands but failed miserably and fell down on my face. ‘Don’t lift yourself; it would take too much power which we don’t have.’ Maat told me and I nodded my head to her. I stretched my hand painfully trying to get grip on something on the ground so I could push myself to follow my hand. I felt like I was ripping my bones from the shoulder out of my body. I knew it was not possible but it felt like someone was tearing my hand out from me but I moved. I moved slowly and every single time I tried to pull myself towards the water stream the pain was more intense. ‘You do great.’ Maat assured me and I could hear her panting. I knew she was feeling it too. I couldn’t imagine how much pain I would have to withstand without her taking the part of it. ‘Just a few more times.’ I told her also out of my breath but we could not stop. If I stop now, I would not be able to continue and first of all, we needed water.
The first sip of the cold water made my stomach hurt much more than the whole moving thing. It came as a cramp inside my stomach and slowly moved all over my body. ‘Again.’ Maat told me. I didn’t want to. I wanted the water but I didn’t want to put anything into my system if that was making me suffer more.
‘It hurts.’ I complained crying holding my stomach as I was still in pain and with cramps. ‘I would subside. The stomach was empty. We need water.’ She told me and I knew she was right. She was always right about everything but that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt. I took another sip of cold water and another wave of pain went through me from my stomach, this time less intense. ‘Good, you see? Drink slowly, sip at a time.’ I followed Maat's instructions. I waited until the pain subsided a bit more and took another sip. Like that, we continued till the pain stopped completely. Few times I had to cough and some water came back from my stomach but in the end, we managed to get some water into our system.
‘What now?’ I asked her. ‘Just wait and rest a little bit. We would need a little bit more water to make our body listen to us a little bit more. Once it is done, we could explore where we are.’ She told me and for once I turned again on my back trying to focus on my breathing. I was so sleepy and tired but I knew with Maat I could do it. I could survive.
‘Do you know where we are? These woods are different than those around the city I remember.’ I asked Maat and she shook her head on me. ‘I don’t know. And I am not even sure how we end up here.’ She told me. ‘But we would worry about that later. Now get some rest.’ She told me and I was happily obliged.
End of flashback
“I am sorry you had to go through something like that.” He had again this sadness in his eyes which I didn’t like. I didn’t tell him what happened when I somehow arrived in these woods to make him pity me. “I really don’t need you to pity me Calen,” I said a little sharper than I was planning and he vehemently shook his head. “It is not a pity princess I could assure you. Believe me, if I could change what you went through if I could be here to help you I would but I could not. I am not a pity. I feel sad that my mate had to go through something so horrible and painful but believe me I am not pitying you. It made you so strong.” He told me his voice filled with admiration. ‘He does not pity us. This aura you feel around him is pity and shame for his own inability to help or do something for us.’ Maat explained to me.
Chapter 28
NOVEMBER CALEN’S POV:
“I don’t want you to reveal yourself to them,” I argued with the logic of my mate. Tomorrow should arrive with three Alphas of our allied packs and she wants to show them who she is in real just to make sure they would be on our side. “But it would help us and benefit our cause.” She tried to add more reason into her suggestion. I simply did not want to listen. I heard a lot of stories over the past two months from her about the attack on her pack, about the life in her family and in her pack. She had a good life and with a good family to care for her until someone took it from her. She was sent into hiding for six years and now she was willing to reveal herself just because for the last almost three months she was training and she feels invincible. I was just shaking my head on her logic.
“I don’t agree. What if they would join the enemy? What if they would want to steal you for themselves? I know them for ten years and I would bet my own life on them but my life is nothing compared to yours. You are way more important and I am not willing to risk your safety because of this.” I said as firm as I could. I wasn’t sure it was a good idea but I really did want to protect her. It was too soon to start screaming into the world that she was alive. Whoever was looking for her it is better if they think that she is dead.
“We need them on our side. You were the one who told me about the vision that Tamara heard about Ismail. You don’t know when he might come. It could be tomorrow or next year but if she saw it he would come for sure. Don’t be mistaken about that.” She said and for the first time, I could really sense her anger. She never talked to me this way and I could only hope that she would never do again but sadly I was sure in the future this would happen again. People always clash their heads together and argue, right?
“You can’t leave me just like that,” I shouted after her. I didn’t want her to leave angrily but as she opened the door of my office and left, I saw Zack standing in the corridor heading my way. He moved away from her way and she passed him.
“Whoa man, what’s up?” Zack asked me the moment he closed his door behind himself. “She wants to show who she really is tomorrow in front of the other Alphas,” I told him with a frown. I still didn’t agree with that but since she left so angry, I am afraid she might do whatever she wanted.
“That is a tough decision to make. I know you want to protect her but she is not a child anymore. Next month she would be eighteen and she would
finally become our Luna. For sure during the ceremony, she would shift. You can’t avoid that and you know that. So, what is the deal if she reveals her true identity now and maybe helps those stupid Alphas to move their packs within our borders? You know between us and the cities on each side are at least five hundred kilometers. They could take those lands and if something happens to them or to us, we could dispatch help immediately.” His logic was correct and he was right but that still didn’t mean I wanted to risk her life on this.
“I don’t like it.” I simply started falling back onto my chair. Zack took the place on the sofa and sighed. “You can’t keep her under the lock. It would do no good to you or to her. You do remember what did happen last month right?” Sh*t, of course, I did remember now when he mentioned that. Okay, I take it back; this was not the first time I made her angry.
“Don’t remind me,” I replied to him and this time it was my turn to sigh. “She is a tough one and strong on top. Good luck man.” Zack told me but for some reason, I felt pleased he actually approved of my mate and his future Luna.
“Anyway, she would do what she wants to do. I guess there is nothing I could do about that.” I resigned and would simply follow her. “It seems you finally learned something about your mate. I am really proud of you man.” Zack spoke and I didn’t know if I should be laughing or kicking his as*. “Anyway, I came to tell you that our training room was remodeled and prepared for tomorrow’s meeting. We made some addition to that place since it would be hosting three Alphas and their betas and just in case our Elders would join you there, we added more chairs. It looks like the circled table right now. Note the irony man.” Zack told me and I knew exactly about which training room he was talking about now.
“Is everything prepared? They should arrive tomorrow afternoon. I want food ready and also their room just in case they want to take a rest before our meeting.” I informed him and he nodded. “I took to take care of everything personally. Andrew is now changing the patrols and increasing the numbers of the single patrol. So, the whole border would be more secured. We don’t want to risk the lives of our guests.” He added jokingly.
“Good, I don’t want any surprises during their stay with us,” I said with the sharp tone and Zack nodded to me with understanding. It would not be the first time the pack got attacked while hosting the meeting for another alpha but those were mostly the meeting to create an alliance. I hoped everything would be smooth since we are already allied but because we moved really far from them, I invited them to show the lands here and offer them to move their packs the same as we did.
It is not really useful to have allies who are too far come help if needed so I wanted to build our negotiations on that but then suddenly Rei spoke about showing herself.
Zack noticed that I am still lost in my own thoughts. “Come on man. This is normal. You know how many times we fight or argue with Tamara?” He spoke and I shook my head. “Too many times to even count.” He answered his own question when I was silent. “I don’t want to argue with her. She had enough in her life. I am supposed to make her laugh and happy.” I whined and he laughed at me. “Don’t worry. Every relationship has its ups and downs and just because we are destined to be together doesn’t mean we are protected from those ups and downs like humans. We are still humans too, just a little enhanced.” He told me with a little bit of exaggeration but I understood what he meant.
“What should I do?” I asked for his suggestion. “To be honest I don’t know. With every fight, it is a little different based on why we fought. First, admit her suggestion is not bad. We could actually really use it and believe me if they are not under some bad influence, they would help to protect her. Second, apologize to her for something she likes. Bring her chocolate, take her out or buy her clothes, I don’t know, whatever she likes.” He told me and I could not believe my own ears. “Is that always like that? I would be the one to apologize and try to win her back?” I spoke with my eyes wide open. “If you want your mate to be happy then yeah, suck it up, man.” He added lifting himself from the sofa and headed out of my office. “Just think about it a little, would you?” He asked me before he left my office and closed the door after himself. I could not believe what he just said. He never looked the type to be like this yet I assumed once he is the one giving me this advice means he was doing that after their own fights and as he said by himself, they were fighting a lot. ‘He was right.’ Thoth spoke to me once we were alone in the room.
‘Why?’ I asked him back. I didn’t specify why but I hoped he would understand. ‘When you argue or fight you get angry and you mostly keep angry until you get it out of your system. Women are different. They are angry at first but once they cool down, they regret it and feel hurt. You are not going to apologize for being wrong but for hurting her.’ He explained to me and seeing things this way I understood why was that gesture important. ‘So, I guess I have no choice, right?’ I asked him back. ‘Nope.’ He replied to me popping the ‘p’. ‘Do we know what she likes except for the picnic and the meditation under the water?’ I asked him back. I actually didn’t know what my own mate liked and since it was already winter, I was sure I could not take her out to the pond.
‘We could take her out to the town for dinner. As far as I know during the winter, she never visited them because of the snow. She could not because of the snow, so I guess we could take her down there to Rosie and take her to dinner and let her be free.’ He suggested. Well, partly it was not that bad of an idea. I could actually take her to the town but not for this little town here beside our pack land. No. We could have a trip after the meeting to the big city. I think I finally made a plan on how to get on the good side of my cute little mate.
REI’S POV:
‘You just passed Zack without even saying hi.’ Maat scolded me. I was angry. Why was he so stubborn when it came to me? Last month I could not even go alone to the city to see Rosie. October was mostly the last month I was going since the snow was falling here early. It was already a little snowy and just because of that he refused to let me go alone. Like what the hell is his problem? ‘Calm down.’ Maat tried to talk to me again. I know I ignored her first, but I was afraid that if I spoke to her now, I would say something not nice and she didn’t deserve anything bad from me.
‘I would show them myself and give them a reason to move their packs and stay several hours from us. I couldn’t risk that this pack would be massacred like mine just because of me and you feel it too.’ I spoke to Maat. Even my thoughts were still sharp from the angriness I was holding inside but I already decided. To my surprise, she really didn’t argue about my decision. This was our home and our pack. People living here are our people and we both were responsible for them especially since we were the most potent danger here.
I didn’t know how I got out of the pack house and out to the open area until Emily held my hands. “Are you alright?” She asked me confused and based on her face I guess she asked me or talked to me several times already. “Yes, I am sorry; I was lost in my own little world,” I told her and she smiles at me. Emily changed so much since our first meeting. I still remember the face she made when she saw me for the first time in her clinic.
During the teaching when I showed her the herbs, how to extract their essence, and mix it with others to create medicine and cosmetics she changed from that grumpy moody person into a sweet happy child who was eating hungrily my every word. After that, she opened herself to me and we became best friends together with Tamara. I knew I could tell her anything but my real identity I was still keeping away from her.
“No, no need to apologize, everyone has that from time to time. Mind telling me what happened?” She was always so sweet to me and I could not help but felt bad keeping the most important things about me from her. “I had a fight with Calen about something and I left angrily,” I replied to her. “Is this something the same something you are keeping from me?” She asked and I nodded. She knew there are things I didn’t tell her and sh
e never asked but that didn’t help my guilt. “I guess I should tell you finally what is going on. Anyway, next month everyone in the pack would know.” I told her to take her hand and pull her with me back into the pack house down below her hospital which was the only soundproof room in this whole place.
Chapter 29
REI’S POV:
“Holy f*ck. You are not kidding me, are you?” I didn’t know from where was the word Emily used but seeing her widened eyes staring right at me when I am in my wolf form is not quite comfortable. I don’t know what I did expect. “Oh, and you could keep your clothes while shifting? How?” She asked me when I shifted back. “I don’t know. I think it is a perk of Maat.” I replied not sure what I should answer to her. I really did not know why I could keep clothes on while shifting but it was convenient, for me at least.
“That’s cool. So?” She asked me and I shrugged my shoulders not really understanding what she was asking about. “Well, you wanted to show me that you are Spirit Wolf because it had something to do with your fight with Calen.” She reminded me slightly poking my shoulder and rolling her eyes. “Oh yeah, I totally forgot. Tomorrow the Alphas would come and Calen wants them to take land near us so if something happens, our packs could protect each other and I offered him that I could show myself helping them to make the decision.” I explained to her and she shook her head.
New Beginning : A Beautiful Ethereal Creature (Spirit Wolf Book #1) Page 19