A witch. Her mouth is agape, and her eyes are locked onto the body of her kind.
We are frozen at the sight of her.
“Hey, hey,” Caleb says softly.
Her eyes, filled with terror, scan the scene.
“I know what this looks like, but if you would just—”
Flight kicks in, and the girl turns and runs. “Help!” she yells out. “Somebody help! They killed him!”
“We’ve gotta get the hell outta here—and fast!” Caleb panics.
“Why? What’s happening?”
“No time to explain.” That’s when Caleb shifts his focus on removing the trap from my leg to simply breaking the chain binding it.
At the little girl’s alert, the lights to the buildings come on and instead of onyx black they’re now bright with warm yellow. Voices emerge from the distance, inquiring about all the commotion.
Caleb scoops me up, and I wrap my arms around him.
“Ahhh!” I scream and sob at the pain as he bounces with me in his arms.
My leg flopping only causes the sharp trap to tear through more flesh.
“I know, I know. Stay with me. I’ve got you.”
But darkness seeps into the edges of my vision. “I... can’t.”
I’m losing consciousness. Everything is a blur around me. Caleb’s words are jumbled. “. . . Stay awake . . . Stay with me . . .”
I try to keep my eyes open, but the pain is too great. I’m slowly slipping under.
When I focus on one thing, everything above me is moving, and I can’t keep my head up. The only thing I can focus on is the sky and trees. It makes me dizzy.
“Open your eyes . . . Here.”
I still can’t make out everything he says, but suddenly, my leg isn’t bouncing anymore. Caleb must have stopped running. I don’t know where we are, but I know we’re inside and there’s a strong medicinal scent mixed with cleaning products. Wherever we are, at least it smells sterile.
My wolf whimpers when I’m no longer cradled in Caleb’s arms but laid out on a soft surface.
Someone grabs my injured leg a little too hard, and my throat scratches from the scream I let out.
A growl echoes in the room. And I think it’s Caleb. I preferred when he was holding me.
“I don’t care if she’s a rogue. Make her scream like that again, and I’ll have your throat!”
At Caleb’s threat, the nurse is gentler with me. After she finishes poking and prodding, the pain starts to subside, and I am finally able to sleep.
***
My eyes flutter open, and the first things I notice are the brightness and beeping. I struggle to keep them open. I’m able to make out, through squinting, that I am in a hospital room.
A nurse is charting next to me, scribbling notes on a clipboard. I glance at the screen she’s eyeing closely and see my vitals displayed.
Okay, so I’m not dead. I just feel like it.
I move to sit up and groan.
