SNOW
I barely heard her voice before the darkness swallowed me whole. But amidst my unconsciousness, I heard her words.
"You don't even know what you are, do you?"
I tried to open my eyes, biting back the bright light. The ceiling above was painted with a mural of moons, stars and cherubs stretching across the surface. The colors had faded and the edges were cracked, but it was strangely beautiful.
Was I in heaven?
My eyes drifted downward to the rest of the room. White walls. No decorations. A single iron bed under me with stiff, scratchy sheets.
Not really a hospital, but definitely not home.
I sat up too quickly and a dull ache pulsed through my body. My arm throbbed, and I hissed at the sight of the bandage wrapped around it. Flashes of the night before hit me all at once. I remembered the blood, the claws, teeth snapping too close to my face.
"Thank God. I was almost scared you'd sleep yourself to death," a voice drawled.
I turned toward the source. A woman sat cross-legged in a chair some yards away from the bed. Dark eyes watched me, as sharp as an eagle's. Her black hair was streaked with silver at the roots, tied into a loose braid that rested over her shoulder. There were fine wrinkles on her face. She looked like she was in her fifties.
Tattoos covered her arms: inked vines wrapped around her forearms, curling into beautiful designs along her wrists and disappearing under the sleeves of her shirt.
She looked tough, like the kind of woman who had lived too long and seen too much, but there was something almost casual about the way she sat there like she had all the time in the world.
"You're the wolf who saved me." I murmured.
She lifted a finger to the ceiling. "Guilty."
"Where am I?"
"You're safe." She replied. "I dragged your bleeding ass here before you got eaten alive by that hungry rogue wolf. You're welcome, by the way."
"Thanks," I muttered.
She waved a hand. "It's what I do."
I took another glance at my arm, then back at her. "You didn't..."
"Try to eat you? No." She grinned. "Not my type."
I wasn't sure how to respond to that. The woman sighed and pursed her lips. "Relax, woman. You're not in any danger. You needed help, and I gave it. Simple as that."
Something about her tone made me feel way better. Whoever she was, I didn't get the feeling that she had any intention of hurting me.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"Sharon."
Sharon. It wasn't a name that I thought someone like her would bear.
"What's your own name?" She asked.
"Snow," I replied.
She assessed me from her vantage point. "You're healing fast, but I noticed something odd when I carried you here."
"Odd?"
She tapped her fingers against her knee. "It's your heartbeat. There's another one. Fainter, but there."
Sharon watched me patiently, waiting for answers.
"I'm pregnant," I admitted.
For once, she looked surprised. She whistled. "Damn. No wonder you ran into trouble."
I frowned. "What does that mean?"
She shook her head, something flickering in-between. "It doesn't matter now. You're here, and you're safe."
Just then, the door opened and a man stepped inside. All the air that was left in my lungs were sucked out the moment he did. Damn, the goddess sure do know how to create others perfectly.
If Jasper was handsome, then the dude here was definitely a hooker.
He was tall and built like a fighter, and his long black hair hung loosely around his shoulders. Tattoos snaked up his arms like that of Sharon. A loose bang danced around his temple, same as the perfectly smug look on his face.
He also looked like her. Same dark eyes, same sharp bird-like features. I glanced between them.
Sharon rolled her eyes and jerked a thumb in his direction. "Snow, meet Zaydin, my son."
I held out my hand, forcing a polite smile. "Nice to meet you."
Zaydin didn't even glance at it. His arms stayed crossed as he glared at me. Then he turned to his mother, a low growl escaping those perfectly sculpted lips.
"Are you serious?" He asked in a cold voice, his gaze piercing through the air.
Sharon sighed and closed her eyes. She looked like this wasn't her first time dealing with his attitude. "Zaydin..."
"We don't let in strays," he growled, interrupting her. "Not when we're already hanging by a very loose and precarious thread."
I wanted to roll my eyes at him. Yet, I couldn't because I was the one in need. I was the fucking rogue her. I pulled my hand back slowly, pressing my lips together. Whatever, Alpha Grumpy. If he wanted to act like an ass, I wasn't going to beg for basic human decency.
"I'm right here, you know," I said flatly, my wolf whining underneath. "You don't have to talk like I'm invisible."
"Funny, considering you won't be here long enough to matter." He muttered, baring his fangs.
Sharon let out a low whistle. "And people say I'm rude. Keep those edges trimmed, boy. Don't scare my guest."
I opened my mouth to fire back, but Zaydin wasn't done. His fiery gaze fixed on me as he wove every piece of words.
"You want to know why we don't let outsiders in?" His voice had dropped an octave.
" Would that make you less rude?" I muttered to myself but flashed a weak smirk.
Ignoring my sarcastic attitude, he laid the words slowly. "A few months ago, we took in a wounded wolf. He looked harmless and desperate, like you . Turned out that he was a spy from Jade Pack. He fed our enemies everything they needed to gut us from the inside. We still haven't recovered from what they did to us."
I had no words to say. He was talking about Jade Pack... my pack. How ironic. Wouldn't that make me a hidden enemy? I wasn't a spy, but if he knew where I was from, it wouldn't matter. He'd already made up his mind.
"You're being dramatic," Sharon told her son. "Was I supposed to leave her to die?"
"Am I being dramatic? Really?" He finally turned fully to face her, completely dismissing my presence. "Last time you took in a 'poor lost wolf,' we ended up burying hundreds of our own. Have you forgotten?"
A beat of silence followed his words. Sharon was staring at her son like she wanted to throttle him. Her fingers tapped against the arm of the chair.
"This is different."
Zaydin laughed wryly. "That's what you said last time." He turned back to me then, and looked at me from head to toe like he was sizing me up for a fight. "Forgive me if I don't take you at your word, miss."
His eyes burned with hostility but I refused to look away. "I'm not a spy, if that's what you're implying, sir."
His expression didn't change, but there was something calculating in his eyes. "That's exactly what the last one said, too."
Annoyance flared in my chest. Who the hell did this guy think he was? Acting like he had me all figured out after two minutes of meeting me? I opened my mouth to argue, but Sharon beat me to it.
"Alright, enough with the theatrics, Alpha Boy," she grunted. "You done with your intimidation tactics? Or do you want to puff out your chest some more and scare the woman?"
Zaydin went all tense. "I'm not..."
"Intimidating? Sure," she waved him off. "Then stop acting like a defensive teenager and be a decent host."
"I'm not a host. I'm the Alpha." His voice was clipped, like he was barely holding onto his patience. "And I'm making the call. I say she gets one day to rest. Then she's gone."
He didn't wait for a response from us. He turned and walked out, slamming the door behind him.
"Charming," I muttered.
Sharon snorted. "You should see him when he's actually mad."
I shook my head, feeling sick to my stomach already. If this was the kind of treatment I would get, then I wasn't ready for it. I would find my way and get the hell away as far as I could from Alpha Zaydin. I would find a quiet corner of the world to raise my child in. I was tired of being treated like an unwanted parasite everywhere I went.
"Thank you Sharon, but I don't want to be a problem." I muttered. "I'll leave."
Her smile collapsed. "You're not a problem, kid."
I pushed the blankets off. "Still, I don't want to overstay my welcome."
"Uh-huh. And where exactly do you plan to go?"
I ignored that. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and tried to stand. A merciless pain exploded in my stomach, forcing a startled gasp from my mouth.
The room turned sideways. My knees buckled before I even knew I was falling.
"Shit—!" Sharon was at my side instantly, grabbing me before I hit the ground.
"Stay with me, sweetheart," she muttered, half dragging, half lifting me back onto the bed.
I couldn't even respond. Images stood out in twos and threes before my eyes. My body felt like it was made of concrete. All I could feel was destabilising pain. What was happening to me?
"Aaargh!" I screamed, clutching Sharon's arm. The pain had traveled from my stomach and was blossoming in my chest. I found it hard to breathe. The agony...!
Sharon turned to the door. "Somebody get the damn healer!"
The last thing I heard was her telling me to stay strong, before everything faded to black.