I tried to pull my wrist away but, despite his injury, this creature was strong.
"Who are you? How do you know my mother's name?" I demanded. My voice came out with a low, jagged edge of command that I didn't recognize - a weight that seemed to vibrate in the very air.
The creature was clearly in agonizing pain. His stench was worsening, and the wound deeply inflamed, still glowing silver but bubbling worse, burning. The stench of sizzling silver and rotting ozone turned my stomach, making my very bone marrow shiver with a primal rejection. His eyes began to roll back, and he was muttering incoherently.
"They're coming..." was all I could make out between the whimpers. He shuffled almost as if he were trying to bow.
"Alpha please..." I felt a surge of authority building in the depths of my soul, but I couldn't understand why he was calling me that.
"No, my name is Selina." He didn't reply, his eyes had rolled back, his iron grip on my wrist loosened as he fell to the floor, unconscious.
They're coming. The static rang in my head, an overwhelming sense of danger, that feeling of being watched crept back in. Look, in his wound - a silver bolt. Drag him inside. Help him. The voice, the static as I called it, pushed harder into my consciousness. I looked around the woodland surrounding my cabin. I focused, sharply, clearing my mind. I could hear a heart beat in the distance, getting closer. I could feel eyes watching me.
I kicked open the door and dragged the creature inside. He was beginning to look more human again, but the silver bolt in his wound was almost burning his skin. I locked the door behind me and began to gather supplies - healing herbs, an anesthetic salve, tongs to remove the bolt, gauze to cover it.
I pulled him up, resting him against the cupboard in the open-plan living area. My cabin was small, basic, but it had everything I needed. Animal pelts from previous hunts for warmth, a fireplace for warmth and to cook.
"OK, I need to remove this," I told him, gently peeling back the cloth of his bloodstained shirt. I could see clearer now, the silver sizzling against his skin. The smell of burnt flesh assaulted me, but I tried to let it wash over me as I applied the anesthetic salve to the wound. He whimpered in pain.
"Alpha..." he whispered.
"Shh... Don't try to talk. I told you my name is Selina, not Alpha. You must have the wrong person." I took the tongs, and he screamed as I pulled the silver bolt from his shoulder. I immediately threw it as far away as I could - I had a strong aversion to silver I could never quite explain. I began to clean and bandage the wound. Now the silver was gone he was recovering quickly.
He looked me in the eyes, a sudden sense of recognition overwhelming me despite the stench of death that clung to him. There was an underlying scent I couldn't quite place. It reminded me of something, but I couldn't get to that place in my mind.
He smells like our mother. The static in my skull sharpened into a serrated edge. Ask him, it commanded, no longer a buzz but a roar. Who is he to us? It always referred to me as an us. I really think I must have some kind of problem. I told my aunt about it once. She told me not to worry, that special children like me had a way of being able to connect with our subconscious. It was relentless. I was constantly trying to drown it out, to not feel like a crazy person, but today it was pushing me, taking over my awareness in ways I could not put into words.
"You have her eyes...." He started. "The Silver Queen...."
"You are delusional," I spat. "My mother was a florist in the city."
"No Alpha. She was not." He was insistent, but there was something submissive in his tone. "A florist doesn't carry the weight of a Pack in her marrow," he said. "Selina. Look at your hands... the claws are already itching to come out."
I looked down at my hands confused. My nails were perhaps too long, but they definitely didn't look like claws...
"Pack? Claws? What the hell are you talking about?" I demanded. What was this nonsense about? I didn't have claws. My mother was a florist. I was sure of that. I didn't remember much about her, everything I knew came from my aunt. The only thing I remembered was her eyes.
"Many years ago, when you were just a baby, there was a coup in our pack. Knowing you were in danger, she smuggled you out in a basket of wolfsbane to hide your scent. Karina was to protect you, but now she is gone you are in danger."
Before I could ask how he knew both my mother and aunt's names, or who the hell I needed protecting from, the static pressed deeply against my consciousness like a spike of tension. The ringing in my ears was deafening. Danger. Danger. He's close Selina. Let me out Selina.
My senses suddenly sharpened. The heartbeat I had heard earlier was closer now. Focusing, I could hear his breathing. I could smell the sweat on his skin. A wave of cedar, rain, and the electric charge of a coming thunderstorm crashed over me, drowning out the smell of this wounded man's fear. The enemy was closing in.
Footsteps approached now.
"My name is Elias," the wounded man told me. "I don't have time to explain, but we need to get out of here. The hound will kill you. You are the only one who can stop them!" His eyes pleaded with me to leave. But this was my sanctuary, and I wasn't going anywhere!
I grabbed my knife and crept into the gap between the window and the door. The scent was stronger now and combining with the smell of Elias' fear. My heart raced but not with fear - with recognition.
Mine. The voice inside me growled loudly. I looked through the crack in the window to see a tall, dark shadow approaching.
Mine. Louder this time. My heart thumped with anticipation.
"Please. He is the enemy. We need to leave!" Elias begged. I stood firm.
Suddenly, the loud thud of a heavy boot landing on the porch, then another, the door creaked. Luckily, I had a safety chain so it didn't fully open. The scent was thicker now - a thick fog of cedar, rain and thunder. A deep, gravelly voice vibrated through the wood of the door, sending both a chill of fear and a warm, lustful sensation straight to my core. It vibrated through the wood deep into my marrow.
"I know you're in there, Little Alpha. Don't make me rip this sanctuary apart just to get to you."