Page 11 of Wolf Burdened


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The voices became even louder to the point where I thought my ears would bleed.

“Shut up! Just leave me alone!”

The room fell silent, but as the voices vanished, I covered my mouth with my hand to silence my sob.

What the hell was that?

I fell backward onto the bed, my body trembling as I wept quietly.

I’d had enough for one night. Now I was hearing voices, too. Was I losing my mind?

I wanted peace. I wanted to exhale! I wanted to be with my mates and spend my time doing the things I hadn’t been able to on Earth.

I wanted to forget the visions, the gods, and everything that didn't bring me happiness. Sleep was my only escape, but I was being denied even that.

The voices were gone, thank the Goddess. I felt like all my emotions had been dumped into a blender. The more I wept, the more numb I felt. Suddenly, I felt a presence.

“Natalie?” I heard Rehema call at the door, and I went still, my heart thudding. “I just wanted to check on you… I can go, if you want.”

I wiped at my tears and sat up. “No, stay, please. I can’t sleep anyway.”

She came into the room and sat down beside me. Neither of us spoke for a time. I took deep breaths to try and calm myself. I didn’t want the guys seeing me like this.

“I’m sorry I walked away like that earlier. I know you all are worried. Right now, I'm not one-hundred-percent okay, but I'm not hurt. I just really want to be done with this night,” I told her. She reached out and placed her hand over mine.

“We know,” she said. “What's important is that you're here and you're okay, for the most part. Just worry about resting for now. Nothing else."

I wished it was that easy to turn off my thoughts.

"The guys said they're staying tonight. I think I will, too, if that's okay with you,” she added, and I nodded.

Despite how rotten I felt, I smiled. She did so as well, making the dimple on her left cheek pop. Thank the Goddess that I had amazing people like her in my life who cared about me, who could help me get through this.

"Thank you for staying," I told her. "I only have three guest bedrooms, though. The guys can each take one, and if you don’t mind, you can stay with me."

"Are you sure?" she asked, and I nodded.

“I’m sure.” I looked around the dimly lit room. The voices were gone for now. “There was an infected soul in the city," I told her, and she bobbed her head.

“We know. We smelled it on you when you arrived.”

I looked down at my hand resting on my thigh, and for a second, I saw blood. Rehema moved closer to me, but I couldn’t seem to look away from my hand. Of course they'd smelled it. I still could.

“We’ve been speculating about what happened,” she said after some time. “Between the tainted scent of the werewolf and you looking beat up, a fight happened, right?" she asked, and I nodded.

She looked apologetic, and I turned away from her stare. A lump was forming in my throat, and once more, although I really wanted to tell her everything, I couldn't speak. It had been painful telling the gods what had happened… what I’d done.

But Rehema and the others were my family. I knew I’d break down the moment my lips parted. And I wasn't ready to start sobbing again. I wanted this numb feeling in my chest to remain a bit longer, helping me forget.

When Rehema leaned over and hugged me, I let out a long exhale and allowed my shoulders to drop. Yes, for now, I just wanted to not feel anything.

"I can help you sleep," she whispered.

Grateful, I nodded and slid down under the covers, then closed my eyes and allowed my body to sink into the bed. Her deep brown eyes turned bright green, and she put a warm palm to my forehead. Within seconds I felt drowsy.

Though I could hear the whispers again, demanding but incoherent, they were fading, just like my headache. My body grew limp, and I soon slipped into a dreamless state where there were no viruses, no death, no pain. Only peace.

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