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“Good job Rebecca. That’s it. Slow deep breaths, everything is okay, I promise.” His deep voice has my gaze traveling from his dark umber hand, up the sterile white coat sleeve onto his beautiful face.
His eyes are so green, I imagine the grass is jealous. His features are all sharp and his chin is chiseled in that Chris Hemsworth way. The man looks like he is an actor playing a doctor on T.V. Seriously, McDreamy has nothing on this guy.
“Hello Rebecca. I’m Doctor August Lycan. I want you to know that you are safe and we are going to take good care of you. Do you know where you are?”
Peeking around the room, I can see that the doctor is accompanied by three nurses and there is a lady in a killer pants suit standing quietly in the corner. The lights in the room are dimmed so low that the room is almost completely dark, but I don’t have a problem making anything out. My mind is racing and I have so many questions. Right now, I need to focus on the doctor and let him explain what he needs to, then I can ask any questions I may still have afterwards. Having a solid plan, I nod my head slowly and swallow hard to clear my throat before speaking.
“I’m …” My voice is low and raspy, as if I haven’t used it in a while, so I clear my throat and try again. The whole time, Doctor Lycan is smiling gently at me, his hand on my arm as a reassuring pressure that keeps me focused on the here and now. “I'm in a hospital because I was …. Attacked, last night, I think.”
“Yes, very good, Rebecca. Now, I have a few questions I need you to answer, then I can explain everything and you can ask all the questions I see swimming in those pretty blue eyes.” His chuckle is relaxed and he sits gently down on the side of my bed while keeping his hand on my arm.
I don’t remember doctors acting like this at the hospital I went to when I broke my arm two years ago, but maybe I’m wrong. Either way, I really like that he is so comforting and that the nurses are giving me my space while still taking down all the notes they need. I feel safe here, even though I was just mauled and I’m still sore and confused. Doctor Lycan pats my arm gently, bringing my attention back to him. I’ve never been this unfocused before and I’m a little unsettled knowing how easily distracted I am right now.
“So, what is your full name?”
“Rebecca Lancaster.”
Doctor Lycan smiles gently and continues with his questions. They are all basic and about me, things that he could have easily known by looking at my driver’s license. Clearly, he is checking that I’m oriented and alert. I would expect that these would be standard for any doctor to ask any patient after what I’d been through. After asking my birthday, address, and parent’s names, he asks for something I’m not sure I’m ready to get into. Still, ready or not, I know that I have to answer his questions to the best of my ability if I want answers.
“So, Rebecca, can you tell me what you remember from before you woke up?”
I swallow hard again, trying to clear my throat and buy more time before I have to relive the attack. Doctor Lycan motions towards a nurse and the young blonde holds a cup of ice water close to my chest. There is a straw in the cup, so I take a few deep pulls. The cool liquid helps ease the burning in my throat and I smile shyly at the nurse then Doctor Lycan.
“Thank you, that helped a lot.” Both of them smile gently back at me and the Nurse—Nora according to her name tag—pats my hand gently before going back to the monitors hanging on the wall behind me. Clearing my throat once more, I launch into the story, my voice is shaking and my hands have a tremor I can’t control, but I don’t let myself stop until I’ve told the whole thing.
“I was walking home from a party on the beach. It was a graduation party and my ex boyfriend dragged me to it. I caught him cheating with my best friend and they were my ride to the party and home again, so I decided to walk through the woods instead of asking them to take me home.” I keep my eyes on the wall over Dr. Lycan’s shoulder,studying the plain white paint like it holds the answers to all of life’s questions.
Even as I hear the nurses sympathetic gasps, I ignore them and keep going. “I’ve walked through those woods alone at night a thousand times, so I knew my way home. I really love nature so it really wasn’t a hard thing to do.” I can feel the smile pulling on my lips and I know that I’m getting side tracked. My fingers tug on a loose strand on the blanket sitting around my waist and I keep my gaze trained on the wall so I can try to pretend no one is there to hear what happened. All the while, hoping someone is recording it so I don’t have to repeat it ever again.
“Anyways, I was about halfway home when I noticed the woods had gone quiet and still.” I can feel the tension in the room. Everyone is holding their breath, probably guessing that the rough part is coming. “I paused, looking around for what had spooked my animal friends into hiding. I couldn’t have been standing there for anymore than a minute when I was attacked. I didn’t really see what attacked me. Everything was chaos and there was so much pain. But it was big, and gray. It snarled and bit into my neck. I remember its claws scratching my arms and digging into my belly. I tried to scream, but I knew that no one was around or was even aware I was in the woods. My voice gave out and everything went black. That's all I remember. I honestly thought I had died that night. I was okay with that though.” Dr. Lycan makes a noise that almost sounded like a growl and my eyes quickly flickered to his. “Don’t misunderstand. I wasn’t suicidal before the attack. I was in the woods, my happy place. I was at peace knowing that I was going to die amongst the only places I found solace in when I was alive. I didn’t want to die, Dr. Lycan, but at that point, it was inevitable, so I tried to find comfort in knowing that I died in a happy place, with a piece of the nature that I loved dearly.”
I stop speaking when Dr. Lycan’s gaze turns soft. He rubs my arm again, comfort and understanding translating with every gesture he makes. I know that I should ask questions, but honestly, my mind is so exhausted. I just want to get this whole night over with and go home to my bed and sleep until the Fall semester starts at college.
“Thank you for telling us what happened. We made many guesses when handling your treatment. Would you like to rest now or hear about what happened after you blacked out?”
I’m glad he is giving me a choice. While my body is shouting at me that I need sleep, my mind is rushing so fast to put together pieces of the puzzle I don’t have. I know that no matter how tired I might be, I’d never be able to get any sleep without knowing what happened and how I got here.
“I’d like to know what happened. How long have I been here? Where are my parents?” I glance around the room again, hoping I’d somehow missed them or that they had been out of the room and stepped back in while I was telling my story. But one look around the room and all that’s changed is the nurses have all gone and the lady that was once in the corner is now sitting in a chair beside my bed. Her brunette hair is hanging straight down over her shoulders and her porcelain skin looks smooth and perfect, something I’d never be able to accomplish with my freckles.
“Okay, I’ll explain everything, then you can ask any questions you may have.” He waits for my nod then continues. “Two weeks ago, there was a party on the beach, well, two parties to be exact. One on the reservation side and one on the Norm side.” The reservation is what we call the Shifter side of town. “Both schools held graduation on the same day and so the students from each school were celebrating in their own way. One of the students from the Reservation got a bit too intoxicated and their wolf went feral. It’s not something that happens often, but it does happen. It seems that he found a hole in the wall and breached the Norm side. A few of the older wolves attending the party found him, but it was a bit late. There was a girl, you, walking in the woods and just so happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
All the breath in my lungs rushes out. It’s impossible. What he is saying doesn’t make sense. I was attacked by a normal wolf. One that was probably defending his territory or maybe a female protecting her young. I couldn’t have been attacked by a Shifter, because that would mean …
“The older wolves fought off the feral one and unfortunately he didn’t survive. They shifted back and saw that you were still alive so they rushed you to our Hospital here on the reservation. After hearing what happened, we ran some tests, and found that the Shifting Gene has been passed from the feral wolf to you. You’ve been in a medically induced coma for about two weeks. I’m sorry Rebecca, but you are a Chosen now.”
Chapter Three
Chosen
Mywholebodyfeelsnumb, and the wordChosenis ringing in my mind, over and over again. My entire life, I grew up with stories about humans that were changed into Shifter with a bite. Almost all of them were humans that were Mates to a wolf and integrated into the Shifter community before receiving the bite. I’d only heard of one human that was bitten against their will and it was an isolated incident where a crazed wolf became obsessed with the human and attempted to change her as a way to force a mate bond. The human didn’t survive the change and the wolf was executed for forcing the bite and the murder of a human. Never have I ever heard of a human being attacked by a feral wolf and becoming a Chosen. What did this mean for me? What about …
“My parents, do they know?”
Dr. Lycan looks up at the woman sitting beside the bed. I didn’t notice she grabbed my other hand until now. Usually I’d feel uncomfortable with strangers, or anyone really, touching me, but with the two of them, I don’t mind so much.
“Rebbeca, my name is Abigail Wolfsbane. I’m your liaison, kind of like a social worker assigned to help you through the beginning stages of the change and a guide for integrating into the Shifter community. I called your parents as soon as I was made aware of the situation.”
My heart breaks when I hear the tone of voice she uses when mentioning my parents. Nothing good can come from someone sounding so cautious. I know that they would be shocked at the change, but what could they possibly have done to make this wolf feel so uneasy about sharing it with me?
