Chapter 31

ELEANOR

“~Ellie?~” I heard Erica’s voice, but it felt like we were miles apart. “~Ellie, wake up.~”

“~Erica?~” I felt like I was trapped somewhere, and everywhere I looked, it was pitch black. “~Erica, where are we?~”

“~We are in your subconscious, Ellie.~”

“~Are we trapped?~”

“~I don’t know. I just gained consciousness~,” she answered.

I tried to reach out to something or move my hand, but it felt like I wasn’t in control of my body.

“How can I gain my senses back?” I asked her while looking around.

The fear within me started to slowly build while the darkness consumed my mind.

“~Stay calm, Ellie. We can figure a way out,~” Erica consoled me.

I’d always been afraid of the dark, and this feeling of dread and emptiness was only adding fuel to the fire.

Suddenly, I felt like I was falling. I didn’t have anything to hold onto.

I tried to scream and abruptly opened my eyes.

“Argh!” I heard the hysterical scream of a woman ringing in my ear.

“Eleanor, calm down,” I heard someone say, and that was when I realized the scream was coming from me.

I frantically looked around and saw that I was in a hospital room. Xavier was standing near the doorway by two warriors, but he looked distressed.

“Eleanor?” I peeled my eyes away from him and looked at the doctor.

“What happened to me?” I asked the doctor, sounding confused.

“Don’t you remember?” she asked me with a frown.

I concentrated on the last thing I remembered. I was in Eliza’s shop after I fell.

I looked down at my arm to see that it had completely healed.

“You were in a car accident,” the doctor slowly explained.

I tried my best to remember. It took a few seconds, but then I remembered it all.

“My god! A trailer crashed head-on,” I exclaimed, and I saw a relieved look on the doctor’s face.

“Yes, and you sustained quite a lot of injuries,” she said, and that was when I looked down at my body.

There were no bandages or plasters. Instead, I was only left with the faint scars from where they had stitched me up.

Xavier walked to the side of my bed, and I was relieved to have him close.

“Eleanor, you lost a significant amount of blood, and you slipped into a coma,” the doctor explained.

My eyes widened in shock and surprise. I was in a coma.

I turned my attention toward Xavier, and that was when I properly looked at him.

A small beard had grown on his face, and there were bags under his eyes. His clothes looked wrinkled like he had been wearing them for a very long time.

“How long was I in a coma?” I asked.

“About a week,” the doctor said.

“Oh, thank the Moon Goddess it was only a week,” I replied.

“It’s very rare for werewolves to be in a coma for more than that,” she explained.

“Okay, so can I check you over to make sure that everything is properly healed?” she asked me, and I nodded my head.

After she was done with her examination, the doctor and all the nurses left the room, leaving me alone with Xavier.

“I’m sorry,” Xavier spoke after a while.

“What are you apologizing for?” I asked him, confused.

“It was because of my carelessness you had to go through this pain. I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”

“And I shouldn’t have doubted you,” I said. I wanted to reach for his hand but stopped myself.

“I guess we’re even now,” Xavier said.

“Maybe. So…who tried to kill us?” I asked him, and a dark look crossed his face.

“It was definitely rogues. But we don’t know who specifically yet. Eleanor, they’re building an army. They’re coming for our pack. I’ve been in communications with our alliance so our numbers are strong. But…I just wish we could find their leader and make them pay.”

Xavier put on a strong front but I saw fear flash in his eyes for a moment.

“Xavier?”

“Yes?”

“Can we go home?” I asked him.

He looked relieved that I asked. “Yes, let’s go home,” Xavier said.

After Xavier brought me back home, I took a shower, changed my clothes into comfy pajamas, and got into bed.

~Knock, knock.~

“Come in,” I called out.

The door opened to reveal Mrs. Costa standing there with a tray of food. I started to get out of bed to help her.

“I’ve got this, sweetie. You lie down,” she said as she walked toward me.

She placed the tray on the bedside table and took a seat on the bed.

“You didn’t have to do all that, Mrs. Costa. You could’ve just called me down to have lunch,” I protested, but she playfully glared at me.

“You just came back from the hospital. So let me just take care of you. Plus, soon I won’t be living here anymore. So let me take care of you while I’m here,” she said.

I felt sadness creep up. I knew she was going to be moving out…but I wasn’t ready to move out of Xavier’s room. “When are you leaving?”

“The house that Henry and I bought is completed and ready to move in. But we stayed a little longer to handle things here while you were in the hospital. Of course, we can stay longer while you recover,” she said.

“Mrs. Costa, you can’t postpone the housewarming ceremony because of me.”

“But sweetheart, you just got out of a coma. It’s time for recovery, not celebration,” she said, but I shook my head.

“That’s exactly why we should be celebrating! I’m fine, Mrs. Costa. When did you plan to host it?” I asked her.

“Day after tomorrow.”

“Then go and prepare for that, and I promise I’ll be there.”

“Are you sure?” she asked me, and I nodded my head.

“I’ll get to work then,” she said and pulled me into a quick hug before leaving.

“Don’t forget to finish everything that is on that tray,” I heard her yell.

I looked at the food that was on the tray, and I was stunned the plate stacked with food.

~How am I going to finish all that?~

“~She’ll have our head if we don’t finish everything,~” Erica warned me, so I let out a frustrated sigh and began eating everything.

Once I was done with lunch, I placed the tray back on the side table, and lay back on the bed.

Even though I had been in a coma for nearly a week, my body still felt exhausted. So, the moment my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light.

***

“Eleanor.”

“Eleanor?” I groaned as I opened my eyes to see that it was Xavier.

“What do you want?”

“You didn’t take your medicine yet.”

“Can I take them later?” I mumbled, but when I was about to close my eyes again, he began shaking my shoulder.

“You need to have dinner after this as well. So please get up,” he persuaded me.

After tossing and turning in bed for a few seconds, I finally sat up against the headboard. He gave me the capsules, and I drank them all in one go.

“Do you want to have dinner with all of us downstairs, or should I bring the food up?” Xavier asked me.

“I’ll come downstairs,” I said, and he nodded his head.

“I’ll see you down then,” he said and then walked out of the room.

I got up from the bed and walked toward the glass wall to look outside. It was dark outside, though the moon was bright.

“~It’s beautiful,~” Erica said, and I agreed with her.

For some reason, the sky looked different tonight. As I stared up at it, something inside me stirred—an emotion I couldn’t quite name, one I’d never felt before. My gaze drifted toward the dark forest surrounding the house, and a strange calm settled over me.

The beauty of the night had me so spellbound that when I noticed movement among the trees, I thought I was imagining it. But I stepped closer to the glass, peering into the shadows, and that’s when I saw them. Three wolves stood just beyond the tree line, watching me. A man stood beside them.

It was too dark to make out his face, but they weren’t far. They were far too close to Xavier’s house.

And something didn’t feel right about those wolves.

“~Are they the rogues?~” Erica asked me, but I had no idea.

The man stepped closer, a smirk tugging at his lips. My heart began to race, and despite the cool air from the AC, my palms grew damp with sweat.

I could barely make out the words he mouthed at me, “I will kill you, Eleanor.”

I jumped back in fright.

I got an uneasy feeling in my stomach. I recognized him. Was this the rogue that killed my mother?

I stumbled away from the glass wall and ran downstairs, screaming Xavier’s name at the top of my lungs. “Xavier!”

“Eleanor! What’s wrong?” He ran out from the dining area toward me and held my shoulders in a death grip.

“There…there…” I couldn’t finish my sentence. My eyes watered with tears while the memory of my mother’s mangled body flashed in my mind.

“Eleanor, calm down. Breathe,” Xavier tried to console me, but I felt like his voice was miles away.

“There…”

“Eleanor, calm down, sweetheart,” Xavier said in a gentle tone, and he started to rub my back.

“~Run away, Ellie. I love you.~” My mom’s words kept repeating in my mind like a broken tape recorder. It felt like my throat was closing up, and the air around me was growing thinner with every breath.

“Mom, I think she’s having a panic attack. Call the doctor!” I heard Xavier say. “Eleanor, focus on your breathing. Take slow breaths,” Xavier instructed, and even though it was difficult, I did as he said.

A few minutes later, I felt my breathing go back to normal, but I started feeling lightheaded. My body felt weak,, and before I could hit the floor, Xavier wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close to him.

“What happened, Eleanor?”

“Rogues, they were out there. So close to the house.”