Jesse Allard's Story

"I'm never alone," Jesse told her. "They don't trust me."

For good reason he thought.

He sat back on his heels once he finished examining her, and pressed a hand to his mouth in thought. His brow was furrowed with genuine concern.

"You need to be in a hospital," he told her. "I'm not a surgeon. I'll talk to Rowan. Maybe he'll agree to let you be taken over to Cornell's..."

It was a long shot though and he knew it.

She smiled slightly. "Less of a reason for you to stick around, if I'm not gonna be here.." She murmured softly. She didn't say it, but he would catch the implication.

Rei groaned and grabbed on to one of the bars, pulling herself up to a sitting position. Pain leeched through her arm as she pulled. Still she was tired of laying down.

"How many days until the next full moon..?" She asked quietly.

"Nine days I think," Jesse answered.

He wasn't entirely sure what today was.

"And don't talk like that," Jesse said. "We're going to be fine. You're going to be fine. I promised you that you would be, remember? We'll get out of this. You just need to rest," he told her.

He reached through the bars and brushed a few strands of her dirtied hair from her face.

"I know Baron. He won't abandon us. Alright?" he asked her.

"And how is he going to do that while he's in jail, Jesse?" She asked quietly. Still, she nuzzled against his hand, which was a lot warmer than she was.

The door opened again from upstairs and another woman slowly walked down. Jesse would recognize her almost instantly. His new 'roommate' walked over, her eyes glowing slightly in the darkness.

But what seemed interesting, Rei seemed to recognize her as well. A deep, animal-like growl rumbled deep within Rei and seemed to vibrate the cage around her. Re'Altarm began to spit curses and insults, anger in her eyes.

Nazia clicked her tongue. "Such a dirty mouth." She said. "Jesse, you done here? You're taking a while. Time to go."

Rei began to bang on the bars and shake at them. "Get away from him."

"Hey, hey," Jesse said as he grabbed hold of one of Re'Altarms hands through the bars to try and calm her, and to turn her attention back to him. "Look at me. It's okay. I'll be fine. Everything's going to be fine."

He turned his head to get a look at Nazia.

"She needs to get to a hospital. I can clean up the external injuries here, but I don't have the right equipment for anything else, and I'm not a surgeon."

Rei took some coaxing to look away from Nazia. She was panting heavily and looked on the verge of fainting. Still, anger lined the rim of her irises.

"Not my problem." Nazia said. "You'll have to bring that up to Rowan himself." The woman sniffed. "She's nothin' but trouble, though. Don't know why you care so much about a common street rat."

Still, she shrugged and handed Jesse her cellphone. "Still, my orders were clear and I am suppose to make sure you're.. happy. His number's the fifth one in there if you have the balls to try to call."

Jesse grit his teeth against Nazia's remarks as he flipped through the numbers on the phone until he found Rowan's. A moment later it started ringing.

Rowan picked up on the second ring. "Yes?" His smooth voice came over the speaker.

"Rowan?" Jesse asked. "It's Jesse. You said Re'Altarm wouldn't be harmed if I cooperated. Your people beat her like an animal," he growled into the phone.

"She nearly killed one of my pack. They only reacted as it was normal. You cannot blame them." Rowan said calmly. "I'm sure Baron and his pack would have done the same. And besides, she's still alive."

Jesse grit his teeth again, knowing full well that Re'Altarm wasn't unprovoked. He knew Rowan wouldn't hear of it. "She needs to get to a hospital. She has internal injuries that I can't treat here, and I'm not a surgeon."

There was only one werewolf surgeon in the city, and that was Cornell. Given his valued skillset, his clinic continued to maintain a rare privilage of neutrality that all of the packs respected.

Rowan was quiet for a long time, but Jesse could hear mumbled conversation on the other side. "Fine," he finally answered. "But Nazia and Jason will be escorting you." He said before the phone clicked silent.

He gave the phone back to Nazia before turning back to Re'Altarm. "We're going to get you to Cornell's. I need you to not do anything stupid."

She likely knew exactly what he meant by the look he gave her.

Nazia sighed and started dialing another number, walking away.

Rei winced at Jesse. "I'll try not to.. But it is always tempting when I'm half dead anyway." She grinned teasingly, which looked more like a grimace.