~'.'~Hero/Heroine | Boys Like Girls~'.'~
"There's always pain before we
get better; that's how we heal"
~'.'~'.'~'.'~'.'~My Demons | Starset~'.'~'.'~'.'~'.'~
"Sometimes the right path ...
... Isn't the easiest one ..."
Eve slipped in and out of consciousness after the escape, having remained completely inert during the process itself. She wavered slightly when passed from Peter to some unknown other who held the faint smell of an allied pack - the Turzul Pack, if she wasn't mistaken. They were the Sutton's top allies and the two packs did quite a bit for each other, leading her to easily recognize their scents.
When she was passed, she murmured a soft protest of pain, but relaxed once more once she was adjusted in the new man's arms, who carried her with the gentleness of someone accustomed to handling those who were injured.
She once again fell insentient, briefly awakening when she was placed in a vehicle between Peter and Russell. The two allowed the man who had carried her to lay her across them, her head propped onto Russell's lap while her legs were placed on Peter's.
The lull of the car helped her to sleep instead of the worse state of unconsciousness, and she did so heavily for the entirety of the ride back to Sutton land. When the car jostled to a stop, she blinked blearily, only to find herself once more removed from the car by the one that had driven it. All of the movement of her body was beyond her control, and she barely registered that she had been traveling. People were dark shapes, face drifting in and out of focus, and voices were a complete blur and incomprehensible. Her skull held a piercing pain, her body ached from head to toe, and she was dead weight, unable to move of her own accord.
Her mother and father's faces came into emphasis, Rachelle's holding worry and fear mixed with relief, tears clouding her pretty eyes, and her father's own usual rough ones were the same mixture of emotions, along with an undertone of complete and utter fury. Once he had assured himself that she was going to be okay, Dana at his side and immediately shouting orders to those who helped her in the medical ward of the mansion, he began to bellow orders left and right - ones both to defend and also ready to attack those that had dared come after those that were under his care.
Evangeline briefly heard her's and Charlie's names leaving Dana's lips before she was whisked away to the medical area of the mansion that housed their clan. Before she could even murmur a protest, her eyes blearily searching the faces around her for the few that mattered most, a small prick pierced her inner arm, and she quickly fell into an unconscious state once more.
She awoke hours later to find herself encompassed in bandages, several tubes entering her arms and sides - undoubtedly draining fluid from her injured organs - and Dana’s blurred form above her.
“Eve, go back to sleep. You’re okay now,” the woman said gently, smoothing down her hair. Blinking her eyes drowsily, she couldn’t fight off the exhaustion that held her immobile on the bed, and once again slipped into the darkness.
Meanwhile, Peter had ridden in silence to the lands that were considered Sutton territory - and area that, up until that day, he had gone out of his way to avoid. He was a man of respect and if anyone could say anything about him it was that he knew his boundaries. He wasn't about to trespass on a pack's lands, and he held to that.
When they arrived, he was all but ignored as the girls were quickly whisked away to be helped, along with the others that needed medical attention. He didn't need it as badly, so he didn't bother to ask for any help, especially from those that didn't know him. Wolves were solitary creatures for the most part, and stuck only to their pack and those that they knew. They were extremely weary of strangers, and for good reasons. Strangers rarely brought good tidings to a pack.
So he simply took a seat on the steps that led up to the porch at the front of the house, staying out of the way but also making it clear that he didn't intend to leave and would stay so long as he was welcome or needed. It was only when the Alpha - at this point he had found the man's name to be Jason Sutton - looked over at him after shouting out orders, that he took advantage of the break in the organized chaos to make himself known.
Pushing himself sorely to his feet, Peter approached the man and, with his hand awkwardly on the back of his head, stopped a few feet away from the Alpha. When the man simply raised a brow at him, he mustered up his charisma and spoke.
"The name's Peter - Peter Pan James Green. A pleasure," he said, holding out one hand in an uncomfortable greeting.
~'.'~'.'~'.'~Four Days Later~'.'~'.'~'.'~
"Now is there anything else that I can get for you, Evangeline?"
"No thank you, Jessie," Eve said quietly, her hands folded over the open book that rested in her lap. Freira laid watchfully beside her on her bed, and Agent was perched on the open windowsill, looking over the room with a cautious gaze. The area of the house surrounding her room was otherwise quiet - orders directly from her father kept people way from her room and those who had been involved in the rescue of her and Charlie and had also been injured in the process. His reasoning was that the group needed to rest and recover, and they couldn't do so when they were constantly being harassed by the loud voices and goings-on of those that lived or even frequented the mansion. The only ones who had really been allowed to visit her were Jessie, Mica, her parents, Aziel, and Silver.
Jessie and her mate Mica had been saviors the past few days, coming and going to check on not only Charlie but herself and the others several times each day. Other than work, they had quite a bit of free time seeing as it was the summer time and school was out for the humans, so they figured that they would swing by to help out Jason and his mate with everything that had been happening,
Jessie paused in the doorway, glancing over her shoulder at the girl who was barely two years younger than her.
"I know ... We're not very close, Eve, and that I may be overstepping my boundaries when I say this. But ..." The elder girl hesitated, gnawing on her lower lip, clearly deeply thinking about her next words.
"Go ahead and say what you want to say, Jessie. I won't be offended," Eve assured her gently. After a few moments, the young woman cleared her throat and refocused her doe-eyes on Eve's strikingly purple ones.
"Over the past few days, you've told me what happened at that compound, and you told me everything to a fine detail. And you've also told me that since you returned, the young man that came to rescue you ... Hasn't come to check on you, since you've been confined to bed rest. I think that what you did, while noble and something the Alpha of a pack would do in that exact same situation, wasn't right. I understand why you did it, and I can see where you were coming from ... But at the same time, you didn't take a single moment to think of the ones that you would be hurting by attempting to create that pact with the Rogue Alpha. I think ... That you owe everyone an apology - and by that ... I also mean your brother and that boy," she said quietly, her hand resting on the door frame. When Eve remained quiet, Jessie began to fidget a bit, the gaze of the younger girl steady and a bit unsettling.
"Like I said, I don't mean to offend you. But if you think about it ... You probably really hurt everyone by offering that without even speaking to them first. What you don't seem to understand ... Is that you aren't the Alpha, Eve. Everyone in the pack knows that you strive to become so, but none of them expect you to act like one. You still have several years ahead of you under your father's reign, and for now ... Everyone ... That is, I mean ..." The girl drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "No one expects you to sacrifice yourself or your youth simply because you plan to follow your father. No one expects you to act as though you are the Alpha. When the time comes, yes, they will. But for now ... Just enjoy yourself, okay?"
After several moment ticked by, Eve lowered her head to look down at her folded hands. When she finally spoke, there was a slight catch in her throat.
"You're right. Thank you for saying what needed to be said to me. I'm not angry, and I still consider you to be a good friend, and appreciate your and Mica's concerns. But for now ... Could I be left alone, please? I believe ... That I need some time to think."
Jessie nodded and gave the girl a small smile.
"If you need anything, you have both mine and Mica's phone numbers. Don't be afraid to text or call us. We'll come as soon as we can, okay?" And with that, the woman was gone, leaving the door slightly ajar behind her.
Gently closing the book, Eve leaned back against the mass of pillows pushed up to support her from behind. She tilted her head back, her gaze fixated on the beautiful
ceiling that was in her bedroom.
Like most teenage girls, her
bedroom was her safe place. She had decorated and designed it so that it matched her personality to a T, and she found it to be an extremely calming place. From the bookshelves that lined most of the walls, to the sparkling white lights that were strung along her ceiling, it held a soothing air to it and often times had those that lived in the mansion visiting it for its calming effects. It was of average size and cozy, holding a small cast iron fireplace that was often lit and cast a glow throughout the room. The only window in the room was large and overlooked the back of the house, which was a great open plain encompassed by thick yet welcoming trees. She could easily see for miles above the trees, seeing as her room was on the top floor of the mansion, and she often would climb from her window and onto the roof to look up at the stars at night, or even read a book during the early mornings.
It was in her room that she remained after Jessie's exit. She had been ordered to bed rest by Dana - who else was on bed rest, she wasn't sure - and had for the most part followed her directions. Her body still hurt, and would undoubtedly continue to for a few weeks to the better part of a couple of months. The injuries she had sustained weren't minimal, and Dana had even told her that she was lucky to have lived. If she had arrived even a half an hour later, she probably would have bled out or at least gone into shock. Most of her injuries were non-life threatening, other than the amount of blood that had escaped them, but the main concern for the pack's doctor was her head wounds. She had received repeated blows to the same part of her head, and the woman had made it very clear that she was worried over any internal bleeding or long-lasting issues, such as memory loss. So far, there hadn't been any drastic losses in the memory department - at least not from events thing had happened before the injury was sustained - but Eve had been finding it difficult to remember things that had happened since she had returned to Sutton lands. It was little things, of course - she had forgotten where she had set her book a few times, and had gotten up to use the bathroom and found that she couldn't remember where her tooth brush was. She had forgotten to feed Freira and Agent once, but her mother's gentle reminder sent her scurrying to do so, along with the light pawing of the hungry animals. These things, while minor, were a bit worrisome for Dana, who told Eve to document anything she couldn't remember. Obviously that only worked when it pertained to her losing things, and not any actual memories, but once Eve was healed enough to be up and walking around, she was going to be starting a memory enhancement program with Dana every day.
Healing was going to be a long and painful process, but she was determined and stubborn to become normal again.
Jessie's words briefly flitted through her brain once more.
... You didn't take a single moment to think of the ones that you would be hurting by attempting to create that pact with the Rogue Alpha. I think ... That you owe everyone an apology - and by that ... I also mean your brother and that boy.Eve tilted her head back down, gazing at her hands folded atop her legs.
The other woman was right, of course. Eve had been selfish and had thought only of what she thought was right without any concern for the other's feelings, but only what she thought was their well-being. While she owed an apology to the entire group, she knew she owed two of the people in that group a bigger apology than the others.
Biting her lower lip, Eve tightened her hands in her lap. Aziel's face flitted across her brain, followed by Russell's, and when the latter appeared she felt an odd stirring in the pit of her stomach. It was a nervousness mixed with a bit of butterflies, and there was a small nauseousness mixed in with those feelings. Her inner wolf, which had been pushing against her since the events at the warehouse, rolled restlessly within her, urging for her to do something - but whatever that was, she didn't quite know.
Casting a look to the side, her eyes landed on Russell's jacket. It had been laid neatly on the chair that sat before her desk, ready to be returned to its rightful owner. Her inner wolf moved impatiently once more, pushing and begging for release - or that was the only thing that she could think of it wanting, at least.
Her concern was clear - if she wasn't twenty-one, than her wolf shouldn't be begging for liberation. Not unless it had recognized a mate.
Clenching her fingers in her blankets, Eve went still. Her heart skipped before thudding hard within her chest, and she felt a something lodge in her throat.
It couldn't be ...
It was less than an hour later when quiet footsteps were heard in the hallway. The sound of the footfalls were instantly recognizable, along with the scent that slithered its way through her door. And before she realized what she was doing, Eve had thrown back her covers, sending her book flying, scrambled from her bed, completely ignoring her injuries in the process, and had hobbled quickly on her cast foot to the door, where she swiftly yanked it open.
A surprised Russell had stopped mid-step outside of her room, having been in the process of passing it, and when she met his eyes with her own, the lump in her throat returned. Instantly it began to ache, tears threatening at the back of her eyes.
Hot liquid began to trickle down her cheeks and over her bandages, which encompassed a good portion of her head and about half of the area of her face. Sniffing a bit, she raised her equally-bandaged hand, those stretching from her fingers and all the way up the lengths of her arms, to wipe futilely at her eyes.
"I ... I'm so ... S-sorry," she managed to choke out, her tears causing her words to hitch and catch. "What I said ... What I did ... Was so very, very selfish of me," she whispered, still rubbing at her leaking eyes. "I never should have ... I mean, that is ... I shouldn't have ..." Her lower lip began to tremble uncontrollably, and she quickly lifted her gaze once more to lock with his, her entire expression crumpled and tears soaking her bandages.
"I'm so sorry, Russell. Please ... Please don't avoid me anymore. I can't ... I won't ... I won't let you," she managed to say. Reaching out one hand, she weakly snagged the bottom of his shirt between her index finger and thumb, her entire grip trembling against it.
"I ... I miss you, Russell," she breathed, a small sob hitching on it and a broken sound escaping her throat. A new onslaught of tears escaped her eyes, and she dropped her head so that shadows were cast across her face, her shoulders shaking a bit. "Please ... Please, don't leave me alone. I miss you so much."
Russell fidgeted slightly, uncomfortable with Eve crying once again. He looked her over, this being the first time he's seen her in several days. His eyes immediately went to her cast. He himself wasn't in much better shape. He had bandages all over his torso, hands, and as well as his face, and his left arm in a sling. His face was still rather bruised, but the swelling in his eyes had went down, and he was at least able to see clearly enough.
Russell let out a sigh, and pulled Eve closer to him. He wrapped his good arm around her, and pulled her in for a hug. He placed his hand on the back of her head, and began gently petting her. "It's ok. It's ok. You're stuck with me remember?" He said in a comforting voice. "Eve I'm not mad at you.....not anymore anyways.....I know our options were limited back there. If I was in your position I probably would have made the same offer....I get it. There's nothing I wouldn't do to keep the people I care about safe."
After good minute of hugging Russell backed away slight, and placed his index finger, and thumb on her chin, bringing her gaze up to his eyes. "Come on, you need to get back to bed. Besides, I want my jacket back." Russell smirked slightly as he led her back to her bed. Russell sat on the bed next to Eve. "I'm.......I'm glad you're ok....I was.....worried about you." Russell said as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Eve....if you want to.....uh.....talk about what happened.....I'm hear for you....I understand if it's hard to talk to people you've known your entire life......to be.....vulnerable to them.....especially as the Alpha's kid......but I'm here for you.....if you need me."
Russell brushed some of his hair out of his face, and then looked over at Eve. "Um...... look..... Eve......I......um......about what Richard was saying.......I don't know how he knows anything about me....I've never seen him before in my life." He stated, and followed with a sigh. "My.....last pack.....my family.....they were killed by a bunch of thugs because of what we are......I barely made it out.....I don't wanna talk about it....the wounds are still fresh.....I understand that you're curious about it....but.....I just.....can't.....I hope you understand."
Russell brought up his hand, and wiped away a single tear that started to form. Talking about his family was rough for him.
Eve had already lifted her hand before he had finished speaking, pressing one finger against his lips.
"You don't have to push yourself to tell me anything. I don't expect you to, and I never have. You don't seem to understand that I can tell when a person has been wounded. I've known from the moment you showed up with my father that you had fresh ones that you had buried deeply inside of you; but I never pushed or tried to convince you to tell me, because I know that you will once you feel that you're ready to."
Dropping her hand, Eve lowered her gaze, gnawing gently on her lip. Her earlier discovery weighed heavily within her, and whether or not to bring it up to Russell was something she hadn't yet decided on. The events of the past week were the only thing that pushed at her to tell him, seeing as they had proven time to be a short and beautiful thing, but the obvious fear of rejection or frightening him were what caused her to hesitate. Those and the possibility that he might think that she was misunderstanding her feelings.
But her inner wolf was enough for her to know that she wasn't.
"Russell ... I ..." Pausing, she felt her cheeks warm as they grew red with nervousness and embarrassment, and her arms did the same. The blush would be extremely noticeable if it weren't for the bandages hiding it - something she thanked the Gods for - due to her extremely pale skin.
Closing her eyes, she drew in a deep breath through her nostrils before puffing it out slowly from between her lips.
I understand if it's hard to talk to people you've known your entire life ... to be vulnerable to them, especially as the Alpha's kid ... but I'm here for you.....if you need me.Setting her jaw and clenching her fists, Eve squared her shoulders. Lifting her head, she met his eyes once more.
"You said that if I need to talk to someone, I can talk to you. That if I need to become vulnerable, I can do so with you. If I want to bare myself to someone - anyone - you're here for me to do so. So please ... Don't be mad ... And don't be upset ... Or scared ... Or anything of the sort ... Because this is ..." she hesitated, fighting back tears of nervousness and fear. "This is something that is really, really hard for me to tell you. Because I'm scared ... Of how you'll react. And I'm scared of what will happen ... Of what will change between us ... Because I like us how we are right now ..."
"... But I'm not stupid. I know enough about our race to know that when this becomes known, it must be told. I know ... That you deserve to know, too," she ended on a whisper. Lowering her gaze again, she steeled herself. Her fear made her not want to speak, so pinching one of the bared spots on her leg that wasn't covered in bandages, and forced herself to say it in one large rush of a breath.
"My wolf wants yours, and the only thing that that can mean ... Is that you're ... You're ..."
She cut off in her hesitation, her nails digging into her bandages in her palms. Letting out a loud breath, she muttered the words, "Ah hell," before lifting her hands and pressing them to his cheeks, cautious of his wounds. In a quick movement she had pulled his face to hers and connected their lips in an intense yet untrained kiss - because how was she supposed to know exactly how to do something like that, when she had never been even remotely interested romantically in anyone in her life?
After a few moments, she pulled back and released him, looking to the side with a blazing red covering the small amount of bare skin on her face.
"I believe ... You're my mate, Russell."
Russell sat there for a moment with the wheels turning in his head, him just trying to process what was happening. Ever since Peter suggested something deeper about his feelings for her it's always been in the back of his mind. A thousand things went through his mind. Ranging from wondering if Eve's feelings were actually true, and not some kind of byproduct of him rescuing her from Richard, to her possibly misreading her feelings for him. But no matter holes he tried to poke in this there was one lingering thought that kept creeping back to him. The kiss. It felt so right, so natural to him. Nothing like he ever felt before.
"Eve....I......I don't know what to say...." And he truly didn't. Russell looked into Eve's eyes, and noticed her blushing underneath her bandages. Russell took in a deep gulp, he could hear his heart racing. It was all he could hear, the thumping like drums in his head. "Eve..." Without warning Russell abruptly leaned forward, grabbing the back of Eve's head, and pushing her into another kiss, but this one much more passionate than the last. The initial touch to her head caused a small whimper of pain to escape her lips, but it was quickly extinguished when they met his, and she felt none of the twinges as his grip on her gentled.
After a good minute or two, honestly they lost track, Russell pulled away gasping for air. He let out a small chuckle, and couldn't stop smiling. Then without a word he went right back at her, planting his lips on hers for a moment before he pulled away slightly, and began planting kisses on her cheek, and then moving down her neck. A faked cough then abruptly interrupted them. Russell jumped slightly, and abruptly pulled away from Eve, who was left almost in a daze at what had just happened.
Standing at the door was the pack's doctor, Dana. "Sorry to interrupt. But I should remind you two not to strain yourselves. You don't want to rip those stitches now do you? I might not be so gentle resewing you two up." She said with a smirk before she moved on. Eve had barely registered Dana's presence, but enough so to be slightly embarrassed. She fidgeted a bit as she came back to the present. Russell awkwardly looked at the floor. "Um.....this is awkward.....sorry....I got carried away."
The awkward air between two individuals who had only just realized and admitted their feelings for one another hung heavily between them, pushing Eve to fidget a bit more in embarrassment. It seemed to her that her nervousness had only grown worse instead of getting better after telling him, her expectation being the exact opposite.
After several distinctly awkward moments ticked by, she huffed out a breath, the hair in front of her face ruffling a bit.
"Well ... Now I suppose that I need to tell my parents ... And make it known ... Before, of course, I change," she murmured, almost as though she were talking to herself. Turning her attention back to him, Eve placed her hand on his thigh and let her head come gently to rest on his shoulder.
"I promise that I know what I'm saying and doing. I'm smarter than most people tend to think, and I know how I feel and how my wolf feels. The fact that I can feel my wolf at all is enough of a sign that it's true," she pointed out, closing her eyes in order to rest them. The small amount of movement she had done was enough to make her exhausted after all of her injuries and medications. It made sense that Dana had ordered her to bed rest and had told them to calm themselves; they were nowhere near ready for anything active, especially Eve who, while stubborn, felt pain more keenly than Russell.
"I'm sorry ... I'm falling asleep," she said as a stifled yawn escaped her lips. "Can you ... Stay until I fall asleep?" she asked, opening her eyes long enough to look up at him. The past few nights she had woken up feeling odd and, even weirder, in different places from where she fell asleep. While she had remained in bed and fallen asleep there, she had awoken to find herself in the kitchen, the library, the classroom, and the lab. She wasn’t afraid - undoubtedly she was merely sleep-walking - but a small part of her was telling her that something wasn’t quite right. So, needless to say, she was more than a bit nervous when it came to sleeping, and having Russell there made her nervousness fade just a little bit. After a moment, she lowered her head and once more closed her eyes, easily making herself cozy against his side.
And within moments, she was asleep, her breath puffing out gently.
"It's ok, just rest." Russell said as he gently caressed Eve's cheek with the back of his hand. "I'll be here for as long as you want me to be." He watched as she slept, smiling at her slight snoring.
After he was certain that she was fast asleep, he shifted out from underneath her sleeping form, gently laid her across the bed, and pulled the plush comforter over her body. Rising, he left her room, casting one last glance over his shoulder before quietly shutting the door behind him.
“Now now then. What are you doing out of your room hmm? I do hate it now when my things disobey me. I suppose I should teach you some manners?.”
“No ... Don’t ... Don’t touch me!”
“Insolent little ...”
A hard slap greeted her cheek, sending her to the floor and reeling. The world was dark, causing immense fear to well up within her, and the only thing that she could see in the empty abyss was Richard’s large form towering above her.
The fear threatened to swallow her as she attempted to move away from him, crawling backwards, and when she went to scramble to her feet, she found herself stopped by a painful grab to her long hair, which was oddly blonde in opposition to the black and purple it was supposed to be. That should have been her first indication that this was nothing but a nightmare, but she was unable to concentrate on that.
She was too scared to.
She was yanked to her feet and held there by the rough yanking of her hair, causing tears to prick at her eyes, and she was forced to face the large man that had become one of her greatest fears in less than a week.
“Let go!” she managed to whisper, her screams nothing but soft wisps from her lips. A small sob escaped her as he released her hair only to grab her by the throat and lift her into the air, her legs kicking futilely in an attempt to escape.
“You will obey me. You’re nothing but my toy now, and I will turn you into my own little weapon,” the man snarled. He then threw her to the ground, but instead of hitting floor, she went directly through the darkness. It felt as though she were falling from a building - one as tall as the Empire State. Her hair whipped around her face, and in depressed acceptance of her fate, she wrapped her arms around herself, her tears sparkling in the air above her. Her hair whipped around her face, the blonde locks sticking to the tears that remained on her cheeks. It was still a black abyss around her, but before her eyes appeared the faces of those she knew best.
Charlie. Phoebe. Her father and mother. Aziel. Peter. Russell.
The faces looked at her with disappointment, as though despondent that she had chosen to simply accept what was about to happen instead of fighting against it.
“No!”
Shooting up, Eve let out a loud cry of pain as the movement pulled at her wounds. The sound echoed in the trees around her.
Trees? That ... Wasn’t right. She should be in bed in her room, right where Russell had left her. The last memories that she had were of her room, at least. She couldn’t remember leaving it, let alone to go to the forest surrounding the mansion.
In an instant the darkness that was the nighttime engulfed her, sending fear cascading throughout her body. Ever since that day when she was little, she had been extremely afraid of the dark. It was something that if she were around anyone other than her fellow wolves she would receive criticism and bullying for, but since they were wolves and their pack was always extremely close, she had been given only support. Some people may have thought it silly, but she had even painted the ceiling of her bedroom and installed little lights as stars to give herself the visual of a night sky while also having light while she slept.
“No ... No, not the dark,” she whispered, her voice trembling. Tears gathered in her eyes, and she wrapped her arms around her injured knees, completely ignoring the pain that doing so caused her. The darkness seemed unfathomable, and it encompassed her, wrapping her in a suffocating, thick, unbreakable blanket.
There wasn’t any way out of it. She was going to stuck inside of that darkness for the rest of her life.
“Eve? What are you doing out here?”
Jerking her head up, Eve let out a small sound of fear, before her eyes met those of the person who had spoken.
“Peter?” she whispered. After a moment of simply staring, she scrambled to her feet and threw herself at the man who was just barely past being a stranger to her.
“Please ... Please take me home,” she whimpered out, her shoulders shaking and tears drenching his shirt.
Peter, on the other hand, had been patrolling the grounds - most specifically the trees - when he had heard the shout of someone in pain and afraid. He hadn’t hesitated to locate the source, and was more than a little surprised to find the Violet Princess huddled on the mossy floor of the forest that surrounded the mansion that was the Sutton Household. Not only that, but he barely recognized her by her suddenly different hair color. But it stood out in the dark, so that helped.
After they had returned, he had spoken with the Alpha - Jason - and his mate - Rachelle - and told them everything that had happened, beginning with when the group of young adults had entered the bar. Despite his being an outsider, once they had verified his story with Phoebe, Russell, and Aziel, they had agreed among themselves that due to the current circumstances they could use all of the man power that they could get. He had been asked to stay to help them and despite him not necessarily needing anywhere to stay, he had agreed. Why? Not even he really knew, but if asked he would simply respond that he was bored and wanted a change of pace.
So there he was, with a frightened teenage girl crying against him. Her eyes had been swollen, hinting at an earlier crying - do girls ever do anything else? - and she was covered in brambles and branches from the forest.
What in bloody hell had she been doing out there, and what had she been doing before he had shown up?
Shaking his head, he turned her and hefted Evangeline into his arms. Now clearly wasn’t the time to be asking her questions. Instead, he needed to return her to her parents.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
Looking over his shoulder at the man who had appeared through the trees, Peter shook his head.
“I’m not quite sure; I heard her cry out and found her trembling on the ground,” he responded. When that garnered him a suspicious look from the other wolf, he rolled his eyes. “If it were I that had done it, than why would I tell you that I found her here?”
The man’s look didn’t fade, but after a moment, he nodded and disappeared into the trees, presumably to return to his own patrole.
Turning his face to Eve’s, he shook his head.
“You’re quite the handful, aren’t you? Russell has something to look forward to,” he joked.
And with that, he set off to return her to the mansion.
It was a quick trek back, especially since Eve was actually conscious and he was able-bodied enough to carry someone this time, and when he had reached the large building, he found a dark figure standing in the open doorway, light encompassing her. It was Dana, the woman who had found out to be the Pack’s doctor, and she stood there with obvious knowledge of what was happening in her eyes.
“Follow me,” she said simply, before turning and starting down the hallway.
When she finally stopped, it was before the resting area in the medical ward, and she motioned for him to put Eve on one of the beds. When he had done so, she quickly shooed him away. At the doorway, however, she spoke.
“Don’t mention this to anyone. I don’t want to worry Jason and Rachelle any more so than they already are, and if Aziel or Russell find out, everything will be made out to be bigger than it actually is.”
After a brief moment, Peter nodded and left to return to his patrol, but the weirdness of the events lingered in his mind for the entire night.
Turning back to face the young woman who had sat up on the bed, Dana sighed and pulled a chair over to the side of it.
“What happened, Eve?” she asked as she lowered herself into it.
The young girl fidgeted slightly on the bed, her tears now dry and her fear dissipated completely.
“I ... I’m not sure,” she whispered, clenching her fingers against her dirt- and grass-stained pajama shorts. They were slightly torn along one-side, hinting at them snagging on a tree branch, and her bandages were dirtied beyond recognition. When Dana noted so, she immediately rose and began to change them out and once again clean Eve’s wounds, pausing as she did so when, as it always did, the names carved into her arms and legs caught her off-guard. She quickly went back into action, however, so as not to distract Eve.
“Tell me everything you remember.”
When Eve didn’t immediately respond, Dana paused in her ca-retaking of the wounds to look up at her. “Do you not remember?” she asked slowly, and the paleness of the girls features were more than enough of an answer. Looking down at her wounds once more, she shook her head.
“I want you to lock your door whenever you go to sleep, and document every time this happens. Has it happened before?”
Pressing her lips together, Eve hesitated before responding.
“Other than in the past couple of days, the only other time was when I was little. Do you remember when I went to the town with my parents and I got lost?”
Pausing a brief second in re-bandaging her, Dana nodded.
“After I came home ... I think ... I think I was sleep-walking. But that just ... Never sounded right. I would go to sleep in my bed and wake up in different places. I began to have really bad nightmares ... And whenever I woke up, I was always extremely afraid, especially since it was dark outside. I would wake up with cuts and bruises and my clothes would be a little torn, and I never knew where I was. My parents were the only ones who knew anything about it because the patrols would always bring me to them. It happened every night for two years, before it abruptly stopped happening.”
Finished, Dana returned the leftover bandages and scissors to their correct spot before reclaiming her seat before Eve.
“I’m going to install a camera in your bedroom and have you use a sleep monitor whenever you go to bed. With your current injuries, I’m afraid you’ll only hurt yourself more with this ... Sleep-walking,” she said slowly. A moment ticked by before she spoke again, and when she did, it was extremely gently.
“I know you’ve been acting tough since you came back home, but I can tell what happened at that compound really scared you, Eve. You don’t even seem like the same person as before. I’ve known you since you were born, and I can say right now that you aren’t acting even remotely the same as you did before the events. You’ve always been stubborn and adventurous, sarcastic and daring. You always had a smile on your face, and you always tried to make everyone happy. But since you came back ... I very rarely see a genuine smile on your face. And your eyes ... They used to be full of life, but now ... They’re dull and dark,” the older woman said, her concern that of a close friend or family member instead of a doctor. “You’re like a niece to me, Eve, and as your Godmother I can’t help but voice my concerns over your well-being both physically and mentally. I want you to know that you can talk to me, as something other than a doctor, okay?”
When Eve looked down at her lap, it took only a few seconds before she dissolved into a crying mess, her sobs echoing in the empty room.
“I don’t understand what’s happening ... What’s wrong with me, Auntie Dana?” she whispered, rubbing futilely at her leaking eyes. “I-I’m scared of what’s happening,” she sobbed out.
The older woman rose and wrapped her arms gently around the girl, pressing her into her side.
“Shh .... It’s going to be alright ... We’ll figure out what’s happening, I promise,” she murmured, smoothing a hand over Eve’s hair. In an effort to calm the girl, she smiled a little bit. “I like what you did with your hair. When did you dye it back to blonde? Your mother will be happy.”
The young woman went rigid in her arms, and when she pulled away a bit, Dana let her. The look of confusion mixed with horror on her face was enough to cause chills to go up the doctor’s arms.
“M-my hair? What ... What are you talking about?” she asked. When Dana struggled for words, Eve launched to her feet - or as close to a launch as she could manage in her state - and hobbled to the nearest mirror. Her reflection caused her to go cold, her skin blanching and her eyes widening.
“But ... I didn’t ... Dye it ...” she rasped, lifting a trembling hand to her hair. More tears welled in her eyes, and she whirled around to face Dana.
“What’s happening to me, Dana?” she whispered, her hands clenching in the bottom of her dirty-blonde locks. Releasing her hair, she stared down at her shaking hands. "What's happening?"
Dana crossed the room in a few quick strides, grabbing Eve’s hands and clutching them between her own.
“Shh, Angel. It’s okay,” she soothed. Pulling the young girl against her, she looked over her head at their reflection in the mirror, attempting to arrange her worried expression into one of neutrality.
But to no avail.
After Dana had calmed Evangeline enough for the girl to go back to sleep in her room, she hurried down the halls to the study, where Rachelle and Jason were in deep conversation with two Alphas from other packs, their second-in-commands watching from the sides of the room. Knocking lightly on the door, Dana took a few steps inside.
“Excuse the interruption, but I really need to speak to Jason and Rachelle,” she stated, the authority of a doctor in her voice. When her words gained a disgruntled response from the visitors, she squared her shoulders and met Jason’s and Rachelle’s eyes.
“There’s something very wrong with Evangeline. I’m worried about her safety, both mentally and physically, and what those monsters did to her at that compound. I don’t think ... I don’t think that they only tortured her. I think ... They did something to her. She isn’t the same person she was before, and there have been some ... Ah ... Issues,” she said, obviously withholding information until they were in private. When the visiting allies heard her words, the Alphas nodded at their men and they left the room, shutting the door behind them. In one movement Dana was across the floor and stood before the Alpha and his mate, her concern evident in her features.
“I’m saying this as both her doctor and her Godmother, Jason - Rachelle,” she said, looking at both in turn. “There’s something very wrong with her. I don’t know what it is, but she’s having major lapses in memory, chronic night terrors, she’s sleep walking again, and she’s doing things during these lapses in memory that have me extremely concerned. This is the third night in a row since their return that she’s been brought to me by a patrolling party, and this time it was by Peter. He found her in the middle of the forest, huddled into a ball and crying. She doesn’t remember dying her hair back to its natural color, for God’s sake,” she said quietly, leaning against the desk that separated her from the couple.
“There’s something seriously wrong with her, and I cannot, even as a doctor, figure out what. The only thing that comes to mind is that that despicable and disgusting piece of shit did something to or put something inside of her that is making her do things against her will and without her knowledge. If they were sadistic enough to carve names of their pack and pack members into her arms and legs, than they were sadistic enough to put something inside of her,” she finished, tightening her hold on the desk. Her anger was evident, and her eyes were ablaze when she looked up.
“We need to find out what he did to her, and soon before she hurts herself ... Or someone else. Who knows what she’s been doing in these random rifts in her memories, and who knows what she’s capable of.”
