Adamayurka's Hunt

Chapter Four

I woke up and stretched, then wished I hadn't as my whole body started to throb and ache. When I found a position that didn't make me want to scream, I noticed the sound of a whispered argument outside of the bedroom door.

"If you don't back off, she's going to figure out who you are," Mara said harshly.

"You do not think she figured it out from all of the pointed looks you gave me last night?" responded a voice I didn't immediately recognize.

"No, I don't," Mara responded. "Her head was so muddled by the pain she was in that I don't think she would have recognized her own mother last night."

"Then the wolfsbane --" said the male voice.

"There isn't enough wolfsbane in the city to cover your scent if you keep shoving yourself under her nose the way you have been this morning," Mara said vehemently.

"I just want to make sure she is okay," replied the male voice.

"And I've told you several times that she's fine."

"I just want to see for myself, can you not understand --"

"He--" I stopped and cleared my throat. "Hello?"

There was absolute silence for a moment, then Mara entered, smiling brightly.

"How are you feeling today?" she asked as I pushed myself up into a sitting position.

"That depends," I said. "How long have I been out?"

"You were Healed yesterday morning," she replied, "and it is now dinner time."

"It could be worse, I suppose."

"Yes, it could be," Mara replied matter-of-factly, sounding so much like Olena that I had to suppress a chuckle. Then I winced, remembering my promise to let Mara be my healer from now on. I wondered not only how I would break the news to Olena, but how my old friend would take it.

"Now, let's have a look at that leg," Mara said.

I flipped the blankets off the injured thigh. It was still red and angry but had closed very nicely, in my opinion. Mara seemed to disagree.

"Hmm," she said, her brows drawing together as she frowned.

"Is something wrong?" I asked, wondering if there was a problem with the wounds I hadn't noticed.

"I've worked on Shifters before," she said slowly. "Ones with worse injuries than this and they've healed overnight. I don't understand why your thigh is still so raw. It should be completely healed. Your body is reacting almost as though you have silver embedded in you somewhere." She looked sharply at me. "You don't, do you?"

I covered my thigh back up and sat in silence for several minutes, debating how much to reveal. Finally, I spoke.

"No, I don't." It wasn't exactly a lie -- there was no silver embedded in my body . . .

"No, of course there isn't," Mara muttered to herself. "If there was silver embedded in you somewhere, you wouldn't have healed at all."

"Silver affects healing time?" I asked, plucking at the blanket where it covered the injured leg.

"Silver affects everything about a Shifter," she replied as she removed the sling from my arm. "How is it that you don't know this? Now bend the arm from the elbow."

I winced in pain as the bones in my lower arm moved. Mara continued to frown as she helped me slip the sling back on.

"I don't Shift," I said softly.