My Clichéd Love Life

Chapter 9 Back To The Territory

A wet sensation tickled my skin, stirring me awake from my unconscious state. I slowly opened my eyes and found myself face to face with a black wolf.

‘Aaron’.

‘’Elena! Thank God! You are awake,’’ Ashley spoke, relief evident in her voice, but as she tried coming near me, Aaron growled at her furiously.

‘’Elena can you tell him to calm down, he won’t let anyone come near you,’’ she spoke anxiously.

 I slowly sat up, enduring the pain that coursed through my body. I contemplated Ashley’s request and looked at Aaron in his wolf form.

‘’Ashley, I didn’t suddenly attain the ability to communicate with wolves. You should ask his alpha. He must know ‘wolf tongue’ if that’s a thing...’’
I pointed towards Darius, who was busy examining the corpses littered on the ground presumably belonging to the rogues, that attacked us today.

Darius turned to me and replied in a sedate manner.’’He has gone feral. He won’t listen to anyone but you, not even me.’’ 

‘’What’s that supposed to mean? Can you dumb it down a bit? My ability to comprehend your words is failing me, and what the hell happened after I passed out?’’

Darius clarified, ‘’As I said, he went feral, It’s a state when the wolf takes over, completely shutting out the human half. Right now, he is acting on instinct. Seeing you getting attacked must have triggered him, because, by the time we came along, he had already killed the shifter and was  too busy tearing out the vampire’s throat. We killed the mage, when he tried to escape and then afterwards, Marcus and his sister went to alert the pack, they must be on their way now with a healer.’’

‘’Feral, That doesn’t sound good, Will he be fine?’’ I asked nervously looking at Aaron.

‘’Yes, after he turns back into his human form,’’ Darius replied. 

‘’Why are you treating this lightly? Being feral is not a joke. It’s one step away from going rogue. He could hurt her.’’ Ashley spoke, aghast at Darius’s nonchalant behaviour.

‘’No, he won’t. He is protecting her and he is not someone who can't even control his impulses. Believe me, he is just on edge right now when he senses she is safe he will be fine. Besides, I don’t think her being injured is helping the situation.’’

For some reason, I didn’t doubt Darius’s words. I truly believed Aaron would never hurt me as if he read my thoughts he slowly nudged me, drawing my attention towards him. I lifted my hand and stroked his fur, his blood, stained my hands. He was still bleeding out of his wounds; his injuries weren’t healing.

‘’Why isn’t he healing?’’, I asked Darius anxiously.

‘’What do you mean? His wounds should have closed up by now?’’, Darius worriedly inquired.

Ashley added, ‘’Marcus and Chloe will be here with the healer any moment now. We just have to wait for a bit .’’ Darius nodded at her suggestion.

‘’No, it will take too long, he has already lost a lot of blood. I will heal him and I doubt he will let anyone near him in this state.’’ I replied, all the while knowing that I did not have an iota of magic left in me. 

Darius remarked, ‘’You are in no condition to heal him, you are barely holding onto yourself.’’

‘’I can at least close his wounds; the healer can do the rest,’’ I said to him and turned towards Aaron. 

I looked into his eyes and put both my hands around him, he didn’t resist my hold. Instead of magic, I decided to use my essence to heal him. I felt my inner essence deep within my core and guided it towards Aaron. Golden light enveloped my hands and flowed into him, stitching his wounds close. he winced at the pain caused by the searing heat produced during the healing process. Exerting all his energy had rendered him unconscious, causing him to shift back to his human form, I felt the weight of his body falling forward into my arms.

Healing him had caused me to use up too much of my essence, depleted of my vitality, I followed him into the darkness. As my body touched the ground with Aaron in my embrace. At the lunar pack territory; both Aaron and I were immediately taken to the medical centre for treatment. While everyone else expectantly waited for optimistic news, patiently sitting in the waiting area. After a while, the pack healer came out of the emergency room.

‘’How are they both?’’, asked Soran Ashcroft. The Alpha of the Lunar Pack.

The healer replied,’’ The shifter will be fine after some sleep, most of his wounds are already healed, but the girl…’’

‘’What!? What’s wrong with her?’’, Chloe asked anxiously.

‘’She had lost a lot of blood and almost all her injuries are serious. I have done what I can, but her essence is damaged. she needs a celestial healer.’’

‘’Essence!? I don’t understand? Why can’t you heal her?’’, Chloe continued.

‘’Essense is the life force of celestials; only celestials can repair the damage to one’s essence,’’ the healer clarified.

‘’I have called her parents, her father is a proficient healer.’’

“Will she be fine till they arrive?’’ Soran Ashcroft asked. ‘’Yes, she is stable right now,’’ the healer replied.

I felt my body burning up, my blood felt like lava coursing through my veins. I tried moving, but someone was holding me down while searing heat was poured into my body. Someone was healing me. I tried opening my eyes, but my eyelids felt heavy. After a while, the burning sensation subsided and I slowly regained my consciousness, the bright light stung my eyes. My vision slowly cleared; bringing the forlorn faces of my family into view.

‘’Mom, dad,’’ I called out to my parents in a raspy voice.

‘’Elena! Oh, Thank God! Sweetie, how are you? Does it hurt anywhere?” Mum asked as she came to sit by my side. Dad and Layla also came to me and gently embraced me.

‘’I am okay, mum. I am sorry that I worried you.’’

‘’Don’t think about all that right now, just rest and focus on getting better, okay?”  Dad said lovingly.

After talking with my family for a while, they decided it was time for me to take another long nap, and left for the guest rooms, provided by the alpha nearest to the medical centre. I fell asleep in minutes after their departure.

In my sleep, I felt someone’s presence beside me. Feathery touches greeted my skin slowly rousing me from the slumber, I reluctantly opened my eyes and found Aaron seated beside me, slowly grazing my cheeks with the back of his hands. His presence caused my heart to flutter a shiver ran through me, making me feel self-conscious due to him being so close.

I asked,’’ Are you okay now?’’

He looked into my eyes and answered,’’ I am fine. It’s you, who I am not sure about.’’

‘’Me? I am perfectly fine, all my injuries are almost healed.’’

‘’I saw you nearly die right In front me and I can still see that rogue’s bite mark on your neck. I never thought that I would ever feel that much helpless ever again; watching someone I care about get hurt right in front of me. This incident has made me realize the depth of my feelings for you, Elena, I can’t give you up, no matter the consequences.’’