From The Ashes

Chapter Thirty

I was drifting through the darkness surrounding me. My body felt weightless as I passed through the smoky veils.

Despite being in an unfamiliar place, I felt comfortable and relaxed here. I closed my eyes for a moment, basking in the void. Memories flashed behind my eyelids as I travelled further along.

Meeting Artemis for the first time in grade school; her wild curls blowing in the wind as we ran around the field at recess.

Aunt Maddie standing at the oven with a faded apron on, whisking something in a bowl. She turned to me with a smile on her face.

The black sky that covered Moonlight pack lands every morning when I awoke before the rest of the pack to go for a run.

I remembered the way the leaves would crunch under my shoes, and the way my breath would swirl and rise into the sky with the early morning chill.

 
The memories shifted, and I could see Valen's face. I remembered the first time we had met, the expression of anger that had donned his face when I had arrived.

I remembered seeing Celia sashaying out of his room in the middle of the night, then the way he held me as I broke down in the hallway. 

Finally, I recalled the way his eyes lit up when he saw me from the gazebo; how the world had seemed to stop turning at that moment and there was nothing but us and our bond.

In my memory he opened his mouth to speak, but his voice sounded far away.

"What?" I asked as I leaned in closer.

He tried again, but it was still too garbled to make out. It was like I was listening to him through a wall.

"Valen, love, I can't hear you."

His expression became frustrated and I winced. I wanted to remember his love, not his anger.

Suddenly, I was being pulled away from Valen. I reached out my arms, trying to grab ahold of him.

"Don't let me go!" I screamed, but I couldn't stop the force that was sucking me away.

I passed through the smoky veils again, this time feeling on edge and afraid.

 
What was happening to me? I turned my body away from the memory and watched as I became engulfed by a warm, bright light.

***

I sat up quickly, sputtering and coughing as water spewed past my lips and onto my lap. My head was pounding and my lungs burned as I shivered from being soaked to the bone. Valen crouched down in front of my face.

"Indigo, can you hear me?" he asked me.

I nodded my head weakly at him and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"She's awake," he called over his shoulder.

I tried to lift my head to see who he was talking to, but the world was spinning too fast. I grabbed at my temples and leaned forward.

"It's okay, we have to get you back. Let me help you," he said as he reached his arms around me and pulled me into a standing position.

I leaned all of my weight into his strong body.

"Can you shift?"

"No," I croaked out. He held me tight and called for Von.

"Keep her steady for a minute. I'm going to shift, then I need you to help her on my back. I'll carry her back to the safehouse."

Von held me up and I heard the unmistakable sound of bones cracking and rearranging as Valen shifted into his midnight black wolf.

Von put his arms under my legs and swung me up bridal style onto Valen's back. He patted his shoulder.

"We'll meet you back there, Artemis is almost finished dressing Anton's wounds."

Valen nodded his head and gently took off into the woods.

I clutched the fur of his back, trying to keep my balance as we tumbled along.

Once we made it back to the safehouse, Valen quickly shifted and gathered me into his arms. He ran at a blinding speed to our bedroom, ignoring the worried shouts from the others.

Gently, he laid me on the bed and went into the bathroom. I could hear the steady stream of water from the bathtub as he began to fill it up. 

Once it was full, he turned off the water and returned to me.

He began stripping off my wet clothes and gathered me into his arms once again.

At this point, my head was throbbing worse than before and I felt like I could pass out at any moment.

"Stay awake for me, darling. We need to get you warm," Valen muttered.

I tried to shake my head but I was too weak.

He gently placed me into the warm water and reached back to grab my favorite body wash.

I sighed in pleasure as the warmth began to chase away the cold and my muscles started to relax. I closed my eyes and leaned back.

"What happened in there?" Valen asked me, as he massaged the soap over my skin.
I peeked one eye open at him.

"I collapsed the tunnel," I responded, my voice hoarse. He froze and stared at me in shock.

"You collapsed an entire tunnel? By yourself?"

I just nodded my head and closed my eyes once more.

"That explains it..." he murmured as he resumed washing my body.

 
I knew I needed to tell him everything that happened, and I would need to let King Ruben know as well, but right now I didn't care about that.

I was too exhausted to do anything more than sit in this tub and let my mate take care of me.

I began to doze off as Valen washed my hair. The shivering had finally stopped and I could breathe evenly now. 

He left the bathroom and returned just a few minutes later with one of his shirts and a pair of sweatpants. I smiled weakly at him as he helped me out of the water and into the clothes.

"Can you walk to the bed?"

I nodded and felt a rush of butterflies fill my stomach. It was so nice to finally have someone taking care of me for a change. 

Valen didn't let go of my hand until I laid myself on the bed and snuggled under the covers, pulling them up to my chin. He placed a delicate kiss to my forehead.

"Sleep now. We'll go over everything when you wake up."

I smiled at him in return and closed my eyes.

Author's Note:
Aww, we got to see more of Valen's sweet side. What do you think will happen when she wakes up? Will she be okay? There will be a small time jump in the next chapter, but I promise you won't miss anything.

Let me know what you think in the comments, and don't forget to vote!

Xoxo,
CrimsynIris