Thorn (Werewolf) ✔

Chapter Sixteen

THORN

I slept by her side for the rest of the night. The humans were gone for now but it'll only be a matter of time before another hunting group comes back. I tried to keep pressure against her wound but there wasn't much that I could do in my wolf form without adding further injury.

I had to wait until morning and hope that I wasn't too late. Her pulse started to get quieter and I knew that she would die without help.

The moment the sun rose, the transition was instant. I looked over her arm and found an exit wound. I tied a piece of cloth around it to stop further bleeding and then I picked her up and carried her for miles.

It takes half the day to get here, even with my inhuman speed. I won't have time to make it back before the transition happens. Devon and I will be spending the night.

I haven't been to these parts of the woods in decades. I pick up their scent easily. They've made a comfortable home for themselves here, a home that I could never be a part of. I don't want to ask them for help but the herb that I need is only grown here.

There's no point in trying to hide. They already know that I'm here. The children peek at me behind trees as I carry Devon towards the campsite.

My arrival turns a lot of heads. Causes a lot of scowls and growls. I meet the eyes of so many ghosts of my past. They are curious. They discreetly follow me as I continue moving through the huts and camps.

I come to a stop as the leaders emerge out of their hut. Daria stares at me, tapping a blade slowly against her leg, while her companion Lucias has softer eyes.

"Thorn. Brother." Lucias walks towards me with open arms but I step backwards. He pauses his greeting. "Welcome home."

"This is not a social visit," I say. "This girl needs help. She's been shot."

"And you came to us?" Lucias says. "Why?"

"He needs the herb," Daria says. "It doesn't work on humans."

"She's not entirely human."

Daria sniffs. "She smells human."

"I'm sure we can spare some medicine for a friend of our brother's," Lucias says.

I clench my jaw. I hate it when he calls us that. We are not brothers and never will be.

"Take the girl inside and our healer will do what she can."

I waste no time in moving towards the hut. I lay her down on a bed, not caring whose bed it is. I place a hand to her forehead; her temperature is high. Her face is sweaty and wet.

"What are you all looking at?" I hear Daria shout. "Get back to work."

Still as charming as ever. I haven't missed her overbearing dominance. It was one of the hundreds of reasons that I left.

"Who is she?" Lucias asks.

"She was lost in the woods. I've been trying to help her."

"You actually care for something?" he laughs quietly. I hear him cross the hut and he takes a seat in a chair. "We haven't seen you in almost a century, nothing has brought you back to us and we prayed for it every single night. But this girl did?"

"Where is that damn healer?" I growl.

"Her name is Balan. Or have you forgotten?"

I pace back and forth with my arms folded. I hope Devon appreciates this because I am hating every second of it.

"Thorn, you cannot keep blaming yourself for what happened. We have made peace with the curse and you should too. Come home. Please."

"This isn't my home," I say.