Uncaged

Chapter 22

I vaguely remember being awoken as I was carried into Nikki's bed, and Mr. Garrison doing something to my arm, but then I was sleeping again. The next time I woke up, it was in Nikki's arms, my preferred spot. I was still unclear on what happened last night, but I felt a lot better after the sleep. I pushed some stray hair behind Nikki's ear and gazed at the young woman who I was happily calling my mate. She murmured something in her sleep, and then moved closer to me. My left arm felt bulky, and I noticed that it was in some sort of an air cast. A further examination revealed that my ribs had gauze and tape on them. But neither of the injuries hurt too badly. Magical wolf licks obviously.

Our mate is fantastic came a voice from inside my brain.

Excuse me, what?

My name is Fera, I'm your wolf

Oh shit, I never enough thought about that! With Phillips biting me, I was evidently now a werewolf too! But why do I hear him already? I thought it took a while!

It normally does, but you were bitten on the first night of the full moon, so I was able to manifest already. We will have our first shift tonight, and then we'll be able to run free with our mate through the woods! I can't wait to meet Clover!

So, this is the kind of inner talking Nikki is always doing?

Yes, all wolves do. As close as we are with our mates, you are truly one with our inner wolf. I will be within you for the rest of our lives together.

I felt Nikki's arms tighten around me as her breathing changed, and her eyes fluttered open. A gorgeous smile appeared on her face as she saw me gazing at her. "Good morning handsome, what are you doing?"

I gave her a quick peck on the lips, morning breath be damned, and then pulled back with a smile of my own. "I was just having a talk with Fera."

"Fera?" she looked confused for a moment. "Your wolf! Oh, Clover is going to be unbearable till she can meet him!"

"He said he can't wait to meet Clover too. I'm sure they'll have a blast together," I chuckled. "What else happened last night? I don't remember much after the fight."

"Well, Jane and Jasmine are probably dealing with wolves too, Brad got both of them. Jane was in a lot of pain because he bit her shoulder pretty bad before Jasmine hit him with the bat. Sam is going to have a wolf too, he got clawed by a wolf jumping through his window before he shot it with the crossbow. Leon and my dad are fine. Your parents made it through their first shift really well, and both of their wolves are adorable. Fran was freaking out, but she kept Jane alive once Brad was dead."

"Brad is dead?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah, he bit Jane, and then clawed Jasmine after she hit him, and then Clover jumped on him and ripped his throat out. Phillips got away in Brad's car, so we don't know where he went, but there was a lot of blood outside on the grass near there. We have 5 dead wolves in addition to Brad, so there might be a few others in their pack, but they're going to be wounded. There was a lot of blood and fur in other windows that they tried to break through. I don't think they'll be back. Phillips probably lost a lot of respect with them." Nikki explained.

"But he's their alpha, right? He can command them?" I asked.

"No, they had no alpha. They were all just a collection of rogues that lived together. I guess that is technically what we are too, since we don't have an actual alpha here either," She pointed out.

I mentally did some counting in my head. "We have 7 wolves so far. That is a nice little pack."

"Fran and Leon are going to be begging to become wolves too, I have a feeling your parents will be okay with that since everyone else in the family is. They'll feel left out."