Sapphire Moon

The Sprite

Oliver's POV

Shawn held up the mason jar with the sprite in it. I looked it over and saw that it was a moth winged orchid sprite. They typically reside deep in the forest. I have never seen one in my lifetime, and I'm sure most in my pack haven't either.

"Well this is an interestingly beautiful little guy, isn't it?"

"I'm not a male! Why do humans have to be so incompetent? Males take the form of a leatherwing or a beetle mimic. Neither are good looking." The sprite yelled in a huff.

This came as quite the surprise and I almost dropped the jar. Steadying it in my hands again, I attempted to talk to her. "I'm sorry I assumed you were male, but I'm not human, I'm a werewolf. We don't know much about your kind. I'm going to take you back to my pack..."

"No, please don't! I don't want to be dissected for science! Please, I'll do anything. ANYTHING! Just don't kill me." She said as she started sobbing.

"You should've let me finish." I said to her, while looking through the glass. "I was going to say, I'm going to take you back to my pack so we can talk. Maybe learn about sprites too. No dissection involved. I promise." I held up two fingers when I made the promise.

Wiping her tears, I could see that she was a little confused. That didn't stop her from being curious and replying. "If you're not going to dissect me, why do you want me?"

"As much as I'd love to start talking to you about it now, we're far too vulnerable out here. You're going to be put in my bag until we get there. I'm sorry if the ride is a little bumpy."

Before she could say anything else, I stuck her in my bag that one of the guards brought me. "Alright, this was enough fun for one day. Shawn, could you bottle some of the faery's blood for me? We need to head home."

"Yes Alpha. Do you want me to do anything with the body?"

"No, the forest can have it. We need to get back and sit down with Devin to make a plan. We need to rescue Emma, but we need to be smart this time."

Shawn collected the blood and put the viles in my bag. I took off my shorts and shifted into my wolf, then grabbed my gear.

"Everybody ready?"

"YES ALPHA!"

We took off in the direction of home. This time, there were no sprites in our path. Our paws thundered through the forest. If it wasn't clear skies and you weren't close by, you would've thought it were a real storm. The trip back seemed like it took longer than it did when we left this morning. I could finally see our pack village and knew I needed to shower before seeing Devin. After all, a fight and two long runs will make you sticky with sweat and stink.

I had just reached the pack house when I remembered the scene that unfolded this morning. I quickly B-line for the pack hospital. I cursed myself as I ran. "Goddess dammit. How could I have forgotten? Kate is going to be so upset with me. I just hope her mate made it out alive."

As I entered the pack hospital, I could hear Kate. It sounded as though she was giving birth, but I knew she was not with child. I did see her this morning, and nothing seemed as if she had a pup growing inside of her. I walked over to her door and she looked as distraught as this morning. I slowly open the door to her room and enter as silently as possible. From the look of things, it seems as though James was passing. I walked over to where Kate knelt over the bed and put my hand on her shoulder. She glanced over at me and put her hand on mine.

"The doctor says he's healing too slow and most likely won't recover." She said softly with a gut wrenching saddness in her voice.

"I'm so sorry Kate." I started, when I heard a faint voice. I smacked my forehead mentally when I remembered the sprite was still in my bag. I slowly walked over to the door and went out of the room, so I don't disturb Kate. I set my bag down and pulled out the jar with the sprite. She did not like the dark, or the run. She was a feisty little thing, as she yelled and pounded on the glass jar. I whispered to her, so Kate didn't hear us and to get her to calm down. "Could you please stop yelling and pounding? I'm sorry about the ride and for leaving you in the dark, but my pack member needs me." The sprite immediately stopped her antics and looked at me curiously.

"Why are you whispering and why should I be quiet?" the sprite asked.

"I'm whispering because I don't want Kate to hear us. She's.... *SIGH* Her mate is dying. His body is not able to heal fast enough to save him. I'm not sure how much more time he has, but it's likely not long."

"You really do care for your pack, don't you?" She asked, and I nodded yes. "What will happen to the girl when her mate passes?"

I took a big breath and said, "She will most likely die too. Mates don't last much longer, maybe a few days, once the other mate dies. Very rarely does the widowed mate continue living passed that time-frame." I know that not everyone knows about our mates and how they work, but what most do know is that the one can feel the other's pain if the wound is serious enough.

The little sprite stood staring at me with tears in her eyes. "That's so... *sniffle* saddening, but beautiful too." She paused. I could see that she's thinking really hard on whether she was going to do something or not. I couldn't tell what, but I knew that it was relevant to Kate and James. Finally, she continued, "Can I do something? I mean, help?"

"What do you mean? How would you be able to help them?" I was curious now, after all, we know nothing about this species.

"I can heal him."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. 'This sprite had healing capabilities?  Could she really heal James?' I couldn't help but have these questions and tons of others running through my head.