The Exception

Chapter 9

*Josh's POV*

As my unconscious body remained still, I felt my mind travelling back to that time.... that day long ago...

***

"Put me down! What are you doing?" She yelled.

I placed her in the passenger seat, slammed the door, and ran around to the other side. I quickly opened the car door and started the car. I closed the door in one swift motion, buckled up, and hit the gas pedal as hard as I could.

"Stop it! Take me back!" she continued to shout.

"Brooke, please. Just relax."

Nathan is going to fix this.... he's going to undo what Aaron did to you...

"No! I'm not going to relax! You will not get any information from me. You better let me go now!! I swear!"

I just have to ignore her. She's not going to stop yelling.

She continued to yell for what seemed like forever, but eventually she stopped.

Finally, some peace and quiet...

I turned onto a curvy back road so it would make it harder for them to track us. I sped as fast as I could, but I knew I had to be careful. I'm not sure why, but I'm starting to feel more uneasy in the silence than I was when she kept forcibly shouting at me. I pushed away my concerns and focused on the road. Suddenly, she took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"Fine.... then, I'll just have to kill us both."

Before I could even react, she grabbed the steering wheel and jerked it hard to the right. I tried to fight her off, but it was no use. The car was spinning out of control. Before I knew it, the car had flipped over onto Brooke's side of the vehicle. We continued flipping until I hit my head on the side of the car and blacked out.

***

Suddenly as I came to, I gasped for air.

"Brooke!!" I called out hoarsely.

I tried to sit up, but I felt a hand pushing me back down.

"Hey! Hey, it's ok. Josh, it's me, Tyler."

Slowly as my eyes began to focus, my mind drifted away from my past memory. I looked up into the eyes of my best friend. 

"Wha..... Where am I?"

"You're in the pack hospital. You passed out right after the ritual. Do you remember?"

I slowly tried to sit up with Tyler's help. "Yeah, I remember."

"Good. I'm not gonna lie. You had me worried for a bit there."

"Ahh, well you know me. I tend to bounce back quick" I flashed a weak smile.

Tyler chuckled lightly, "Of course. How could I think any different" He smiled back.

"So, I see you're awake!"

I looked at the doorway to see a black-haired woman who seemed to be in her late 30s. As I studied her slowly, she appeared to be of slight Asian decent, but I wasn't quite sure. Noticing my confusion, she moved to introduce herself. 

"Hello, Josh. My name is Galena Crowley, the Healer. You can call me Lena." She smiled kindly as she walked towards me.

"Now, It seems to me that after you were bonded to the pack, you were significantly weakened. Now, typically, it is normal for there to be a lot of pain involved when making the transition. However, I have never seen anyone this weakened before."