The Wolf's Marine

Emotional Damage

"You weren't supposed to leave me! We were supposed to go on dates together. We can't hunt or fish together now. Storm you can't leave me here." Wilder sobs, soaking his beard and her hair with salty tears. His heart is shattering into little pieces with each teardrop that falls.

"I love you Storm. That's why I got so mad when you talked about dying, I didn't want my only love to leave me. And then to hear you tell Mark you loved him, it drove me mad. I know you said you used to love him, but for you to admit that in front of me when you hadn't even told me that you love me. Oh, Storm it was horrible but not as horrible as this." At this point he's drowning her body in tears. His heart hurts seeing her lifeless like this.

"I love you so damn much." He whispers, cradling her body like one cradles a baby. He strokes her hair trying to smooth it down to make it look normal. He wants it to look like she's sleeping not like she's dead. Small whimpers escape his chest when he looks at her. She should be awake right now challenging and teasing him, not laying in his arms dead. It's not fair! Why did she have to die before their life together could even start?
Conan, that lying prick, got to live why couldn't his valiant mate do the same?

He strokes her cheek, running a finger over the scar that constantly sent her down a PTSD spiral. "You're so beautiful." He strokes her other cheek, not even noticing the scratches have disappeared. "I can't believe you're really gone. With how you acted I honestly thought you couldn't die and I wish that was true. It seems unreal that you're d-d-d." He can't even bring himself to say the word, saying it is admitting that this is all not some horrible nightmare. More tears fall onto her face and his lip quivers as he wipes them away.

"I know you said I was forbidden from joining you over there but I really want to. Think of all the things we could do together as ghosts. We could haunt those people you wanted to." He tells her. He stops stroking her cheek and goes back to stroking her hair.

"I'm a horrible mate for not being with you in your last moments. I should've stayed with you and never left your side. I don't think I'm ever going to be able to forgive myself for this." He takes her bandaged hand in his and interlocks their fingers. Violent sobs wrack his chest when he realizes she can't grip his hand back.

"I think my favorite memory with you is when we were on the deck. It was amazing to see how happy you looked while talking about owning your Grandpa's bait shop. It looks like I'll never get to help you with it now." He hiccups, trying to find comfort in the good times but ultimately failing.

"I would destroy the whole world if it meant I would have you back even for a minute."

"I'm not dead. I was pranking you and obviously I shouldn't have." Her eyes open and she sees his tear swollen face. She's filled with guilt at the sight of him in such a mess.

"You're terrible!" He growls at her, abandoning her on the bed and going to pace in anger next to her bed. "Why would you let me believe you're dead? What's wrong with you?!" Wilder fumes at her, tears still falling down his face. These tears are angry tears though, not sad tears.

"I thought it'd be funny." She admits.

"It wasn't fucking funny! I thought the love of my life was dead in my arms. I can't fucking believe you right now!" He growls at her, the angry tears starting to stop.

"I'm sorry."

"A sorry won't cut it. I genuinely thought you were dead. That's not something you do as a prank! Do you understand how much my heart was breaking thinking you were dead? Do you understand or do you just not care?!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't think you cared about me that much."

"Well I do. I fucking love you Storm LeDoux!"

"I love you too."

"Yeah, well you sure have a funny way of showing it." His words are like blades cutting at Storm's heartstrings. This prank was a painful mistake.

"I can't even stand to look at you right now after the stunt you just pulled. I'll talk to you later once I'm less fucking angry with you." With that he storms out of the room for the second time that day.

Guilt eats at Storm, so much for a harmless prank but hey, he said he loves her. That's something right?

The more the guilt eats at her the more the room seems to be melting like wax. Her face shows panic at the sight. It shows even more panic when her skin fluctuates between being purple and green.

It seems that the werewolfism is doing it's job, mending her flesh wounds and forcing the hallucinogenic poison out of her system. Of course the forcing out of the poison brings it to the surface, causing terrifying hallucinations.

Storm closes her eyes tight and tries to tell herself that none of this is real. The room isn't really melting and her skin isn't really purple and green. None of it is real.

She opens her eyes and the room has stopped melting and now it's nothing but red. There's no objects, only the color red.

She starts to breathe faster and her heart rate elevates. This can't be right! She blinks and the red is rippling like water.

"This isn't real. This isn't real." She mutters.

"Oh, but it is real. The red is all the blood you spilled, all the lives you've taken." A evily familiar voice hisses inside of her head.

"It's not real! You're not real!"

"Think of what Wilder thought when he found you on the battlefield soaked in blood. He must disgusted being your mate. Mated to a cold blooded killer, that poor boy." The voice mocks as the red gets more intense.

"No, he loves me! You're lying." The red ripples, forming a big wave that's going to splash onto Storm.

"He lies, he doesn't love you. Who could love a cold blooded killer like you? That's right, no one! You don't deserve to be loved after all the lives you've taken!" The wave splashes onto Storm and she squeezes her eyes shut.

When she opens them again things are back to normal and the voice is gone. The dreaded poison is now out her system and the hallucinations are gone for good.

"I need to go on a walk to clear my head." She sighs and gets out of the bed. Her flimsy gown lets all of the cold in and she shivers. She grabs the IV cart before she exits the room.

Her first step out the sends the chocolate bar skidding down the hallway. "Did Wilder leave you for me?" She asks the bar when she picks it up. "Of course he did." She skins the bar of its wrapper and takes a bite. She moans at its delicious taste and in a few more bites finishes it off. With the bar gone she walks down the hallway.

While walking down the hall the moonlight licks at her skin, begging the werewolf in her to come out and play. It would have her turning if it wasn't diluted by the artificial lights.

Storm wanders the halls, marveling at how different everything is with her new abilities. The strong smell of disinfectant, the sound of the nurse breathing all the way down the hall. It's all amazing!

What's not amazing is the fact that Storm has just discovered that Alice is still in the hospital. Why the hell is she still here?!

Storm knocks on the door and receives no answer. "Alice, can I come in?" There's silence for a full minute before she answers, "Yes."

Storm opens the door to see Alice standing facing the window, with her arms pulled in front of her, likely resting on the window sill.

"What do you see out there?" Storm asks, the door shutting behind her with a loud thud. "Nothing important, why are you here?" Each word seems short and forced.

"Wilder and I had a fight. I thought going for a walk would clear my head." A sort of strangled cry seems to come from Alice. "What's wrong? What made you make that noise?"

"What are you talking about? I didn't make that noise." Alice snaps back.

There's an awkward silence between the two, it's so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"I knew you'd come." Alice finally breaks the silence.

"Yeah?"

"I knew you would." Alice turns around and Storm's eyes go wide. Alice's hands weren't resting on the window sill, they were holding Eva still so Alice could hold a scalpel to Eva's throat.