Tails and Fangs

Healing (Zarya)

I watched as father carried me through the woods, seeing all the trees and bushes go by as he ran. I was in so much pain from the vampire attack, that all the turns he made, that caused me to jerk around, hurt. He slowed down, once he heard me whimper, but still was moving at a fast pace. Soon we reached a familiar area, our pack territory. Father carried me through the pack village, and I could see all the worried faces of pack members when they saw me. They rushed up and kept asking if I was ok. But I was too tired to really speak to anyone, so I remained silent. We finally reached our den and that's when father finally set me down. He transformed into his human form, to which I followed suit, even though it brought more pain.

"Nana!" my father yelled, his voice echoing through the cave. Soon my siblings appeared running up in their wolf forms.

"Yes dad" my second eldest sister, Nana said as she shifted into her human form, the others following suit.

"Take care of your sister. I need to go meet up with some pack members." he told her as he walked back out the den. My siblings looked over at me and realized what he meant.

"Zarya! What happened to you?" Nana exclaimed as she along with others surrounded me, holding my face as she looked it over.

"It's nothing" I whined as I tried to pull my face out of her hands.

"Sis, stop lying and tell us what happened." Zane, my eldest brother argued, giving me his unamused look. I pulled my face away from Nana and crossed my arms.

"Zayra.." Zane started, causing me to look up at him. I looked at the others and they all had the same look.

"Ugh! Fine! I was attacked by a vampire and the Queen." I groaned as I put my head down in shame.

"The Queen?!" they all shouted in unison. I nodded my head and then showed them the forming bruise around my neck.

"You are so lucky to be alive, Zay." my eldest sister Katelyn said.

"Let me go get my healing equipment." Nana said as she ran off.

"How did you even get near the Queen?" Zane asked as he kneeled in front of me.

"I was playing twigs and stones with her son." I mumbled. When I didn't hear a response I looked up and saw all of them staring at me with disbelief.

"Why were you playing with the prince? They're the enemy, Zarya, we don't play games." Zane shouted at me.

"Why not? He was nice to me, he tried to help me when I first got attacked." I shouted back.

"Zarya, this isn't an argument. We told you several times that vampires and werewolves don't get along. For all we know the prince could've set up the attack, he was just trying to gain your trust." Katelyn reprimanded. I looked over at Travis, my second eldest brother. He simply shook his head and turned away from me.

"Well I know he's different, if it wasn't for him the Queen would've killed me in front of dad." I cried as I wiped away the tears that kept threatening to spill. Nana came back and saw what was happening and told the others to leave me alone. Once they left, she started aiding my wounds.

"You really need to be careful, Zay, this is the third time you've been attacked by a vampire. Maybe you should try training with the other pups?" Nana suggested as she bandaged up a scratch on my arm.

"I can't train with those kids. I'm smaller than them and they say mean stuff to me. Besides, I want to prove myself to dad that I can be a great alpha someday." I exclaim as I sit down, so she can work on my leg.

"I know you do, Zay, but you're not ready to be in the war. You're too young and inexperienced." Nana reasoned, looking up at me.

"Why are we even in a war? Why can't vampires and werewolves get along?" I asked as I looked away.

"I can't answer that, Zay. The war has been going on before I was born and even before Zane. And I'm 12 and Zane is 17." she said as she continued what she was doing.

"Do you think that the war will ever end?" I whisper as I look down at my bandaged hands.

"Maybe someday sis. But not now." she answered as she finished up. She helped me stand up and climb on her back. I thought about what Nana said about the war ending. Maybe not today, but I promise myself that when I become Alpha, I'll end the war once and for all. I was pulled from my thoughts, when I felt Nana lower to the ground. After getting off her back, I realized we were in my area of the cave.

"Try to get some rest, Zay. I'm sure dad is gonna want to talk with you later or in the morning." She told me as she headed for the exit.

"Thank you for helping me...again" I called out to her. She gave me thumbs up as she disappeared around the corner. I laid down on my bed and stared at the ceiling.

"There's no way Xavier planned that attack on me...right?" I thought to myself as I thought back to that moment. He was just as surprised of the attack as I was. But he could've stopped it, since he is the prince. Well he did look rather small, maybe he isn't as respected by the vampires like me with the pack? I groaned as I rolled over on my side facing the wall of the cave.

"I would be pretty frustrated too, after getting wrongly attacked by a vamp." I hear a familiar voice say. I roll back over to see my dad looking at me.

"Dad! When did you get here?" I asked him, trying to sit up. He came over and put a hand on my shoulder and pushed me back to laying down.

"I just got back and came to check on you, pup. I can see you're still in pain." he answered, looking me over.

"No..just sore. I'll be ready for training tomorrow." I told him, as I avoided eye contact.

"Pup, there's no training tomorrow. At least not for you, I want you to rest for the week." he said as he gave me his, "I'm serious" look.

"But dad, I'll be behind..again. I need to train if i'm gonna be alpha, someday." I argued, which he sighed to.

"I know you want to be alpha someday, and you will. But-" he started to say.

"Don't. Don't say that, I'm not ready yet. Not again." I cracked as I tried to stop the tears that were welling up. He looked at me with a sad expression.

"You just need more time Zarya. Rushing yourself to be great, is not how you become great. You have a lot of potential, we just have to find it." he says as he sits next to me.

"That's why I should be out there training. So I can find my potential. When Nana and Katelyn were my age, they took down vampires. I've never taken one down, only attacked." I argued as I can tell he isn't trying to help me.

"Who told you Nana or Katelyn took down vampires at the age of 6? They never left the den at that age, not while your mother was around." he scoffed, but then he had a moment of realization to which he apologized. I never knew my mom, since she died shortly after I was born. I had to be raised by my sisters as a mother figure in my life, but they told me early on that mom had died. I feel like they all resent me a little bit, since it does seem like I caused her death. But they tell me, all the time, that it wasn't my fault. However, that never shakes the feeling, whenever she's mentioned.

"It's fine dad, but Zane told me." I said answering his question.

"That boy, him and Travis are always filling your head with nonsense. But no, pup, Nana and Katelyn never took down any vampires at your age." he said as he ruffled my hair. Soon I heard a shuffling coming from the entrance of my room.

"Alpha, you're needed by Matt." a wolf said as he stood tall looking at my father and I.

"Greetings young alpha, sorry for the intrusion." he apologized.

"You're excused, Lionel. Please tell Matt, I'll be there in a moment." my father dismissed and with a quick nod, the wolf was off.

"I guess you better go and handle alpha duties." I mumbled as I turned over on my side facing the wall. I felt him lean down and kiss the side of my head as he got up.

"Just get some rest pup. Maybe tomorrow, we'll go over roles as an alpha as a substitute for your training." I heard him say as he walked away. I grumbled in response and stared at the wall. If only I was stronger, then none of this would've happened.