Fighter

Chapter 7

Pov Dan:

"You are a traitor! You are not worthy of being one of us!", my opponent shouted angrily. Behind him stood many other Loup-ga. They all had no faces, but I could still sense their contempt towards me. "Die!", echoed through the air. I was scared. What should I do now?
I stood near the edge of a cliff. The others were getting closer and closer to me. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't say anything. As I felt the edge behind me, I desperately tried to say something. Again and again, I heard shouts like "You scum!" or "You will destroy us!" Shortly after, I was attacked by my opponent's claws and fell off the cliff. Everything around me turned white. The cliff, the water, everything disappeared, and I found myself in an empty space, still falling. "Murderer!", echoed, and this sentence kept resonating in my ears over and over again. "Just die!"

I woke up with a start. My heart was pounding wildly, my breathing was uncontrolled, and I was drenched in sweat. For a brief moment, I couldn't distinguish between dream and reality, but I quickly came to my senses. I was in my bed; outside, it was dark and quiet. I must have just had a bad dream. However, I was concerned. This dream felt so real and familiar, almost as if I had experienced this situation before. I shook my head and got up. Then I took a glass from the shelf and filled it with water. After taking a sip, I looked out the window and ran my hand through my hair. My situation became clear to me again. I was here on the territory of strangers and could hardly make myself useful.
As I looked at my reflection in the window, I noticed the scar running across my face. Mia had said it would soon be barely visible, but it was still not a pleasant sight. I wondered how such a thing could happen and why I couldn't remember anything. Anyone else would at least know in part how they got so badly injured. I sighed and let my head fall back. If only I knew where the people from my pack were. Suddenly, something occurred to me. If I thought about it properly, I didn't even really know the current situation in my actual pack. I seemed to have forgotten everything. I couldn't even properly remember our Alpha!
With my hands over my head, I sank to the floor. This couldn't be true! What had happened that I lost almost half of my memory and ended up in such a state? Something was very wrong.

During the day, I told Mia and Jack about my dream. By now, we got along quite well, and I trusted them. Mia thought for a moment and then said, "That's really strange. And you say the situation felt familiar?" I nodded. "Maybe it was a part of a hidden memory. I've heard that the brain often incorporates memories into dreams.", Jack suggested. Mia agreed and added, "That could be. Maybe you just can't remember because your brain wants to protect you."
"Protect me? From what?", I asked, confused.
"From bad experiences. Just to avoid something like depression or similar issues. Who knows what you went through before you came to us?" I looked down. "Yeah." Mia and Jack looked at me sympathetically. "But no matter what happened, you're with us now, and you can recover. Maybe you won't have to go back and Xaver will take you in." Jack's statement made me look up in surprise. What he said gave me new hope. Mia seemed excited about the idea too. "That would be really nice. I'm sure we can convince Xaver to let you stay here. Provided you don't prefer to return to your old pack." I smiled shyly. "No. I can barely remember them, and even if I could, I think I'd be better off here. But do you really think Xaver would accept me? I mean, he doesn't seem to like me much." Mia and Jack exchanged questioning looks. "Nonsense. Sure, he seems suspicious of you at the moment, but once he gets to know you better, he'll definitely like you.", Jack explained, and Mia agreed. I was really glad to have at least the two of them on my side. It wasn't a given to be welcomed so warmly by others, which made me appreciate it even more.