Her Pack

Ivy

I spent two more days in the hospital for recovery and was surprised to see that my stitches healed pretty quickly. Dr. Quinn assured me that though the punctures were deep and bled a lot they thankfully had minimal tearing and internal damage and my body was able to heal at a rapid rate thanks to medicine and rest along with another minor blood transfusion.

I found out that Nathan had been the one to donate the blood for me and thanked him but had not spoken a word to him beyond niceties after. We acted like things were fine in front of any visitors and spent the rest of our time in silence. I grudgingly had to give him some brownie points though as he did not leave my side beyond taking care of his own basic necessities and was constantly helping me with anything I needed despite my ignoring him.

I could seen the pain darkening his eyes each time he tried to unsuccessfully to start a conversation and had to hide my own pain and guilt with frustration as he continued to refuse to talk about what happened that day. Finally the day I was going home arrived and I was more than ready with my stitches removed and a fresh cast on.

"Alright you are all set to go Ivy. My only advice is to take ibuprofen for pain as directed on the bottle and to be sure you do not get your cast wet. If you have any questions you can always call me here." Dr. Quinn smiled as she handed over a business card and then held open the door.

"Thank you for taking such good care of me, you are an amazing doctor and person." I smiled and she held her hands over her heart with shock before giving a wide, almost teary smile. "Those are incredible words coming from you, thank you so much." she practically bowed and my eyebrows raised in surprise before Nathan cleared his throat.

She immediately stood with an embarrassed smile and quickly led us out before disappearing behind a door. "Aiden is already at home with your family so I'm going to take you there okay?" Nathan asked lightly and I just gave a single nod before climbing into his SUV.

I chewed my lip guiltily as he walled around the hood with his shoulders slumped and climbed into the driver's seat but remained quiet as I stared out the window. The drive home was silent and tense and I quickly hopped out once we arrived at my parent's house.

"Thanks for taking care of me and dropping me off, I'll message you later." I murmured softly and ignored him calling my name as I shut the door and hurried inside. "Oh my baby girl, I'm so glad you're okay!" Mom immediately swept me into a warm hug and I sighed in relief as I squeezed her back. "So am I."

"Mommy!" Aiden cheered as he came barreling down the hall and I smiled brightly as I bent and swept him up into a tight one-armed hug. "Hey baby, did you have fun today?" I smiled and he nodded. "Yes ma'am. Aunty Jade and Uncle Hunter took me to the park and let me play all day!"

I smiled as I listened to his story, carrying him into the living room and greeting everyone else with awkward hugs. I spent the evening chatting with them and having dinner before heading upstairs with Aiden. I was partially glad and sad that he barely needed my help to change clothes anymore but pushed those thoughts away, tilting my head curiously when he picked out some white pajamas with little brown wolves on them.

"Did Aunt Jade get you more clothes again?" I grinned and he nodded. "Yea! Her and Uncle Hunter said that daddy would like them but I haven't got to show him yet." he pouted and I furrowed my brows but kissed his forehead and tucked him in. "You can show him next time we go sleep over okay?" I smiled and he returned it. "Okay."

I read a bedtime story to him until he was snoring and then kissed his cheek before leaving quietly and heading to my own room. I changed into a black pajama set and then padded over to my bookcase, my fingers running over multiple spines as I pulled out certain books. I carried them over to my desk and scanned over them, feeling a mixture of silliness and apprehension at the collection of stories about wolves that could turn into humans and vice versa.

I took out my favorite journal and began scanning through each book, noting the important information and supposed facts and writing them down. Once I could not find any new information I sat and closed my eyes, thinking back to when Nathan and I had first met and all the way up until now and made comparison points next to each fact I had written down.

Once I was done I then focused on our friends, his parents and everyone in their community as I continued to write. I scanned over the list with wide eyes when I was finally finished, taking a deep breath at all of the similarities and realizing that this might actually be real. I put the notebook and books away with shaky hands and finally collapsed into bed. I laid there tossing and turning as my mind raced until sleep finally claimed me.

I spent the next few days adding any further details I could think of into the journal and slowly coming to terms with the possibility that Nathan, his family and his community were some kind of supernatural wolves. By day two my hands were no longer shaking and by day three I felt ready to try to confront Nathan and spent the night thinking and planning.

On the fourth morning I woke up early and smiled as I set my plan into action, sending Jade a quick message.

'Good morning :D' - Ivy

'How are you awake this early, its unnatural!' - Jade

'Morning is the best time to run! Which is why I texted.' - Ivy

'Don't tell me you're about to go running through the woods again?!' - Jade

'I'll be fine, don't worry!' - Ivy

'Ivy you can't, its dangerous out there!' - Jade

'Why is it dangerous? It's not like I'm going to get attacked by wolves or something crazy like that right? -_-' - Ivy

'Ivy come on, I just don't want to see you get hurt again.' - Jade

'I'll be fine Jade! I promise not to "trip" on anything...' - Ivy

'Ivy...' - Jade

'Jade... I texted you for a reason okay? You and my mom both know I'm heading out and I promise to be back in an hour! I'll let you know when I get home.' - Ivy

'I still don't think its a good idea! :(' - Jade

'It will be totally fine. Tyl love ya!' - Ivy

'Love you too :(' - Jade

I trusted my best friend to do what I was pretty sure she would do and quickly dressed for a jog and headed downstairs. I promised my mom that I would take it easy and be back in an hour and she let me head out with minimal fuss. I jogged steadily out to the lake and settled comfortably next to the water to wait.

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A/N: Hope you are all enjoying the story so far! Don't forget to vote and comment if you are!