Rayvin

Chapter 3

Rayvin watches with her intense and nerve-wracking eyes as the pack doctor treated her frightened sister and brothers. Her eyes narrowed each time one of them whimpered, however, the rest of her siblings were carefully returned to her side after being treated. So, for their sake, she held back the growls in her throat. Artemis was watching the girl as carefully as she does the doctor, finding more and more surprising but admiring points about the protective child. "Sir, will she really not leap for my throat?"  The pack doctor jokes nervously, Artemis smirks to himself and deliberately didn't answer her. 

Willow jabs his side and answers for him, "She won't, although she doesn't trust us she knows that we are lessening the pain for the other children. Although she acts like a wild child, it was mostly an intimidation tactic."  "Intimidation tactic?" The doctor, Serena in her shock almost drops the cotton swab in her hands looking at her smirking alpha and wearily smiling luna completely appalled. "You're telling me a child this young can access her situation and come up with a method in a new unfamiliar location just to fib her strength?!"

Artemis finally cut in sounding somewhat proud and smug. "Amazing isn't it? It was like she was born to be an alpha female." Willow sent her mate another warning look. However, her mate ignores her to look over the girl who took another returned child checking them over carefully. She was somewhat helpless, she could feel the fondness her mate had for the fearless child who put other children's safety above her own. It was rare to find a breed like her, her mate is also like the girl in some ways. So it's easy to see why he took a liking to her immediately. "I also found it surprising, but look at the way her eyes follow your every movement." Willows's gaze soften when landing on the young girl who firmly placed the carefully checked child behind her skinny frame. Her lips twitched up slightly at the cute but sad scene. 

"You can tell she's a good child with a heart of gold. I can't even imagine the things she's gone through yet she's still able to keep a leveled head. If the alpha loses their cool so does the rest of the pack. But these children, they still have traces of innocence in them." The pack doctor also looks over at the wary gazed child who tenses up and hugs the last little girl that needed to be checked. Her reservations fell after hearing her lunas words and Serene gave the tense children a kind smile. "The little one in your arms, it's her turn now." Rayvin could feel Ailee's tremors grow. Her eyes steel up and she glares at the pack doctor while pushing Ailee into the middle of their group behind her. The pack doctor was helpless and looked over to her alpha pair. Willow also didn't know what was wrong. However, Artemis spoke for the first time since he had calmed Rayvin down before.

 Making the girl's hostile stare shift from the doctor to him "If you don't let her get treated it could end badly. She injured her head after all." Willow bit her lip and scowls at her mate for using such crude and blunt words on a child. However, Rayvin's eyes waver and she looks over her shoulders at the quivering Ailee. The half of the little girl's face which wasn't covered up was looking up at her with puffy eyelids. Her single baby blue eye was full of fear and dependency as if trusting anything she would tell her, no matter if she told her to be treated or not. The three adults could see the girl contemplating before she finally turns to Artemis. Pursing her lips unhappily, she spoke up sternly and seriously in a childish voice. "Me first." The doctor was surprised before worriedly glancing at Willow who nods. Artemis could somewhat guess the girl's thoughts and smiled subtly at her.

 "Ok." Giving his verbal agreement rather easily he could see the girl's anxiety for the other child subside for the moment. The trepidation in her heart weakens its presence as she quietly went to sit in front of the doctor. Nerves high, Rayvin turns around and pulls the dress over her back. She was wary of turning her back on big people, but she didn't have much of a choice and they didn't seem to want to hurt them weirdly enough. And because her back was turned, Rayvin didn't get to see the drastic change of expression the adults had when she did this. Willow sharply inhaled, her hand holding onto her mate whose muscles tightened up almost becoming a pair of claws in her shock. His whole body froze over after seeing the full extent of her injury. The alpha held in his deep growl, suppressing the rising anger like trying to prevent a volcano from erupting. "WHO WAS IN CHARGE OF BRINGING THE CHILDREN?!" "Artemis!" Willow fiercely whispers, worriedly glancing at the children. 

 The pack doctor shivers while going pale in the face, her knees almost giving way because of the sudden weight on her shoulders. Most likely every pack member had the same reaction to their alpha's booming voice into the pack link. However, Artemis still snarls when speaking to her. His lips curled and twitched as he held back the desire to search for the lazy person who dared to neglect the child. "That's not a normal injury Willow! Those are SILVER burns! Her blood is black with wolfsbane poisoning!" Willow could feel her husband shaking, lowering her head and she held her mate's hand. "Go take a few laps. When you come back we can discuss it then." Artemis's face was stiff as he stood up quickly to do as she said knowing staying here with a sour face would make the children more uneasy.

 Rayvin shifts around as soon as he did this staring up at him warily, the man's furious glower wavers under her perceptive and alert eyes. He took a deep breath, forcing the anger to settle, and uncurls his fists at his side before sitting back down slowly much to the children's relief. Rayvin also kept her eyes on the big person who stood up suddenly after a wave of murderous aura appeared behind her. It was only when she saw that he didn't intend to move again did she turn back around. Willow leans into Artemis's side, the man was unresponsive for awhile before also wrapping his arm around her. A gloomy air suddenly takes place around the two of them. The pack doctor was careful when applying the salve, as each time the girl flinches from pain. She could hear her alpha's cut-off growls and felt the back of her neck sweating bullets. Please don't cry, please don't cry. The woman begs the little girl in front of her but whether it was due to her luck or Rayvin's pain tolerance. The girl only flinches once every other swab but never uttered a single cry of pain despite the ghastly burns and exposed flesh on her back.

 Willows's heart gave out, her lips tremble as the girl was wrapped up as gently as possible by the equally disturbed Serene. When the girl went to put on her bloody dress and stand up from her seat. Willow said while trying to sound as casual as possible. "Rayvin," The girl took a moment to react, raising her head and subtly glancing at Ailee before meeting Willow's gaze without a hint of bowing down. Successfully gaining her attention, she asks carefully. "Can you tell us how you got those injuries?" The other children's wounds weren't as, severe. It was as if Rayvin had been targeted... Artemis held his breath waiting for her answer to his mate's question. Rayvin didn't seem to understand their sad-looking expressions. She answers honestly without thinking too much about it "Big people."

 Willow's voice shook as she repeats the girl's words with a pale face. "Big people... Do you mean, adults?" Rayvin seemed confused by her correction before nodding along with her words since it was obvious these people knew more than she did. "If that's what big people are called they smell the same as you, but different." Different? Artemis locks onto her words feeling a bubble of unease growing within. But when he and his pack raided the base they smelled like nothing but average rouges wolves. Artemis tries to get her to elaborate more on what she meant "How did they smell? What was different?" Rayvin tilts her head at him, how they smelled? Wasn't it obvious? She blinks at them innocently "Wolf eaters."