Heartless

1

My mother always told me to keep my head down. In a world like mine, where everyone was blessed with lycanthropy it was easy to fit in, and I did, for a while. Until I turned 18 I was the same as all of my other friends, we all shifted around puberty, went to school together and learned to control basic magic.

When we reached adulthood we were to discover our Flair, a special gift from the Moon Goddess; and our mates. My friends had all mated soon after their coming of age, and their Flairs were all pretty normal. Norma and Louis were both able to control fire, my best friend, Leah, had an ability over nature. Her mate was able to control water, which paired well. They currently lived in Noyra City a few blocks away from me, Leah was pregnant with her first baby.

I guess that's were it all started, my Flair. It was unheard of, or at least very rare, it incapacitates every other Flair, making them useless. I guess you could say I wasn't very popular, once people realized that they couldn't use their abilities near me, I began to lose people. Leah was the only person I had left after my mom had passed away last spring.

I carefully folded the last of my laundry and set it in my drawer. I felt a sigh push past my lips and tried to nip it before it could fully escape. I didn't want to put myself in a bad mood before I went to work, an eight and a half hour shift didn't sound pleasant dwelling in the past. I stretched my arms in front of me instead, relaxing my tired muscles. My rounds at the hospital last night were painstakingly slow, I don't know whos idea it was to keep a hospital open on a full moon but I had spent the night changing bandages for non-lethal wounds.

My phone buzzed in the pocket of my scrubs and I reached in to grab it. A message from Leah illuminated the screen, I unlocked it and typed a quick reply before yanking my bag off the counter and hurrying out the door. I made quick work driving down the street to Leah's apartment, I shoved my keys in my purse and jogged up the stairs to the third floor.

I let myself in, as I usually did and didn't bother to close it behind me, "Leah! Where are you?" I moved across the floor, my sneakers barely kissing the hardwood.

"Here!" I heard her wheeze. I opened the door to the bathroom and saw her squatting over the toilet. Leah's blonde hair was pulled up in a bun, sweat gleamed on her forehead. "I just thought I had to pee, guess not."

I tried not to laugh at my heavily pregnant friend, her nightgown pulled tight around her belly as she tried to stand. "Let me help, darling." I walked over to her and put her arm around my shoulder then began our way to the kitchen.

"My bags are already packed, we just have to find where that silly man of mine put them." Leah informed me. Her mate, Ryan, was one of the kindest men I had ever met, he was very mild tempered with a major organization problem. Leah, who had a color coded system for everything, was his polar opposite, and greatest joy.

I sat her on one of the dining room chairs and left to look in her bedroom, they were stuffed in the back of the closet, a note was on top to remind them to bring their paperwork to the hospital. I hurried back out and began to help Leah out the door.

***

Leah's labor stretched well into my shift at the hospital and I was granted permission to assist in the delivery. We had arrived just after 5 pm and it was nearly midnight, Ryan had arrived shortly after we had and he winced in pain as his mate gripped his hand for support. The doctor gave me a queue and I turned back to Leah. "Alright honey, we're ready for you to start giving those final pushes, okay?"

"Shove it up your ass!" Leah screamed at me, I fought back a smile at her disheveled state.

"Now darling-" Ryan began before he was cut off by her bone breaking grip.

"Leah were ready, push!"

The rest of the birth was easy, I left the room to clean up their baby, a small boy named Max. He had a small tuff of brown hair on the top of his head that matched his father and I could tell he wanted nothing more than sleep. I swaddled him, cooing all the way back to the room his parents were in. I had always loved babies, deliveries were one of my favorite jobs at the hospital, but it was different holding the child of my best friend.

My pager went off and frowned, I would have to give up the excitement of the newborn for the tragedy of the ER. After saying my goodbyes I hurried downstairs. It was a mess, a man lay on a stretcher, his chest looked completely torn apart. Obvious fang and claw marks littered his limbs, one of the other nurses, Janet, looked at me with a despairing look. The man was about to die.

"Hello sir," I greeted kindly. My smile was unwavering, no amount of natural werewolf regeneration or healing Flairs could heal him but there was no way I would let him know that. "Could you tell us what happened tonight?" I moved to his left arm, searching for a vein to insert an IV into.

"A-a-al" He sputtered. Blood was mixing with his saliva, bubbling up at the corners of his mouth.

"Sir, only speak if you can, don't exert yourself." I instructed, I carefully slid the needle under the skin. I felt his body tense and he began seizing, "Keep him steady, don't let him bite his own tongue off for gods sake." I forced his arm down, he was strong but I was not in the mood.

"Alph-al!" He was shouting, "Alpha Jordan!!!"

We all froze and the life slipped away from him.