Fastest of the Woods

XV

"Good afternoon, Miss. Sterling," Wyatt greeted me a few days later. Since I offered to stay awake one time he has not let me go to sleep whilst he preforms his experiments and dissects me. 

That's what I learned that night besides his murder of my wolf, he dissects me. 

He digs his hands into my arms and once he even did it to my left leg. He feels my bones and checks out my viens and tests my blood temperature with gloved fingers inside my skin.

It hurts like hell.

My skin heals while I sleep, the reason for my never noticing it in the morning. I didn't feel the need before to check for scarring and had no mirrors to show me what had happened. Both my arms now sport long and disgusting, ugly scars about 6 inches long along with an even longer one on my leg. 

"After much consideration, we think it is best to move you to another room."

"Why?"

"I believe that the reason you are not affected the same way the others are is because of your being too close to another Oracle."

I'm near an Oracle? Which one? Kayla or Ulijana?

There are 3 Oracles in all, Kayla, Nova and Ulijana. Each one has a specialty they are best at and a wolf as old as the legends of werewolves themselves to guide them inside. When one dies then the gift is passed on to another, the most recent Oracle death was Jean, 14 years ago, and after her Ulijana was born. The next expected one is Kayla as she is the oldest at a whopping 27. Most don't live to see 30.

"A maid will come in to assist you in the move in the morning. For now, let us finish one more night here first though."

_____

I have decided it was best to give up on anyone saving me. Kian should have definitly felt every bit of pain I did yet he hasn't come to help me. My King Arthur will never come for his Queen. I doubt my siblings will be able to track me with out his help. 

I have been here for 2 weeks, shivering under a paper thin blanket at night, eating the bare neccesities, wearing the same dirty dress and not once bathing, no interaction with anyone except the occasional talk with Wyatt, Hadley or Faye and wanting to die.

That's right, I never thought it would happen but it has. I, Holly Sterling, wish death upon myself.

I wish to be freed of this constant torture and pain. I wish to run again out in the forest with the wind in my off-white and caramel fur. I wish to be freed with my wolf in the land of promise. 

Few wolves actually worship the same deities as humans, most werewolves believe in a completely other religion than the humans, one loosely based on Wicca and Druidry. We worship the Huntress or Goddess as some call her. Basically she's represented by the moon and she's responsible for the existence of wolves or all kind- were, hybrid or regular. 

Legend has it that she saw how wolf envied man and those who looked like him like the vampires and witches. She used her great power to turn the first 3 wolves into people and they took on human names and faces- Xena, Horatia and Ara. 

They lived happily as humans and even wed- Xena to a Vampire, Horatia a human and Ara a witch- but that didn't quench their undying thirst for freedom. They needed to run again through the luscious forest with naught but their goddess to guide them.

Though they didn't complain she saw how unhappy they were and granted them each a wish they all desired; the ability to turn into a wolf. 

They soon realized that they could turn other humans into wolves but they could do nothing for their wolf brothers and sisters. Many people were turned and soon enough the werewolf race was created. 

Ara was said to be the messenger of the Huntress and told of a land we go to upon death, a land with nothing but wildlife and nature where it was always perfect days and wolves could be free to be with out fear of prosecution. The promise land.

That's where I want to be. I'm tired of this world. 

Faye had taken me up to my new "room" as soon as I woke up, I didn't even get a chance to have breakfast. My new room was in all reality a tower. 

You heard me right. A tower.

It looked like something out of Rapunzel, like I could drop my hair out the window and escape with my prince charming on a white horse. That wasn't happening any time soon though, it was 5 stories high and my hair isn't quite that long and my only candidates for prince were both unavailable- Arturo is back in Mexico by now and Kian doesn't give a shit.

She left directly after and I sat myself down on the hard floor, not wanting to see if the bed was dust free or not yet. I looked down at my scars, tracing them with my fingers as I thought about the Huntress more.

She must be beautiful.

And powerful.

And kind.

Why would she let this happen to me? Have I not been a good wolf?

I sighed in remembrance. The Huntress merely promised to give us strength and power, she never once offered protection. 

It just wasn't something she did unless asked.

That's when I decided it's high time I asked. I stood up and ran best I could to my window, climbing up onto the ledge so I could see the moon at the very edge of the sky, going down to let up the sun. My hands flew together and I prayed.

I prayed for freedom.

I prayed for help.

I prayed for myself.

But mostly, I prayed for my wolf.