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Twenty Four

#49 in werewolf! I think I cried when I woke up :') you guys are amazing <3 thank you soooo much

March 3

The pain waited to kick in. It let the adrenaline drain from Saoirse's blood, until her heart was weak and her lungs felt like caving, then spread like wildfire. That wasn't all, though. Right away, the wolves damned her to shift. Relentlessly.

Saoirse lay in her own cold sweat above the bed in the infirmary. Walls of blue imitated the sky around her, but she knew it was white and gloomy outside. Her toes had long since unthawed, puddles of brown mud pooled onto the sheet at her feet where they rested. Over the last hour, her body had curled tighter and further up the bed, barely escaping the mess of her own existence.

Since the field, Saoirse's memories happened in a blur. She didn't remember getting here, or even the number of times she had shifted in this room, but her pain was eminent. Torture, agony. She felt it, from her cramping fingertips to the internal pain of her mending skin. She couldn't remember life without this feeling.

Will it ever go away?

The door to the infirmary opened, Saoirse immediately shuddering at the thought of the doctor returning. She wasn't ready. With her back turned to the door, Saoirse rested her eyes with hopes of faking slumber. She listened to the steps entering the room, the way they shut the door so quietly. Her lips closed to keep from hitching her breath, refraining from showing her fear. The doctor never closed the door in the past.

The same steps treaded lightly across the floor in hesitant, airy strides. Saoirse almost stopped breathing when the intruder dragged a chair closer to her bed, sinking his weight against it. She forced herself to lower her chest evenly, faking the breaths of someone in their sleep. She listened to the male's heart rate, picking it up easily as she mimicked it's calm and collected pace. If she hadn't, hers would be racing. She didn't want to shift again.

Then, her intruder did something unexpected. His palm cradled her cheek, fingers rubbing over her skin. "I know you are awake, princess. You can't mimic a persons heart in your sleep."

Saoirse's eyes opened quickly, blinking against the harsh lighting as she took in his face. Pale skin, dark curling hair. Strands fell over his thick eyebrows, his chocolate brown orbs. Her gaze caught on his lips, how close his face was to hers. He stroked her face again, softly. "Eye? What are you listening to my heart for?"

He smiled, just subtly. His hand began to slip from Saoirse's skin, but she jerked to grab it. Her acceleration caused pain to scorch through her limbs, a hiss seething between her lips as her face froze with a tremor.

Though his hand stayed, he inquired, "What's wrong? Am I hurting you?"

"No, no," Saoirse breathed quickly. She relaxed her expression, closing her eyes as she focused only on the feeling of Eye's hand. She ran her fingers along his skin, keeping her arm still. "I'm just sore. The doctor makes me shift every few minutes. It hurts."

"That's normal," Eye lowered his voice to a soft whisper as he stroked her hair as well. She savoured it, despite the turning in her stomach. The touch was soothing. But it didn't ease anything without her eyes closed. "You heal faster as a wolf. The shifts increase the amount of venom released into your blood each time."

Saoirse groaned. "I don't like it." She opened her eyes again, looking to his. She hooked her palm around his, lacing her cold fingers between his. "What are you doing here?"

His hand petting her hair stilled. Eye relinquished the small of her palm over his, her freezing skin stealing the heat from his body. He missed her. He missed the way they would lay next to each other, the way she used to dig her toes into his legs to find warmth, and the way she used to looked at him. She doesn't anymore; not in the same way.