Silenced: Luna in the Making

Chapter 3

Xander quickly shut his eyes. The bright lights pointing at him, felt like laser pricks into his brain. It was almost as if he had been drinking all night and had the mother of all hangovers. He had only made that mistake once in his adolescence, and he knew better than to repeat it. His father had taken advantage of Xander's distraction to beat his mother past the point of full recovery. Never again had he even desired to taste a drop of liquor.

As soon as his mind started to clear, Xander's animal side started to take over. His claws pushed out and his bone's began to break so that they could be reformed into his wolf shape.

Mid-shift Xander heard Zack shout, "Control yourself NOW, or I will sedate you!" followed by what sounded like a mumbled 'again'.

It is extremely difficult to reverse a shift once the bones begin taking their new form. Recognizing that his Beta was serious, Xander painfully halted the shifting process. It took him a little while longer to force the bones to return completely to his human form.

"It is seriously impressive that you can do that," Zack commented while holding a tranquilizer gun pointed at the alpha.

"How many times?" Xander asked.

Zack hesitated for a moment before carefully responding, "you have been sedated a total of 5 times."

In shock, Xander replied, "So, I have been out for over 10 hours?"

"More like 12," Zack said after glancing at the clock. "And don't think for a moment that I will hesitate to do it again."

Xander's head was pounding. Opening his eyes briefly confirmed his suspicion that his Beta still held a tranquilizer pointed at him. "Why?" he asked simply.

"You found your mate, and have been ... difficult."

Xander grunted in response before asking again, "Why?"

Zack sighed, "She is not in the best condition. I am going to have Doc Peters come in and explain it, but you had better control yourself. If I see one single claw pop through, I will put you out until morning. Do you understand?"

"Are you threatening me?"

"If I must," Zack said simply while pounding the door. "Remember not one claw!"

The doctor warily walked into the room taking a seat next to Xander's bed. He was one of the oldest in the pack at 104. A healthy pack of werewolves should have many in their 100s, as the average life span for a mated wolf was 200 years. However, Xander's father had killed or run off most of those from the older generations. The doc was one of the few wolves that had been in the pack prior to Xander's father taking control. He had known Xander his entire life. Watching him take care of his mother after she had nearly been beaten to death, had given him hope for the next generation. The doctor had never been afraid of Xander, but he was cautious. He had already seen one promising alpha turn evil when his fated mate had died and that had nearly destroyed the pack. A mate was the one thing that could drastically alter a werewolf. The doctor's biggest fear was that history was going to repeat itself.

"How are you feeling son?" Doc Peters asked.

"I am not your son," Xander grumbled not willing to be patronized. "Now tell me about the girl."

With a quick nod from the Beta, the doctor began, "Well, she is currently stable, but that could change. There is no easy way to say this, but she is not well. Her bones are brittle from prolonged starvation. Many of them are broken, but the most concerning are her ribs. If she moves the wrong way they could puncture her lungs. At least half of her body is covered in bruises that are in various states of healing. She also shows scars over the majority of her skin. Some are burns, some were made with a whip, and some were clearly made with a knife. Someone beat and starved this girl. Quite frankly I am not sure how she is still alive.  I should tell you that I think it is likely that she will not survive the night. However, there is one thing that I don't understand."

After a moment it seemed as if the doctor was lost in his thoughts. Xander impatiently demanded, "Just spit it out, Doc."

"It's about her wolf. It doesn't make sense, but her wolf is not present," Doc Peters stated.

"Her wolf died?" Xander asked.

After a moment the doctor said, "No, I don't think so. It is true that a werewolf child can lose their wolf prior to their first shift and survive. However, you would never have recognized her as your mate if her wolf was dead. I have no idea how yourecognized her without having her scent but, she is undeniably your mate. There has never been a case where a werewolfwith a dead wolf has found a mate.  I think her wolf side is alive, just not present."

"Could she be a human?" Zack piped in.

"You both know it is impossible for a human to be the fated mate of a werewolf," the doctor responded. "A werewolf can force a mating with a human, but they would never be true fated mates. Besides I tested the girl's DNA, and she is definitely a werewolf."

"Could she be a late shifter?" Xander questioned.

"Well she definitely is late shifting," Doc Peters confirmed.  "I don't think she has ever shifted.  However, the wolf side is always present even when a pup has not shifted. Her wolf side is not there.  The only thing that I can say for sure is that she is a werewolf without a wolf."