Stranger Yet

Chapter 18: Rolling Out the Welcome Mat

Ayra woke slowly to the muffled sounds of a crying woman in the distance. She assumed the noise was from one of those awful Lifetime movies her mother liked to watch.

She wasn't sure she would be able to get back to sleep properly. Sighing, she curled her fingers into the unfamiliar soft bedding beneath her. She groaned, as the simple movement caused aches she hadn't expect.

"What the hell?" Ayra grumbled under her breath at the pain, finally forcing her heavy lids up.

Ayra's eyes widened as she looked up at the royal blue ceiling and around at the equally blue walls, illuminated only by early dawn's light. Her room was not blue. She looked down at the comforter twisted around her aching body. The satin sheets were a light shade of grey, the comforter only a shade darker than the sheets. Ripping back the sheets, Ayra jumped from the bed, and took in her surroundings. It took her a moment of staring at the room to really accept that it wasn't a dream...

She wasn't home. It was morning. She didn't know who's room she was in, or even what town she was in.

Come, now. You know where we are! Her wolf argued. Can't you SMELL it?

Ayra took a deep, deep breath, trying to calm her frantic heart. Or at least, that's what she told herself she took the breath for.

The long tail pack? What am I  DOING here?! Suddenly, the events of the previous day trickled into her mind.

As some of the memories resurfaced, she reached for her shoulder, checking for the wound she knew would be there. It had been stitched up, and was sore, but she knew it was okay. Then, the rest of the memories rushed into her mind and she gasped. In a flash, she found herself on the ground with tears streaming down her face.

She had spent too long deliberating- the girl had been taken, Tiernan had been injured, and both of the men who had attacked them had gotten away with their heads still attached to their bodies...

Mostly, anyway.

She felt sure that if she had only acted sooner, the young wolf would not have been taken. Perhaps Tiernan and her could have taken on the well-armed hunters more efficiently. Perhaps she would have even made it home before dinner, with her mother being none the wiser.

She let the sorrow and rage fill her, as she rested her forehead on the comfortingly cold wood floor. She let her worries take their natural course, then allowed them to flow from her body, outwards. Something she had learned from her mother, back when her mother had still practiced yoga and meditation daily.

Afterwards, she wiped away her tears and stood up from the unintentional Child's Pose.

She took a deep breath. Everything had happened the way that it had happened, and what was done, was done. She couldn't change any of it.

She wiped her clammy hands down the pajama set she had been dressed in and walked to the door. Turning the cold knob, she walked out of the room and into the hornets nest.

she had been put in a room upstairs, but there were people standing out in the hall chatting quietly. They looked at her with unease. Stress flowed from them, from their faces and body language.

The male and female duo took their time looking her over, before the male finally stepped forward and extended his hand.

"I'm Ian. The girl behind me is Adriana, Addy for short."

Ayra eyed them suspiciously, before extending her own hand. "Ayra. It's only been a night, right?"

He smiled a little, before assuring her that only one night had passed, then continued with, "You must be famished. And you probably need to use the bathroom. The restroom's there." He pointed to a door down the hall. "Its sort of like a locker room at a high school or gym. There are bathroom stalls and single stall showers. The towels are in there, too. You'll see them as you walk in. Feel free to use anything that is in there. Addy will find you something to wear, so don't worry about that."