Lost Wolf

what is this place

S t e l l a

The next time I opened my eyes, it was already the middle of the day. To my surprise there were two guards by the door and there was a girl sitting beside the window, reading a book.

A bare sound escaped my mouth at my surprise, but they immediately turned their eyes to me.

The brunette closed her book, a smile dressing her lips and when she looked at the guards' way, they nodded towards her and they left the room.

Oh, they must be making sure that I don't leave, but isn't it too much? Having guards?

"Hello, how are you feeling?" the girl asked with a friendly smile. I did my best to sit up on the bed despite my body aching.

"F-fine..." I answered hesitantly. Dozens of question now bombarded my mind.

The girl walked towards. "I'm Ruth by the way, I was one of the people who found you in the middle of the road. Not the best place to find the Alpha's mate, but it is what it is right?" she says and that relieved me just a bit because I still didn't remember her.

I didn't really understand the latter part, but I ignored it.

What I noticed though was that Ruth also had a distinct smell to her and I could feel that she didn't have any ill intent towards me or anything.

Ruth was probably waiting for me to say something, introduce myself, anything, but I didn't open my mouth. I couldn't trust anyone no matter how nice they seemed, I've been through this a million times.

There was the awkward silence, but she decided to speak again. "You must be hungry, I will have your food brought right away," was all she said again and checked the IV bag.

She also went ahead and checked my temperature as well as my heartbeat. 

She didn't seem to be a nurse or a doctor, else what was her business staying with me? If she was one, I'm sure she must have other important tasks than to watch me sleep.

It didn't take long before a young girl probably around my age came knocking and left a tray full of food. I could feel how she observed me as she put the food down, but one glance from Ruth and she left hurriedly. She even bowed her head slightly before closing door.

What the heck is this place?

"Do you think you can walk around now?" she questions again as she helped fix a small table in front of me to eat.

"Y-yes." I answered, eager at the thought of being able to leave this unknown and weird place.

"Great! I'll prepare clothes for you then." she chirped happily. After telling me to eat and saying that she'll be back, she left.

Confused and still baffled, I decided it was better not to think too much and just eat.

I can't help but think back of the abusive home that I grew up in. I wondered if I can go back and take the money I had deeply hidden away?

But no, I don't think I can do that. I will probably die if I even step a foot anywhere near that hell.

Choosing to erase the negative thoughts, I ate and when I was done, Ruth came back with a clothes.

I had to take a shower first of course because who knows how long I'd been asleep. I was surprised that there was even a bathroom attached to my room.

After cleaning myself I put on the clothes that Ruth gave me and was quite shocked that she gave me light blue dress that reached my knees.

I felt uncomfortable in it. I never wore dresses. It showed too much of my scars, but looking at myself in the mirror, I was even more surprised to find that I had scars. As if my skin was a new canvas ready to be painted red again.

Just as I was hating the dress, I heard Ruth knocking. I wasn't really in any place to complain so I decided to come out and shut my mouth at her choice of clothes.

Seeing me, the blonde girl clapped her hands happily.

"My, my! Aren't you the pretty one! Cassian will be-- oh, never mind." she said, catching herself at her own mistake.

Cassian.

Right, that man.

I wonder where he is? I wonder if I'll see him again.

I spent the night yesterday thinking about him and trying to connect the dots, but nothing came until I fell asleep.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

Ruth smiled and said: "I'll tour you around! But we first we gotta see him. C'mon."

Before I could ask who him was or why she needed to tour me around, Ruth already dragged me with her.

Exiting the doors, I saw the two guards leaning against the hallway laughing and seemed like they were fooling around. Seeing us, both of them stood up straight.

"Alright you two, stop goofing around and follow us far behind alright?" Ruth says.

"We can't do that, we were instructed specifically to guard the patient." one of them says.

"Will you relax, I'm here anyways. Besides, we will go see the Alpha now."

That was the second time Ruth mentioned of an Alpha, whatever that is, but I was busy looking around. Now that it was day, I could definitely observe more around me than at night.

After that, I followed Ruth quietly as we exited the building. During the day, I could see how big the clinic was, but it was definitely not a hospital. Instead it looked like a fancy retreat home.

And I was right, we were completely surrounded by the forest. No wonder it's so calm here, so quiet, so peaceful even. I wonder how far we are from town.

We continued walking and she explained that where I was staying was the pack clinic or something and that we were on our way to the pack house.

I'm starting to think I'm in some sort of cult because the way Ruth was explaining things, it was... different. I can't seem to put my finger on it, but there is definitely something different about this place.

And the people.

For some reason, they all looked strong and would be ready to jump at you any time. As we passed by some people, I could see that we were in a small town. But what's also weird is that, there was nothing overly technological here. As if they didn't rely on it.

"What is this town called again, I'm sorry?" I interrupted my tour guide.

She turned to me and looked at me weirdly.

"You... have you been living with humans your whole life?"

There it is. There it is again!

Why is she talking like she isn't human?

Cassian also asked me a similar question and I thought he was joking, but he clearly wasn't!

"W-well yeah?" I answered, but now I wasn't quite sure too. Have I been living among monsters and I didn't know about it all this time?

I saw Ruth sigh and looked at one of the windows of a huge building in front of us which I assumed was the pack house.

"Well, Cassian has got a lot of explaining to do then."

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Reviewed: January 9th, 2022.
Please note that grammatical errors may still appear.