Ghost Moon

Phoenix

I’m assaulted by blinding lights when I attempt to open my eyes. Groaning, I close them once more before slowly opening them one at a time. I’m in a sterile room, white walls, stainless steel items, no doubt a hospital room.

I internally rejoice that I’m still alive. Then panic sets in and I try scrambling to get up to high-tail it out of there.

What the hell?

I look down at my body to see I’m strapped to the table. Leather straps cross my body, from my chest all the way down to my ankles.

My breathing increases as I start thrashing on the bed trying to find a way out.

No, no, no. Not again. I can’t be a prisoner again.

Tears threaten to fall but I hold them back. I haven’t cried in at least a year and half, not going to start now. I stop moving and look around the room to see if there’s anything that could aid in my escape.

Shit. Nothing. Nothing that I could reach anyway.

This causes me to start my twists and turns once more, and before I can stop what’s happening, I feel the bed tilt to the side, and I brace myself for impact.

The loud crash echoes through the room and knocks the wind out of me. I hear footsteps running my way, which causes me to thrash harder.

“Shit!” I hear a masculine voice say before he shouts, “Diedre, get me some help here, quick.”

He runs to my side and places his hand at the side of my head but my wolf surfaces and growls, snapping at his hand. He quickly pulls it away and says to me, “I’m not trying to hurt you. I’m just going to help you get back up.”

My wolf settles down, as she can see he’s no threat, but quickly resurfaces when a woman and another man enter the room.

I feel the hand I’m laying on turn into a claw, digging into my thigh in the process. The metallic smell hits my nose, driving my wolf crazy.

“Please calm down,” the woman pleads with me. “You’re hurting yourself. Look,” she scoots down to sit beside me, “I’ll release you, but you have to know we won’t hurt you, so please, don’t hurt us.”

She looks to me for approval, her hands hovering over the first strap. I nod my head in consent and tell my wolf to rest. My eyes go back to their usual blue-gray color as opposed to the glowing blue of my wolf.

I watch as she undoes each strap, careful to not scare me with any sudden movements.

“We didn’t want to strap you in, you know,” she informs me, “but you kept trying to claw us while Dr. Harris tended to your wounds, even though you were unconscious. We did it for our safety and yours.”

She raises her head slightly to look at me to see whether I understood or not and I answer with another nod of my head.

Finally, she finishes the last one, and the man, who I assume is Dr. Harris, rushes to hold onto me before I roll face-first onto the floor. The other guy, the bigger of the two, moves to the right of the bed.

When it’s right-side up, they help me climb back onto the bed while the doc brings over his equipment. They check my bandages and are satisfied when they see no blood seeping through.

Little do they know, but my cuts are already healed. I no longer have the stone stopping my wolf from healing me and, in my pack, we heal faster than any other wolves.

Nurse Diedre, as she told me her name was, starts asking me questions. For each one I simply shook my head, not trying to relive the past two years. Finally, she asks something I can answer.

“Can you at least tell us your name?” she asks quietly.

“Ni—” I pause to clear my throat. “Nix,” I simply state.

She looks at me expectantly before scrunching her eyebrows together. “Just Nix?” she asks. I nod my head yes.

“Okay, Nix, I’m going to give you a mild sedative to help you sleep. Is that okay?” Images of the last time I was given a sedative flash before me and I can’t help the low growl that accompanies the change in eye color.

She immediately takes a step forward and places a hand on my arm reassuringly. “Okay, okay. No sedatives. Calm down.” She rubs her hand along my arm soothingly, and I feel myself relax.

“Good, but I need you to try to get some rest, okay? When you wake up again you’ll be taken to get a bath, some fresh clothing and a room. But for now, just rest.”

I nod my head slowly and she doesn’t even make it out of the room before my eyes start drooping.

***

Almost there. Just a little further.

I pump my legs to go faster but it’s almost impossible with all the marks on my body from two days ago. They really did a number on me.

I can hear the trickling of the water, too heavy to be a stream. Maybe some sort of river?

This is my seventh attempt at an escape.

When I tried the last time I heard the sounds of water but I didn’t make it before I was tackled to the ground. They really laid into me that time.

Immersed me in a tank filled with water and silver particles. My eyes and throat were pretty messed up for a while after that.

I squeak in excitement when I notice the river not too far ahead. The flow of water promises to wash away my scent from my captors.

I find another burst of adrenaline and ignore the cuts I receive from the branches slapping against my face. I make it to the water and start running across since it’s too shallow to attempt swimming.

I’m halfway across when my shoulder starts stinging, followed by my leg. I look down to see I’ve been shot. Again. My momentary distraction was enough for one of them to make it to my location.

A wolf latches his teeth onto my calf and starts dragging me back to land. Three more men await me, and I curse myself for stopping in the first place. I see the butt of the gun coming down onto my head, and then nothing.

Three of them. I awake to three of them taking turns defiling my body. When they notice I’m awake they handcuff me with silver handcuffs and continue their assault.

When they’re done, a needle with deep purple liquid is inserted into my neck and pain ripples through my body, finally, causing me to scream.

***

I bolt upright in bed, a scream bursting forth while I scratch and claw at my neck. I can still feel the burn of the aconite running through my veins. Wolfsbane, as it’s commonly known, is no joke.

While it isn’t deadly, it’s ten times worse than silver in the pain department.

Hearing my screams, nurse Diedre rushes into the room and tries to get me to calm down. I can feel the blood running down my neck from my claw marks, but I feel no pain.

When she fails to remove my hands, she decides to hold me in a tight embrace, her body shaking slightly as she sobs into my shoulder.

“What did they do to you? You poor, poor girl.”

She starts rocking me from side to side and hums quietly, waiting for me to calm down.

The sound of her voice takes me back to a different time when my mom sang me the same song after I’d had a nightmare. My screams die down to whimpers and she pulls away from me to inspect my neck and her eyes go wide.

“I need to get to the doctor. Will you be okay for a minute?” she asks, not taking her eyes off my neck.

When I nod in confirmation, she turns and heads out to get the doctor.

Dr. Harris walks cautiously over to me, a perplexed look on his face. He stops next to me and holds my chin, tilting my head to the side.

He motions to the nurse, and she hands him a stainless steel bowl with liquid in it and pieces of white cloth. I don’t get any sort of scent off of the bowl and its contents, so I allow him to continue.

Gently, he wipes the blood from my neck and makes a sharp inhale.

“May I?” He gestures to my hospital gown. I nod my head apprehensively.

He lifts my gown and goes to the wound on my stomach, removing the gauze and tape. Smooth skin is all that he sees. Well, mostly smooth. I have a lot of scars from my two years with the hecatolite.

“Amazing,” he says. “How did you heal this quickly? I mean, I know you’re a werewolf and we heal fast but this is beyond anything I’ve seen before. Even Alpha doesn’t heal this quickly.”

He starts mumbling to himself and taking notes in a notepad, completely distracted.

The door opens to reveal a tall man with broad shoulders and sandy blonde hair.

He clears his throat to gain their attention, then says, “Beta Ayn wanted to know if the young wolf is healthy enough to move now. He wants to speak with her.”

Diedre turns to me and notices my eyes go wide and steps in, “She can move around, yes, but I don’t think she’ll do much talking.”

He looks at me once more and a look of understanding crosses his face. “Understood. But I think he’d like to see her nonetheless.”

“I’ll accompany her, if that’s okay,” she says and he nods before exiting the room.

“Okay, hun. Let’s get you cleaned up so we can visit with Beta Ayn.”

She helps me stand and gives me a pair of scrubs to get into and points to a screen behind which I’m to change.

When I’m done I walk back over to her and she gives me a pair of slippers.

Dr. Harris is caught up in his notes but does request to see me for a follow-up the next day.

Diedre takes me through a long hallway until we come to some steps leading upward. At the top there’s a door and she opens it to reveal…nature.

We’re outside and I take in my surroundings. There are a few houses close by and in the distance I can see more of them. Large trees create the perfect amount of shade so I don’t have to squint.

Pups are running around, laughing and playing. Mothers sitting outside while they keep an eye on the youngsters.

I’m alarmed when I feel a wet trail run down my cheek and use my fingers to wipe them away, bringing it to my eyes for inspection. I lift my head to the sky, but it’s a clear sunny day. Not a rain cloud in sight.

I feel more liquid going down my cheek before I realize that I’m crying. I don’t cry. Not anymore. I don’t feel.

Quickly I look inside myself and close that door completely. Wiping away the traitorous marks, I continue behind Diedre until she stops in front of a massive building.

House is too tame a word. This thing is ginormous. It puts my old pack house to shame, that’s for sure. To our right is a lake, the setting sun reflecting on the water’s surface.

Diedre walks up to the door where a guard stands duty. She says something to him, and he looks at me before stepping aside and opening the door for us.

Inside is even nicer than the outside. Wooden floors greet us, shiny and polished to perfection. Before I can soak up all the little details, Diedre takes my hand and leads me down a corridor.

We walk for a while before stopping in front of a double oak door. She knocks twice and it’s opened by the same tall man from earlier.

He ushers us in and directs us to a large oval table that currently has one person occupying it.

“Beta Ayn. As you requested.” He says before heading back to his post at the door.

Beta Ayn lifts his head, and a small smile graces his lips. “Please, have a seat.”

Diedre and I both sit down and face the Beta before us. He looks to be about twenty-three, no older than twenty-five. Gentle blue eyes stare back at me.

“I’m Beta Ayn, as you’ve probably figured out. I hear that you don’t speak? Is it by choice or have you always been unable to?” he asks.

Diedre speaks on my behalf. “I believe it’s by choice, since I was able to learn her name, but that’s all she’s said to me.”

He nods and leans back in his chair, “Good, and what might I ask is her name?” He addresses Diedre and I’m glad that he does. “Nix.” she replies. Clearly he’s waiting for more but she continues, “That’s it. Just Nix.”

“Okay, Nix. I have arranged for you to stay in one of the rooms here while Alpha is away. He should be back by tomorrow, along with his parents and sister.

“Don’t worry, Alpha is the only one who lives here, his family is just visiting for a few weeks. I took the liberty of sending for some clothing items for you, I hope they are to your liking.

“Dinner at the pack kitchen is served at seven, or I can have someone come over and fix you something in the kitchen here, if that will make you more comfortable.

“We just want you to rest. I would eventually like to be able to have some questions answered though. Do you think that’s possible?”

I nod yes. Of course, I’ll answer their questions eventually. They saved my life. They’re giving me a place to sleep for a few days.

He lifts his head toward the guard who in turn opens the door and ushers in a young girl.

“This is Grace. She’ll take you to your room and show you where everything is.”

I wave goodbye to Diedre and follow Grace outside. Once out the door, she takes a right until we meet some stairs. She doesn’t attempt to make conversation and I can tell why. She’s afraid.

I can smell her fear. No doubt everyone has heard about my violent tendencies, I’ll just have to remember to isolate myself.

We stop at a door, and she turns to face me. “This is the room you’ll be staying in. It’s pretty close to Alpha’s room so they might switch you to another on the other side of the house. He kind of likes his privacy.”

I say nothing, so she opens the door to the room and I follow her inside. She hurriedly opens the closet to show me where the clothes are and points to the bathroom door before quickly exiting the room.

Releasing a huge sigh, I strip down and head into the bathroom for a much-needed soak.

One hour, a bath and a shower later, I feel like an actual person once more. Grabbing a towel from a nearby shelf, I walk over to the mirror hanging above the sink.

I look like shit.

My hair, now waist length, falls about my body in a tangled wet mess. My once luxurious tresses are now limp and in serious need of care. Bags have gathered under my eyes, which are vacant and lackluster.

Releasing the towel so that it falls to the floor, I finally force myself to look at the damage done to my body. A choked sob manages to escape before I can stop it.

Scars mar my chest, arms, and legs, jagged lines in no particular direction or fashion. They weren’t trying to create art after all, only pain. Turning away from the mirror, I look over my shoulder to observe my back.

It’s worse. It’s almost like I don’t even have a back anymore. What was once smooth and soft is now coarse and, let’s face it, it looks hideous.

Storming out of the room, I go in search of something to wear, but stop short when I actually take a look at the room, or more specifically, the bed.

It looks like it belongs in the sky, surrounded by blue. Covered in thick charcoal gray fabric, the bed is a pillow haven.

Temporarily forgetting my search for clothing, I take a seat on the mattress, carefully sliding down until my head touches one of the dozen pillows.

I’m not sure how and I’m not sure when, but at some point I’ve fallen asleep, because the next thing I know, I hear voices right before the door flies open.