Chapter 16

I wake up to a light and sharp beeping sound. A burning clean smell surrounds me, and I feel the presence of a few people around me. My body feels so heavy I could hardly move, and I feel someone holding my hand. I manage to open my eyes and I find I’m in the pack hospital. I’m hooked up to a few machines and I see my Mom, Celeste, and my mate in the room. Everyone is sitting around waiting for any signs of movement. Celeste is trying to comfort my worried sick mother and I see Silas is right next to me clenching onto my hand. He sees my eyes have opened and me smiles in relief.
“She’s awake.” He turns to my Mom, and she whips her head towards me. She gets up quickly and stands next to Silas. She is slightly crying in relief and strokes my cheek. “Oh, my baby. Are you ok?”
“I can barely move. I feel so soar.” I say weakly. “How long have I been here?” I ask.
“Just a couple hours. I got you here after you went unconscious. The doctor said you will be recovered in the morning.” Silas says and squeezes my hand.
“What happened to Aiden?” I ask worried.
“He’s fine, he’s safely asleep in his bed as we speak. We posted some warriors outside the door, so he won’t cause more trouble.” Mom says. I sit up and I slightly wince at the pain. My hand is in a cast, and I hardly feel it. Werewolves have miraculous healing abilities. A scratch can heal within an hour. However extensive damage obviously takes a bit longer. Shifting can actually make the process even faster. That’s if your strong enough to handle the pain of transformation.
“Can someone explain to me why he just attacked her without reason?” Silas asks. He squeezes my hand a bit more and I can see his jaw clenching. He probably wants to kill Aiden for hurting me.
“We are pretty sure he is under a witch’s curse or a vampires influence. We don’t know when this happened, but we are pretty sure it happened during the rogue attack.” Celeste explains.
“So, his actions are not his own?” He asks.
“Correct. He usually could never harm a fly. It’s surprising the lengths he went today to hurt his own twin.” Mom ponders. Whatever is warping his mind is causing overwhelming jealousy and anger. Also, since Lunar rogues killed our father, it makes sense that anger would be heightened towards Silas.
“Freya made room in her schedule; she is going to examine his condition in the morning. Speaking of which I’m going to see if I can find her.” Mom says and goes towards the door. Celeste decides to join knowing my mate and I probably need a moment alone. They both leave and shut the door behind them. I turn my eyes towards him and can see he is fighting off anger.
“Thank you.” I say with a slight smile. His demeanor softens and he smiles.
“Your my mate Athena. You think I wouldn’t be your knight in shining armor? Unless you send me away, I’ll be here for you” He chuckles.
“Still thank you. If he had the chance to continue, I don’t know what he would have done.” I shiver at the thought. If i was alone with him he could have possibly killed me. I’m also disappointed with myself that i didn’t do anything to defend myself. Just because i was afraid of hurting him I’m sitting here battered and bruised. I need to grow a backbone.
“It would be best if you kept your distance from him until at least the doctor can do something.” He says sternly.
“Yea that would be best. I hope Freya can do something for him. I want my twin back.” I say sadly.
“You’ll get him back. Something will be done.” He says confidently and chuckles a bit. "I’m not sure if this is the appropriate time but you were amazing in sparring. Majorly sexy." He grins. I try to laugh but it was weak. Well, I’m happy i impressed him.
"Maybe you should join us in training next time. Maybe you'll find me kicking your ass sexy." He laughs at my statement.
" Angel, it would be an honor for you to kick my ass." He gives me a genuine smile and gives me a small kiss on the forehead. Freya comes in with Mom and Celeste.
“How you doing, Athena. Where do you feel the most pain?” Freya asks as she lifts the gown to check the bruising.
“Mostly where your looking. Aiden kicked me a quite a few times and landed a brutal punch there. This side of my face is also quite sore, and I can’t really feel my hand.” She touches my abdomen slightly and I wince.
“You know this is healing way faster than expected. I might be able to let you out tonight.” She goes to her clip board and writes down a few notes. “When the wounds aren’t as painful, I prescribe shifting. During my examination I haven’t found any signs of internal damage but if there is any, your wolf should be able to heal it easily along with your shattered hand. I will also be examining Aiden in the morning to figure out exactly what is warping his mind.”
She continues a regular examination now that I’m awake. My hand is healing just fine, and all the bruising is fading. According to Freya, Aiden didn’t inflict damage that cannot be irreversible like a concussion. Even our healing abilities are limited when it comes to brain damage.
“Now get some rest sweetie. I’ll give you some more pain meds and I’ll bring your discharge papers later and you can head home.” She smiles and pats my hand. Takes out a syringe from a tray she brought in and pushes meds into the tubing that leads to my hand. Once she is done, I give her a weak smile in return, and she heads out of the room.
“Why don’t you guys head back I’ll stay here with my daughter.” Mom says and turns to Silas. “Thank you for protecting my daughter. You are starting to prove you aren’t who we thought you to be.” She gives him a slight smile and they both head out.
Mom gently sits on the bed next to me and stokes my head like when I was a little girl and hums a little tune she usually plays on the piano.
“Rest my girl. I’ll stay right here.” I lean into her and close my eyes. The meds kick in quickly and i start to feel lightheaded and sleepy. Moms soothing hums and comforting strokes made it quick to fall back asleep along with my current pain med high.

The evening couldn’t come fast enough. I really wanted to go home see for my own eyes that my brother is alright. Freya finally did her final examination and discharged me. Mom carefully helped me back to the pack house and when we entered, I found many uncertain eyes on me. Some looks even look disgusted. What did I do? Gamma made an appearance and she whispered urgently to us.
“Luna, we need to discuss a growing issue. Now.” She goes to my other side, and they help me up to my room. My bedroom door is opened, and I carefully sit on my bed.
“What is so urgent Chione? Did something happen while I was at the pack hospital?” Mom asks. Chione gives me a glance and looks at me with pity. She sighs and looks back at mom.
“Pack members have discovered that the Lunar Alpha is her mate. They were suspicious from today’s training when Silas protected her. Many came to me demanding to know if Athena is still in line to be Alpha even though she is mated to an alpha. They don’t want her as a leader if she is mated to a lunar wolf.” My pack doesn’t what me anymore? This is what i was afraid of.
“Yes, Athena will still have the right to become Alpha. Who her mate is doesn’t change a thing. Once Aiden is better, we may have to go with the Gemini ritual much sooner now. Before the pack loses all faith in her and us. We need to also keep these rumors to a minimum. Or we may have an uprising on our hands.” Mom declares and the Gamma nods in confirmation. I need to earn my packs trust back. I have no idea how I’m going to do that. Mom gives me a kiss on the head and they both leave the room. Leaving me with my thoughts that will most likely keep me up all night.