Do What You Must

Beta Artemis POV



The white lights above my head were blinding. I slowly opened my eyes and the sheer power of them nearly blinded me. I was slowly adjusting to it. The room was spacious, white, and smelled of cleaning chemicals. I must be in a hospital, I thought, trying to get my bearings, to orient myself and understand what was happening. Again, I struggled to open my eyes, but gradually things were falling into focus. I tried to get up, but noticed I was plugged into machines beeping. Turning to my right, I saw an unexpected person. Alpha King Jonathan. Technically, a former Alpha King. Yet, he was sitting in the chair next to my bed, looking intently at me.



“You woke up son!” his deep voice rumbled, and I could tell he was relieved. “You gave us quite a scare there, my young buck!”, he chuckled. I tried to speak, but words were not coming to me. “Nurse”, Alpha roared, and soon, a diminutive, yet strong-willed she-wolf appeared. Her expression was that of no-nonsense. “Alpha King”, she bowed. “Nurse Emily, fetch him some water, or some ice chips, something dear”, he mused, “my boy here is struggling to talk, and I for one am not leaving his side”, he said in a tone which left no room for argument. “Of course, Alpha King”, she bowed and scurried out.



He came closer and ruffled my hair, just as when I was a young kid, growing up with Roman. His eyes were firmly on me, kindness, and support shining through. “Roman was very scared for you – he is attending some pack business, but I will make sure he knows you are awake. I have been here since they brought you in. You almost did not make it” he said, a dark shadow falling on his face. “But, you are tough, my boy! They do not make them as you are anymore!!”, he bellowed, trying to cheer me up.



“You… you have”.. I tried to speak, but I simply croaked, my voice escaping me, my throat dry and in tremendous pain. “You think I’d let my son stay in hospital by himself??”, he asked, looking at me intently. “You may not be my blood Art, but I always thought of you as my own son”, he said, his eyes now watering. “I thought I lost you”, he spoke softly, tears glistening in his eyes.



I have known Alpha King Jonathan since birth. While he was a fair and just leader, I have not seen him display emotions often, if ever really. I tried to sit up, but the pain in my abdomen literally paralyzed me.“Easy there champ! A Lycan slashed through your stomach boy!”, he said, now with grave concern. Even your wolf has a difficult time healing you. This was highly irregular. While Lycan wounds were harder to overcome, I should have healed by now. “What….. what is”.. I tried to speak again. “Shhhsh.. Save your strength”, he said, his eyes those of a worried father. “it is not just a Lycan wound, son”, he continued. “It appears you were attacked by dark magic too; it is why you are not healing fast – none of you are”, he said with grave expression. My thoughts went to the battle, to Dragana, Lady Jasmine. It was all a blur. I tried to sense Dragana and I could not. Was she dead???!!



“Dragana???!!!” I croaked. Another shadow passed over his face. “We do not know, we do not know son, nobody knows, we cannot find her, she is nowhere to be found”, he said nervously brushing his hand through his hair, looking lost for a moment. “Jas..” I tried to speak again.. “Lady Jasmine is alive.. barely though – they are still fighting for her life”, he said. “She is not .”..

I saw him struggling for words, a lump forming in his throat.. “She is not present – it seems that she is in the veil in between”, he finally said with solemn expression. The images of what happened played in my head even though not much made sense. I mustered all the strength I could “She .. she.. saved my life”, I said, coughing up, barely holding myself together.



As we were speaking, I did not notice a willowy figure of a man, unlike the one I had ever seen appear on the doorstep. His white hair was almost on the ground. His blue eyes were piercing me, and his slender figure looked almost transparent. Moving as if he was flowing in clouds, he came closer to me without saying a word. Nodding his head to Alpha King Jonathan, he shimmered closer to me. “Beta Artemis, I am Ivan, first son of Samuel, keeper of the light of Slavic Coven” he said, bowing to me.



I nodded back, not understanding what was happening. “King Malakai sent over his best Lycan healers, including his allies from the Slavic witch coven. You were attacked by magic too, so they are here to help bring you back, to heal you”, Alpha King Jonathan stated, looking nervous in Ivan’s presence. “I am here to help”, Ivan said simply. He moved closer to me and touched my forehead. The gentle electricity of his touch somehow was humming within me, my eyelids falling, getting heavy. “You hold the key to what happened, we cannot get much information from Lady Jasmine”, his soft, yet commanding voice spoke. “We are trying to piece together as to what exactly happened to you, so we can best help you both, and try to find Dragana”, he said softly. “We need your memories, we need your help”, he explained. I simply nodded. “Do what you must”, I managed to say before the gold light enveloped me and I fell into the world in between.