Chapter 18

*Who needs the dark ambience of night when nightmares can collapse you in broad daylight?*
*- Kaulab Basu*

The biting cold air and frigid rain biting into her battered body roused Thalia briefly but she either didn't have the strength to open her eyes or they were too damaged to open to see what was around her. She could feel the rocks and grit biting into her skin though, rubbing into every cut and wound to fester.

At some point, as she was slipping in and out of consciousness, she became aware of a presence near her, something curious but unwelcome. When the curious presence became too much, Thalia found just enough energy to force out her aura like a burst of lightning to scare away the curiously little fox that had tried to see if Thalia was an easy meal.

That had taken every ounce of energy from Thalia and she sank into the darkness again.

The young she-wolf was pulled out of the comforting illusions when she felt a searing heat on her face. The intensity was like the sun kissing her skin in August when it was at its hottest. That's when the olives would begin to ripen and the air was perfumed with the scent of the fruit. Thalia found herself trying to hold onto the memory but was pulled away and brought back into the real world where her body screamed with pain and the cold air whipping around her felt like knives.

She realised then that she was being carried. Strong arms were wrapped under her knees and back as she pressed into the solid burning heat of her rescuer's chest. There was a brief moment of lucidity where Thalia thought she should be fighting to get free and yet another part of her, a bigger part was telling that she was safe and that she had nothing to fear from this person.

Then the darkness swallowed her up once more.

Time was nonexistent in the numbing darkness. It was safe there, far away from demons, rogues and pain. There was nothing to worry about either. No one was trying to harm her, no one was trying to use her as a walking incubator, no one was using her. But the soothing nothingness wouldn't last.

Heat began to bleed into that sweet emptiness like fire scorching the already dehydrated earth. Throbbing pain echoed in joints like the unwelcome booms of thunder off in the distance. Each sensation grew in intensity and frequency until it ripped Thalia from unconsciousness.

"She has a fever." An unfamiliar female voice growled. "We need to keep her warm and force it from her body."

"Well you're the healer here." Another unfamiliar voice replied harshly. "Fix her!"

"Keep your voice down, boy!" The woman snarled. "I'm not a magician! I can only do so much but she has to do the rest. Now pass me that mug. The tea will keep the pain at bay."

Thalia wanted to speak but her mouth felt like it was glued together. She could feel her hair plastered uncomfortably to her neck and forehead from the sweat oozing from each pore. Her limbs wouldn't co-operate with her leaving her defenceless to the hands that forced her to sit up and forced her to drink down the bitter and smoky tasting tea.

She plunged back into the nothingness shortly after that.

The scent of food wafted up to Thalia's nose rousing her from the comfortable and safe darkness. For a few blissful moments she thought she was home, lying on her bed while her mother cooked downstairs. On Sundays the Luna of the Aphrodite pack would get up early to start preparing dinner. It was the one day the whole pack came together as a community to feast on mountains of food and drink local wine. Earlier that week, the hunters would bring in the meat of choice whether it be lamb, wild pig, boar or goat. Agatha would then prepare it without any help. She used to say it was her way of showing the pack how honoured and humbled she was to be their Luna.

However the scent of grilled meat didn't smell like it normally would. There were no hints of lemon or thyme. No scent of burning wood and coals followed the smell of meat and vegetables. The air didn't smell of the sea or hot sand and earth.

Eventually reality started to slip into the safe confines of the darkness like dye bleeding onto a blank canvas. Thalia was warm but a weight rested over her body that hurt in so many different ways. The warmth wasn't that of a lazy Aegean summer either…

Opening her eyes as best as she could, Thalia tried to adjust to the darkness around her that came with it being evening, hoping to get her bearings. Where was she?

She remembered running. She had been in a car but someone hit them. She hadn't wanted to leave the others but something was telling her to run, to get away because she wasn’t safe there with the people who had taken her in. She remembered being chased, the feeling of the rough ground under feet, the sting of twigs and brambles scratching her skin, drawing blood. She remembered falling, the pain of hitting the cliff face. It had been dark then too which is why she hadn’t seen where the land simply just stopped and nothing but air filled the void.

Her hand instinctively went to her belly, her heart skipping a beat in panic as she thought of the life she had been harbouring in her womb. How could she be so reckless and stupid to put her child in danger! However, the moment her hand found the swell of her lower abdomen, her heart settled as relief washed through. She wasn't sure how she knew but her baby was okay.

Thalia realised the weight resting over her was in fact a duvet trapping her in a cocoon of warmth. She couldn't make out much through swollen eyes but what she could tell was she wasn't somewhere familiar. She didn’t know if Dante had caught up with her or if someone else had found her. Either way, she needed to tread carefully. There was no telling if she was in the company of friends or foes.

“I thought you might be awake.” A gravelly female voice came through the darkness, snapping Thalia from her thoughts. “Try not to move too much, you broke quite a few bones and they are far from healed.”

That accent. It reminded Thalia of Ms Thorton. She had never come across it before and now she had heard it from two different people.

“Where am I?” Thalia managed, her mouth felt like it was full of cotton wool and her tongue felt heavy. “Did Dante send you to check on me?”

“Dante?” The dark figure snorted moving to a dated table lamp and flicked the light on. The light was barely strong enough to fight against the darkness but it hurt Thalia’s eyes nonetheless. “I don’t know any Dante. Is he the one that put those babies in you?”

Babies? No, Thalia was only pregnant with one child and even then sure it was too early to really tell anything about the life growing inside of her. Maybe this old woman was mistaken. She wasn’t a wolf afterall, that much Thalia had gleaned from their short interaction. However, if Thalia's sense had been working properly she would have realised this woman was more than just an aging human with a cynical attitude. She would have been able to smell the magic radiating off this mystery woman in waves.

“You haven’t answered my question.” Thalia pushed.

“And you haven’t answered mine.” The old woman growled, blue eyes flashing with stubbornness. “Who was it that got you pregnant? Do they know you’re alive?”

Thalia frowned in annoyance. “What does it matter? As soon as I am feeling better, I’ll be out of your way.”

“Silly girl.” The old woman tutted. “There is no chance of that now.”

“What do you mean?” Thalia asked.

“She means that I won’t let you out of my sight.” A male voice cut in, making Thalia look up, eyes widening at the sight.

Leant against the door frame was the owner of the deep voice that curled around Thalia. Just looking into the grey eyes trained on her was enough to let Thalia know that this towering adonis of a male was her mate. She hadn’t caught his scent due to her broken nose much like she had failed to pick up the old woman’s true ilk. That didn’t matter right now though because Thalia couldn’t think or look at anyone else except this male with his chestnut hair that fell into his eyes. He had broad shoulders and the build of a tracker, neither too lean or too muscular. His arms were crossed over his chest showing off his forearms that were as thick as branches, stretching the faded black long sleeved tee like it was second skin ready to burst open at the wrong move.

“Gods,” The old woman snapped, nubly and gnarled hands resting on her wide hips as she looked crossly at the male who took up all of the space of the door. He seemed unfazed as his eyes bore into the goddess currently hidden under the layers of the blankets and pillows. “I told you to stay downstairs, boy!”

“You did, but when have I ever listened, Dagmar?” The man replied casually before directing his questions to the she-wolf. “How are you feeling?”

“More stupid questions.” Dagmar growled. “She just fell off a cliff and just worked out she’s got you as a fated mate. She probably feels like ---”

“Dagmer,” The male snarled, making Thalia flinch. “Get out.”

The old woman huffed. “Make sure she drinks the tea.”

The imposing wolf moved from the door to let the shorter old woman wobble out. Thalia wasn’t sure what to make of what she had just witnessed. The male in front of her was intimidating and huge, how the old woman wasn’t unnerved or terrified by him had Thalia’s mind blown. Thalia felt Maeve stirring, the wolf letting out soft growls of approval. She was both curious and excited to meet the one that the moon goddess had blessed her with. Admittedly Thalia always thought it would be someone from her own pack one closer to them that would be her fated mate but it appeared she was wrong.

“What’s your name?” The stranger asked when the silence seemed to have gone off for an eternity.

“Th-Thalia.” She answered, stumbling over the single word as so many sensations crashed over her like waves. She couldn’t think straight to begin with but the presence of this male wasn’t helping matters.

“Nice to meet you, Thalia. I’m William but most people call me Kade.” Silver eyes flashed like two pennies in the sunlight as a rakish half-smile that almost seemed demure and yet there was also something mischievous about it.

“Kade?” Thalia frowned in thought as she tested the feel of the name on her heavy tongue. Eventually she listed her coffee brown eyes to look at her mate. “Where am I?”

“A comfortable distance outside of Leeds.”

“Leeds?” Thalia questioned, looking utterly lost. “Where is that?”