Friday, October 18th Pt. 2
“She’s similar to me yet very different. She was orphaned at fifteen, ran from her alpha at sixteen. For three years she roamed as a rogue, bouncing in and out of a dozen packs gaining experience as a nurse. All of the packs she visited abused her but the four she stayed the longest at ended up being the cruelest. She was always extremely sick and injured by the time they let her leave.”
“Did she tell you why they treated her that way?”
“They found out she was an empath. Something about empaths being related to witches and it being too easy for them to defy the alpha. They automatically classified her as a feral and treated her as such.”
“I’m sorry, Cole. I know that’s rough to hear.”
“I complained recently about feeling like she was hiding her past from me. She explained that part of her past overlapped mine and she felt it better to talk in person about it. She couldn’t handle telling me then leaving me on my own to think about it. That it’s important that I understand that it wasn’t me that did it and she can only help me through finding out about it if she’s with me.”
“That makes a lot more sense to me considering your lack of memory.”
All I can bring myself to do is nod as I gently stir the soup in front of me. I look up and towards the door as a knock alerts everyone to someone coming in. I stand from my seat as the door opens slowly. It takes me a moment to find my feet, slowly making my way towards the door as they come in. Despite my wolf’s reassurance that we know Alpha Black and he’s not to be feared, I hesitate to meet this unknown alpha.
“Just a few more steps, Jessa. You’ll rest much more comfortably once you’re inside.”
He coaxes her gently. She grips his hand hard as she walks slowly inside. Her pain is obvious as she starts to hesitate to come farther inside the door.
“Good evening, Cole.” Alpha Black smiles but it appears as if he’s in pain as well. “Do you think you could help her to the bathroom? Her queasiness has come back and she would prefer not to make a mess.” I nod silently as I reach out towards my mate.
The bond is strong as my wolf prattles like a toddler in excitement. I feel ashamed that I don’t share in his happiness.
“Come to me.” I whisper as I attempt to guide her towards my room without touching her in a disrespectful way. She looks up from the ground for the first time, making eye contact. She smiles weakly but her eyes are filled with pain and fear.
“I’m not going to hurt you but my room is the closest bathroom.” She nods as she takes my hand, following me easily to the back of the house.
(Deven’s POV)
“Good evening Alpha Black.” I walk towards him as Cole takes Jessa to his room. “How was the trip?”
He sighs, running his hand through his hair. I can tell that even he isn’t well and yet, he’s hesitant to admit it.
“I’m glad we’re finally here.” He states as he walks towards the table.
“Are you hungry? We have plenty made.” Arianna invites him easily.
He shakes his head as he sits, his arm wrapped gingerly around his stomach.
“I’m sorry. For as long as I’ve had the symptoms I’ve yet to fully get used to them or understand how they’re activated.” He takes a moment to explain.
“The symptoms from what?” Cassius asks casually.
“I’m one of few intuitives registered with the council. When a wolf is in serious danger and within a certain distance of me I get stomach cramps, nausea and vomiting from it.”
I nod as I eat slowly.
“Have you had these symptoms before with Jessa?” I ask before taking my next bite.
“I’m not certain. She came to us in the beginning of September, the seventh I believe. I was extremely busy around that time so if I had mild symptoms, I may not have noticed. About two weeks after she arrived my son took my car for a drive. It was pouring down rain late at night and the main road leading into the territory has a tight curve. I swear I felt the moment he crashed into a tree.”
“He was that badly hurt?”
“He wasn’t the only one in the car. Damian’s fated beta, Parker, suffered life threatening injuries as the hit was off centered towards the passenger side of the car. Why Parker and Celine were willing to ride with him on such a night knowing he didn’t have his license I will never know. Neither of them have much memory of the incident but Damian was severely traumatized. He’s had hundreds of hours of therapy just to start riding as a passenger in the car.”
“Where does Jessa fit into this?” I ask as I’ve gotten lost. He smiles with a brief, breathy laugh.
“It’s actually part of the guilt I have now. As I started off, I was extremely busy when Jessa came from Purple Mountain. With her being a transfer instead of a sanctuary case, I neglected to make time for her. I knew that she was being mistreated by Alpha Draven but Angela never reported the full extent of the abuse. I guess she didn’t want to draw too much attention towards a very timid wolf when we got to her. She had been at my pack a few days shy of two weeks when my son crashed my car and needless to say, when he arrived at the wing, I was pissed.
He is extremely afraid of medical situations and with Parker needing to be stabilized at the wing ahead of his arrival at the hospital, Damian got a quick look over and released. Jessa attempted to inform me that he was more injured than he appeared but I didn’t realize who she was and I ignored her advice. It wasn’t until I did a stealth link with him that I discovered the level of guilt he had as well as the amount of pain he was in. I tried taking him to bed but an hour later I carried him back to the wing.
Jessa and Angela had just finished stabilizing Parker and sending him over to Crimson General when I brought him back. Jessa saved his life. She was able to detect a subtle misalignment of the broken bones in his wrist as well as head trauma that had been missed but it came at the cost of exposing that she was an empath. I had significant stomach cramps and nausea that started the moment he crashed into the tree. If there’s enough going on I can often ignore the symptoms until things calm down.
Once Damian was taken care of my stomach settled but only for a few minutes. It immediately started cramping after she set his wrist as she became terrified of me. She had gone against Luna Lilly’s command not to do anything with his wrist. Lilly doesn’t trust something like that to a nurse she’s never seen before.
After several minutes of talking I discovered that Jessa had a knife wound running the entire length of her forearm that she was trying to hide. It had not healed in the time since her arrival and her activity that night busted it open again.”
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