So Yesterday

Lya

The swarm of visitors was a little overwhelming, even if it stemmed from good intentions. I wondered if my room had been a revolving door of people when I was asleep also. I looked over to the man in the chair by the bed. Mountain man was an accurate description for the pack alpha. Even down to the flannel shirt with rolled up sleeves, Oliver was a lumbersexual’s wet dream. He had messy jet black hair that curled at the ends, and a beard that looked like it had been forgotten about for at least a few days. His dark chocolate eyes never left me.

'We should keep this one around,' the voice purred. I scoffed at her comment.

“Is there anything I can do to make staying here a bit more comfortable?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Unless there’s a way to blow this popsicle stand before Thursday or Friday,” I said.

“What, don't you like hospitals?” he smirked.

“Who does?” I snorted.

“You know, a good way to avoid them is to not get shot.” He gave me a pointed look, but the smile still lingered on his face. His entire face lit up when he smiled. I wondered if all his emotions were just as expressive. It would make him easy to read.

The thing hummed in my head. 'He smells nice,' she said.

I furrowed my eyebrows. All I smelled was antiseptic.

He noticed my change in expression quickly. “Too soon?” he asked. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be harsh.”

“No, you’re fine.” I tapped my head. “Just a bit of an annoyance trying to pull me into a sidebar.”

Oliver leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “So what does your wolf want to talk about?”

I barked out a laugh. “We don’t talk. She harasses me and I ignore her.”

He studied my face, like he was trying to commit every detail to memory. “Why?” he asked.

I shrugged. “It’s just what works.”

He nodded. “My wolf can get annoying, too. He’s quite the talker. His name is Adair.”

I cocked my head. “They have names?” I asked.

“Of course,” he said. “All you have to do is ask.”

I turned my gaze to the wall, thinking on his statement. Did I even care what her name was?

Trevor waltzed back in the room. “Hungry?” he asked. The smell of food made my mouth water. I hadn’t eaten anything since the little bit he had forced into me before leaving yesterday morning. I’d eat anything at this point, even hospital food.

I struggled a bit, wiggling to sit up, but that just caused me to wince in pain. Mountain Man Alpha stood up, reaching across me to adjust the bed’s positioning with the buttons on the side. I actually managed to catch a whiff of him, and for once I had to agree with the wolf, he chose a great cologne. His hand brushed against my arm, catching me with a zap of static electricity. I flinched a bit.

The plate in front of me was piled high with… nachos. Not at all what I expected for hospital food. I raised my eyebrow.

“We don’t have many overnight guests here, so it’s easy to cook meals to specifications,” Oliver supplied.

Trevor shrugged. “It’s finger food, and you can only use half your hands.”

I smiled. I wondered if this place would always be so accommodating and friendly, or if that would wear off the longer I was here.

“I would think with how many people live here, you’d at least have a handful around at a time,” I said.

Oliver reached over to snag a chip off Trevor’s plate. “Not really,” he said. “Werewolves heal quickly, so it’s usually just in and out, recover at home. The most typical stuff we deal with is injuries from training, and that’s just set a bone and good as new in a few days, or sew them up and back to the training field.”

I got a bit excited about that. “Does that mean I can get out of here sooner?” I asked.

Trevor and Oliver glanced at each other. I couldn’t really distinguish what that look meant.

Trevor finally spoke up. “You aren’t a usual case, Lya.”

“Why?” I asked. “You told me yesterday that I was a werewolf so why wouldn’t I have werewolf healing?”

He stared at his plate, munching on nachos. I looked around to Oliver, certain my feelings of confusion were covering my face.

Oliver cleared his throat. “The stronger your relationship with your wolf, the stronger your abilities are.”

He didn’t clarify any further. I didn’t need it.

“Oh.”

I turned back to pick at my nachos. Oliver swiped another nacho from Trevor’s plate. He batted the alpha’s hand away.

“Hey!” he laughed. “Steal hers, she’s smaller!”

I giggled at their banter. For the two years now that I had known Trevor, he had never met a stranger. I imagined it would be the same way here.

They chatted back and forth for a bit while I sat in silence observing. Once the plates were empty, they stood up to leave.

Oliver looked down at me. “I’ll see you soon, Lya,” he said, a soft smile flitting across his face.

Finally alone in my room, all the exhaustion of just being awake for a couple hours hit. Maybe it was just all the people I had seen. Over the years, I had kind of programmed myself to be an introvert.

I reached around in my head to see if I could sense her - the wolf. Without any silver, she was impossible to truly block. Feeling her easily, I reached out.

'Alright, do your thing, heal us,' I instructed.

She laughed at me. 'No can do. You heard the guy.'

'Well what do I have to do for you to be able to heal us?' I asked.

'Rewind the clock and not banish me with silver for an entire decade.'

Sometimes I wondered if I got my sarcasm from her, or if she got it from me.

'So we are basically just human now?' For some reason, that made my stomach turn. So much of my identity was based on being different and unacceptable. I had spent so long just wanting to be human again and denying what I already knew without anyone telling me - that I was a werewolf - but at the same time, the werewolf thing had come to define so much of who I was, even if it wasn’t in a positive way.

'More like two separate entities fighting for control of the same body,' she said. 'But it doesn’t have to be this way.'

I thought of all the times I had teased Trevor for zoning out. Catching Oliver doing it as well and getting his explanation, it made sense. These people could talk seamlessly with their wolves. I wondered if they had control of when they shifted as well.

I felt sleep taking hold. The last thing on my mind was that maybe Trevor was right. Maybe this was a place I could be happy. Maybe this was a place I could be accepted.