Chapter Seventeen: The truth

I don’t understand why last night he commanded that woman without a second thought and now he’s offering me to walk with him. I feel something is off but I push it down as I’d like to get out of this hospital and look around.

Alpha Lukas’ eyes suddenly go black as onyx. Much like what they did last night. A few moments later, his golden pools suddenly returned, and he sees me staring.

“Ah, that’s probably something I should explain before you freak out, like you did yesterday.” He chuckles. "That’s something us werewolves can do with other pack members. It’s called mind-linking.” He says, which confuses me even more so.

He realises, so he goes on to explain further. “It’s where I can telepathically speak to anyone of my pack members without having to be near them or face to face. My eyes will go black, as will any other of my pack members, whenever they are speaking telepathically.”

I nod in understanding. It’s sure as hell strange, but still convenient.

A few moments later, Doctor Lowe comes to the door with a small bag.

“Good morning Alpha.” She nods her head in respect, and then her eyes go to me.

“Her name is Aliana, Doctor Lowe.” He says to her.

“Right, hello Aliana. Here’s the clothes we found you in. Although, the top has been replaced as it was torn through.

I instantly placed my hands to my right side, where I know I was torn open by that beasts’ claws. How could I even forget about it? I still feel the bandages on my right side, but when I try to push in I feel no pain.

I look at the Doctor and Alpha Lukas completely clueless as to why it had gone. Surely they must have seen it if they had bandaged it.

They both give each other a look. They’re hiding something from me and I need to know what it is. Before I get a word in, Doctor Lowe passes my bag of clothes to the Alpha, nods her head, says goodbye, and then basically runs from sight.

I narrow my eyes at Alpha Lukas who holds his hands up. “I should have known you’d figure out sooner or later, I’m surprised you’ve not realised this far.” He sighs, and then hands me the bag of clothes, keeping a hold of my hand as he passed it to me, bringing me a nice feeling of warmth. He closes the door behind him and we stand there for a few moments before he sighs.

“I found you, on the edge of the river, barely holding onto life. I found you after smelling the sweetest scent to memory. You were covered in blood and I could see your side gushing.” He says whilst pointing to the side where I was clawed. “The first thing I did was pick you up and brought you here, to Doctor Lowe to start tending your wounds.” He grimaced, which I suspect was down to how he found me. “When she started taking your clothes off to see what she was working with, your body had already healed most of the wound. The Doctor only needed to stitch you a bit. You then slept for a day, and here we are. Even your throat looks less bruised and your head is already fully healed.”

I feel the top of my head and feel no pain, and my throat still feels too soft to touch but much better than last night. I healed that fast? The last time I got a wound was a long time ago, way before I met Elijah. But I can’t remember healing that quickly. It’s impossible.

Before I lose myself in my own thoughts, Alpha Lukas got my attention by waving a hand in my face. I looked up at him, slightly annoyed that he’s taken my train of thought away, but not before saying something that astounded me.

“I’m not sure how to tell you this, but I’ve no idea why you were on human territory in the first place. Aliana, you’re not a human….you’re one of us. A werewolf.”

My whole world drops. I’m a what? No, that can’t be right.

I jerk my hands away from him and he looks hurt from my actions, but at this moment, I’m angry at his statement. “How could you say that? You have lived on this side of the world, and I on the other, so far away. If there’s no other packs, then how did I get across there?” I say, starting feel my voice crack. A lot of it makes sense, a lot of it doesn’t. I felt drawn to here, and now that I’m here, I feel drawn to him. My mind goes to so many places, and finally a few questions answered, but a vast majority are not.

He sees me going through the thoughts in my head which were upsetting and he places his hands on my shoulders, which calms me slightly.

“There’s one thing that we have, that others do not.” He says rationally, with a small grin on his face. I look at him, about to interrogate him, when he answers with a follow up. “We have a wolf counterpart. It’s sort of like a second voice in your head, usually very similar to yourself, but they have their own awareness, feelings, and, well body so to say.”

I drop to the floor suddenly, my knees buckling in. It all starts to make sense. Athena. That’s my wolf. But she only came to me after the light hit me.

“When we turn eighteen, our wolves introduce themselves in our mind. They can flick back on our memories and emotions, among many other things. They usually have their own name. They’re a part of us, as much as we are a part of them…” He carries on but I stop listening as I tune him out as I’m trying to process all of this new information.

“Ali, most of what he has said just then makes sense. I know about as much as you do about our life, but me…I’m not something any normal human would have. The strange thing is though, is that you’re twenty-one years old, not eighteen”. Athena says in my head which is a very good point.

I look at Alpha Lukas and he places his hand on my cheek tenderly, swiping away a stray tear that has fallen on my face. His touch making my cheek feel hot. I hadn’t even realised I was crying. So many emotions going through me all at once is exhausting, but I have to understand what is happening to me, and why.

“How do you know I’m a werewolf?” I ask, unsure how he would know I am the same as him.

He takes my hand and pulls me towards the bed. I get slightly flustered and I feel the heat rise on my cheeks. I turn my face away from him when he sat to try and calm myself down. I’ve just found out that I may not be human and this guy is taking my mind away from these pressing thoughts.

Alpha Lukas looks at me and smiles. “One of the strongest senses a werewolf has is its sense of smell. We can identify what each species is when we’re close enough. Apart from your smell to me, I could tell you were a werewolf, which is the main reason why I took you back to the pack hospital.”

What did he mean about my smell to him? I disregard this for a moment though, as I need to know why Athena only came to me a few weeks ago.

“My…wolf. I didn’t know what was going on when she first started speaking to me, in my head. I reacted…badly. We’ve got on really well since…” I stop, hesitating. Should I be telling Alpha Lukas my age?

He notices I’m deep in thought and moves his hands to cover both of mine. “Take your time. Believe me when I say this, you can trust me.”

I give in and I give him the details from the night of the ceremony, from the point where I was hit with the light, out for a week, leaving the elven community and then finding my way here. Throughout the whole time I was speaking, the Alpha made many facial expressions, along with some growling, which was really strange for me.

“I’ve never heard of a wolf not meeting their human counterpart after they’ve turned eighteen before. But then from what you say, there was some sort of magic concealment? Then this light from an eclipse…This is possibly why you were on the other side of the world.” He stops. Then he looks at me. “I think you should meet our Elders.”

More Elders. I respect any of those wise enough to know a lot about their own race, among others, but after leaving the last set of Elders who had many warnings, I’d rather not rush into it right away, and I tell the Alpha this.

He nods his head, respecting my wishes. “I understand Aliana. I know this is all very new to you, but I hope you feel a sense of relief knowing what you are now. Hopefully I can convince you to stay.” He says sweetly. I’m unsure at first but I hear Athena beating in my head wanting me to say yes, but I just can’t bring myself to it…at least, not yet. I want to know more.

“Alpha Lukas….can we maybe talk some more, so I can know more about…us.” I say, feeling a bit strange using the word us to define my new found species.

He stands up and walks towards the door. He turns his head before opening. “Of course. I’ll allow you to change in peace, I’ll wait outside….and please, call me Lukas.”

He opens and closes the door, leaving me feeling half empty.