Falling Rain

2

After a few hours we finally make it to the outskirts of the pack. We circle the area, surrounding it. 

Make camp for a few hours, we go in at first light

I climb up a tree and get comfortable, resting my eyes. 

Something feels off Striker tells me 

I know, I feel it too. Let’s keep our guard up.

    First light comes quickly, we gather around, slowly closing in. They have no one on guard, we close in on them. By the time they realize what is happening it’s too late. 

    The bloodshed would make any normal man sick, I have been seeing this since I was thirteen. Striker is enjoying himself, slashing throats left and right. I feel something pulling us towards an old building near the back of the territory. We walk over slowly, making sure to clear each room as we go. 

    We don’t know what is pulling us but we continue to follow it blindly. Down hallways, down a set of stairs and into the basement. We walk down a long corridor sniffing as we go. We get to the end of the hallway, There’s no one here. 

Look again, I tell Striker, There has to be someone here 

    We turn around and look closer at the wall, we push our nose on the wall, it clicks. A hidden door. It opens an inch, we paw at it to get inside. There’s a dingy looking hallway, it’s very narrow. I start walking down it, the light only from the corridor before the hidden door. I smell something, like cucumber and mint. It’s refreshing compared to every other smell from today. 

Mate! Striker yells at me. He pounces forward, stopping at a cell door. 

Mate! Mate!  

    We kick open the cell door, stepping inside. There’s a small form in the corner of the room, laying on the floor. I shift back to my human form and walk closer, a young woman lays in front of me, she is wearing a filthy tattered shirt that is oversized. Her hair is matted and she is all cut up. I can see dried blood all over her skin, she is unconscious. 

    If I didn’t hear her shallow breathing I would have thought she was dead. I step closer, her eyes snap open and she looks at me with the most fear I have ever seen in a person before. She shuffles closer to the corner of the cell, pressing her small body against the wall. She looks like a feral cat, trying to get away. She makes a hissing noise as her body touches the wall behind her.

“I’m not going to hurt you” I whisper to her

Striker growls in the back of my mind, 

Why is she scared of us?  He asks sadly. 

    I reach out to her, she swats at me, clawing my arm. I take a step back from her, not wanting to scare her anymore than I have already. I see she is chained, I quickly break them off her. 

“I’m not going to hurt you,” I repeat to her. I can’t clearly make out her face or any distinctive features. It's too dark. I sit down across from her, the floor is freezing cold. 

Mason? Where are you? Are you alright? Dad mindlinks me 

I’m fine. I found my mate…

That’s wonderful, bring her to me. I want to meet her! 

I can’t. She was in the basement, locked in a cell. She’s scared.. I need to try and gain her trust. Give me some time..

I’ll wait up here, we will make camp for the night.. I’ll make sure no one disturbs you. I’ll bring down some food for you both in a bit. 

Bring some clothing and a blanket or two if you can. 

You got it. 

I sit silently across from her, wanting to say something but not knowing what. 

“My name is Mason,” I tell her, but she doesn’t respond. 

Twenty minutes later my dad is at the cell door, he doesn’t speak out loud, trying not to scare her. 

Has she said anything yet? 

No, she won’t even look at me, she just stares at the wall. I tried to get close to her but she clawed me. She must be so scared. I’m not sure what to do. 

Well you can’t stay down here forever. Eventually you will have to bring her home… 

I know. I’ll figure out something. 

He places down the blankets and some food before heading back up to the camp. I quickly get dressed, picking up the food.

“I have a blanket for you and some food” I say as I push over the food to her. I get up extremely slowly and place the blanket over her, I can see her flinch as I lay it over her body. 

My heart feels so heavy, watching how scared she is. I just want to bring her into my arms. I inch closer to her, she doesn’t react. 

Is she asleep? Striker asks 

I don’t think so. 

“I know you're scared but I’m here to help you. I promise nobody is going to hurt you from now on”   

It’s been hours, first light is going to be upon us soon. I need to move things along. I get up and walk over to her, she is asleep. I gently pick her up. I feel tingles on my arms and across my chest where her body touches me. She wakes and tries to fight me but it doesn’t last very long, she is so weak she passes out after a few minutes of fighting. I carry her out of the building as gently as I can.

“This is her?” Dad asks once I make it outside, she has long unkempt brown hair. Her small body looks like a doll in my arms. 

“Yes, she needs a doctor” I say, looking at her now I can tell she is very sick. I don’t want to think about how long she’d been down there for. From the looks of her it had to have been months, if not longer. She is malnourished and fragile. I can feel some of her bones are not in place properly. My heart burns with rage for her. Who could do such a thing? I look at her face as the sun rises, she is beautiful, even in her sleep.  She has a scowl on her face, most likely from pain. 

I hand her to dad while I shift and he places her on my back and lays a blanket over her, tucking it under her arms so it doesn’t fly off as I run. 

I go at a slower pace so that she doesn't get tossed around too much. Nathan keeps pace beside me, watching over us. The journey home is long and tiring, but she doesn't wake at all. 

    Once we finally get home it’s evening already, I go straight to the pack doctor, Dr. Falls. I place the young woman on a bed in the hospital wing. 

“Who is she?” Dr. Falls asks when she enters the room.

“My mate” I say as I sit down beside her. “Please help her” 

    She nods and starts working on the woman, cutting away her clothing to examine her. I have to look away when I see the scars. Her body is covered with them, it’s like she was tossed into a blender. 

“Are you sure you want to be here?” Dr. Falls asks. I look from her to the woman and shake my head,  Striker whines in the back of my mind. He doesn't like seeing our Mate hurt anymore then I do.

“I’ll be right outside” I say as I give her one final look. 

“I’ll let you know as soon as I can how she is” 

    A few hours later I hear Dr. Falls calls me back in. I am relieved to see that she is covered up and lying peacefully in bed. 

“What’s the news?” I ask. 

“It’s not good, not good at all” She pulls me outside the room to speak. 

“She has so many broken bones, it would be easier to count the ones that aren’t broken. Her body and wolf are both too weak to heal at a normal speed. Her back is broken, she may never walk if her wolf cannot heal her. I did some other tests, she has not been sexually assaulted which is good but she has so many scars on her body that I worry about the emotional trauma it may have on her… if she wakes up” 

“If?” I repeat stupidly.

“Yes, she is in such bad shape I honestly don’t know if she will wake Mason… You may have found her but you also may have been too late, I’m so sorry...All you can really do is stay by her side and wait” 

“But when I found her.. she was moving and awake” 

“Adrenaline can make a person kick in their fight mode but it doesn’t last forever” 

“You should get some rest, come back in the morning” She pats me on the shoulder and goes back into the room.  

I follow behind her and sit down beside her, “I’m not leaving her alone.” I say sternly.

I don’t even know her name. 

Dr. Falls nods and walks out of the room. 

I try to get some sleep but I can’t, I can’t stop looking at her. I go over to the sink and grab a cloth, I wipe away the sweat from her face and neck. 

Alex and Troy, my two best friends stop by to see how I'm doing but I don't let them inside. I want to give her as much privacy as possible and not have everyone coming to take a look at her.

There is a knock on the door, I call out to see who it is. I see mom and dad come inside, mom gives me a hug before turning to her. 

“Oh May.. she is very pretty.. I hope she wakes… You only just found her.. she cannot leave you so soon.. If you’d like to go shower and get some food, I would be happy to watch over her for a bit?” She offers, I think about it for a moment before nodding. 

“That would be great thanks mom.. I’ll be back in an hour” I say. 

Dad walks out with me. I don’t know what to say, she’s right, I only just found her.

“She is strong, I can sense it, have hope. She will wake. Give her some time” He tells me

I shower quickly and then grab some food from the kitchens before making my way back to her hospital room.   

I sit with her for days, only leaving for an hour at a time to shower and eat. Mom watches over her when I cannot be there with her. 

“Please wake up.. please..” I say over and over. I hold her hand all day long, feeling the tingles shooting down my fingertips. 

Dad comes by once a day to check on any progress. Dr. Falls has been doing so many tests. 

“There’s been no change, I think it’s time to think about the possibility that she won’t wake up now” 

“What if he were to try and wake her with the sparks?” Mom asks 

“It’s unlikely Luna.. we are at the end” Dr. Falls says 

“Give us a moment,” Mom tells her. Dr. Falls nods and leaves us alone. 

“Try it Mason, you have nothing to lose. Just give it a try..”

 I walk over to her perfectly still body and lean over her. I grasp her hand in my own and entwine our fingers, 

“Kiss her,” Mom encourages.

    I swallow nervously, thinking back to the first time I got too close to her, she clawed at me. I still have the marks on my arm. I shake my head of the thought and lean in, our lips connecting. I feel the sparks erupt all over my body.   

    When I pull away I can hear the machines beeping faster around me. Her eyes flutter slightly, before opening. She looks around in fear, from me to mom then back to me. She tries to move away from me. Her movements are too sudden and she falls out of the bed, causing her to cry out in pain. I watch sadly as she crawls to the corner of the room using her arms. I desperately want to reach out and take her in my arms but I know it would be a mistake. She doesn't know me and doesn't trust me, I'd only scare her more.

“Turn the lights off quickly!” I shout, mom runs over and the room becomes dim. I slowly bend down, getting on my hands and knees and inch my way over to her. I get about three feet from her before she growls at me. I stop and raise my hands to her, she flinches and cowers. 

“I’m not going to hurt you. I’m Mason, remember me? I found you in a cell… I am not going to hurt you” I tell her. She stares at me, her eyes are wide and so fearful, there’s something else there too though. Recognition, she remembers me. 

    She nods once, letting me know she knows who I am. I try to get closer to her but she starts to growl at me again, “Okay, alright.. I’ll stay right here, is that okay?”

She stares. 

Mom moves behind me, scaring her, she thrashes at me, cutting my cheek with her nail. I pull back slightly. I try not to make any sudden movements. 

Mom, please leave me alone with her… I need to gain her trust, I mindlink 

Are you sure? 

She’s not going to hurt me, as long as she’s not scared she will be fine..

..Okay.. I’ll check in on you guys later

I refocus my attention on the young woman. 

“What’s your name?” I ask her as I cross my legs and sit in front of her again. 

 “Do you want to get back in the bed? I can help you if you let me” 

I don’t move towards her, I will let her come to me, I decide. 

    Night turns to morning and I wonder how she can sleep on the floor like that. Just from one night on the floor my back is killing me. I watch as her small chest rises and falls with each breath she takes. I crawl over to her and gently lift her into my arms, making sure not to wake her. I place her back into the bed and cover her up with the blanket. 

I sit back down in the chair beside her and crack my neck and back. 

Dr. Falls comes into the room, going to turn the lights on and I stop her. 

“She doesn't like the light” I say 

“Light sensitivity is a common side effect of those who have been imprisoned for long periods of time. We should let her adjust slowly, I’ll have a dim lamp brought in later” 

“Do you think in time her scars will heal? She has so many.. the ones on her wrists and ankles are so deep from the chains” 

“It depends, if her wolf gets strong enough she should start to heal…” 

“And if her wolf is not strong enough, then what happens?” I ask 

“She will most likely be in a wheelchair…” 

“I think she is stronger than you think..” I say thinking back to how she pulled herself to the corner of the room and curled into a ball. 

“We shall see...Do you think you can get her to eat something when she wakes?”