Saving my abused mate

3. A misunderstanding

Cara - 6 years ago

It was the growling that woke me up, but I wasn't sure what was going on.  I only knew that everything hurt, and then the coppery smell brought the memories back.  My parents were dead.  Someone grabbed me and tried to drag me away from my mom, so I fought back, not that I had much strength to do it, but I wasn't going to go without a fight.

"What happened here?" a voice asked, one I knew.  It was mom's brother, the Alpha.  "What the hell happened?"

His question demanded an answer, but it was one I couldn't give.  Not only was I too weak to shift and talk, but any attempt to even whine was met with a rush of blood that made me choke. 

"She has blood on her mouth," someone said.  "Is it possible she did this?"  

Who was he talking about?

"I always knew that taking that girl was a mistake.  I always knew she was going to be my sister's end, but never imagined it would be like this," there was no mistaking the anger and dislike in the Alpha's voice.

"You have to be kidding, right?  There's no way a pup like her did all this damage.  It's most likely a rogue attacked and left her for dead," another voice suggested. 

"Do you see any signs of someone else in here?" the Alpha asked.  "No, that girl went crazy and turned on my sister and her mate.  She is from tainted blood, and she is finally showing her true colors.  It would be best to leave her here for the beasts, they can take care of her, she is almost dead anyway."

"Do you really think your sister would have liked that?  If not for the girl, do it for your sister.  Let's take her back to the Pack, once she gets better she can tell us what happened."

"Do you expect her to just confess to what she did?"

"You can use your Alpha powers to make her confess if you think that's necessary, but she is only a girl, you can't let her die."

I started choking again, and soon darkness descended over me.

When I woke up again, it was because of a beeping sound.  I tried to open my eyes, but it was too hard.  I stayed still, trying to figure out what was going on.  Everything hurt, but I knew I was in my human form, when had that happened?  I was lying on something soft, and I was in a bright room.  I don't know how long I stayed there until someone came to check on me.

"How are you feeling?" the nurse asked when she noticed I was awake.  I tried to answer, and say everything hurt, but I couldn't talk, I only produced a weird sound instead of words.  "Let's give you some water, and try not to force your throat.  There was a lot of damage, something that would take several shifts to fix, but you were too weak to do that.  The Alpha forced the shift back to human, and we did our best to help with your injuries, but right now we are trying to stabilize you and build your strength so you can try shifting again, see if that helps with some of the mayor injuries."

I nodded, because there wasn't much more I could do.  There were so many questions I wanted to ask, but I couldn't communicate.  I tried to ask for paper, but my arms felt heavy and I couldn't even mimic writing to convey my wishes.  I started feeling sleepy after she left, and soon I was back asleep.  I had no idea how long it took me to wake again, but my body was feeling just as hurt when I opened my eyes again.  But peace didn't last, soon after I woke up the Alphas of the Pack entered the room, followed by the nurse and an older woman I guessed was the doctor.

"She sustained a lot of damage, I'm not sure she is up for interrogation," the older woman was saying.

"We need to know if we are wasting our resources in someone who doesn't deserve it," the Alpha said.  "I just want her to confess to what she did, and then we can kill her like she deserves."  His anger really scared me, I was sure he wasn't going to listen to a word I said, even if I could talk. 

"She is only a pup," his mate Savage said, and I hoped she would help diffuse the Alpha's anger.  He had never liked me, I wasn't sure why, but he was fast to blame me when something happened.  Mom was the one who usually spoke in my behalf, but she was gone, just thinking of that made me start crying.  "If she truly killed your sister, then death is the easy way out, she needs to pay for what she did, and that only happens if we keep her alive," the Alpha female smiled a terrifying smile that made me feel like there was no way out. 

"I find it hard to believe she could have done the kind of damage I saw on your sister's and her mate's bodies," the doctor said.

"She was the only one there, and there was blood on her muzzle," the Alpha said.  I knew he didn't like me, but how could he believe I would attack my own parents?  I tried to talk, but no words came out, just a whining sound.

"It looks like the damage to her throat was extensive, so right now, she is unable to talk," the nurse said.  "We did all we could do, but I think that she needs to shift a few times.  As you know, during the shifting process different parts of our bodies rearrange to allow the new form, and some injuries can be healed like that.  Right now our focus is to build up her strength so the shift can fix what we couldn't."

"No.  She will not shift again, she is crazy, and a danger to our pack," the Alpha said, then he looked at me.  "You will not shift, ever again!"

There was nothing I could say, but I felt the order fall upon me and set, like a weight.  No one could fight an alpha command, so if he ordered me not to shift, then I wouldn't be able to shift again.  I had lost my parents, and it felt like I was losing another part of me.  I cried harder, and tried to talk again, but only manage to make a sound similar to a moan.

"You killed my sister," he said, and I shook my head, negating his words.  "Your parents are dead because of you!" he said, and I couldn't deny that, they had died while protecting me.  "See?  See that guilt on her face?  She knows what she did," he pointed at me with crazy eyes, as if I had confessed to something vile. 

The adults started discussing, too fast and too loud for me to understand.  It looked like the Alpha was saying one thing, and the nurse and doctor another.  Savage was mostly silent, but she had a smile on her face that made me go cold, she could be vicious when she wanted, and if she decided that I was not hers to protect, then I was going to be hers to destroy.

"Enough!" the Alpha yelled.  "I will give her a few days to recover, and will try to ask again.  If she is unable to explain what happened, then I will assume she is guilty."

He left, his mate following and leaving me alone with the doctor and nurse.  They looked at me with pity, we all knew that the Alpha's anger was going to be hard to placate, and that most likely he would just keep thinking I was guilty.