Lunar Temptations

Ch 14

"Dammit, just stay with me." A faint voice tore through the darkness, and for a second, I thought it was another flashback. My eyelids grew heavier as I struggled to open my eyes. My senses had barely returned, and the only sensation coursing through my body was pain. My neck was pulsing with agonizing pain, and slowly it was becoming unbearable.

"We have to get the pack's doctor!" Another voice followed, but that was all I could make out before darkness began to envelop me once again, and the pain faded along with it.

"Raya... Ray..."

With that, my senses gave in, and I lost consciousness once again.

As a drowning person dragged out of the water, I felt myself resurfacing when indistinct chatter reached my ears. This time, it wasn't a single voice but many more that followed as I slowly regained my senses. My eyelids felt lighter than before, and the stinging pain in my neck had decreased.

I opened my eyes, only to close them again as the sudden exposure to light stung my eyes. After waiting for a while, I tried to open my eyes again, only to find several others observing me closely. Their gazes held onto me hopefully, as if at any moment my eyes would close again. The moment they realized that I was okay and completely conscious now, Mom threw herself on me carefully.

"Thank the Moon Goddess, you're awake!" Her sniffling followed her words, and I couldn't help but feel a small smile spread on my face. "How do you feel? Can you speak?" She asked, eyeing the huge bandage on my neck, which only came to my knowledge then. The events of last night resurfaced in my head, and for a moment, a feeling of horror took over. My hands began shaking as I dragged them over the white piece of cloth covering the majority of my neck.

The wound was big and hurt the moment my hand made contact. The memory of fangs burying into my flesh, cutting through it as blood gushed out, made me nauseated.

"Give her a moment, Mom. I'm sure she will be fine," Esme interrupted Mom as she opened her mouth to speak again. She paused and then looked away to wipe a few tears that escaped her eyes. "I'll call the doc." Winnie's voice came from somewhere, and I was too traumatized to look around for her.

Moments later, a woman came in whom I presumed to be the doctor, and everybody else left the room. After she did a thorough check-up on me and made me speak a few words, I was at least content to know that Mom's suspicion wasn't right and I could speak just fine. However, she completed the checkup and injected some painkillers.

"Your wound was deep, but thankfully you were found before it was too late. Judging by the speed of your recovery, it will take around a week for it to completely heal. The bruises on your body are severe; therefore, I am prescribing this ointment," she said, writing down something on a piece of paper. Of course, the bruises were from being thrown around by my attackers. No wonder my body felt so weak as if my legs would give in if I tried to stand up.

"I'll have this sent to Alpha Zayden," she said, getting up and folding the paper.

My brows furrowed in confusion. What? Zayden was here? Wasn't he away for work and probably in his pack for now? And more importantly, why was she sending this to him?

It was then that I looked around carefully, despite the pain in my neck. The room had white curtains, and the interior was modern and grey, very unlike my home, which had an antique touch to it.

"Where am I?" I asked, immediately panicking. "You are in the Night Walkers' territory, and this is Alpha Zayden's house," she said calmly.

My breath was knocked out of my lungs as if I wasn't already injured enough. How did I end up here? Specifically, in Zayden's house? No wonder I didn't recognize her; I knew all of our pack doctors, and she wasn't one of them.

"Thanks, doc. I'll take it from here," a voice came from behind, and my eyes followed to find Esme standing in the doorway, nodding at the doctor. She bowed her head lightly and left. I raised a questioning brow at Esme, silently urging her to continue because the last thing I remembered was not being in this house. So how did I end up here? To be honest, I couldn't properly recall anything after that grey wolf had bitten me. The pain had overtaken my senses, and I had lost hope until him.

I remember thinking of him — my unwanted mate.

Flashbacks ran raw in my head as I gulped. His voice rang in my head like a beacon in the darkness, making sure I couldn't give up.

"What happened, Raya?" Her voice was low, and her head dipped low as she asked me. The last time I interacted with her properly was on the engagement night, and she wasn't happy with me. She wanted me to call it off, but I understood her behaviour. I would have felt the same way if I were in her place, with no idea of what responsibilities being an heiress brought and only concern for her older sister's submissive nature.

"You scared the s**t out of us, damn it," she said, running a frustrated hand through her strawberry blonde hair. "I don't know how it happened," I replied as tears began to fill my eyes. "They came out of nowhere. I couldn't fight them." With that, a strangled sob escaped my throat. Esme immediately wrapped me in a hug and held me until my cries had died down.

"I'm sorry for earlier," she said as we pulled away. "I get what you're thinking, but our pack needs an Alpha too — one like him," I admitted the last part, thinking of all the praises I had heard about him as an Alpha. A small smile spread across her lips as she nodded slowly.

"You need him too." Her words caught me off guard.

Why would Esme admit to something like this when not so long ago, she was against him and my decision to be with him?

"I don't—" I began to speak, but she cut me off.

"He is the one who found you in the woods." Her words were unbelievable.