Undefined

Chapter One

I felt warm… I could feel soft sheets softly wrapped around me, I was somewhere…. Alive. I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling of the room, last night's events evaded my thoughts and brought the overwhelming sadness back. Tears finally made their way to the surface; I let out a silent sob of grief, but the pain in my side took over from the sadness. I felt my side to find that the metal shrapnel from the car that was launched into my side the night before was no longer there, and in place of it was gauze and bandages to keep the wound hidden from sight. I sigh and looked back to the ceiling, then looked around and took the room in. At first I thought I was in the hospital but then realized that the room had too much decoration and not enough machines to possibly be a hospital room. I try to at least sit up; but it was pointless, the pain in my side was just too much for me to take at the moment.  

I layed in bed and wondered who’s house I was sleeping in, I didn’t know anyone who lives in Washington let alone if my parents knew anyone. My parents… I shook my head and brought myself back to the present. If there was one thing that they taught me in my years of training with them, it was to not dwell on the past because it was set-in-stone, or else it might affect your future. Visions of my parents and I training in our spacious yard back in Nevada surfaced my thoughts, I let them invade just this once; only to feel close to them this last time. It was them who were werewolves of The Steelfur pack , the second most feared Pack known to the other wolf clans, known for our pelts which are as strong as steel as well as our claws and teeth. Which makes it extremely difficult to kill our pack, but there was one other pack that was more feared than our own, The Crimsonridge nightwalkers. They are the most brutal and feared pack of all, they attacked other packs in the middle of the night with their ungodly speed and strength. And all they left behind was the stench of death and the well known color of the crimson blood of the executed pack.

Blood… the word made the monster in me hunger for the taste, I haven’t had this feeling in a long time. And it scared me. The last time I had this powerful of a craving was back when I was a child, when I was a child I always had a craving for blood. My parents told me that it was normal but when i would drink the blood from the fresh kill in my wolf form with the rest of the pack i noticed that they would just stare at me. As if it was unnatural for a wolf to do so. But I long since knew that I wasn't a normal wolf…. I snapped back to reality and realized that there was a new presence in the room, I instinctively looked to the left of me to find a woman; who probably stands a inch taller than myself, watering a plant in the window sill with a plate of food in hand. I stared at her beautiful stature, amber hair that fell past her shoulders and rested effortlessly on her back, she was thin but strongly built, she had pale skin with freckles across the bridge of her nose and her cheeks. And in the sunlight you could have sworn her skin glowed or even dare say sparkled.

She then looked over at me, I jumped a little and looked down with a hint of embarrassment spreading across my cheeks. “Are you hungry?” the plate of food came into my view, I nod softly. The plate of food is then gently placed into my lap, I could feel the movement of a chair being pulled next to the bed and the woman taking her place in the chair. I nod to her in gratitude, she nods back making it clear what I meant. I eat the food cautiously, it doesn't taste like it was poisoned. A small laugh escaped the woman’s lips “My dear, if my goal was to kill you well… we would have left you out on the street with that giant piece of metal in your abdomen.” I froze at the thought, I mean…. She wasn’t wrong. I paused then looked at her “How did you?....” she shrugged “A special gift I have I guess…..”

 I looked around the room again to look for clues as to what kind of room, or well… house I was in, I then spot the plant she was watering before she caught me staring at her. It was a clover, but not just any cover… it’s a crimson clover, this particular clover only grows in one place….. The Crimsonridge Nightwalker’s territory, the territory that we were supposed to avoid at all costs. The most dangerous territory of the entire U.S. I freeze again at the realization, the woman takes notice “So you figured out where you’re at.... But please don’t be afraid…” her voice sounds soothing, but I felt at unease at the comforting tone in her voice. She looks at me with a hurt expression, then sighs and adds “But I guess it can’t be helped at times like this.” I look back at the food that she has provided and finish it off, I hold the empty plate out to her “Thank you for the food….. And for your kindness…” 

She looks back at me with a hint of surprise behind the glint of hope behind her eyes. She gently takes the plate out of my weak hands and nods “You’re welcome…” I look around the room once more “So…. Am I in trouble then?....” she shoots me a confused look “why on earth would you be in trouble?”

“I’m a rogue wolf on enemy territory….”

“As far as we’re concerned you are an unlucky girl who was caught in an awful accident…” 

I nod, understanding the situation. The woman then adds “But our alpha doesn't know that you’re here at the moment…” I look over at her, how does the alpha not know that I'm not here? “Why not?” she then looks down and answers “We weren't even sure if you were gonna make it… we only know how to treat normal wolves, not- “

“I AM A NORMAL WOLF.” I say in a low but warnful growl. She nods “My apologies, but we really tried our best… and it was best not to mention to Alpha because he’s away from our pack at the moment…” I nod, I remember when my father had to leave with our Alpha every once in a while for business trips and such. “When can I leave?...” she sighs “A week?... Two weeks tops…” I shake my head “That’s too long of a stay… I will leave in two days-” 

“No.”

 I look up to find that the woman was giving me a stern look, one that reminded me of my mothers when I pleaded for a second cookie after her saying no for the past five minutes. Stupid feelings. She then adds “It’s my job to make sure you’re healthy enough to leave.” I nod again, even though I wasn't in a hospital I sure did get the hospital medical treatment. “Well as long as I’m staying here I might as well know the name of the person taking care of me, that way I'm not always calling you miss or ma’am” the woman smiles, letting another laugh escape her lips, “Amber, Amber Crimsonridge”

My heart dropped, I felt my face go white. Amber quickly added “But I live far away from the rest of the pack, including the alpha.” I let out a sigh of relief, it seemed that she relaxed as well. After that we talked for what seemed for hours, she was sweet and kind. Far from what the stories said that the people from The Crimsonridge Nightstalker pack were like. We talked about how my childhood was different because my parents weren't actually my parents, how I was found as a pup on the clans border, how my parents adopted me and raised me from there. I then learned in turn that she was the packs healer (or doctor) and that she was given the position by her parents, her older brother Josh was being groomed to become the next Alpha for The Crimsonridge Nightstalker pack. Her younger brother Andrew was Josh’s Beta and Andrew's twin Brayden is Josh’s Gama.

 Every time Josh’s name was brought up in the conversation I felt my heart leap. “What the hell is wrong with me?”  I pushed the thought out of my head, thinking nothing of it. I must have not been listening when I finally was brought back to the conversation by amber saying something about a mate. “Can you say that one more time? I wasn’t paying attention.” 

“Are you feeling okay? That can be a symptom of a minor concussion.”

“Yeah I'm completely and totally fine.” I smile to reassure her, I then add “Go on, what was the question?” she then continues from where I spaced out from “As I was saying, i'm fascinated with the idea of having our inner wolf having this guiding system to find our mate! And I was wondering if you possibly found yours yet.”