The Cursed Alpha and His Healer

Four. The Body

AERITH’S POV:

‘I just need to find closure. If my body could be found then I can cross over to the other side and be at peace.’ The spirit said to me and for the umpteenth time since she had began to haunt me I immediately regretted looking in the direction of the ghost while I had been on my way to the Alpha’s home earlier that evening.

That was the thing with ghosts that drove me absolutely crazy. It was like the moment they died, they forgot what it was like to live, they forgot the rules that guided the people on earth. They suddenly didn’t care that certain things could not work the way that they presented them to be.

I am a Gifted, and my abilities included, seeing, hearing and speaking to the dead. An ability that I have fought with my life to keep a secret from the moment I realized it for what it was, simply because there were no other Gifted I knew that had my kind of power and the Alpha of the Sinister Moon Pack didn’t take lightly to abilities or powers that weren’t directly beneficial to the pack.

I knew that I could be banned or killed if my abilities were ever discovered and I didn’t have a way to prove to the pack that it could help them; so it was a no brainer that I had to hide it.

Whenever I was alone though I could talk to the ghosts around that always thought it fit to bother me with helping them cross to the afterlife and whenever their requests weren’t too ridiculous I helped them.

Some ghosts stayed back to haunt the ones that they loved, while some had unfinished business on earth that prevented them from crossing over. Like this particular ghost that had been haunting me since the early evening.

The ghost claimed that she had died in the woods and so her body had not been given a proper burial and she absolutely refused to cross over if that were not done. What I found annoying was the fact that this ghost was not even willing to haunt her murderer or find the cause of her death, but was more interested in a glamorous burial ceremony. It just didn’t make any sense to me.

I had spent the better part of the evening trying to explain why her request was a big problem. I definitely couldn’t just walk up to the warriors to tell them that I discovered a body in the woods and I wanted the body to have a proper burial, it didn’t work that way, I would be taken to the dungeon before the words even completely left my mouth, but the ghost was insistent.

“I’m not saying I can’t do it, I’m just saying it is going to be difficult, plus..” I had begun to say but of course, the ghost had something better to say so I was rudely cut off.

‘Yes I know, I know what you’re going to say, but you could do it while you’re picking herbs in the early morning, like you always do. I’ve been haunting you for a while to know that you go to the woods every morning, you could act like you just stumbled on my body and scream for help. That way you don’t get in any trouble.’

I stopped to think through the ghost’s words, It made sense. No one would question me for going deep into the woods because it was a daily routine for myself and Elina. I usually went to pick plants and herbs to help with making potions and cures. And all I needed to do was just make sure a warrior was within reach, close enough to hear me shout.

I really hope the body of this ghost was not too deep into the woods to make it seem unnatural. Sighing heavily, I knew that I had no choice but to accept or else the ghost would keep haunting me until I performed an extortion, which usually made me very sick and it took a while for me to recover from it, so I usually tried my best to not do it.

“Fine, I’ve heard you. Now shut up and let me work.” I snapped at the ghost, already annoyed at the fact that I already had some extra work on my plate. I rolled my eyes when the ghost whooped and cheered loudly by my side.

‘Oh and by the way there’s someone outside your window.’ The ghost added and that stopped me in my tracks.

Elina had chosen a cottage far from other homes and almost on the outskirts of the pack for a reason. And one of the top reasons was to prevent people from snooping around the house.

We made concoctions that helped save lives and the last thing that we wanted was other people polluting the ingredients or people trying to steal because they refused to pay for their treatments. So no one was allowed into the house or around it.

A person snooping around the house could never have good intents anyway. Usually when pack members were sick, they sent for either Elina or myself, no one was allowed near the cottage. I closed my eyes and allowed myself focus on my surroundings.

A technique I mastered due to frequent meditations. It allowed for me to be able to pick up quiet sounds. The pack was mostly silent again, very different from the uproar that had taken place earlier in night and had filled the grounds with piercing screams and war cry. Just as I was about to open my eyes and dismiss the ghost I heard it, the ruffling under the window at the far right corner of the room.

Flipping my eyes open I moved in the direction of the window and stuck my head outside but there was no one there. The place look undisturbed and I blinked in disbelief, I was pretty sure that I heard a ruffling here. I looked around once more to be sure that the space really was empty before pulling the window close and rounding up the rest of my chores before retiring to bed.

***

The morning sun shone brightly through the window and almost blinded me even through my close lids. I had managed to fall asleep in the early hours of the morning after cleaning up the cottage and putting things in place.

Yawning wide, I sat up on the bed and stretched a little, basking in the morning sun as much as I could, before setting out to begin my daily routine.

Stepping into the bathroom, I let my clothes fall from my body, breathing easier once they were all off. Elina had taught me from a younger age to cover my body completely and I often had to wear layers of clothes or clothes much bigger than my frame to achieve that.

She had never specified on why I needed to do this but I did it anyway and now it was more out of habit than for her sake.

Pulling my scarf from my head, my silver hair fell free to my shoulders and I ran a finger through it to untangle the strands before getting into the shower.

I let my thoughts run through the previous night. I had been attending to the injured warriors when the message from the Alpha had come to me, the fear that overwhelmed my frame at the thought that the Alpha wanted me to attend to him shook me to the core.

On reaching his home, a tug had begun in my mind and it had stayed with me until the moment that I was completely out of his home. It struck me as the Alpha’s presence but deep within I could feel that there was more to it.

The rumors that surrounded the Alpha had been hard to believe once I met him last night. He was really handsome and attractive and a far cry from the monster that was constantly painted by many, but I knew that he couldn’t ever find out my true identity or that would simply be trouble.

Once I was done in the shower, I moved out of the bathroom, wearing the dress I had laid out before running my fingers through my hair in an attempt to comb it out. When my fingers moved freely through my hair and no tangles seemed to be within it, I tied my scarf tightly around it, tucking the material behind my ears before moving to the living area.

Picking up the bag that I usually took everywhere with me, I put in the book that I was currently reading before setting out of the house, making sure to lock the door behind me.

‘Took you long enough.’

I had been expecting the spirit to haunt the house through the night so I wasn’t surprised in the least as her voice greeted me the moment I stepped out.

‘Let’s hurry and go.’ She said once more, her impatience grating slightly on my nerves.

“That’s not how it works, I can’t just start going deep into the woods, there are warriors all around and a couple of them are sure to be keeping an eye out for me. I’ll start with picking the herbs that I need before I begin to move deeper into the woods.” I conclude.

Quickly I trotted through the neighborhood, aiming for the tree line that lead into the woods. Whispers went up as I passed through the people and their homes but it went straight over my head.

I was used to it, being called the weird one am being treated like the outcast, thanks to Elina, no one gave me a hard time or tried to harm me but the pointing, stares and whispers did as much damage as they could.

Finally making it to the first tree, I began to pick out the herbs that I needed carefully so as to avoid picking out the poisonous one that were disguised or hidden within.

I could see the ghost tremble in restlessness and impatience but I continued to take my time, moving from tree to tree gathering the necessary things. The smell of pine needles, dirt, moss and squirrels and deers filled my nose and I allowed the rustic mixture overwhelm my senses and soothe me, the woods was my happy place, it brought me comfort being amongst this and I basked in the feeling.

Every once in a while, I would spot a warrior on patrol but they let me go on, finally the ghost began pointing down to a fallen tree in the middle of a heavily overgrown shrub. I moved in the direction and the smell of decay almost made me gag.

Moving in the direction, careful of the overgrown shrubs I squat there and began digging around, the ghost had vanished and I knew that I had found her body. The more I searched the worse the stench got and it took me everything for me to not completely abort what I had started.

Just as I was about to give up I felt, the clothing material that seemed stuck to something hard. Pulling heavily, I tried to pull it out with all my might but only succeeded in pulling out what seemed to be an arm covered in dirt.

This was obviously not my first run with a dead body, as a gifted that had the ability to see ghosts, it was a pretty normal occurrence for me but it didn’t make the ordeal or the sight any better. I had long forgotten the plan, only solely focused on bringing out the dead body until I heard the voice.

“Hey! What are you doing there?” A warrior suddenly barked, halting my movements.

It was then I realized the situation that I was in. I was currently bent over a dead body.