Althena

43. Recovery

I stretch and smile. That was the best sleep I've ever had.

Mike rubs his face. "Woman, it is 4 in the morning. Come here." He snuggles me back to sleep.

I wake up again at 6, and I am starving. I run for it.

Granny is in the kitchen. She has breakfast ready. "I knew you'd get up early."

"I don't remember going to bed."

"Healing is a unique magic. You can heal people with your own life force. Small injuries you can heal with no effects. Big injuries though, like a broken spine or a dying wolf, take a lot of life force. You used all of yours that you could spare, you then began taking the life force from the forest. The trees, the grass, the moss. Where the girl laid, is now a circle of death. As you took the life force of the forest, the circle kept getting bigger. You took what you needed to heal her. That is very advanced magic."

"How big of a circle?"

"Maybe half the size of this room. There is a lot of life in the forest. You didn't need all that much area. Then you went to sleep because your life force was low. A good 14-hour sleep fixed you. She got up on her own after you went to sleep. She's fine. That area of the forest will be fine in time."

"So, everything is ok?"

"Your mate was crazy. He thought you were hurt. He ran with you all the way here. It took hours to convince him you were only sleeping."

"I'll be fine, babygirl." He kisses my head. "I was scared. Everything is alright now."

Granny gives him a plate of food. Then she sits beside me. "I think I figured out the 2nd mate."

"Who?"

Mike rubs his face. "Woman, she has changed her mind every single time someone comes to check on you. She even tried to stab the beta with a knife."

She nods. "It could be him."

"He already has a mate. They have a child on the way."

"If she has multiple mates, so can he."

Mike rolls his eyes.

"Did you figure anything out with the colors?"

"Yes and no. Everyone's blood has markers in it. The test lines up the markers between 2 people. If enough of them connect, the test turns purple, and you are soulmates. Red, green, and blue seem to represent the number of connections that line up. Red is hardly any. Green is about 50%. Blue is 80%. Purple is 95%. I have no idea what orange is. But," She puts a finger up. "As you grow, the markers in your blood change. You're not an adult yet. Your markers are still forming."

"So?"

"You still have 11 months to develop the markers. I don't know how much they will change in that time, but your soulmates will more than likely change from blue."

"Jax and Conner are the boys who got blue."

"And Monte. I stabbed him yesterday."

"I'm surprised he got blue. He is kind of mean to me."

Mike kisses my head. "It's a theory, babygirl. It doesn't mean she's right."

"Or maybe the markers will never change from blue with someone. The test is still new. I need more test subjects." She gets up and runs out the door. "I'll find someone."

"I don't know who she's going to find at 6:30 in the morning. Let's take a shower and get ready, baby."

We get to training and Monte has some of the warriors there. He pairs us up and shows us some take-down moves. Then some ideas of what to do when they're on the ground.

I do well. I learn a few places to stab my elbows. Then I fall asleep on my warrior. I don't mean to, but I think I'm still messed up and he is really warm.

Conner picks me up. "What are you doing?" I try to sleep on him and Mike takes me.

I hear Monte, "Put her in the shade. She'll be fine over there."

Mike cracks up laughing. "No."

I wake up again and granny made me lunch. "Maybe a couple of days before you're not tired anymore."

"Yea, that seems right. Any new test subjects?"

"Not yet. I have a spell for you to practice though. You're going to conjure a magical rope that can wrap around a target."

"I can tie people up when they piss me off."

"Yes. Or you can help me get new test subjects."

We sit on the steps, and it takes me a while to understand conjuring. Then I keep conjuring ropes, not magical ropes. I'm about to give up when I get it. So, I spend an hour tying up trees. It's quite fun, but if I ignore the rope for too long it will behave like a snake and try to slither away. I have no idea where they're going.

"Don't worry if they get away. They only have so much magic in them. They won't last but an hour."

Then Conner comes to check on me. I summon a rope and he runs away. It flies off after him. "It won't come back."

"I don't think it can. You made him the target."

Jax shows up, and I send a rope after him. He turns into a wolf and bolts. "He is really fast. I don't think it's going to catch him."

"He is quick. It's probably going to get lost. Here comes another."

Monte looks at me and crosses his arms. He seems mad. I don't know why he's mad. I send a rope at him. He turns and trips over something. The rope wraps around his ankles. Over and over, nearly to his knees.

"I GOT ONE." I jump up and run to him.

"Good job. I made a truth serum for him."

"Why?"

"We can find out why he's mean to you."

"We're not drugging him, granny." As hard as I try, neither me nor Monte cannot get these ropes off.

Granny comes out with a vial. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Fine." She watches us struggling. "Tell them to go back to where they came from."

I throw my hands up. "Go back to where you came from." The ropes disappear. "Well, that was easy."

"Thank you." Monte stands up. "Stop sending ropes into the park. The people think they're snakes and are panicking."

"Stop being dramatic." Granny swirls the vial. "They'll run out of magic within an hour."

"An hour is never ending if you keep sending them."

"Fine." I brush him off.

Granny raises a bunch of sticks off the ground and he takes off.

I eat dinner with granny, Mike, Conner, and Chris. Chris got us out of dinner with the king tonight. I guess they thought I shouldn't fall asleep there. Cause that's exactly what I do.

The next day is more of the same. The boys keep me in the mystical moon territory. I get all the way past lunch before I need a nap. It's a nice couple of days though. They keep it easy for me, so I can recover slowly.