Chapter 156

I couldn’t remember much. I felt hot thought, like my blood had turned to fire while I was unconscious and I was adrift in an ocean of fire. I turned reaching out, trying to get my bearings but I couldn’t.

Candido.

Where was Candido?

I didn’t know.

I remembered that I had seen him recently.

An image of him bound and glaring at me flashed through my mind, but I couldn’t hold onto it.

Slowly, the world seemed to come back to me. I smelled stone, but the air was warmer. I could smell Candido near me. Someone’s hand was on my head, stroking my head softly.

I grunted, trying to speak, but all I heard was a low growl. The hand stopped briefly and pressed firmly before I could try to lift my head.

“Sleep,” Candido said, his voice soft and low. “You’re too weak to try to get up right now.”

I tried to speak, but all I heard was a low whine. An animal whine. Then I realized that my vision was different. I felt different. I stretched my legs, trying to wiggle my toes, but there was something wrong.

“I said go back to sleep,” he said more firmly. “You need to rest.”

I dragged my hand towards my face. It felt like it was a weighed down by a million pounds of stone. I didn’t see my hand. I saw a paw, covered in light yellow fur, not like that rich gold of Candido’s wolf form, but not quite the silvery either. It was more like something in between.

Platinum blonde or something.

What was happening? I was a wolf? My eyes welled with tears. I’d shifted. For the first time in my life, I could be sure that I wasn’t a vampire. I wasn’t some failed, broken thing—I was a full-fledged werewolf, but in all the times that I had read about the shift, they never said anything about feeling so heavy, so weak.

“You need to rest. Your first shift takes a lot out of you,” he said.

I shifted, trying to draw closer to him. Whatever had been irritating him before seemed to be forgotten. He drew me closer and cradled me in his lap. Then, I started to shiver, oddly cold even as he seemed so warm.

I whimpered, trying to tell him this.

He hushed me and I felt him pull something over me.

“Easy,” he said, tucking it around me. Then, he was standing and I could tell it we were in a different room than we had been before. He turned and I could see that this room was more of a bedroom.

It was sort of decorated, a painting of a landscape that made no sense hung on the wall. The sky was dark and three moons hung in the sky: a blue, a red, and a silver moon. The rivers seemed to glow. Then, I realized that the river was moving and creatures darted in and out of the trees. A bird of some sort flew over the forest.

A moving painting? I had to be crazy.

There was a fire burning on the other side of the room, filling the room with a warm light. Then, Candido carried me into the bed, holding me close.

“When an awakened werewolf uses too much of their power at once, they revert to their wolf forms,” he said. “This isn’t how I wanted you to experience your first shift, but it is… better than the alternative.”

I rubbed my head against his chest. What did he mean by that? I let out a low growl, trying to say something, but all I could do was make these wolfy sounds.

“You’re too weak to try and speak in this form,” Candido said. “It comes with some practice and age. Just take It easy. You could have died.”

I went still and whimpered. What did he mean by that? I thought I was just supposed to shift into this form. Why would I have died?

He sighed. “If you couldn’t shift, you would have gone straight into a coma and likely died… That’s the next stage after the forced shift. If we could get some decent food and if you actually went to sleep, you’d probably be on the way to shifting back to your human form.”

How long would that take?

I heard the door rattle and open. I went still, curling closer to Candido.

“She’s awake,” Candido said. “This is Troy. He’s a medic. He’s going to take a look at you, okay?”

I didn’t want him touching me, and I didn’t want him here, but I couldn’t find the strength to fight. All this time, all this struggle trying to get to Candido and I couldn’t even really talk to him.

He lay me down on the bed. I glared at Troy as he leaned over me, but he didn’t seem to notice or care that I didn’t want him near me. He was quick and efficient, poking me with something. I snapped my jaw at him, catching his hand in my mouth.

“Hedy,” Candido chided.

Troy yanked his hand back and struck me across the face. The force of it dragged me across the bed and tumbled me onto the floor. I growled, trying to get up as my ear rang and my face throbbed. I whimpered, opening my eyes to see, expecting Candido to be fighting with the man.

“For fuck’s—”

“I could care less about her well-being,” Troy said, moving around the bed. Candido didn’t move, looking up at Troy. “Or yours. I’m only here on orders. Cooperate, or I’ll leave you with your wounds to die.”

Candido’s voice was tense. “She’s barely twenty. You--”

“Do you think that gives her the right to be rude and ungrateful?” Troy asked. “It certainly doesn’t make her more endearing. Perhaps you care for such a thing, but no one else will humor her.”

“She’s a child.”

I growled at that, trying to get onto my feet, but I wasn’t strong enough.

“Even children know not to bite the hand trying to help them,” Troy said, opening his case. “As far as I’m concerned, she seems fine enough.”

“She’s weak.”

“I agree.”

Candido grunted. “I meant physically. She—”

“Bit me,” Troy said. “I’m not treating her. If you’d like the same treatment, say so, and I’ll let His Highness know to prepare your graves.”

I watched them, expecting Candido to do something, to say something.

“Make a suspicious move, and I will kill you,” Troy said. “Turn.”

Candido hesitated, but he turned his back to Troy. I watched in horror and shock. This wasn’t Candido. This wasn’t the great Alpha King, stronger than anyone that I knew. Troy cut the bandages that were wrapped around his chest.

“Your bedside manner is terrible,” Candido said as the bandages fell, revealing the ugly black skin.

What had they done to him? It was spread all over his back, disappearing into his pants and down his arm.

“Only idiot werewolves who have never known the peace of Lunae give a damn about you,” Troy said. “His Highness has ordered me to keep you alive for as long as possible, but he said nothing about being kind to either of you.”

He sprayed something over the wound. Candido went still, arching away from it and breathing heavily. He went pale, and I couldn’t believe it.

“How much longer are we going to be kept here?” Candido asked.

“His Highness has said that as long as you could stand, this would be the last time I would be treating you. You’ll be released and allowed to leave.”

“Leave?” Candido hissed. “I don’t even know where I am.”

“Close enough to your world that you need not fear getting lost. You’re in Lunae’s Circle, just inside the divide between your world and Lunae.” Troy gestured through the air and bandages whirled around, securing themselves around Candido’s chest.

“It’s as close to… neutral ground as possible. I, for one, would appreciate you and that idiot over there leaving as soon as possible.”

He turned to the door and left it open as he left.

Candido stumbled around the bed, gasping, and barely holding on to the edge of the bed to get to me. He kneeled beside me, his hands were gentle, but I could see in his face how uncomfortable he was.

Then, a voice came from the doorway. “So, you’ve finally pissed off Troy. Good grief, are all werewolves over there this stupid?”

Candido turned and looked over at the man standing in the doorway. Well, he was more leaning on one side of the doorway arms crossed and superior. There was something about his eyes that told me he was a vampire.

His eyes darted from me to Candido and back again. “Ah, she pissed him off. Well, His Highness did say that we should expect that… Troy says you can stand. Get dressed.”

He threw a shirt at Candido. “Get her up. I’ve got orders to escort you to the border.” He snorted. “Seems like you’ve overstayed your welcome.”