Chapter 6: Come Out, Lynne
Lynne's POV
I had no idea how much time had passed since I was attacked. When I came to, my head was splitting, and my eyelids felt impossibly heavy.
I forced myself to stay conscious. My eyelids trembled open. I looked around — but I had no strength. It was a long while before I heard footsteps somewhere in the distance. Then a sudden flash — the sharp light made me squeeze my eyes shut again. I opened them slowly and tried to make out my surroundings. But the sedative left me thick-headed and dull. "Hey, how much did you give her?"
"How was I supposed to know? I figured she's an Alpha's daughter, after all."
My ears felt stuffed with something. Through the ringing, I caught the sound of muffled bickering. I struggled to lift my eyelids. The Alpha's residence of the Moonshadow Pack seemed to flicker before me. Had everything that came before been nothing but a dream? I thought so, and the cushion beneath me felt so soft — I hadn't slept this well in a very long time.
"Mom." I let out a small whimper and felt a pair of gentle hands brush lightly over my shoulder. I couldn't help but nuzzle toward that warmth. There seemed to be a small pebble somewhere under my bed. This was a remarkably long dream — was I about to start dreaming about the Princess and the Pea? With that thought, I turned onto my side, pressed my palms together against my cheek, and readied myself to drift off again. When I woke up, I would tell my father and mother about the most bizarre and harrowing dream I had ever had. A faint odor began creeping into my nose. I frowned slowly, and my eyes drifted open.
My gaze swept over everything in front of me — dim, crowded, disheveled. Several pairs of scrutinizing eyes were looking me over. I scanned the faces and recognized one — an old woman with brittle yellow hair, sunken cheeks, and eyes that had once always shimmered with warmth but were now clouded and dull. It was a long, narrow cave. Most of the people inside had no attention to spare for me. They sat with furrowed brows, heads tilted back, groaning with their eyes squeezed shut in pain. A stream of cold, damp air pushed in from the cave mouth. She-wolves who had once carried themselves with grace and elegance now nursed their young without any self-consciousness. "Moon Goddess, just let me die." A sharp, piercing wail cut through the narrow cave and made my heart clench. The former butler, Julian, was carrying a bucket of well water and distributing it among the moaning wounded. Their beds were nothing but piles of dried leaves heaped into the rough shape of a mattress, packed with injured members of the Moonshadow Pack. Dust, hunger, exhaustion — the stench of rotting flesh and the sound of moaning closed in from every direction. My eyes followed Julian. That dignified gentleman was now wearing a leather jacket worn so thin the surface had gone patchy, its sleeves barely reaching his wrists. "Julian." I called out to him. He didn't turn around. The groaning had long drowned out my voice. The Pack healer was cutting away at a Gamma wolf's rotting flesh with a blade. My eyes burned red.
"Miss Lynne, you still have your corset tied this tightly. You'll never be able to breathe properly when you run." The voice came from behind me. I turned around — and there was Nina, now looking like a small, worn-out little mouse. I had no idea how long it had been since she'd last eaten.
She draped a dirty, tattered blanket over my shoulders. "Thank goodness." Her eyes were red, her voice unsteady. "Thank goodness you're still alive." She reached out to straighten my skirt. I finally pulled off that ridiculous corset. She drew her hands back with a small, awkward pause. I was shaking all over. I buried my face in my hands. I couldn't take it. I needed to get out. I had to leave this cave — I wanted to run right now. But Nina didn't give me the chance to flee. She pulled me into her arms without a second thought.
"My poor little Lynne. You must have been through so much. Look at these beautiful hands — they're all cut up." Nina stroked my back tenderly. My tears had already soaked through her patched shirt.
"You certainly have the leisure for this, Nina. The Alpha and Luna really ought to see this scene." An old woman's hoarse voice cut through with a sneer. Nina's hand stilled on mine. She wiped her eyes. Mrs. Hathaway's voice pressed on. "She's not the Pack princess anymore, Nina. You don't owe her your loyalty."
My face burned. I suddenly remembered that Mrs. Hathaway had once hosted my fifth birthday party at her farm. She had taken my hand gently and told me I looked just like my mother. And now she sat crammed together with a few other she-wolves, her eyes blazing with resentment toward me. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. I thought they had killed everyone in the Moonshadow Pack. My father —"
"Listen." Mrs. Hathaway cut me off, her emotions rising. "If your father hadn't been so useless, how would any of us have ended up like this? Joining the Moonshadow Pack is the most foolish decision my grandfather ever made. He brought his entire plantation into the Moonshadow Pack — and what did it come to in the end? Everything was taken from us."
"Mrs. Hathaway, please don't be so cruel. This is not Lynne's fault." Nina held me close and had stopped crying, a flicker of anger toward Mrs. Hathaway rising in her. I lifted the blanket from my shoulders with trembling hands. The cold air from the cave mouth swept over me in clammy gusts. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Hathaway. You should never have had to bear any of this. My father didn't protect the Moonshadow Pack the way he should have — but he truly did everything he could." Mrs. Hathaway huddled on her bed of dry leaves, clutching a gold pocket watch and weeping.
"What is going on here?" Julian walked over quickly. He glanced at Mrs. Hathaway crying, let out a long sigh, and turned around. When he saw me, he paused — as if he suddenly registered what he was looking at. He extended his hand, and just as it was about to reach me, he stopped. In the end, he let it fall to his side and said: "It is a true mercy that you are still alive, Lynne. The Moonshadow Pack has lost enough." He said it with a quiet, helpless sigh. I thought suddenly of how Mrs. Hathaway had once despised anyone so much as grazing the hem of her dress. But now, flies circled freely over the rotting wounds of the injured. The fine bedding of the woman who had once been a woman of wealth was crawling with fleas. The wolves lay heaped together without order or rank — nothing to distinguish them but the same suffering, the same endurance. I blinked hard, but my vision only blurred further as the tears fell in heavy drops.
Julian patted my shoulder, clearly pained. "I'm sorry, Julian. I'll find a way." I choked out, then drew a slow, deep breath. I pulled the tears back and tried to harden something inside me before I spoke again. "I will make the Crimson Howl Pack pay for this. I will never let the Moonshadow Pack suffer like this again." Julian looked at me in silence for a long time. Finally, the corner of his mouth pulled into the faintest curve. He said simply: "Good luck, Miss."
"Miss Lynne, I believe in you. You are brave and strong. Just like the Alpha and the Luna."
I clamped my teeth down on my lip until I tasted blood. "Nina, you shouldn't be so good to me."
"Oh, my Lynne." Nina was already losing composure again, ready to pull me back into her arms. But from the mouth of the cave came the sudden, low warning growl of wolves on guard. Julian's head snapped up. The entire cave went silent in an instant — even the moaning stopped. And then, a low Alpha voice carried in from outside the cave:
"Lynne."
