Checking In

August was torn. Part of him wanted to immediately run straight to Black Hole Pack’s Alpha and ask him what he knew about the woman, but he remembered what Sidney had said in the Healing Center and thought that probably wasn’t the best idea. The other part of him wanted to sprint back to the Healing Center and check on the woman. He had to make sure that she was still alive. Even though he’d just gotten a glimpse of her tiny frame, something about her was intriguing in a way he’d never experienced before. Seeing all that she’d been through, how far she’d run, how much blood she’d spilled, all to get away from something so awful she was willing to run into the unknown to flee it, had his heart pounding out of his chest as he made his way back to the village, wanting to see how she was doing.

The other three wolves went on their way to finish their patrol, and August came back into town by himself, letting Beaux know he was back so that his Beta could go on about his business. Only stopping to put his clothes back on, August rushed past pack members who wanted to know what was going on, while quickly assuring them that everything was under control. He reached the Healing Center and braced himself for a second before pushing into the door, his need to know how she was stomping out the fear that maybe she wasn’t okay.

The curtain was closed in front of the bed, but he could sense his mother was still back there, so he stepped over and pulled it open without thinking.

“August!” his mother shouted, pulling a sheet over the naked girl. August had hardly seen anything at all since he had been looking at where he expected his mother to be standing, but he quickly backed away, pulling the curtain closed as his mother continued to shout. “I’m getting her cleaned up! What are you thinking?”

“I’m sorry, Mom! I’m sorry!” he said, feeling his face turning bright red. For a moment he was actually happy the girl was still unconscious or else this would be embarrassing for both of them, instead of just him, even though he had truly seen very little. What he had seen of her petite body was covered in bruises, cuts, and dirt. His mother clearly had just started cleaning her up.

Staying outside of the curtain, August took a deep breath and asked his mother, “How is she?”

“She’s doing better, now that I have an IV started and am giving her some medicine and fluids,” Isabella said. “I think she’s going to pull through, but it may take another day or two for her to come around.”

“You do think she will, though?” August asked, standing outside of the curtain with his hands on his hips.

His mother pulled the curtain open slightly and stepped out to speak to him. Nodding, she said, “I believe so, but it’s hard to say. I’m not sure why she’s unconscious now. While she does have a small gash in her head, I don’t think it’s enough to knock a person out. So it could be exhaustion or it could be the strain of whatever she was running from.”

August took a deep breath and ran his hand along his jaw, thinking. “It looks like she came from Black Hole. She was being pursued, though it looks like they lost her at the stream and went back.”

“Have you got patrols out?” Isabella asked, her face mirroring his concern.

“Yes.” He considered saying more about where he’d sent his Omegas, but he knew he didn’t need to. “There was a lot of blood, Mom.”

“I can see that, judging by the shape she’s in, especially her feet.”

“It just doesn’t make any sense. Why didn’t she shift?”

“I don’t know,” Isabella admitted. She patted August on the shoulder. “Hopefully, she’ll wake up in a day or two, and she’ll be able to answer all of our questions. In the meantime, all we can do is protect our borders, keep treating her, and pray to the Moon Goddess for her strength and wisdom.”

August nodded in agreement, though the last of those options wasn’t something he did quite as often as his mom. Still, thinking about the petite woman lying on the bed behind the curtain, he did say a quick prayer to the Moon Goddess, knowing it couldn’t hurt. He needed her to wake up so he could figure out what was going on, but beyond that, he just needed her to be okay for reasons he couldn’t quite put a finger on, but he felt them just the same.