Chapter 23

I spent the next two days resting in bed. It was necessary for me to recover and to stop having such vivid halucinations and delusions as I seemed to have regarding the manner of Dandilions departure. I'm sure I would get a letter from her any day now. 

Still Rayven would show up at my door everyday and convince me to take a walk through the gardens with her to get some much needed sunlight. I found her constant chatter about the weather and what the next challenge might be comforting and when the day came for my bangages to be removed, I know longer felt shakey and paranoid. 

I sat stiffly on the crinkley paper of the med room bed as a gentle nurse unwrapped my shoulder and collarbone. The sterile soapy smell of the room brought back uncomfortable feelings that must be memories from when I was unconscious. 

"It's not so bad" the nurse said softly.

I looked down at my prevoiusly mauled shoulder. She was right, my werewolf healing factor had done it's work. Some jagged lines of puckered white scar tissue still remained but the rest was pretty much healed. The white haired finalist I had met a couple days earlier peered over from behind the nurse to get a better view of my wound. 

"You're a werewolf," she reminded, "scars are badass."

Half of her face seemed to have turned to a mess of similar scar tissue and her left eyes was white and glassy.  I held my composure and didn't gasp or flinch at the sight of her face, but it took some effort. She had better hope that the alpha feels similarly about scars as she does or this compitition just got a little bit easier. That thought lightened my step as I went back up to my room, though I felt a little guilty at my celebration. 

No sooner had I reached my room and tried on several tops I thought would adequately tease my scar without giving it all away, when I heard a knock at the door. Rayven must not have seen that I already got my walk in. I threw open the door.

"Jules?" Jules stood their nervously tapping her foot. 

"Can we talk?" Jules eyes sweeped my room and she took a quick glance down each end of the empty hallway, "outside."

Struck by the look of panic in her eyes I followed her downstairs without asking any questions. It wasn't until we had put some distance of the alpha's estate when she decided it was safe to talk. Still she kept looking over her shoulder as if even the trees were listening. 

"Loyalty." She said as if we were school pups sharing answers on a quiz.

"What?" 

"The final test is loyalty. And then after that the alpha will choose his winner"

"How do you know?" my voice fell into a similar whisper. 

"Because it's already started. They're going to...they're going to use my daughter to test my loyalty to the pack."

"How would they use your daughter?"

"They're going to make me choose."

"Why are you telling me this."

"Because Elma, I don't think I can do it. If they make me choose than I will choose my daughter."

"But your here for her. You are securing a better life for her."

"And what if I dont? What if I don't win?"

I stood in silence for a minute trying to process all of this. Surely this pack wouldn't actually do anything to hurt a little kid. Not after I had seen the Alpha so fond of his own little brother. 

"Elma, If I don't win you have to make sure her future is secure. Will you do that for me? Win the title of Luna and take her under your wing as an assistant of something? She's a very smart and promising young wolf."

"I will."