Chapter Three

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Some unknown time later . . .

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"She seems to be waking up!" came a voice from the void. Jane wanted to open her eyes but was afraid of what she'd see. But a dull throb in her ribs caused her to moan, which had tipped everyone off. But who was "everyone?"

There was a pause. "Listen, we know you're awake, so you might as well stop faking." That voice was definitely a female.

"And Talia should know a thing or two about 'faking' it," came a male voice.

"Bite me."

"Not tonight. I have a headache."

Jane opened her eyes, expecting to see monsters. There was an annoyingly bright tungsten light directly overhead, and Jane was lying on a long metal table. A number of young men and women surrounded Jane, including the handsome young man she had seen briefly earlier.

"Where . . . am I?" she groaned, trying to sit up but quickly lying back down as the pain in her ribs became excruciating.

"Well, that's a bit of a long story." That was from a beautiful black girl, the owner of the first voice she had heard. "I'm Talia, and these rogues are Michael, Mindy, Matthew and . . ."

"Two many 'M' names," Jane muttered. 'Damn,' she thought. 'It's like an episode of Beverly Hills 90210.' This thought came when she noticed that everyone Talia pointed to was a highly attractive young person.

Talia smiled. "And the last person is Nathaniel," she finished. "And you are?"

Jane wasn't sure what to do. If these people were going to harm her, they could have easily done it by now, and the bandages around her waist indicated they had actually helped her. Maybe that was what she wasn't quite able to trust. "Jane . . . Jane Collier," she whispered. Her eyes had fallen on Nathaniel, whose face she had seen back in the alley. "I know you," she said.

He smiled. He had a cute smile. "We were getting worried," he said. "You've been out for a long time. We weren't sure that Arthur was going to be able to save you. You took a pretty good shot there." A new man walked up, a little older than the rest, but still quite fetching and wearing a doctor's smock.

"What happened?" Jane said, beginning to panic. "How long was I out? What were those men? Where . . ."

"Shh," said Talia, placing one long finger against Jane's lips, bringing the girl to a screeching silence. "You have a lot of questions, and you might . . . have problems with some of the answers. But in response to how long you've been here, the answer is four days."

"Four days!" Jane said, sitting upright despite the searing pain. She tried to get off the table, but her body simply wouldn't allow it. She also realized that except for a few well-placed bandages, she was dressed only in her undergarments. "Where are my clothes?! I need . . . to go. My jobs . . . God, I've probably been fired! And the rent was due . . . oh God!" she said slumping back onto the table. "I'll lose my place, or I'll have to . . ." Jane stopped, her shoulders shaking as tears began to fall. She had lost everything. She knew what Victor would demand of her in order to let her keep her apartment, and she knew she couldn't do it. She would rather die than touch him again.

Talia looked alarmed and moved to comfort the girl. "Arthur . . ."

"I'll give her some tea that will help her sleep," he said.

"NO!" Jane screamed. "No more sleeping! I need to get to work! I need to find a new place . . . to . . . to live," she said. "Everything's falling apart."

Talia waved everyone else away. "We will help you, but you need to rest. When you awaken, we'll explain everything to you," she said.

Jane was in no condition to fight. She already felt her meager physical energy draining. "No," she murmured as Talia cradled her head and began to croon a very soothing sound. "Have to . . . go . . ." But once again, it was lights out for Jane.

Talia looked at Arthur. "She's so weak," she whispered. "Are you sure she'll be alright?"

"Yes. She won't be teaching any aerobics classes anytime soon, but she'll live."

"And you're sure she has Talent?"

"Absolutely," Arthur whispered back. "I felt it when I was healing her."

Talia stroked the girl's long, beautiful hair. "I hope so. She won't be allowed to stay otherwise, and it seems to me that this girl is one who probably desperately needs a family. And if she hadn't distracted the enemy, we would likely have been too late to save Robbie."

"We'll call a pack meeting tomorrow when she awakens. Has Red gotten back yet?"

Arthur grimaced. "No, not yet. She's going to be so pissed! First, Robbie goes on a solo hunt while she was in Los Angeles, in direct violation of her orders. Then we bring back an outsider to the Den."

"Then I guess Robbie had better be the first one to talk to her when she gets in. He's the only one she probably won't eviscerate on the spot." He glanced over to another curtained area, where Robbie was laying and recuperating. He had been beaten badly by the hellspawn, and even his advanced regenerative abilities could only go so fast. Hopefully, he could stand up before his big sister got home.

Authors Note: Hope ya'll enjoy this chapter, please leave a comment on your thoughts, and tell me what you think. I would love to hear from you