04

Peyton

Relax, this has nothing to do with you. People have possibly seen this body and ignored it, so it wouldn't hurt if you do the same. I tell myself for the upteenth time, staring at the unconscious injured naked man.

But my wolf doesn't agree with this because the body is in front of my doorstep.

Half an hour earlier, I left the house to go get some bread since it's what I've been surviving on since I came here, and when I returned to my house, I saw something I wasn't expecting.

A man.

He's so big, beefy, and well built that I can't help taking hard dry gulps. Thankfully he has his butt in the facing the air so I don't see what would make me even more uncomfortable in my puzzled state.

This man is not moving at all, so I don't know if he's dead or alive. Plus I am too scared to touch him, to check his pulse because his scent instantly sells him out that he's a wolf.

Which is even more reason to not get myself involved with him.

 Ever since I came here in Chicago two days ago, I've chosen to lay low, always putting on a hoodie and a baseball cap to do the job of hiding my face. Although I've come across werewolves, I've done my best to hide because my scent will sell me out that I'm a wolf on exile. An Omega who is likely to stick with her pack no matter what, because I am too vulnerable and can't even stand up for me.

Mrs. Smiths, bless her heart. She's the old woman who gave me one of her apartments to stay in. We made an agreement that I'd start making payments when I start working. And what made me relax even more and accepted the offer is because she's a human.

Right now it's late, past eleven, and of all the places in the world, it's mine a stray werewolf chose to lose consciousness. Or did someone dump his body here?

I'm sure passersby must've seen him but didn't bother to help because he is naked and looks like he's already dead.

The chilly night wind gushes through me and even though I have my hoodie on, I can't lie about how cold it is.

Goosebumps even rise on the pores of this man, and I figure he's catching cold even though he's unconscious.

Squatting, I let my shaky fingers push his head to face my side and there I see a deep cut on his forehead with blood oozing out of it and soaking his dark brown hair.

I raise my head to see if anyone is close by so they can come to assist me, but I don't see a single soul outside. Or they choose not to come help.

Staring back at the man in front of me, I let out a small puff of breath. Though he is in a bad state, I can tell he's very good-looking with a hard nose and chiseled jaw.

Who could've done such a thing to him though? Because it's obvious he was attacked and sustained a lot of injuries, the ground is currently discolored with his blood. 

Images of Lancelot's lifeless white eyes flash through my brain, and I fight against the urge to vomit as I clamp my hand tightly against my mouth.

But I know one thing is for sure, I won't let anyone die on me again.

His breathing is very faint when I put my two joint fingers on his nose, so I finally check his pulse and discover it's still moving, but not like that of a normal person, which means he's on the verge of dying. Even a tad of his intestines are visible, but thankfully none of them are torn. 

It's risky for him to be in such a state so I hurriedly take off my hoodie and wrap it around his stomach to stop the blood from gushing out, and air from going into his stomach.

The urge to save this injured man is so strong and overwhelming.

Carrying him inside is complicated because he's so big that I am sure even two of me cannot help him in, so I make sure I shield the large cut in his stomach before grabbing hold of his legs and pulling him inside.

I manage to get him on top of my tiny bed that doesn't even contain his body, then I position his face lying up.

At this point, I know I have to get to work but I don't have any equipment.

Grabbing the last of my money, I dash outside and it immediately starts raining as I run along the streets to a nearby pharmacy where I can purchase some drugs, needle, thread, scissors, spirit, cotton wool, and a plaster.

Being adopted into the Omega family which is the lowest ranking in the Crimson pack, my family has served the other higher-ranking families, the Alpha's to be precise. And I learned how to treat an injured wolf from the pack doctors.

I am fully drenched in rain when I return home, only to see that the power supply is out. So I put on a candle to see and as well make the room warm.

After using warm water to cleanse the bloodied parts of the man's body, I proceed to sew his stomach with a thread and needle the best way I can. Then I add the cotton wool before making use of the plaster.

Afterward, I make use of the spirit to cleanse the rest of his bruises, before sewing some more parts and applying the plaster.

The man is in between life and death, so I don't bother pushing the Neosporin drug down his throat. Instead, I grind it with my fist, pour it into a spoon of water, and put it in his mouth because the drug provides 24 hours infection protection, subsides pain, and heals bruises faster.

Then I make use of the only mattress in the room to keep him warm because it's freezing.

Something tells me I am going to regret helping this man, but I brush it aside because he needed help. Whoever he is, he has a family somewhere. And even though I was too fragile to have saved Lancelot from getting killed, it doesn't mean I won't help someone who's at the verge of dying.

Just at the thought of Lancelot, my heart clenches itself so tight in my chest that I part my lips to breathe.

"You're amazing, you know that?" This was his favorite phrase for me, and I start feeling sick as tears begin blurring my vision.

It's still too hard to accept that he's no more. The only person who truly cared for me. My life doesn't feel whole again. He was the only person who made it meaningful, and worth living.

And I fight against the urge to shed tears as I stare at the huge trained physique of the unconscious man in my bed, seeing the face of Lancelot instead of his.