8

Elaine

“What’s wrong with your eyes?” I asked, fascinated.

Selene stood up quickly, looking somewhat concerned, which surprised me, but Arsel just shook his head and then looked at me with his green eyes. That made me frown.

“Are you okay?” Selene asked her son, and he smiled.

“I’m fine, Mom,” Arsel said, and I raised my eyebrows in confusion, but he looked at me calmly, with a warmth that made my body feel warm. “It’s nothing, just a wolf thing.”

The phrase made me open and close my mouth in surprise. Selene looked from her son to me, then smiled with intrigue and walked toward the door.

“I’ll go get the doctor; I’ll be right back,” Selene said, opening the door before turning to look at us. “I was explaining to our guest that she has options within the pack. You can give her details about the types of sanctuary Crescent provides.”

Arsel looked at his mother right away. Selene nodded with amusement and then left.

The tall, imposing man was left alone with me, and even though he was intimidating, I didn’t feel unsafe by his side. I relaxed my body immediately and sighed.

“Are you okay?” he asked right away, concerned.

“Yes,” I said calmly. “My head hurts, but I think that’s normal from the blow, isn’t it?”

He nodded and sat down on the sofa.

“Your injuries… weren’t easy to heal,” he said, and my heart raced. “But you were in good hands, and you’re going to be fine. I promise.”

His promise sounded like a sentence.

“Um… should I address you by your title?” I asked, and he frowned. “I don’t mean to be disrespectful, I just—”

“You can call me Arsel, no problem,” he said. “People call me Alpha out of respect, but you don’t have to if it’s hard for you.”

"Alpha," I said, and a shiver ran down my spine. “I think I’d better stick to being respectful and address you formally.”

Arsel smiled, and his smile took my breath away.

He was gorgeous.

“It’s not necessary. I’m trusting you enough to call me by my name, so just call me that, no problem,” he said firmly.

“But I—”

“Please,” he said with a look that made my heart race.

“Okay,” I said, looking at him calmly. “Arsel… thank you for saving me and for helping me. I have no way to repay you for all this. I think I’ll owe you an eternal debt, and I’d like to help the pack in any way I can. I don’t know what I’m good at, but I can—”

“You don’t have to do anything,” he said immediately. “It’s not an obligation. You’re a guest, my guest, so you just need to recover.”

“I don’t feel right being here without giving something back in some way,” I said right away. “It’s hard to explain, but I think I have common sense, and I like to be grateful.”

Arsel raised his eyebrows, then gave me a half-smile that melted me, but I stood my ground.

“Let’s wait and see what the doctor says about your recovery, and then we can talk about how you can help the pack,” he said. “But I want to make it clear that you’re not obligated to do anything you don’t want to. You’re someone seeking help, and you’re not in a condition to exert yourself physically.”

The fact that I was receiving help was just a reminder of the complicated situation I was in.

I was about to ask how they’d found me injured, but just then the doctor, Selene, and Carlis walked in.

I looked at the doctor’s name on his lab coat: Adrien Dasher.

“It’s good to see you awake and alert,” the doctor said. “I need to check your head again and run some tests with you to monitor your neurological responses.”

And that’s what the man did.

He checked my head, removed the bandage I had on, and examined a small scar that made me wince. Arsel tensed at my reaction, but his mother squeezed his hand tightly, and I saw him calm down.

After that, the doctor asked me again for my name, the date, what I did for a living, if I remembered the last thing I did, if I remembered the accident, and if I remembered anything that would help me understand who I was.

The answer to every question was no, and my anxiety skyrocketed; however, Arsel, surprisingly, took my hand to encourage me, and that calmed me down.

Then the doctor examined my eyes, jotted something down, and checked my legs, arms, and hands. He did it carefully and thoroughly, as if he were looking for something, and then, when he saw that everything was fine, he wrote something else down on his tablet and smiled at me.

“I need to do some exercises with you,” the doctor said. “I need you to touch your nose with your eyes closed.”

I did it without hesitation and then opened my eyes curiously.

“What else?” I asked eagerly.

“Now stand up and walk in a straight line,” said the doctor, and I did it without hesitation. “Stand still, then move your shoulders and flex your arms, your hands, and your calves carefully. Now raise your arms high; try to touch the ceiling.”

I did everything without hesitation, despite feeling uncomfortable in the thin, short gown.

Arsel watched everything like a hawk, and Selene encouraged me.

“Anything else?” I asked the doctor cautiously.

“Squeeze my hand,” the doctor asked after holding out his hand, and I squeezed hard. “Stick out your tongue, and now try to cough.”

I did so, and my ribs hurt, so I groaned loudly and bent over a little.

“I think that’s enough,” Arsel said immediately and took my arm to help me get back to bed.

“I think you’re doing very well, better than well,” the doctor told me. “Your motor responses are perfect, your body is responding, and your general neurological function hasn’t been impaired. I think it’s possible to discharge you right now, but you must follow a strict set of precautions because your ribs are still badly injured. You must take the medications I’ve prescribed and come in for regular checkups. “Your head is healing; the scans show improvement and significant reduction in swelling, so you’re fit to leave the hospital.”

I felt a great sense of relief and then fear as I sat up in bed.

“I have nowhere to go,” I whispered uncertainly.

“You’ll come with me,” Arsel said, and I looked into his eyes; he wouldn’t have let me go for anything in the world. “At my house, you’ll have all the care you need, and Claris will come to check on you, treat you, and make sure you’re okay.”

I looked at Claris, and she nodded; that calmed me, but even so, everything felt different.

Just then, there was a knock at the door, and the doctor I’d spoken with earlier walked in.

I tensed up and swallowed hard; she smiled at me calmly in a very kind way.

“It’s great to see that you’re doing well, alert, and without any visible neurological complications,” she said. “I came to bring you the prescription for the medications I recommend for your other injuries. Follow the instructions, and you’ll be fine in a few days.”

“I’ll help you,” Claris said firmly, and that made me let out a big sigh.

“Thank you for what you’ve done for her,” Selene said with a big smile and held out her hand to them.

“You don’t have to thank me, Luna Selene,” the doctor said, and she looked at me calmly. “We protect women above all else. So, if you have any doubts, need anything, or just want to talk, you can come here. I have all the reports in order in case you need them.”

My heart raced.

There were details about my sexual abuse injuries, and that immediately made me sick, so I fought back the nausea.

“Thank you,” I said after swallowing hard.

The doctors nodded, then left the room along with Claris, and I took a deep breath, as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Surprisingly, Arsel took my chin, gently lifted my head, and looked at me carefully but firmly.

“You’re going to be okay, don’t worry,” he said immediately. “You have to relax; you’ll be safe and taken care of.”

“We’re going to protect you,” Selene said.

“Mom, I don’t think—”

“I’ll stay with you for a while,” Selene said. “She needs a personal caregiver, and I think it would be good for me to take care of her and spend some time in my homeland.”

“But Dad—”

“Your father Izan will understand and agree with me. Besides, it’s time for your brothers to start taking on more responsibility for the pack that the two of you will lead in the near future,” Selene said, and I could sense the surprise coursing through Arsel’s body.

“Is my father Izan going to step down as Alpha of Eclipse?” he asked, genuinely bewildered.

It was as if that news came as a huge surprise.

“Yes,” Selene said with a confident smile. “It’s time for your father and me to step down from power, but not entirely. We’ll help the twins with the transition. There’s also the matter of your sisters, but now isn’t the time to talk about that.”

That surprised me, and I looked at them with fascination.

“Do you have a lot of siblings?” I asked with eager interest.

Selene laughed with amusement.

“Yes,” said Selene. “I have six wonderful children; you’ll like meeting the others.”

That made me raise my eyebrows, but I didn’t say anything; I just nodded.

An hour later, Claris brought me new clothes, as well as a plastic bag with the things I’d been wearing during the accident. That made me tense.

“I’ll help you get dressed,” Selene said.

She took me to the bathroom and, after helping me take a quick shower, gave me a very pretty dress.

“You’re beautiful,” she said.

I looked at her with respect.

“You’re gorgeous,” I said without hesitation.

Selene smiled, and when we went outside, Claris had a brush and some hair cream.

I sat down, and between the two of them, Selene and Claris managed to untangle my hair and brush it out nicely.

I couldn’t help but cry, but I quickly wiped away my tears.

“What’s wrong?” Arsel asked, and I looked at him seriously.

“I don’t have a name,” I said sadly.

He took the bag, pulled a bracelet out of it, and handed it to me.

I took the bracelet; it was old, you could tell by the marks, but it was gold, expensive, and had tiny precious stones embedded in it. However, that wasn’t what caught my eye, but rather the fact that a name was engraved on the inside.

Elina.

“You had that bracelet on your wrist, so we assume that’s your name,” he said carefully.

“Elina,” I said aloud.

There was no recognition in my mind, but I felt a piece of me click into place.

“Welcome to Crescent, Elina,” said Selene. “I think you’re going to like it.”

Her enthusiasm felt good; it felt comfortable, and I didn’t argue with her, so I just nodded and left that room with them, having no idea that my life was about to change completely.