The Blur

(Lyra)

The first thing I felt as I opened my eyes was the cold.

It was as though I had just woken up from a long nightmare and all my limbs were frozen in place due to the horror.

The cold cut through my skin as I struggled to come to recognize my surroundings. My head was heavy but I was determined to figure out where I was.

I heard the sound of a door creaking open but it wasn't louder then the pounding in my head which was like a thousand drums.

I blinked again. Wooden beams above the ceiling stared down at me. A small window by my side let in rays of the morning sun which did little to keep me from shivering from the cold. Where am I?

I sat up too fast and the pain exploded behind my eyes causing me to groan in pain. My hand held both sides of my head in a bid to cushion the pain but it did nothing. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

I didn't know where I was but worse, I didn't know who I was.

My heart pounded in fear as I scanned the room I was in. Wooden beams, pure white walls. It was too clean.

I looked down at myself, hoping something, anything would jog a memory. My arms were wrapped in some bandages, my fingers were scraped and bruised. A blanket covered me up to my waist, but underneath it, I felt the sting of healing wounds along my ribs and legs. Signs of running and falling, maybe surviving.

What was I running from and how did I end up here?

The door creaked open again, and I immediately jerked back, pulling the covers to my chest.

He wasn’t threatening at least, not in the obvious way. His shoulders were broad, his clothes simple but they hugged around his biceps. His long dark brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and a faint scar ran across his jawline. But what struck me most were his eyes. They were green and they watched me with keen interest.

He paused close to the bed as he studied me as though I were something dangerous.

“You're awake,” he said simply.

I swallowed a lump in my throat before replying. “Where…where am i?,”

His eyes moved to my body not in a creepy way. It was as though he was checking for something.

“You’re in the Nightclaw Pack,” he said. “You collapsed at our northern border two nights ago. Alone.”

Nightclaw Pack? Two nights ago?

The name stirred nothing. No images, no memories.

“I… I don’t remember anything,” I whispered, my fingers grabbing the edge of the blanket.

He stepped closer. “Not even your name?”

I shook my head slowly, a lump forming in my throat. “No.”

He now stood beside the bed, his brow furrowing as he looked closer at me. I felt exposed under his gaze as thoughI was being peeled back layer by layer.

His eyes narrowed. “You don’t have a scent.”

“What?” I asked curiously.

“All wolves have one. Even when masked or hidden, something always lingers. But you…” He leaned in, inhaled softly. “Nothing.”

I moved back, confused and unsettled. “What does that mean? Maybe I'm not a wolf?”

“I don’t know yet.”

Then his gaze lifted toward my forehead. His expression changed.

Just for a second.

It was like he saw a ghost.

I saw it reflected as I looked into his eyes: a flash of silver light where none should exist as his eyes were green. My skin tingled as though something cold was trickling down my spine. And then… nothing. His eyes widened briefly, and then he blinked, and the moment was gone.

“What?” I asked, heart racing. “What did you see?”

He stood slowly, not answering.

“Please,” I said, a little louder. “What did you see?,”

He stared at me for a long moment, his face unreadable. “A mark. For a second. It looked like… a crescent moon.”

My hands flew to my forehead, but I could not feel anything. “Is it still there?”

“No. It vanished.” He didn’t sound relieved. “It only appeared for a heartbeat. That shouldn’t be possible.”

I met his gaze. “What does that mean?”

He didn’t answer me.

I could see him thinking and Calculating. Probably planning on what to do with me.

“You’re safe here,” he finally said, though I could sense uncertainty in his tone. “But I need to inform the Alpha.”

“Alpha? Who is that?”I asked.

“The leader of this pack.” He hesitated. “I’m his Beta. My name is Riven.”

Riven. Beta. Alpha. Pack.

All these terms rang in my ears like puzzle pieces that didn’t fit. I coudn't make sense of any of the words he had just said.

He must have seen my confusion, because his expression softened just a bit. “You’re a wolf. Whether you remember or not, that much is clear. You must have shifted in the woods because you were barefoot, wounded, naked. That only happens when you return from your wolf form.”

I tried to process that, but it only deepened the hole in my head. Blurs of reds and whites were spinning in my head. I could smell blood and ice but I couldn't understand why those were the only scents I could recognize.

“I feel… empty,” I whispered to myself but he heard me.

He nodded and studied me a bit. “Maybe it is trauma…..or magic,”

He whispered “magic” more to himself as if he was trying to make sense of the word.

What did I have to do with magic?

A silence fell between us for a while.

He moved toward the door then paused to turn to me. “You need rest. I’ll have someone bring you food. Don’t try to leave the room.”

I flinched. “Am I a prisoner?”

His jaw clenched. “You’re an unknown. Until I know what you are, you’re under observation.”

Before I could respond, he walked out the door and shut it behind him.

I lay back down on the bed as my body heavy with questions I couldn’t answer. I tried again to remember anything. A name. A face. A sound but Nothing came to my mind.

All I could feel was the ghost of cold air brushing my skin, the echo of trees, and the distant scream of someone yelling run.

My fingers brushed against my forehead. I felt no mark. But I had seen the expression in his eyes. It was like shocked recognition. What did it mean? Did he know me?

River said I had no scent. That I had shifted. That I bore a moon on my skin.

I stared at the ceiling, panic creeping into my chest.

Who was I?

What was I?

And why did it feel like someone had been trying to kill me?

Why was my brain playing the word “run” repeatedly?

But more importantly, what is a wolf?

I sighed and shut my eyes again, trying to recall any memories but none came.

Only the scent of blood lingered in the air.