The Awakened Spirit Wolf

Pain throbbed in Selene's skull. Her eyelids became heavy, but she opened them and froze at the view that met her.

A man stood watching her, arms folded over his broad torso. However blurred her vision, she could not possibly miss striking features: sharp jawline, intense dark eyes, and a scar curving along his neck. Something about his presence made her wolf want to go up...

Her wolf. Where is her wolf?

"Finally, you wake up, my princess?" His voice was battered, just about funny. "That dress is beautiful, or at least half of it."

Selene shot up, ignoring the wave of dizziness. "Get back!"

"Or what? You will tumble at me?" His eyes flickered to her hurt ankle. "You can hardly stand."

Still, she pushed herself up, gritting her teeth against the ache. Fight or flight instincts screamed for her to run, yet her legs betrayed her, buckling as soon as she attempted to put weight on them. The man was supernatural in speed when he snatched her out of the fall.

“Little stubborn wolf aren't you?" 

"Don't touch me!" Panic gushed through her chest as she struggled against him. "I told you not to-". Selena passed out again.

Two days later, Selene woke up again. The first face she saw in her post-coma was that of a stranger.-dark but watchful and measured-his eyes were studying her as if she were some puzzle he was trying to figure out. Her throb- bing head insisted she did try to focus her gaze on the stranger's face. 

"Look who finally deigned to arise from the dead." His voice was silky sweet-like a sarcastic caress- "You were out from here for nearly two days." 

Two days? She struggled to sit up, tilting precariously. Panic shot through her.

"Take it easy, girl," he said when he moved closer, and she slightly recoiled back. Understanding passed over his expression. "I'm not going to hurt you. If I wanted to, I wouldn't have spent the last forty-eight hours keeping you alive."

"Where am I?" Her voice came out raspy. "Who-"

"You're safe. That's all you need to know right now." He reached for a water glass on the bedside table.

Selene went straight into survival mode and bolted for the door, ignoring the screaming pain in her ankle. The stranger moved faster than she thought, blocking her escape.

"Does this kind of stubborn behavior run in your family, or is this just my lucky day?"

"Just step aside," she snarled, drawing her wolf strength to herself.

The color drained from her face.

"She's gone," Selene whispered. "I can't feel her. Why can't I feel her?"

Something shifted in the stranger's expression - pity maybe, or recognition. "Sit down before you fall down. Please."

That gentle 'please' undid her. Her legs gave out, and he caught her before she hit the floor. This time, she was too shocked to fight him.

"I'm Rowan," he said quietly, helping her back to the bed. "And you're safer not shifting right now anyway. Those rogues are still out there."

Then all the events of the night came rushing back: the ceremony, the betrayal by Caden, the attack. A choked sound escaped her throat.

"Ah hell, don't cry," Rowan said, running a hand through his hair and looking uncomfortable. "Agnes! She's awake and she's... leaking.”

"For heaven's sake, boy, some sensitivity." An aged woman came into the room, silver braids swinging while she shooed Rowan aside. She sat by Selene, taking her trembling hands. "There now, child. Let it out. You should be crying instead of burning in fury at this time when your wolf is so frail." 

"I can't understand," she was saying, her voice cracking, "what's happening to me?"

"Rejection trauma," Agnes simply said. "Your wolf stopped protecting both of you, and she will return when ready again." 

"Ready for what?" 

"To accept that sometimes the first step to finding something greater is that you lose everything..." Her eyes caught the brief gaze of Rowan. 

"Very profound," muttered Rowan, but somehow there was respect in his tone. He went up the window all of a sudden tensed. "We've got company. Three pack patrols, just crossed into the valley." 

"Looking for me?" asked Selene. 

"Well, unless there's another runaway wolf I should know about in a shredded ceremony dress, then..."

Perhaps miraculously, Selene felt a hysterical laugh rising within her. "You are something of a jerk, you know that?"

"So I've been told." His lip quirked. "Repeatedly." 

"Both of you, quiet." Agnes suddenly stood up, her face grave. "Something is wrong. The wind has changed." 

They fell into hush, listening. In the distance, howls turned high-not the organized sounds of patrol but the savage cries of rogues. 

"They're being herded," Rowan growled. "The patrols aren't hunting her. They're being hunted." 

"The rogues," Selene struggled to get to her feet. "They're going to be slaughtered-" 

"Not your problem." Rowan's hand on her shoulder pressed her back down. "You can hardly walk, never mind fight." 

"They're my pack!" 

"The same pack that stood and watched you as they humiliated you?" His words cut like physical blows. "The same pack that allowed you to run through the woods on your own?”

"Rowan," Agnes grumbled warningly, previously dashing away in attack mode.

"You don't know anything about me or my pack!" Her finger jabbed his chest. "You don't know what I've lost!"

"Don't I?" His eyes flared with something ancient and painful. “Were you under the illusion that only you were ever betrayed by those in whom you had placed trust?”

The howls grew closer. Agnes grabbed both their arms.

"Children," her voice held power that made them both freeze. "We have exactly three minutes before this cabin is overrun. So unless you'd both like to die arguing, I suggest we move. Now."

Thunder cracked overhead as they stared at each other, neither backing down. In the distance, something screamed - a sound no natural wolf could make.

"Fine," Rowan broke first. "And when this goes bad - and it will - remember I told you so."

Selene lifted her chin. "I'll add it to the list of things I'm not going to thank you for."

For the first time, a real smile crossed his face. "I think I'm starting to see why your wolf needed a break from you."

Selene shot him a dreadful look. "I'll add it to the list of things I'm not going to thank you for."

Agnes threw up her hands. "Moon goddess, save me from stubborn pups. Now move!”