Chapter 8 (✓)

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Everything hurt.

Residual pain plagued my bones, coagulating in the centres like lead. My muscles ached, and every little movement had needles of pain lashing about my body. I didn't even have a means to groan, for my throat was on fire. If I hadn't known better, I may have thought the infection had finally gotten the better of me.

Wait-- damn it-- the infection!

My eyes snapped open, and I winced as bright light swallowed my vision. I squinted, trying to gain my bearings, but everything was blurred or unfamiliar. Where was I? What had happened last night? Was I finally in the hospital?

I might have thought so if it weren't for the unmistakable weight of cold steel at my wrists. My heart crawled as I tugged at the bindings, their hold sure as stone. Panicked, I whipped my head around, the action alone sending another wave of hot pain through my body. I suppressed my curses and forced my eyes to adjust.

The room was lavish. Gold-and-purple diamonds patterned the white walls, gleaming in the light that leaked through the large-pane windows. A four-poster frame of rich mahogany rose up around me, stark in contrast to the ice-green covers I lay upon. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, casting fragments of light across the room, as though the room itself were a kaleidoscope. 

My eyes roved further down the room, and my ran cold. Near the back stood a cluster of silhouettes, all of varying shapes in sizes, speaking in a cacophony of hushed tones. I forced my vision to adjust and, as as it did, my heart sunk. Among the humans sat several lupine figures, and I knew without a doubt that those were the same beasts that had attacked me earlier. 

I wanted to scream, to yell at those people for standing so carelessly by those creatures, but my voice failed me. Heart slamming, and exhausted of options, I tuned in to their warbled words instead.  

" ...Are you lot insane? We cannot home an Epsilon. Do you have any idea of how dangerous they are?"

"We need this leverage, Zion," a calm feminine voice replied. I couldn't make out who had spoken. "In such perilous times, our territory verges on collapse. This may be our only chance to rebuild."

The auburn-haired man, who had spoken previously, sneered at the female's words. "And what of the other territories, Yuki? Do you have any idea what havoc they'll wreak when they discover we have an Epsilon in our keeping? If you think we're under fire now, just wait until they get wind of this."

I must've been going insane, because I was sure one of the grey-furred beasts shook its head with exasperation. I was even more shocked when it opened its mouth to speak. "Our options are numbered, Zion. This is a risk we must take."

"Did that thing just talk?"

Everyone whirled on me, and I shrunk into the mattress. As though in mocking, my mother's words flashed in my mind, and I cursed myself for speaking out of line. It seemed I forgot I was bound to a bed in a room full of strangers. And talking wolves, apparently. Or maybe I was just going crazy. I decided on the latter.

The dog's features twisted in what could have only been displeasure. Her silver eyes glowed as she took me in, assessing. "I'm no 'thing'. No more than you are, mind you."

My jaw dropped. "It spoke again!" I looked towards the others in the room, wondering what they made of this madness. I tried to point, but a tight tug on my wrists reminded me I couldn't. "Are you not seeing this? It just talked!"

They stared at me with looks that implied I was an idiot. Between the pounding pain and the panic threatening to consume me whole, my mind couldn't begin to piece together what was happening. Why weren't they alarmed? Why were they regarding me like that? 

The grey wolf-dog turned towards the red-haired man. "And you think she's a threat? Give over."

The male sneered in response. As they started bickering again, I fell back onto the pillows, head spinning. I cursed myself for not having that bite checked. If I had, maybe I wouldn't be in this room of talking beasts and odd strangers.

"I deeply apologise for the confusion," a voice announced, silencing the room in an instant. I started. This voice was smoother than the others; soft, like the watery touch of satin. Before I knew it, my eyes were searching. 

When my eyes found him, I was surprised I hadn't noticed him before. His presence was a beacon, as though his existence alone demanded attention without inviting it. He was dressed in all black, very different to the forest-green tunics and white vests of the others. The air whooshed from my lungs as his eyes locked mine, and in an instant, I was lost to another world. 

Deep cerulean, like the darkest depths of an ocean, or the raw gleam of an uncut sapphire, rough and elegant. The shades shifted in the light, like movement of water, and I quickly found myself swept up in the currents. His gaze compelled me, and it took every fibre of my being just to break his gaze and roam his face. Chiselled features similar to that of a statue's greeted me, as though someone of most delicate hand had whittled his perfect jawline. Hair of darkest midnight arranged itself neatly upon his head, seeming to soak up every bit of light it could find, like a patch of shadow that could not be diminished. 

But it wasn't just his looks that drew me in. There was something so... interesting about him. Curiosity burned in me as I stared into those eyes, demanding I get closer, demanding I analyse him, just as I analysed everything in life. Despite the steel at my wrist, despite the talking wolves and odd strangers, something about his presence re-assured me. He gave me a smile, and though it was soft, there was a steely certainty to it. One that compelled me to trust his judgement. 

"I..." I stammered, unsure of what to say. A few people -- and wolf-beasts -- snickered at my expense. However, the sound promptly died as the man held up a single hand. At that moment, he looked like he held the power to dim stars and quieten the noisiest of nights, something that stirred a primitive fear within me. 

"I go by many titles," he began, and a sick thrill ran through me as I realised he was addressing me. "Lord South, Alpha South, Lord Azriel... but you can just call me Azriel." He winked, and I stared back, stunned. He swept an arm behind him, toward the gathered. "I apologise. These are not the best circumstances to greet under, and I believe some members of my higher court have forgotten their manners."

A few shifted uncomfortably at the remark, particularly the auburn-haired man. 

"I can only imagine your confusion," he continued, striding towards me. Even the way in which he carried himself held an air of casual superiority, one that had me holding my breath. He paused a few feet before my bed, smiling. "After all, I am certain you have never been exposed to so many Werewolves at once."

That was enough to shock me back to my senses. Werewolves? I looked at the creatures in the room, and suddenly their features made sense. They did look humanoid, despite the fur and claws and fangs. A sudden urgency flooded me at the realization and I tugged at my bindings again, hissing as pain lashed up my arm. I gave him a desperate look. "Thank you, Azriel, but--"

"Lord, Azriel," the auburn-haired man corrected, his words edged with a snarl. Azriel shot his subordinate a warning glare, and though I'd been given permission to use his name, I wasn't eager to anger a werewolf. 

I swallowed. "Sorry. Lord Azriel. I believe you are mistaken. Werewolves don't exist--"

The auburn-haired man bristled. "Don't question the Lord, fool!"

"Zion!" Azriel barked, whirling to regard the man. "Enough. She has every right to feel the way she does."

Zion's mouth fell shut. If I wasn't so afraid, I may have felt sorry for him.

Azriel turned back to me, clearing his throat. "Now, there has been a little... mix-up. You see, your assumptions of our kind make sense. To you, we only exist in fairy tales and fables, and that's all we should ever mean to you humans." The Stygian male paused, breathing a chuckle. "I'm sorry, humans aren't supposed to know about us. I shouldn't discount you, because you're no longer human, either."

I stared back, dumbfounded. What the hell was he saying?

The red-haired man, Zion, let out an impatient sigh. "Azriel, my lord, it's clear she doesn't understand." He took a few strides towards me, mouth twisting into an unfriendly frown. "Hear me, mortal, for you don't seem to comprehend. Allow me to put this into simpler terms."

I swallowed my indigence at the way he said mortal, and then wondered why I was offended by it. That word didn't mean anything to me, even if he'd said it as though it were below him. As though I were below him.

The male paused, green eyes raking over me. Then, in a move so sudden it made me jump, he threw his arms into the air. "We're werewolves! And now, quite unfortunately, so are you!"

Several beats of silence I passed. I stared between Azriel and Zion. The former's expression was grave, but he made no move to correct his subordinate. My heart sunk, and for a moment, the world around me went quiet.

But then I remembered why I was here, in this strange room, with all these fantasy creatures around me. I was hallucinating. Any moment now, I would wake up to bright-white lights and the face of my mother looming over me, angry but relieved I was okay. I would even take her constant comparison of me and my stillborn sister if it meant I could escape this room of beasts. 

I wasn't a werewolf.

"You're kidding me!" I huffed, eyeing Zion with bemusement. He stilled at my reaction. As I stared at him, giggling, I wondered how my mind had managed to conjure such a figure. His face was chiselled like Azriel's, and though his features were a little rougher, he had an air of rugged handsomeness about him. It was a shame my mind had decided to make this fictious character an ass. 

Slowly, his face contorted into a soft snarl, eyes sparkling with dislike. "You think this a joke?" 

I laughed in response. Something deadly entered the man's emerald eyes, and in an instant, the air shifted. One moment, he was standing still, human. The next, his body was bending in all the wrong places, clothes shredding as fur burst from tanned skin. Dread filled me from inside up as black claws replaced nails and canines elongated, gleaming like rows of daggers in his lupine maw. 

For a few moments, we just stared at each other, my body trembling as his eyes focused on me like prey. Then, in a flash of russet, he pounced. My shriek turned into something like a yelp as he landed on me, bones barking under the weight. Even amidst my panic, I recognised the reddish fur, the golden deep-set eyes. 

"Zion!" a voice boomed, cleaving the air like a whip. I watched on in horror as Azriel strode to the bedside and turned his palms outwards. His cerulean eyes glowed bright, and before I could being to understand what was going on, the air shattered with a resounding crack. Shock waves slammed my face as a hard force blasted from Azriel's palms, sending the wolf sprawling. I screamed as the beast slammed into a wall, plaster and wood alike splintering under his momentum.

My gaze snapped to Azriel, who was glowering towards his sub-ordinate. How had he pushed him off with such force? He hadn't even laid a finger on him! 

My entire frame shook. Zion's pain-fogged eyes cleared as he beheld his master's wrath and, in that moment, I did feel bad for him. 

"Do not do such things without my command!" Azriel snapped. Zion seemed to sink in on himself, his ears flattening against his fluffy head. "You're my right-hand. You know better than to attack an unarmed girl. What happened to honour?"

"What the hell!" I squealed, unable to contain myself. I took in Azriel's still-glowing eyes and thrashed against my bindings. This couldn't be real. Before, I had believed this was all a hallucination, some sick dream. But after feeling the weight of Zion on me, and the still-vibrating air of Azriel's force... it was becoming harder and harder to believe this was all fake. 

"Apologies, dear," Azriel said with a sigh. "Zion is correct. We are all wolves, and..." He paused, cerulean gaze levelling with mine. His throat bobbed.

"You are also a werewolf."




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