Page 43

H e pulled away from Ismena, swiftly putting her clothes back in order before he stepped towards the door and opened it.

"What is the matter?" He asked, stepping back.

Mirian's eyes were red, her cheeks wet with tears.

"My Lady's p-phone was r-ringing non-stop since afternoon until it eventually stopped.

I figured she'll a-attend to i-it once s-she r-returns, b-but w-when i-it rang again few m-minutes ago, I decided to answer it knowing you were b-busy with her.

I was going to explain to the caller to have a little b-bit of patience b-because my lady is not available at the moment. .."

She sniffled, "But, when I p-picked u-u-up the phone, it t-turned out that i-it was her mother. Her f-father was in a g-ghastly car accident a-and..."

"And w-what?" Ismena's tiny voice came up from behind Wolfaraine. She never thought it was possible for a person to go from hot to cold in such a short duration of time, but her body had done it .

She felt cold. Her hands shook as she made her way forward to stand in front of Wolfaraine. She swallowed, but her throat had gone dry. "And what, Mirian?" She repeated hoarsely.

She was only met with more tears.

Wolfaraine held her and turned her to face him. "Listen to me, Ismena, listen to me, baby. Are you listening?"

"Y-Yes," But, tears have filled her eyes. Her father? In a ghastly accident, her father...!?

"Good. We are going to journey to the human world, and we are going to go see your father in the hospital. For now, try to hold on to yourself, do you hear me?"

"I do... I really do, but I...I n-need to know," she faced Mirian again, "What did mama say about h-him? Is he alright? It's not t-that bad, right?" She swallowed tightly, "My father is still alive, right?"

"I don't know, my lady. Her c-cellphone went off before she c-could tell me m-more, I think her b-battery died." The woman wiped her tears, "But, it sounded really bad—"

"Mirian, stop." Wolfaraine commanded softly, "Get yourself under control. Tell me the name of the hospital. You were able to get it right?"

"Yes, yes," she proceeded to call the name of the hospital.

Ismena stood there, looking lost. Unconsciously, she rubbed her arms vigorously, trying to ward off the chills. She was barely aware that Wolfaraine was leading her out of the room.

"Prepare the necessities I need for this trip. Also, send for Alpha Alphose and Alpha Degar, tell them to meet me at the Wild Forest." He ordered Mirian, who inclined her head and quickly proceeded out of the room to carry out his order .

"And Sandra... And Sandra..." She whispered, her vision swimming.

"And Sandra." He chorused, so that Mirian will hear.

Outside the Tower, he made a half-shift to wolf form and positioned his back. Ismena climbed on half-heartedly and held on to him.

Before they made it to the Wild Forest, Ismena was weeping softly. The sound of it has the wolf on edge, and surprisingly, the cougar was too quiet. Not the aggressive kind of silence, but the unusual kind.

Even with all its hatred for humans, the cougar was not happy about the kind of pain that was emitting from her.

Almost an hour later, they were in the Wild Forest. The forest is closer to the Cougar Clan than the Werewolf Clan, so Alphose and the leopard Alpha were already waiting there with a Sandra that looked visibly upset.

Mirian must have told Alphose, who in turn, gave the news to Sandra.

"Mena... Baby," Sandra hurried forward as soon as she caught the sight of them.

He stopped and allowed Ismena to wiggle down from his back. Her best friend was already enclosing her into a very comforting hug as soon as he pulled away from her. She cried in Sandra's arms while the woman consoled her.

Wolfaraine on the other hand pulled both Alphas aside to instruct them.

"Alphose, you're going with us. Bring Kassandra along.

..it's obvious that Ena needs her, and I'm very sure she wants to go with us.

Degar, please take care of things while I'm gone.

Tell Adanel to take care of the Werewolf Clan.

He is strong enough and more than capable to lead and protect our clan. "

"I will relay your message and carry out your order, Alpha King." Degar said, lines of worry mapping his face.

Alphose shook his head sadly, "By the Moon Goddess, this is a very bad situation for Ismena. Not to mention that it's not even safe in the human world now."

"Hopefully, we won't be staying too long. Hopefully, her father will be alright." Wolfaraine looked behind him towards her, "It's barely a month since she got the scare about her sister's appendix surgery. She does not need this right now."

"What about those Wolfhunters? They'll definitely attack if they find out you're in the human world." Degar hated the thought of that, and it showed on his face.

"We'll try to keep things as low as possible because of the women, but if they attack we will definitely cross that bridge." Alphose stated matter-of-factly.

While they continued talking, Sandra was consoling Ismena with words, parting her back soothingly and giving her all the reasons why she shouldn't cry until she has gotten the status of her father's health.

A few minutes later, Degar said goodbye and left. Both Alphas made a half-shift, and both women took their positions on their backs.

Sandra was so worried about Ismena that the fear of being in close proximity with the Alpha King of Naturiah—and watching him grow twice his normal size in a half-shift—didn't send her shivering in fear as it would have on a normal, bright day.

All her concern was about her friend .

All through the ride, Ismena tried calling her mother's cellphone but her number wasn't connecting. By the time they arrived at the hospital in the morning, Ismena was filled with so much worry.

She rushed into the reception and spoke with the receptionist. The nurse was too busy attending to other matters that she hasn't looked her way since Ismena started trying to get her attention.

"I'll be with you shortly, ma'am, I just need to get these files across first. Kindly wait a few minutes, please." She spoke methodically without looking up, as if it was a poem she is very used to reciting.

Before Ismena could try to explain how impatient she was, Wolfaraine stepped forward from behind her and leaned into the counter. He took the woman's jaw and tilted it upwards until their eyes met.

The nurse's eyes widened to unbearable degrees as she was met with the most unsmiling, intimidating face she has ever seen in her entire face.

"You will leave everything else you're doing and attend to her, human nurse. Do you understand me?" His tone was calm, but his message was not.

The nurse gulped down saliva. Twice.

Fear clearly visible in her eyes, she cleared her throat, "O-Of course." To Ismena, she asked, "P-Please, what c-can I do for you, ma'am?"

Wolfaraine let go of her jaw then, and stepped back. His face blank, he crossed his arms and watched quietly.

"My father was brought here. He h-had an a-accident. I want to know which ward he was taken to."

The nurse requested her information with the enthusiasm of someone who is eager to please. Ismena provided all the necessary pieces of information, and the nurse told her which emergency room her father is in and which ward it's located in.

Ismena thanked her before she and Sandra hurried away from the reception towards the direction the nurse gave. Alphose and Wolfaraine spared the nurse one more glance before they turned and followed the ladies.

Immediately they were out of sight, the nurse took permission from her co-workers and hurried to the bathroom to go relieve her bladder. She'd almost peed herself!

Minutes later, Ismena was hugging a woman that looked exactly like her but a little bit older and a teen who looks like her too.

She held her mother and sister in a family hug, while her mother cried uncontrollably. Ismena stopped crying, choosing to stay strong for her mother. That's the only way to console her mother.

"I was at the s-school when I got the call that he'd been h-hit by a car.

.." Amelia sobbed, when her daughter asked for details, "I thought it was a prank call, a wrong number.

But, they described my husband to me and it was true.

They'd already called an ambulance so, I came straight to the hospital.

I tried getting you o-on the p-phone over and over—"

"I'm so so sorry, mother. I wasn't with my cellphone. I came as soon as I heard."

"But, you took so much time, Ena..." Valentina pointed out, her lips quivering because she was trying her best not to cry. Like Ismena, she knows that she has to stay strong for their mother.

Ismena shook her head miserably, "I came as soon as I heard, Tina. I was coming from a...very far place."

"New York?" She asked in a tiny voice .

Ismena spared her companions a teary glance before she nodded her head, "New York."

Her sister hugged her again, holding her tightly. "I'm so glad you're here now."

"How is father doing? Have you heard anything?" Ismena asked no one in particular.

"The surgery took all night. The doctor finally came out an hour ago and talked to us. He said father is out of surgery now, but they aren't allowing us to see him." Valentina answered, sniffling softly.

"Why?" Ismena was confused.

"Something about him still being in a very critical stage or something. They said we'll be able to see him in a few hours."

"Okay, okay, that works. No problem. We just wait, right?"

Valentina nodded her head. Ismena nodded too, before she led her family towards the seats and they all sat down. Amelia wiped her tears, and that was when she noticed the people Ismena came with.

"Oh, God. You came with some people and I wasn't even aware of it..." She said apologetically.

Sandra walked forward then and hugged the older woman. Afterward, she sat beside her, holding her hand.

Amelia looked at the two men who did not look like they belonged here at all. They were dressed in all black long suits that were designed to look like a robe, it was confusing. But, their dressing made them look like two huge, muscular assassins .

That was the description that fitted them really well. They were extremely handsome for men, but they looked scary at the same time. One of them walked forward then.

"Hi, ma'am. My name is Alphose and I'm a friend of your daughter. We came as soon as we heard what happened." He extended his hands.

Amelia placed her smaller ones on his, her fingers as dainty as her daughter's. "Thank you for being here. I'm Amelia, Ismena's mother."

"We're sorry to hear what happened."

"Thank you." Amelia was curious to know who these men were and how her straight-laced daughter had managed to make friends that looked like this.

"I'm Valentina. I'm her younger sister." The girl came forward and greeted bravely. Alphose took her hand too, and asked her some questions about how she was doing. She answered well, while looking at him with curious eyes

Finally, he turned, gesturing towards Wolfaraine. "This is our Alph...uhh...this is my best friend," he corrected quickly, "He's also a friend of Ismena too."

Wolfaraine stepped forward and took the woman's hand into his, "I am Wolfaraine Daminor Throne. I'm a good friend of your daughter."

"It's nice meeting you. I'm sorry we had to meet in such a situation." Amelia sniffled softly. Her eyes were keenly taking in the way her daughter was looking at the man whose strong hands enveloped her small ones.

She hasn't seen that look in her daughter's eyes before.

"Don't apologize, please. Don't worry too, everything will be alright. "

Amelia nodded her head. "Thank you so much. I really hope everything will be alright."

"Alphose and I will meet the doctor to get updates from him." He told her, and she thanked him again.

That was exactly what they did. They met the doctor, who explained the situation to them. By the time the doctor was done talking, both men were too worried.

Ismena's father sustained some serious spinal cord injuries and internal organs damage. Very fatal injuries that are very hard to survive and, even if he does, he'll never be the same again.

"He's still in the critical stage, he'll be staying here for a while—under our close surveillance. The next three days are the most critical, but his family can see him in the next hour. I'm really sorry, Mr. Throne." The doctor informed him.

"Thank you, doctor. I will take care of the hospital bills. Please, try your best to give him the best treatments he needs."

"No problem, Mr. Throne. You can go with the nurse to make the payments."

They shook hands before Wolfaraine and Alphose followed the very nervous nurse out of the doctor's office.

An hour later, Ismena, Amelia, Valentina, and Sandra were inside the room where Alfred lay. They sat hovering over him. He was in bandages—a lot of them. Only his face was spread but his head was bandaged too.

"He's in a lot of pain," Amelia wept. She was trying not to cry out loud because the doctor had strictly instructed them to keep things down .

Ismena was hugging her when the door opened, Wolfaraine and Alphose walked in.

"We already—" Wolfaraine was talking when he entered, but all of a sudden, he stopped. He stopped talking. He stopped walking.

His nostrils flared.

The first time, his face changed. The second time, his eyes changed—It went from blue to bright green instantly.

The third time, a growl emitted from his mouth.

"Wolfaraine...?" Alphose was immediately on hyper-alert when he noticed the visible changes in him.

His green eyes were focused on the man covered in bandages, lying down on the bed. He took a step forward and another growl tore out of his throat.

"Wolfe...?" Ismena whispered, confused.

Another step forward. His claws slipped out and the green eyes of the mountain lion glistened.

"Alpha King. Please... Stop." This is NOT looking good at all, Alphose thought. What is going on!?

He placed a hand on Wolfaraine's shoulder, in an effort to hold him back. "Please, don't do this, Alpha King."

"It's him. I know him." His voice had gone deeper, scratchy...hoarse. The voice of the mountain lion. "It's him. Doctor Hector... from the Labs."