Princess...

Chapter 23

Accalia

Jet found me a few minutes later, tugging me back to the workers quarters as I was 'late' and needed to 'hurry up'. I rolled my eyes and entered my room, picking out a black and white striped top and a set of white denim overall shorts, secretly loving the gardener look that I had developed.

"Come on princess, I have work to do." Jet grumbled from the other side of the door and I rolled my eyes, opening my door and the blonde-haired man didn't give me much chance to catch up as he left the house, only stopping when we were halfway across the field and turning to me

"Today you're going to rake the pit. After Alpha Lupus' fight earlier, it needs maintaining and I've got jobs to do so I've had to give the task to you." He admitted, handing me a rake and walking me over to the pit. "It's so simple, rake the ground towards you first, then change directions and do it again. Do that until you've gone 360 and then do it again, digging harder this time. This will cause new dirt to resurface. Once you're done... I don't know, do whatever a princess would do, over with the flowers." He was grumbling but I knew it was lighthearted, especially when he called me that stupid fucking nickname. I nodded wordlessly and got to scraping the ground, trying to put the fight to the back of my mind as I worked. I knew people must have fought in the pit here for decades, the worn ground told me as much, though I never participated myself back in New Orleans. I had always been against violence; until I was thrown from my pack with no money or hope for a new life, when I stumbled upon the Rogue club and had to fight my way to the top. I'd just finished raking in the 360 pattern Jet had instructed and wiped my forehead, my inner wolf too exhausted from the lack of sleep to give me any strength. This was the hard part, trying to unearth new dirt from the trampled ground and in my current state, I was going to struggle to make any kind of dent in the soil. I took a deep breath and stabbed the rake into the brown dirt, tugging harshly and fresh mud appeared in the wake of my tracks. I repeated this a few times before I pulled the rake back too harshly and it came flying towards me, not giving me a second to react as one of the prongs sliced a gash in my calf.

"Fuck!" I howled, dropping the rake and falling to the floor as blood dripped from the wound. Jet must have heard me scream as he came rushing over, dropping to his knees in the dirt and checking me over, finding the gash on the side of my shin. Tears spilt from my eyes as I clutched my calf tightly, wishing for the pain to disappear. My inner wolf was too weak to heal me; this cut needed stitches if I didn't want it to get infected.

"What the fuck happened?" A deep voice bellowed from in the distance and I jumped, making me cry out again as the jolt moved the skin on my calf. Jet was apologising profusely but he looked pale, clearly not used to seeing so much blood. I closed my eyes tightly and prayed for the Moon Goddess to give me strength, but instead, I was scooped up by a set of strong arms and I burrowed into the chest, still sobbing as the pain pulsed through my leg

"What happened, Ace?" Of course, it was Alpha Lupus who had picked me up, no one else had that habit and my inner wolf relaxed into the touch but the pain was still radiating, causing my sobs to turn into hiccups

"I was... using the rake on the pit... I slipped... It hurts so bad..." I whimpered, keeping my eyes closed as the Alpha walked us across the field and to a building I knew wasn't the house; this one smelled sterile. Was this the Guardian's office? A quick peek of opening my eyes and I was met with bright light and harsh white walls before I had to close my eyes as another wave of agony washed over my pitiful frame.

"Greil, can you stitch this up? She cut her calf with a rake. Her wolf isn't healing it." The Alpha ordered and I was carried into a room before being placed onto a bed, one very similar to the one at the human doctor's Janie made me go to with her when she had to get checked up. I couldn't ever go to those places, they would know that something was wrong when my body temperature ran higher than normal along with the other anomalies that came with being a werewolf.

"This will hurt for a second but it's just to ease the pain. You won't feel it after a while." The Guardian, who I figured was named Greil, spoke softly but I didn't like when he spoke like that, my inner wolf on high alert at another person touching me.  A needle pricked my arm and my inner wolf howled, disliking the scratch of pain before the agony that was attacking my calf subsided, and I could open my eyes. As I did, I took in Guardian Greil, with light brown hair that had started to grey, light wrinkles ghosting his features and a warm smile which I weakly returned. He wore an outfit similar to the human doctor's I'd seen, but Alpha Lupus pacing back and forth off to the side caught my attention before I could say anything

"I'm going to kill him. What part of my orders didn't he understand? Should have him executed-" I cut Alpha Lupus off, completely in shock that he was reacting this way. I was just another rogue worker, why did it matter if I got hurt? Jet was always getting injured whilst working, and the Alpha never reacted this way with him?

"It wasn't Jet's fault, Alpha Lupus. I asked to do more work and Jet had to agree when I forced him. It's my own fault for getting into this mess..." My voice was quiet, but I wasn't even talking about the gash on my calf anymore, I was talking about my whole situation; getting found by Salt Lake City's Alpha, being kidnapped and brought here, lying to him about my name and my pack, living a complete lie under the pretence that I could be happy for even a moment. What was I hoping to find here? Friends? A mate? By the Moon Goddess, I must have been delusional, she will tell me when it is time to move on and find a new life; I hadn't nearly punished myself enough to have earned her forgiveness.

"The dramatics aside Ethan, I have finished stitching her up, the rogue will be fine." Greil stood from the end of the bed I was laying on and I sat up, staring down at the gash which now had 6 long stitches running against the wound.

"Her name is Ace, Guardian Greil. But thank you for that." Alpha Lupus' voice was a low growl which caused an uneasy feeling in my stomach but I pushed it away, wincing as I got off of the table and put pressure on my right leg that now had the stitches in it. I tried limping towards the door but fell, Alpha Lupus only just catching me and standing me upright. Greil moved towards me and I flinched but tried to relax as he bent down to look at my leg

"That is most curious. Why isn't your inner wolf healing you already?" He looked up at me and I dragged my eyes away from him, focusing on a spot by the door.

"Alpha Lupus' cut didn't heal instantly after training, maybe mine is the same?" I knew I was lying, but he didn't know that. I knew I didn't eat or train enough to have the quick healing abilities my wolf was capable of; that was the price I paid for ruining my pack.

"No, I had a lot of adrenaline and my inner wolf was too hyped up on that to heal me. Your wolf should be healing you by now, Ace..." Was the Alpha concerned for me? No, he just didn't want me dead until he had a reason to kill me himself, that must be it. I shrugged instead and tried limping to the door again but didn't get far as a tear slipped from my eye. It wasn't necessarily painful, but the force in my calf was overwhelming

"You shouldn't be putting pressure on your leg until it heals, Rogue Ace. You need to rest for now." Guardian Greil informed me and I rolled my eyes, now unsure as to how I'd get back to the workers quarters if I wasn't allowed to walk. As if reading my mind, Alpha Lupus picked me up bridal style and bid farewell to the Guardian, walking us out of the office and back over the field. I could feel the pack's eyes on us so I closed mine, trying to ignore the attention.

"You can put me down, Alpha." I mumbled, fiddling with one of the buttons on my overall shorts. He simply chuckled which caused my inner wolf to stir and I struggled to fight against the feeling, which I knew had to be a side effect of the painkillers Guardian Greil had given me. I was carried through the kitchen and into my bedroom before he placed me down on my bed, fetching the comforter and I snuggled under it on my side, secretly loving the fact that I got to sleep some more considering how exhausted I was.

"Get some rest, Ace." Alpha Lupus' voice was soft as he exited my room and I didn't breathe until he was gone, exhaling heavily and rolling onto my back. My inner wolf was too awake to sleep right now, so I stared at the ceiling until my eyes felt heavy and closed them, allowing the beckoning calls of slumber to overwhelm me.