Epsilon [Werewolf]

Chapter 8 (✓)

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?