Redamancy | Elena Gilbert

Chapter 17

She awoke to fries and a milkshake.

As Rosalind regained consciousness, memories of the full moon flooded back into her. She remembered the pain. The ache. The burn of the diluted wolfsbane running down her throat. She remembered Elena telling her to breathe, that she could handle it, even if she thought she couldn't.

And then, everything sort of got fuzzy. She must not have done much in wolf form. Which was expected because she was in chains.

Now, somehow, she was laying on the ground, covered in a blanket, with fries and a milkshake waiting for her. Elena was next to her, munching on fries of her own, occasionally dipping them in her milkshake.

"Elena?" said Rosalind groggily. "What happened?"

"You made it through your first full moon," said Elena. "I hope it's okay that Jeremy came by to bring us this. I worried you wouldn't be strong enough to get back home unless you had food in you. I may be improving in my training, but I'm not strong enough to carry you."

Rosalind tilted her head. "You remembered."

"Of course I remembered," teased Elena. "You told me like, two days ago."

The wolf smirked. "So, my first turn, and your first month of training with Alaric, hmm?" She grabbed a fry and dipped it into the milkshake before eating it. "This is sinfully good. Oh, shit..." she glanced down at herself as she started to sit up and the blanket almost slid off of her body. "I forgot I'm naked. Can you—?"

"Sure," said Elena, holding her fries and milkshake and turning away. Rosalind held the blanket around herself and gathered her spare clothes, changing into them quickly. Once she was dressed, she took the food back and kept eating.

Elena looked her over curiously, scanning her face to see if she could catch sight of any grimaces or other signs that Rosalind might not be as fine as she claimed to be. "Do you need water, or anything?"

Rosalind shook her head. "No, I'm okay. But thank you. We can start walking back. I'm not feeling too sore. Just a tad. If you don't mind me asking... what do I look like? When I'm in wolf form?"

"Your fur is very dark," said Elena as they exited the cellar. "Some patches of grey here and there around your eyes but it's basically all black. You'd blend in well with the night. Guess your dark hair contributes to that."

"Probably," she said. "That's what Tyler looks like. Speaking of Tyler, I should tell him about my idea. He can learn to turn painlessly and break the sire bond, hopefully. And then he and Caroline can be together again. She's good for him."

"And he's good for her, too," said Elena. "You know, the other day when they were decorating for Homecoming before it was flooded, he got glitter all over his hands and joked that he's sired to her. None of Caroline's past boyfriends have been devoted enough to indulge her in her little projects like that. It's sweet."

"Oh, fuck," said Rosalind with a light laugh. "Tyler hates glitter. Maybe he is sired to Caroline."

Elena accompanied her all the way up the stairs to her room, though Rosalind was insistent she could carry on by herself. They sat together, making sure to finish every last fry and drop of milkshake.

"Thank you for this, Elena," said Rosalind gently. "Really, it means a lot to me."

"Of course," said Elena. "Anytime. I'll be here next full moon... whether you like it or not."

She smirked. "I would appreciate that. I should probably try to sleep now, I have work in the morning."

"You should call in sick," she urged. "You're a month into the job, surely they can give you time to replenish."