A Howl in the Night

~ What. The. Crap.

~ What. The. Crap.

My eyes open slowly, painfully, as if the movement itself hurts me. But it is the reality of life that I really wish to avoid.

The first thing I catch sight of after a moment of dizziness is a blindingly handsome man with black hair and big green eyes. He is gazing at me warmly, smiling as I start to cough and sit up. "There there," he pats my hand softly, "not too fast."

"Who are you?" I ask him in the middle of my coughs.

He just looks at me, putting a large hand underneath my head. Gently he presses a switch, and the bed tilts into a sitting position. "I am Legarius," he answers me while reaching for a small cup of water. "Are you thirsty?"

My mind flashes back to the first night that I met Xavier, who had murmured the same words. Pain and loss strike as I search through the meager memories, trying to salvage the remnants of beauty that are left.

"Where's Xavier?" I ask him urgently, my heartbeat skyrocketing. Horror races through me at the recollection of the Council's words the day before. What if the entire pack is dead right now? What will I do with my shameful self?

"He is perfectly fine right now," Legarius replies as I grab his arm with a ferocity that surprises even me. "Who you should be worried about right now is yourself. Do you feel better?"

Do I? I hesitantly release Legarius's wrist and reach towards my own head. A terrible pain sweeps through me, and I groan. "It's like a migraine," I mutter, ripping my hand away. I don't need to be sick right now. I need to be helping my friends.

"It's okay though," I try to protest as Legarius reaches for a bottle of pills. "I really just need to see my pack. Please."

"Take this, and you can go see them as soon as you wake up," he assures me, holding the small yellow pill before my eyes. I look at it warily, as if it is an enemy.

"You promise?" I ask him as I take the pill and hold it in my hand. He nods, and I lift it to my lips slowly. Trying not to think about it, I hasten to throw it in my mouth, trying to swallow as quickly as possible. It barely hits my stomach before I start to notice the effects.

"Easy, princess," he laughs as I begin to see red, thrashing around like a bull in a china shop. Everything becomes dizzy again, and I moan.

"What kind of pill is this?" I berate him angrily. It is like fire in my insides, intensifying my migraine extremely. I soon find it hard to move, like I am frozen in place. He just continues to laugh as the sleepiness takes over, my eyelids slipping. I am barely conscious within seconds. I slip off into dreamland, vowing to kill Legarius as I go.

* * *

"She asked for me. Let me have a minute with her alone," a beautiful voice argues.

"I don't know if we can let you do that. The Council never said anything about her meeting with her pack. You will have to have a consultation with them first. Just because she is off the hook doesn't mean you are."

"You heard it as plain and clear as I did. The Council gave her the power to do whatever she wants, except when she is ordered by one them. If she wants to meet with me, she can."

"I don't like this."

"You don't have to."

My eyes slip open for the second time, directed towards the source of the bickering. In the corner of my vision I spot Griffin and Xavier by the door of the hospital-like room I inhabit. They don't seem to notice me at all, arguing back and forth bitterly. Legarius is nowhere to be seen, luckily for him.