Forbidden (A Luke Castellan Love Story)

Chapter 53

Avery’s POV
            Groggily I woke up, my eyes slowly opening to a slightly dimmed room. I blinked a few times and looked around to see my surroundings. I looked to the right and saw beds lined up against the walls. Immediately I recognized it as the infirmary. I blinked the sleep from my eyes then turned my head to the left. I screamed and immediately shot up to a sitting position. I tried to scoot away frantically causing me to fall off the bed and onto the floor. I scrambled up and walked back slowly my eyes not leaving the bed.
            What was on my bed you might ask? Oh gods, on my bed was that huge silver wolf that almost killed Clarisse and her siblings! Why the Hades was it in here!? It was freaking lying next to me!
            The wolf’s head perked up when it heard me scream and looked around frantically, its eyes sharp and vicious looking ready to attack. Its head grazed past me quickly but then went back and its ice blue eyes locked with mine. The wolf yipped and I stumbled backwards. It stretched then jumped off the bed and started to walk towards me its tail wagging slightly. I stepped back again feeling a pain in my head and stomach but ignored it, more worried about my life. I took another step only to have my knees hit the edge of the bed and force me to sit on it. I closed my eyes and braced my face for it to chomp down on my neck to kill me but what happened next scared me more than that. I felt something fuzzy and soft as velvet rub on my legs and I tensed and made a small noise from fear.
            Slowly, I opened my eyes to see the wolf nuzzling up against me. I couldn’t help the surprise that came over me. This creature, that was going to kill some of the toughest kids, was nuzzling me like a dog. What. The. Hades.
            I hesitated before slowly putting my hand down to pet the wolf’s head. When I touched its head I flinched slightly prepared for it to snap at my hand but instead it pressed its head more firmly on my hand. I smiled and pet its head to have it stay there with a content look on its face.
            “At least he likes someone.” A voice said and I jumped then turned to see Grey with a smile on her face and her arms crossed.
            “I guess so,” I said and bend down to pet the wolf down its velvet like fur.
            “You know you really shouldn’t be walking around. You had quite a cut on your head, not to mention bruises on your stomach.”
            “I’m fine.” I said waving her off even though I could feel the slight throbbing in my head.
            Grey sighed then sat down on the bed across from the one I was by. It was silent for a moment. “What happened to you after the burning?” Grey asked, concern laced in her voice.
            My gaze left from the wolf and I turned to her. “I was walking alone in the woods,” I started but before I could go anywhere else with the story Grey gasped cutting me off.
            “You should never go in the woods alone Avery!” She scolded
            “I know,” I said then looked back down at the wolf. “I just wanted to be alone. I had my sword and daggers.” I sighed then continued with the story. “I heard Clarisse talking to someone about how she was going to kill ‘her’ for losing the Capture the Flag game. Apparently, that someone was me. They shoved me up against a tree, which is why I have a cut on my head, and pinned me there while Clarisse punched me.”
            Another deep breath and I continued, “I started to pray in my head for anyone to help me. Right when Clarisse was about to punch me in the face, there was this huge howl that stopped her. Soon there were hundreds of wolves that surrounded the area. Clarisse’s siblings dropped me to fight off the wolves but I ended up smacking my head on the ground. The wolves started to attack them to the point where they looked like they were about to kill them. I told- I told them to stop and they did. They let the Ares kids go then after they waited the other wolves charged after them. I was alone and the silver wolf,” I said looking down at the wolf by me, “Came up to me. I thought it was going to kill me at first, then it didn’t and ended up licking my face. It was weird. After that I heard something weird- it was probably a hallucination, though. Then, I blacked out.”
            Grey nodded slowly, taking in the story. “They are so dead when I tell Chiron about what they did.” Grey said her voice hard.
            I smiled, “I think they got enough from the wolves.”
            My ghost friend laughed, “You should have seen their faces when we ran into them, trying to find you.”
            We started laughing. It felt good to talk to her. “Well,” Grey said, standing up. “We both need to go to bed, you can stay in here or you can go to your cabin, whichever you choose.”
            “Okay,” I said, “Night.”
            “Night.” Grey replied then left the infirmary with only me and the silver wolf.
            I sighed and laid back on the bed with my arms stretched out and my eyes closed. The wolf soon jumped up on the bed and put its head on the part where my shoulder met my neck on the left side. I turned to it and smiled then looked back up and shook my head as I recalled what I heard. “Man,” I said aloud and laughed at myself, “I sure was hallucinating if I thought you talked to me.”
            “But you did.” A voice said and I jumped up to a sitting position, looking around wildly looking for someone in the room. Slowly my eyes shifted to the silver wolfs intelligent gaze.
            “Oh. My. Gods.” I said, my mouth hanging open slightly from what crazy thought I was thinking.
            The wolf jumped down from the bed and looked back up at me, “She called me a male,” The voice said casually but still with a small attitude, “I’m a female thank you very much.”
            My mouth was gaping and my eyes wide. “Did you- did you-?” I stuttered. I felt like I was going to faint.
            “Talk?” The wolf looked at me and I could see a glint in the wolf’s eyes that somehow I recognized as a smile.
            I gaped at the wolf then shook my head rubbing my temples and pacing. “The Stoll’s must be behind this. They- they must be pulling a prank, yeah- yeah that’s it.” I said to myself then stood up and called loudly into the infirmary. “Alright guys!” I yelled, “Not funny, you can cut it out now!”
            There was silence and I looked back at the wolf whose eyes twinkled with amusement. She looked like she was laughing. “It truly is me, little star.” The wolf said.
            “I’m going to faint.” I muttered to myself and sat down making the bed jump a little from my weight. There was a strange laugh that came from the wolf; it was like a growl but a yip at the same time.
            The wolf jumped up next to me. “Does this frighten you?” She asked, her head tilted.
            “Um, yes?” I said stating the obvious. “I’m crazy aren’t I? First I see ghosts and now I can talk to a wolf.”
            “Oh you can talk to more than just me.” The wolf said, “You were granted with a gift of speech with all animals.”
            My expression turned serious and I looked at her. “How do you know?” I asked then realized how stupid it was that I was talking to an animal as if I was talking to another human being.
            There was a flash of panic in the wolf’s eyes and she hoped down from the bed. She paced for a few seconds then looked up at me, “You are truly special, little star, but I cannot tamper with fate. You must find out yourself.”
            I looked at her strangely then shook my head, not understanding what she had at all. I wasn’t special. I mean sure I can talk to animals- ‘apparently’- and have powers but most of the other kids do too. “Why did you call me that?” I asked.
            “Call you what?”
            “You called me ‘little star’; Why?”
            The wolf’s eyes shimmered as if it was an inside joke between us. “You shine like a star but you are not as bright as your full potential.” The wolf explained with the glint of a smile in her eyes.
            I shrugged, “Yeah okay, sure.” The wolf made another laughing sound and I smiled.  “Why were you in the forest?” I asked, curiosity overwhelming me.
            “You called for help. I simply answered.” The wolf said as if it was obvious. “You call and I shall be there. As they say, wolves are descendants so we are also considered ‘man’s best friend’.” 
            “You just called me a man; I’m a woman thank you very much.” I said using the same tone she had done to me when we first started talking.
            The wolf started to crack up and jumped on the bed and nuzzled under my arm so my hand was rested on my back. “I knew I would like you.”
            I smiled and stroked her back slightly, not able to take in how soft it was. We were silent for a while until I asked, “So what do I call you?”
            She turned her head to me, “My name is Luna. You may call me whatever you like however. It is your decision.”
            My thoughts went back to the first time when I saw her. The moon shimmered behind her and gave her a powerful and strong glow around her.
             I smiled. “I think it’s a perfect name.”
            Her eyes smiled and she put her head on my lap. “I already know your name.” She stated after a while.
            “How?” I asked. We had just met.
            A small laugh escaped her, “For one thing, the humans have been speaking your name many times, they were very worried. There is also the reason that we are connected.”
            I raised an eyebrow at her. “How exactly?”
            She rolled on her stomach then on her right side so I could see the top where her front leg and her back met. I gasped as I saw a mark that looked very similar to something I had seen before.
            My hands flew to my right shoulder and I shoved aside the fabric on it to find a birthmark on my shoulder. The birthmarks looked the exact same only Luna’s was made from a different color of fur while mine was just a lighter shade of my skin that formed the mark. They were both a moon with a star in the middle of it but how she had one that looked exactly like mine, shocked me. [A/N: birthmark. Only on the right shoulder and actually looks like a birthmark and not a tattoo]  
            “So I see that you did find the connection.” Luna said making me whip my head at her, my eyes wide from surprise still.  
            I looked back from her mark to mine then let my shirt fall back into place again. “What does it mean?” I asked tugging at it the fabric by my shoulder so it would stay where it was supposed.
            “The mark bonds us together. If you are ever in trouble, I will know immediately and will try to come to your side. There are other things but,” Her eyes smiled. “Where would be the fun in ruining the surprise?” She got up from the side laying position and made a laugh when she heard me groan from annoyance.
            “I hate surprises.” I whined.
            “Oh but I love them.” Luna teased. I just rolled my eyes, with a smile on my face, and laid back down on the bed letting out along and deep sigh.  “You must rest now, little star.” Luna said, concern in her voice and eyes. “You should not even have gotten up in the first place, you must be exhausted now.”
            As soon as she said it, I realized how exhausted I really was. I had probably slept for a while, but it wasn’t enough to let me fully charge my energy.  I nodded tiredly and Luna jumped from the bed and gave me a look that a mother would give her kids to tell them to get into bed. I smiled and walked over to my previous bed and climbed in. Luna hopped on the bed as well and fit comfortably on my left side.
            I laid in bed for a minute with Luna’s head on my stomach, her breathing in a soothing rhythmic pattern. “Luna?” I asked raising my head to look at her. She made a noise to answer a ‘yes’ so I continued. “What if I squish you?” I asked, seriously. “I toss and turn a lot.”
            Luna laughed, not raising her head. “You will not crush me, little star. Do not worry, I shall be fine. Now rest.”
            A sleepy smile formed on my face and I nodded slightly then then rested my head back on the pillow. “Goodnight Luna.” I whispered.
            She chuckled and as I was about to drift off, I heard Luna whisper, “Good night, little star.”
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A/N: What did you guys think??? Please comment guys!! I love reading them and they make me update faster, I promise you that they do!! Thanks for all you guys do!!
        -Breann