Moonlit

Chapter Fifty-Six

The room was painfully foreign and it smelled all wrong. No one else's scent stuck to anything, leaving it unclaimed and yet Erica refused to call it hers. She sat at the very edge of the bed, now dressed in an outfit she had hastily changed into on the road.

She sat in utter silence and just stared at her own hand, and the bandage that wrapped it, trying to stop the flow of blood from the bite that near shattered her paw. She could still feel the pain from the wounded shift, every slice and bite stung beneath their patches and bandages, even the ones that had already started to heal.

There was a soft knock to the door, Jake's scent flooding beneath it, and the sound of shifting feet followed. He added another knock, like an afterthought and then fell silent. Erica hastily swiped at her eyes and went to the door. She opened it without looking at him and just stepped aside again to let him in.

Jake entered and let the door close behind him, his gaze slipping absently around the room. There was a bathroom through another door and a kitchenette in the corner, just as all the rooms had. As the Hunter had mentioned, though, nothing was stocked. "I just...wanted to check that you were alright," Jake started. He lifted an arm to scratch at the back of his neck, disrupting the bandages there with a wince.

"Yes," Erica whispered and just moved back to the bed, slowly perching on the edge again. "Just fine." She held onto her own hands and just stared down at them. "Is...Terra okay?"

Jake stayed across the room and put his hands into his pockets. "She...she has a lot to manage right now," he said. Erica bobbed her head only a tiny bit and fell quiet again. She simply watched the patch of red that stained the back of her bandage. "Did, uh, did Jessie give you anything for that?" Jake asked, following her gaze. "I mean, painkillers or something?"

"Yes," she said. "A couple. It'll heal."

Jake gave a few nods. "Good, good." He paused and cleared his throat. "And...how are you, you know, up here?" he asked, tapping his head. "I know we're all a bit...tense, but..."

Erica finally looked up at him and held her gaze on his. "I...don't know? It doesn't seem real. What just happened."

The Beta ventured a bit closer and sat on the bed, hovering at the edge while giving her a good amount of room. He clasped his hands in front of him and sighed. "It's odd," he murmured. "Things like that happen so fast, but they seem so slow at the same time."

She dropped her gaze again, though to nothing in particular. "And now we're here," she said.

Jake took a slow breath. "We would not be here if we thought it was going to harm us. To leave everything the Hunters have done, what we've done, behind...it'll take time."

"They allowed us in," Erica said after a moment. "They could have turned us away."

"They still can," Jake said. "If it was anyone but Terra, they might. Of all the wolves, they've decided to work with her."

"I guess that makes us lucky," Erica muttered and focused on her bandages again.

Jake gave a small laugh under his breath. "Yeah, sometimes lucky is all we've got." He tipped his head to the side to watch her. "Erica, if you need anything or just...someone to talk to..." He left his offer open.

Mainly for his sake, she put on a smile though it barely reached her eyes. "Thank you," she said.

Jake reached out as though to take her hand put just placed his on her shoulder instead. "Anything," he assured, as he stood. "Even just a game of chess."

"And the same to you of course," Erica said quickly, then flushed a little. "If you want."

A genuine smile settled itself on Jake's lips and he nodded, still watching her as he took a step to the door. His foot caught around the other and he stumbled just a bit and swiftly turned from her. When he reached the door he glanced back, his face a bit red, and lifted a hand in farewell.

Erica managed a real smile in return and just lifted a hand to him too.