0005

The city lights faded behind Hazel as she drove, her thoughts consumed by what had happened with Mr Cambridge. Hazel knew that her actions meant an immediate dismissal from work, so there was no point staying behind in Seattle.

She continued to drive until the day faded into night. The road became more narrow as she drove out of the city, finally leading her to Newport, Washington, the quaint hamlet that marked the territory of her old wolf pack.

She kept up the fast speed regardless, even as the traffic faded around her and she was the only one on the dark road. Soon, she was surrounded by centuries-old trees around her, and a dirt road before her.

Hazel took a long breath of air, filling her lungs with the fresh breeze that rushed into her car. This was what she missed: this solitude that came with staying out in the country. Seattle was too crowded; too claustrophobic. Half the time, she felt as though she was breathing air meant for other people.

Hazel was halfway across the road when she realized that she wasn't meant to be in the Moon Gold pack, anyway. The Alpha and his son, Kieran, had banished her half a decade ago, and she was never to step foot in the pack again.

In all her haste to leave Mr Cambridge and the urge that was pulling her back home, she'd forgotten about that.

There's no going back now, her wolf murmured.

Soon, the dirt road stretched out into asphalt again, leading her into the little town that was Moon Gold wolf pack. The trees around her thinned out, and soon she was surrounded by tiny, box-like houses.

Hazel closed her eyes and took another breath. Home, at long last!

Suddenly, as though from another consciousness, she heard the honking of a car horn, and the screeching of tires.

Her eyes flew open. A car was coming straight for her!

"Shit!" She cursed and froze for a millisecond.

Hazel had little to no time to swerve. Her knees buckled, and her eyes bulged as the headlights from the other car blinded her.

Was she going to die this way?

Her hands gripped the steering wheel, and she turned with so much force that the wheel locked. She successfully managed to turn the car to the left, stopping horizontally on the road, with her headlights pointing into the darkness of the forest. But this was not without effect.

Another horn came from the other driver, who was coming straight for the back of her car.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Hazel screamed, trying to get her car away from the road before she became roadkill. But it was too late!

The other driver hit the back of her car, sending it tumbling into the trees with her still in it. Hazel could not scream, and neither could she save herself.

Pain ricocheted through her body as the car somersaulted through the trees. Somewhere between the road she had been plying and the trees, her headlights had gone off.

Her breath caught in her throat, as she was tossed around in the car several times.

Then finally, the car stopped tumbling.

Hazel felt as though she was floating away from her body for several, agonizing minutes. The car had stopped on its feet, thankfully. But she was somehow caught between her driver's seat and below the steering, her head pressing against the brakes.

In this position, she should have died. But she could hear the frantic voices of several people as they approached her.

I think we're safe, she heard her wolf mutter inside of her. Then her entire world went black.

*******

"This is NOT like the movies."

She wanted to lie still and keep her eyes shut as long as they would like. There was bliss with the silence of that darkness, but her body rebelled against her wants and forced her awake.

Awake was blinking those treacherous eyes open, and being assaulted by a headache almost as soon as the white light flooded her vision.

A curse escaped her lips. She drew herself up to find she was on a bed, and the ceiling was strewn with LCD bulbs that gave the room an ethereal glow. The walls themselves were white, and Hazel had the horrible feeling that she hadn't survived the accident.

There are worse things, her wolf murmured to her. You could be in an asylum for instance.

She shuddered as she swung one foot off the bed. And that's when she caught and recognized his familiar scent.

There was a man in the room with her. This man wore a gray shirt and black trousers and he sat two feet away, as still as a stone, but not as unmoving. His eyes, a darker shade of green, were fixated on her above long intertwined fingers that tapped against each other now and then.

It was like he never left. Like she never left.

The corner of his lips lifted in what looked like a smile. "Hello."

Well, Hazel, her wolf chuckled. You're severely fucked now.

*******

The two of them stared into the other's eyes for what seemed like an eternity, each too stunned to speak.

"Where am I?" Hazel asked, finally. She wasn't exactly soft with her inquiry.

"Safe," he replied, "I was wondering when…"

"Where the fuck am I, Kieran?!"

Kieran glanced at his wristwatch. "It's sixteen minutes past four in the evening. You've been knocked out all day."

"Kieran," Hazel growled through gritted teeth. "Where the fuck am I?"

Those eyes of jade narrowed momentarily. Then his lips lifted in a sinister smile that sent shivers up her arms. "You're safe, Hazel. If you're looking for more details, you're in one of the rooms of a house overlooking the pack, but that's not…"

"I need to get out of here."

"Hazel…"

"Fucking get me out of here!"

She started to get to her feet, then realized quite late that it was a very bad idea. Pain shot up her legs like darts, connecting with her spine and her neck in swift jabs that sent her back into bed.

"You might wanna stay still. You sustained severe injuries and they'd take time to heal even with all the bandages and painkillers and whatnot you were given."