Twenty-two

"Come on, Little wolf. Open your eyes," Whisper heard a few hours later. She was surprisingly in little pain and very exhausted. Slowly, she blinked open her eyes and saw a hospital room. Everything was white. Even her gown they put on her. Her heart began to speed up and she started to cry.

"Zane!" she moaned. "Zane!"

Warm hands encompassed her face while soft lips touched her brow. "Hush. You're safe."

"I want to go home! Take me home!"

Zane sat down beside her and pull her into his arms, looking like a child in his lap. "We are home, Whisper. We're just not at my house right now. Once Truent comes in to check on you, I'll take you home."

Whisper shivered uncontrollably from cold and fear. Zane wrapped a blanket around her and positioned himself against the headboard of the bed, holding her tightly.

It was an hour before the doctor came in and Whisper held onto Zane even tighter. "Whisper, I'm just going to take a look at you. Can you sit up?"

In a small voice she said, "I want to go home."

"Can I check your heartrate?" Truent asked, holding up the stethoscope.

The young girl looked at the instrument through her lashes before nodding once. She sat up and kept her arms around Zane, waiting a few seconds as Truent listened to her heart. When he was finished, he frowned. "What's wrong?" Zane asked.

"It's going too fast. Much too fast," he murmured. He glanced at Whisper before asking, "I thought she would have relaxed around me by now? I know the second time we met wasn't the best but she seemed to do well in my presence otherwise."

Zane looked down at Whisper worriedly. "Whisper, what's wrong? Why are you scared?"

"I want to go home," she replied and put her face in his chest. "Take me home!"

Again, Truent frowned. Then, he got an idea. "Alpha, would you mind following me and carry Whisper?" Zane nodded and lifted Whisper into his arms, getting off the bed and following the doctor out of the infirmary. Outside, it was dark and cool. The stars shone in the sky while night creatures skittered about in the forest.

"Why are we out here?" Zane asked when Truent stopped.

"Let's just sit out here for a moment and then I'll tell you." So, they sat in the grass and Whisper blinked her eyes open, looking about without moving her head. She inhaled a deep breath of fresh air and let a long breath out. Truent chuckled softly and nodded. "Thought so."

Zane looked at him, then glanced at Whisper before it hit him. "Oh Goddess!" he hissed and hugged Whisper tight.

"She should be calm soon enough now. As most wolves do, she would rather be outside. But in this case, she was seeing where she was in the facility, thinking she was there. It's understandable."

Whisper's strength left her as her body went limp. She still kept her arms around Zane, but didn't have the energy to hold her head up. Resting it against the Alpha's shoulder, she let herself relax. Her curly black hair was pushed behind her ear and Zane kissed her forehead. "Go ahead, Little Wolf. Sleep. I'm taking you home."

Whisper did as bid, snuggling her face into Zane's neck.

When she woke the next day, it was already afternoon and Zane was not beside her. Whisper got up and dressed, went downstairs and into the living room where Nico sat, reading a book. "Nico?"

The large man put the book down and glanced up at her. "Whisper, you're awake! How are you feeling?"

She nodded. "Can I have cereal?"

He gave her a warm smile, then gestured her to follow him. They went into the kitchen and he took out a box of cereal with milk and the utensils she might need. Whisper sat down at the island and poured the cereal and milk, then began eating. "Can I ask how your neck feels?"

The girl shrugged. "I didn't take the stuff off."

"May I?"

For a moment, Whisper hesitated. Staring at Nico quizzically, then nodded slowly. He came over and gently started to remove the gauze. Whisper didn't move, only watched Nico as he finished and threw the bandage in the trash. Whisper put a hand up to feel her neck, but Nico caught it and moved some of her hair. "It doesn't hurt," she said softly.

Nico nods. "I'm glad. You're fully healed, so it shouldn't hurt." He smiled down at her. "Not even a scar."

"Really?"

"Nope."

Elated with all the news, Whisper grinned and finished her bowl of cereal, then proceeded to have Nico teach her how to wash them. When they were done, Nico turned on a movie for her in the living room, then told her he had to leave. "Why?" Whisper asked, not hiding her disappointment.

Nico knelt in front of her and looked into her green eyes. "I need to help Zane with something. It shouldn't take too long." He pulled out a phone and handed it to her then showed her how it worked. "This is Zane's number. And this is mine. If there is anything wrong, I want you to call one of us. I promise one of us will come."

"What about Wren?"

"Wren had a last minute call from a friend in another state. She had to leave." He gave Whisper a warm smile. "Don't worry, Whisper. She'll be back."

"When?"

"In a couple of days," he said and stood up. "Okay, I have to go now. Zane and I will see you shortly." Whisper nodded and Nico left.

Whisper turned her attention back to the tv and proceeded to watch whatever looked interesting to her. Somewhere during the third movie, she fell asleep.

[DREAM]

Whisper found herself in a bright white place, somewhere where the land never ended and the wind never stopped howling. Even though this wasn't real, she shivered at the cold air and snow flurries. Tears froze to her lashes and cheeks, and goosebumps rose on her arms that weren't fully covered. Her teeth chattered hard almost to the point of breaking them.

"Zane?" she called out.

"Sorry, Zane isn't here!" the voice she dreaded to hear said. "He's nowhere near this place, nowhere near you. He's beyond your reach."

Whisper whimpered and tried to walk forward, but her legs were heavy, as if they turned to ice. "I just want to go home!"

The voice clicked his tongue. "I know, dear, sweet Whisper. I'm almost there. I'm almost there and we can go home."

Whisper shook her head. "No! No, not with you." She felt a hand caress her back and nearly screamed as she jumped away. When she looked over her shoulder, nothing was there. "Go away!"

"But don't you want to go home? I can take you home!" it said.

Suddenly, the world around her began to spin. Whisper screamed, curling into a ball with her hands holding her head. Everything thing was a blur. She couldn't tell tree from grass, up from down, sky from ground. It was too much, spinning to much. Something felt like it was coming up from her stomach and she let out a belch before truly feeling the vomit in the back of her throat.

As abruptly as it started, it ended and when Whisper looked around, there was a familiar forest again. But it wasn't Zane's forest. "We're home, Whisper. Just like you wanted."

She shook her head and backed away from the forest, only to hit something. She turned and screamed. The Pole was there, looming over her like an omen. "No! No! No!"

The voice laughed and soon she saw a figure in the distance. It was hard to tell who it was because of the fog, but she'd recognize a male's figure anywhere. "Nico?"

The voice, instead of coming from everywhere at once, came from the figure. "Not Nico, darling."

Again Whisper screamed. Getting to her feet, she turned and fled, running as fast as she could to find help. Any help! She thought she saw houses up ahead, but as she ran through the trees, she once again came to the pole. "No!"

The figure was just beyond the fog now, looking larger than life in Whisper's eyes. "This is my world, Whisper. You cannot escape me!"

"No!" she cried. "No!"

"Don't worry, if you're good, I'll make it quick!" he said then stepped through the fog.

[END OF DREAM]

On the couch, Whisper continued to sleep, not making a sound. If it weren't for the soft rise and fall of her chest, someone might have thought she was dead.

The door to Zane's home opened slowly, not even creaking on the hinges. A man walked in and looked around. It was dark, due to the time of day, and he squinted his eyes into slits. They caught Whisper lying down and his lips spread into a smile, a smile that never reached his eyes. He went over and looked down at her, feeling triumphant. This wouldn't have been so easy if she was awake. None of this would have been easy. He was glad she was so weak.

Bending down, he scooped her into his arms, careful not to wake her… "For now," he said and listened intently. There was no sign anyone was coming, so he left back out the front door, shutting it tightly after him, then ran into the forest.