Chapter 19 – Best Friends

My hands tremble as I place the phone on the side table after speaking with Andreas. His voice was deep and silky smooth, like melted chocolate, and the thought of seeing him tomorrow gives me butterflies.

"I thought we didn't have time for a mate," Enyo says smugly.

"I can't help it. Even his voice draws me to him," I say, a blush creeping up my cheeks.

"Dumb-dumb, that's the mate bond. And things are only going to get worse," she says as she sighs contentedly.

"At least having a mate might calm you down a bit," I say cheekily.

A knock on the door brings me back to reality. "Come in," I call out.

The door opens, and I see Ryna's smiling face as he comes in. Then Gino, Rynas' mate, comes in behind him.

"Well, well, if it isn't my two favorite men," I smile from ear to ear, their presence making me feel instantly better.

"For now," Ry grins as he walks over to the bed. "I hear there's a mate in the picture," he chuckles as he envelops me in a tight hug.

"I guess you may have to settle for second favourite," I giggle.

Gino joins in on the hug, "as long as we don't have to kick his ass if he hurts you… You know I'm a lover and not a fighter."

I burst out laughing. "Three men fighting over me could be kind of hot." I wiggle my brows at them as they laugh and pull back from the hug.

Ry stops laughing and becomes serious. "How bad is it?" He asks softly, placing his hand on my cheek.

"I haven't looked. I'm not sure I want to," I say, touching my right eye gently over the bandage. Lifting my shirt up to see where she sliced me with the knife over my stomach, I pull back the bandage carefully, and see that a pink scar has formed. "The doctor says that the scars will never heal properly because of the type of wolfsbane," I explain.

"Goddess, Athena. What about your eye?" Gino asks, shocked.

"Apparently, I'm lucky I didn't lose it or my eyesight," my lip trembles as I try not to cry.

Ryna moves closer and places his hand on the bandage, but then pauses and looks at me, and I nod to show that he can continue. He starts by removing the dressing wrapped around my head, then the gauze covering my eye. When they see it, they both gasp.

"It's terrible, isn't it?" I sob, the tears I'd been holding back streaming down my cheeks.

"You're still beautiful," Rynas wolf, Alaster, tells us through mind-link.

"He's right, Athena. You are still gorgeous. Have you tried shifting to speed up the healing?" Ry asks, gently taking my hand in his.

"I've been sleeping on and off since it happened."

I feel Enyo try to push forward, but she feels sluggish, and it takes a moment for it to happen. A blue glow cast over the dark room when she finally comes through. "We need to kill the bitch that did this to us," she snarls.

"Before we make that bitch pay, I think you should try to shift, Enyo. The scar might never fully go away, but shifting might help it heal quicker," Ry says to her.

We look around the room and see that it's too small for us to shift in. "Not here," Enyo says, then pulls back.

Ry nods, and the guys stand up and help me out of bed. But unfortunately, it still feels like weights are holding me down, and they have to stand on each side of me to hold me up by my arms so I don't fall. Ry carefully removes the IV from my arm, then they lead me out of the room, down the corridor of the small pack hospital, through the main doors, and out onto the main street. I raise my gaze to the sky. It's a clear night, and a beautiful half-moon shines down, lighting up the street.

"Over there," Ryna points to the oval, and he and Gino lead me over near the gym building.

"Help me get these clothes off. I've shredded enough clothes here," I say.

Ryna carefully helps me remove the shirt I'm wearing, and then Gino holds me up as Ryna pulls my pyjama shorts down.

I feel the familiar surge of power rush over my body as we prepare to shift and my body prepares itself. I look at Ryna and Gino and smile, before turning around and shifting. Enyo shakes her fur out before mind-linking the guys. "Come on, we need to go for a run."

Ryna and Gino quickly take their clothes off and then shift, their wolves, Alaster and Luca, coming over and sniffing Enyo and licking her face, happy to see her.

Enyo howls at the moon, as do Alaster and Luca, and then we run toward the nearby tree line. I settle into the back of Enyo's mind and let her run free through the trees, enjoying the peace with her. More howls pierce the air, and Enyo turns to see Uncle Alex's wolf, Ajax, and Mom's wolf, Amara, closing in on us. I smile as we all run together. It feels great to have everyone back in my life. I've been missing them all terribly. I start to feel more relaxed, and eventually I fall asleep.

#

I wake up sometime later, a cool breeze spreading over my body, and I realize we must have shifted back after Enyo fell asleep. I sit up and look around and see that we're in the middle of a small clearing somewhere in the forest.

"Oh Goddess, what did you eat last night, Enyo?" I gag as I notice the horrible taste of blood in my mouth. "Did you hunt?" I ask her.

She yawns, and I feel her stretch. "Luca and I took down a dear together. We were hungry," she says nonchalantly.

"That's so gross," I say, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand as I try to spit out the remnants of blood in my mouth.

"I'd like to thank you, Athena," Enyo says cheerfully.

"What for?"

"You gave me complete control last night. You've never done that before…," she says.

"Well, maybe I shouldn't have. Poor Bambi…," I say, teasing her a little. "We need to start trusting each other completely. I need to let you take over more, but I need to know that you're not going to do anything reckless."

"I know I can be aggressive and reckless, but I will always protect us, Athena. But I promise that I will try and rein it in."

I see a flash of white running through the trees in the distance. Enyo is instantly on alert, and she lets out a deep warning growl. I see the flash of white again, but this time it stops, and I see our mate's pure white fur and black crescent moon marking, as he looks at us. My heartbeat quickens, and butterflies swarm in my stomach. I start to stand up to run to him, but then I hear him whimper and run back into the trees.

"I wonder what that was about…," I think aloud.

"We should get the others up and get back to the hospital," Enyo says. "I don't think we were supposed to be out all night."