Chapter 11

He returned after sometime pushing a table with a bowl of hot chicken soup and a glass of water. He placed the table near her bed so that she could prop up and eat. Poornima, whose stomach was rumbling loudly, sat up and started eating. Meanwhile, Dhruv knelt down and gently placed her twisted ankle on his thigh. This shocked Poornima and made her spill some of the soup from her spoon onto the table.

"What are you doing?" she asked confused.

"Let me check your foot. It won't hurt." He said as he inspected her ankle. Without warning, he pulled her foot with one hand while holding her calf with his other hand. Poornima hissed in pain and it took all her self control from cursing him. The pain was momentary and she realised that Dhruv had corrected the twisted ankle joint. He then applied a green herbal paste that he had prepared from the herbs in his backyard. He then tied a bandage around her ankle for support.

"Your ankle is fine now. Though the bone is set right, there might be slight muscle injury around the joint. This medicine with help heal the torn muscle. Keep the bandage for two days and keep it dry." He instructed her avoiding eye contact.

"The roads are still flooded. We cannot travel to your home today. If you want to go to any of your acquaintances, then I can drop you there." He said without expression.

She looked at him who was still kneeling down beside her. She took his hand in hers and said, "I can't thank you enough for what you have done to me. I am truly sorry for my what I said before."

She seemed to be truly sorry. Her face lost some of its color as she looked sad. He couldn't see her like that. He missed her smile more than anything now.

"You really want to leave now?" he asked sadly half expecting her to stay.

Poornima who did not want to owe anything to anyone replied, "I would like to go. But I don't have any place to go right now. It might sound weird but I do not have any friends. Can I stay for today? I will leave tomorrow. I guess I can move to a hotel." She replied.

"You can stay as long as you want to. No hurries and worries." He smiled and got up to leave. He walked to the door looking at her, both of them smiling at each other. His legs came to a sudden halt when he noticed something.

He came closer to her. Poornima had always worn clothes that came up to her neck. She either wore clothes with high raised neck or collared clothes. For the first time he looked at her long and slender neck. She was wearing his clothes that loosely hung across her shoulders. Her neck was bare and so was most part of her shoulders.

Seeing his change of actions, she followed his gaze and found him to be staring at the joint of her neck and shoulder at the right side. He pointed his finger at it and asked, "What is this?" he looked flustered and couldn't take his eyes off it.

Poornima cleared her throat and said, that's my birth mark. It was a honey colored circle the size of a one rupee coin. It was not just any circular mark. Inside the circle there were blotchy uneven darker shade marks. He understood what it was. But still he asked her, "From when did you have it? It looks like a vaccination mark. No?"

She shrugged and smiled uncomfortably. She did not want to sound weird but she couldn't think of any better lies so she blurted the truth. "That's the moon. I was born with this birth mark. It also has the wolf inside. see?" she said pointing at the blotted patch inside the circle. It indeed looked like a wolf. But Dhruv decided to live in denial and retorted, "It doesn't look like the Moon to me. The moon doesn't have a wolf in it."

"My mom thought it looked like moon and named me Poornima, which means full moon. And growing up even I believed it to be the moon. Few say the moon has a rabbit, some say it has a deer. But for me the moon's spots look more like a wolf. Doesn't matter if you don't see it that way. My birthmark, my wish. I will say its moon." She smiled cheekily. "With a WOLF." She added.

"But why didn't I notice it all these days?" he asked.

Her face turned serious and chose her words carefully, "For some reason my mother told me to hide this mark from others to avoid danger. She always made me wear clothes that covered my neck. I think she was being paranoid but I sort of got used to covering it up in front of others. Until today." She gave a helpless smile. On seeing his unsettled expression, she added,

"Don't get me wrong. My mother was a single parent and was over protective. She never let me out to play with friends. Eventually I got used to spending time alone. We never stayed at same place for long. She always kept us moving." Looking at the pity in his face, she assured him, "I was totally fine with it. I don't have any regrets. What I am today is because of her. She also got this talisman for me from some old man when I was a child. She said it would protect me." She pulled out the chain she wore around her neck to show its pendant. It was a grey colored oval shaped stone similar to the one he had seen before. "I always have it with me. Not because it protects me. It makes me feel that my mom is somewhere around, watching over me. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have learnt self-defence that saved me the other day." She said with a smile.

Dhruv gave a perfunctory smile though he was alarmed at the last statement. He could finally join the pieces together though large chunk of the puzzle was still missing, he atleast knew where to get started.

After he left Poornima to rest, he paced the living room thinking about the past events. It explained the attack on her. "The mark of Moon seemed to be significant. That was the reason her mother wanted her to hide it. Based on what Poornima said, her mother did everything to shield her from any upcoming danger. She also seemed to be preparing Poornima to defend herself in her absence. But from where was the danger coming from? Who would want to hurt her? and why?" His head was filled with all sorts of doubts. "Was her mother's car crash an accident or murder? Could the recent attack on Poornima be related to the mark?".

The biggest question that intrigued him was, "The grand seer seemed to know about the mark. He wore the similar grey colored oval shaped pendant as her. Which could not be a coincidence. Why did he ask me to mark her? She is just a human. How does her future concern him or the pack? How am I tied to the mark? Most importantly does he know she is in danger?" he decided to meet the grand Seer. If he knew of the upcoming danger, he could be of help in protecting her.