I am not sick

The following day Adira showed up at the Alpha's office and entered unannounced. She immediately regretted her actions and closed the door with a loud bang, making the couple inside the office jump with surprise.

She waited two minutes outside the door and then knocked again, this time waiting until she heard Nora's voice telling her to enter. When she opened the door, she did so slowly, pocking her head in and looking around, making sure her cousin was fully dressed before turning to the Alpha, who was tucking his navy shirt in his pants.

"Do you know what a knock is?" Nora asked her, containing her laughter.

"Do you know locks exist?" she replied instead.

"Can I help you, Adira?" Alexander interrupted the cousins' exchange, clearly annoyed with Adira's interruption.

"I was just making sure we are not leaving today to find the girl Dalia."

"No. we are waiting for the son of the moon goddess." He replied, sitting back down on his chair behind the desk.

"Cool... so, since Rose gave me the day off, that means I can relax today?"

"Yeah, whatever. But be ready for tomorrow morning."

"Sir, yes sir!" she gave him a military salute and made her way out of the office, stopping at the door. "Make sure you lock the door next time." She looked at her cousin who was turning red and gave her a wink. "You can go back to making an heir." An object was thrown but Adira closed the door before it could hit her.

She left the packhouse with a bright smile on her face and went down to the training grounds. She saw Rose training the newly transformed wolves, and next to that group were the novices like Xavier, watching their seniors fight in their wolf forms.

Adira felt a pinch of sadness in her heart as she saw Xavier with an arm around his younger sister, Alana. The little girl was still too young to join her brother in the training, but she still enjoyed watching everyone train.

She saw Tobias in the back of the training grounds throwing knives at a target located fifty feet away from him. He made a few good shots, but only five landed in the middle. Adira approached him, trying to not interrupt him from his training.

He noticed her but concentrated on his target and threw the knife. It landed on the outer circle.

"Wow."

"Shut up." He said and went to pick up his knives. "What are you doing here?" he asked her when he returned to where she was waiting for him.

"Got the day off."

"Good for you."

Rose made it mandatory for all to train five days every week. After passing your exam for warrior, scout, or guard, you were still required to train at least four days every week whenever you were off duty. As today was supposed to be one of Adira's duty days, she was not required to train.

"I though Rose would make you keep training the new ones." He threw another knife which landed about an inch away from the middle.

"I was, but Alexander gave me the day off."

"Why?"

She shrugged her shoulder. "Cough him having sex with Nora in the office."

"Got it."

"When are you done?" she asked.

"Uh... in about two more hours. I still have to report to a match in thirty minutes. Wanna come see me?"

"Nah," she placed her hands in the pocket of her jeans. "I think I will go beat up the doctor today. I haven't had the chance to so for divulging my information."

"Alright. Have fun."

She left the training area and walked slowly to the hospital. She was still upset at Alexander, but the doctor had been the one to tell him that personal information. Where was the privacy? Was it not the responsibility of the doctor to protect their patient's information?

She entered the small building. The hospital consisted of a few private rooms, a large common room with fifty beds on one side and fisty on the other, offices, and three operating rooms. Right at the entrance was a secretary, a young man in his twenties wearing navy blue scrubs.

"Adira," he greeted her. "Are you okay? I didn't see your name on the schedule today."

"No, Fernandez. I do not have an appointment but I want to talk to Dr. Shirtz."

Fernandez looked on the computer in front of him before answering her.

"He should be getting back from his break anytime now. If you want to sit here and wait for him to come back."

She sat by the door and pulled out her phone. She was on reading a new book she started last week when she heard the door open, and Dr. Shirtz entered with his drink in one hand and his robe over his shoulder.

"Adira. What a surprise." The young thirty-year-old doctor said as soon as he saw her. His black hair had a few white hairs on his sides, always brushed back and styled with gel. The golden frame of his glasses coughed the light from the outside before the door closed completely.

"Dr. Got a minute?"

He looked at Fernandez, who just looked at Adira, both not sure why she was there.

"Sure. Let's go to my office."

She followed him to one of the offices in the building. They both entered and Adira closed the door behind her. The room was painted a light color, with diplomas and certificates hanging on one of the walls, the other one was covered with pictures and a few shelves with medical books. Dr Shirtz hung his robe on the coat rack in the corner of the office, next to the desk.

"So, how can I help you."

"You told Alexander private information." She started, not asking but just stating the fact.

He stayed silent, analyzing her. She hated that, how he did that whenever she spoke to him.

"I had to."

"You are supposed to protect that information, not even the Alpha can request for you to give that up," She argued.

"Adira. I understand you are upset, but you need to know that Alexander simply requested for me to do checkups on all the warriors who were going with him. When I told him you should stay, he asked me for a good reason why. I gave him a good reason."

"So, you really think I need to go to a mental facility?" she raised her voice.

"No. I believe it may be a better option if we could start treating these auditory hallucinations you seem to be having whenever you get stressed."

"We are werewolves. We don't get sick."

"You are right. We do not get physical illnesses like viruses, cancers, or even things like thyroid problems. Other than scavengerism, when we get infections, our bodies are able to fight them. Our minds, however, are something separate. Our wolves do not have any power over it therefore it does not have the same strength. We can have mental illnesses."

"I told you I did not imagine those things. I am not lying."

"I know you would not lie. I believe you. But you need to understand that it will be difficult to come to terms at first, but you can learn to live with it. Whatever it is that you have, we can help you treat it."

She was done. She knew she was not sick and this man was treating her like she was mentally ill.

"... needs to trust me."

Adira's train through stopped as soon as she heard the voice of the doctor in her head but his mouth did not move. She felt a weird pulling behind her eyes as she tried to concentrate on the voice inside her head.

"I'm not sick."

"To be expected." Again, the pulling behind her eyes, this time she noticed it better. "That's to be expected. She's in the denial phase right now."

"I am not in denial. I just now I am not sick."

Dr. Shirtz was taken aback, his head turned a little to the side.

"I never said you were in denial, Adira. But yes, that is the first step for grieving."

... guess. Lucky guess."

She felt the pulling behind her eyes again, this time noticing how every time she heard his voice the sensation would appear. She stayed silent, the doctor was still waiting for her to reply, but Adira, with a new idea in mind, made him wait.

She concentrated on the sensation of tugging behind her eyes, trying to hear his voice again but it did not matter how much effort she put into it, the only thing she got from him was a little humming sound.

"Was it really just a lucky guess for me to know you are thinking about me going through the grieving stages?"

This time she expected to feel the tug and she did, she tried to hold on to it somehow. It was like her body knew how to do it because this time she heard the doctor's voice perfectly.

"Impossible." His eyes narrowed on her.

"Very possible."

The doctor took a step back, his eyes wide and his mouth open in a silent scream. Adira made no attempt to stop him, now also feeling what he did. He was scared. She tried to hold on to her newfound ability, but her eyes were starting to get dry, she then realized she hadn't blinked in a while.

"I'm not gonna hurt you doc. I told you I am not hallucinating anything."

She blinked and the pulling behind her eyes was gone, cutting the connection she had with the thoughts and emotions of the doctor. He composed himself and made her sit in front of him, closer to the table.

"How did you do that?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. You made me mad, and I felt something behind my eyes, like a pulling sensation. Then I was able to hear you."

He looked at her, his eyes pinning her down to her spot. He seemed to be concentrating on something.

"Did you hear me?"

"Huh?"

"Just now. Did you hear what I was thinking?"

She shook his head. The doctor took a step back and nodded, thinking.

"Okay. So, it was just a hallucination. Nothing else." Adira was taken by surprise, she thought he had finally believed her. "We can give you some medication to control the symptoms, but for now we should start by identifying what kind of condition you have. A few exams should clear that off for us in no time."

She stood up, wanting to cry.

"I said I am not imagining anything." Her voice sounded threatening, but the doctor was either ignoring the abilities of the woman in front of him, or he was very stupid to not notice it.

"Probably schizophrenia... yes, that is probably what your problem is."

"I am not sick!" but he ignored her and continued babbling to himself.

Indignated, and getting angrier by listening to him, she approached him to hit him right on the nose when she felt the weird pulling again.

She felt the fear, curiosity, and a hint of excitement coming from the doctor. She stopped her fist midway as she heard the same few words repeating over and over again.

"...you. I'm just testing you. I'm just testing..."

"You are just testing me?" she questioned him.

He stopped talking and spoke to her mentally. Not using the link.

"Yes. Just making sure that it was, in fact, real."

She let out the breath she did not notice had stuck in the back of her throat.

"Does it feel different than using the pack link?" he asked her, now using his mouth. She nodded. "Are you aware that you are listening to someone's thoughts somehow?"

"I hadn't noticed it till now, but I do feel that in the back of my eyes."

The doctor spent the next few minutes asking her to tell him about her previous experiences again. He listened to her without interruptions.

"Did you notice the same thing back then too?"

Adira thought about it and shook her head. "No, but this is the first time I hear it more clearly and I was also able to somehow listen to your emotions. Not exactly feeling then too, just aware that they were there."

"Okay..." he wrote something on a notebook on his desk. "I will look more into it and let you know what I find." He told her, letting out a long sigh. "And Adira... I'm sorry I told Alexander."

Adira was no longer upset at him. Now that he believed her, she was actually glad he told Alexander. Otherwise, she wouldn't have had a reason to come here to yell at him, which led the doctor to believe her. She was not sick, after all.

She left his office feeling better. Now that the doctor knew, Alexander could not force her to receive unnecessary treatment.