A Howl In The Night by Lorelei Sutton (life books to read .txt) 📕

My whole line of thought snaps as I suddenly just get it. Understanding flows through my entire being... from where, I have no clue. Without a word I break away from Griffin and Xavier, both of them yelling after me in alarm.

I travel up to the platform, where the High Ones are standing. "Please," I say once, and all five of them step off the platform. I am amazed at the power and authority laced within my voice.

I climb onto the chair, and from there onto the table. It is from this vantage point that I can see them all, thousands surrounding me. I can feel their emotions of fear and hurt, of confusion and terror. It threatens to swallow me whole, for it resembles the same pain that I have been shouldering all my life.

I am not like them. I do not only consist of pain and hurt, or even the desire for revenge. I am more.

I am different.

I start to open myself to the lost souls, projecting emotions of joy and hope upon them. I can see them shrink back in retaliation... just like I would in their position. I start to see myself in every one of them. How can I possibly heal these broken souls when I am not fully mended myself?

I start to think of the warmth within my heart, letting memories overwhelm me. Faces start to appear before me... my mother, father... and a familiar werewolf with bright blue hair. A bright emotion starts to leave me, an emotion that overpowers everything else. I smile in excitement. This is what the Shifters need. Love.

My emotions form wisps of air, which all come together to form a shape. Even I don't know what it looks like because of its enormity. But I can feel it. I can sense the warmness surrounding me, filling the room with energy and light.

The Shifters stare it the shape, their red eyes boring into the light with its darkness. After a second, they all begin to enter the shape, boarding it as if they were all in line to enter a cruise and embark on a magical journey.

Amazement still overwhelms me as every last one of the Shifters enter the shape. I can feel it tugging at me, and I let go hesitantly. The shape sails away, and as it does I can see that it truly does resemble a boat, flying through the sky as if it is the ocean. It takes a few seconds after the boat disappears for me to realize what I had done.

I stumble off the table, completely drained. As I fall, I murmur, "I sent them, I sent them..."

Out of the darkness, I hear someone ask, "where did you send them?"

I answer with a weak smile on my face. "I sent them home."

My eyes open slowly, painfully, as if the movement itself hurts me. But it is the reality of life that I really wish to avoid.

The first thing I catch sight of after a moment of dizziness is a man with dark black hair. He is gazing at me warmly, smiling as I start to cough and sit up. "There there," he pats my hand softly, "not too fast."

"Who are you?" I ask him in the middle of my coughs.

He just looks at me, putting a large hand underneath my head. Gently he presses a switch, and the bed tilts into a sitting position. "I am Legarius," he answers me while reaching for a small cup of water. "Are you thirsty?"

My mind flashes back to the first night that I met Xavier, who had murmured the same words. Pain and loss strike as I search through the meager memories, trying to salvage the remnants of beauty that are left.

"Where's Xavier?" I ask him urgently, my heartbeat skyrocketing. Horror races through me at the recollection of the Council's words the day before. What if the entire pack is dead right now? What will I do with my shameful self?

"He is perfectly fine right now," Legarius replies as I grab his arm with a ferocity that surprises even me. "Who you should be worried about right now is yourself. Do you feel better?"

Do I? I hesitantly release Legarius's wrist and reach towards my own head. A terrible pain sweeps through me, and I groan. "It's like a migraine," I mutter, ripping my hand away. I don't need to be sick right now. I need to be helping my friends.

"It's okay though," I try to protest as Legarius reaches for a bottle of pills. "I really just need to see my pack. Please."

"Take this, and you can go see them as soon as you wake up," he assures me, holding the small yellow pill before my eyes. I look at it warily, as if it is an enemy.

"You promise?" I ask him as I take the pill and hold it in my hand. He nods, and I lift it to my lips slowly. Trying not to think about it, I hasten to throw it in my mouth, trying to swallow as quickly as possible. It barely hits my stomach before I start to notice the effects.

"Easy, princess," he laughs as I begin to see red, thrashing around like a bull in a china shop. Everything becomes dizzy again, and I moan.

"What kind of pill is this?" I berate him angrily. It is like fire in my insides, intensifying my migraine extremely. I soon find it hard to move, like I am frozen in place. He just continues to laugh as the sleepiness takes over, my eyelids slipping. I am barely conscious within seconds. I slip off into dreamland, vowing to kill Legarius as I go.

* * *

"She asked for me. Let me have a minute with her alone," a low voice argues.

"I don't know if we can let you do that. The Council never said anything about her meeting with her pack. You will have to have a consultation with them first. Just because she is off the hook doesn't mean you are."

"You heard it as plain and clear as I did. The Council gave her the power to do whatever she wants, except when she is ordered by one them. If she wants to meet with me, she can."

"I don't like this."

"You don't have to."

My eyes slip open for the second time, directed towards the source of the bickering. In the corner of my vision I spot Griffin and Xavier by the door of the hospital-like room I inhabit. They don't seem to notice me at all, arguing back and forth bitterly. Legarius is nowhere to be seen, luckily for him.

As I touch my head, I notice that the headache is gone entirely. That awful pill actually worked.

"She's awake." Xavier turns towards me, and I nearly faint at the sight. I didn't realize how much I have missed him. Griffin just looks at me angrily.

"You want to meet with him?" He asks, casting a glance with Xavier. "Surely you were just speaking out of delirium."

I sit up again, trying to figure out how to deal with this situation. Yes, I want to meet with Xavier. However, I don't want to make Griffin too mad. He saved my life, after all.

"I feel really tired," I lament, lying through my teeth, "but this hospital bed is so hard and uncomfortable."

"I'll take you to your room," Xavier says gently, coming over to my side. Griffin glares at him. "Don't you have a meeting to go to?" Xavier asks laughingly as Griffin increasingly acts like a dog ready to bite off someone's head.

"Yes, I do, actually. But I'm not leaving until I know Mona is going to be safe while I'm gone."

I reach to touch Griffin's arm. "I'll be safe. Trust me."

Still looking annoyed, he backs away, knowing he can't do much else. He can't bring me with him, after all.

"Don't hurt her," he snaps to Xavier and retreats through the open doorway. A little laugh escapes me as he angrily walks away.

Xavier walks up to me, scooping me into his arms. The warmth of his chest envelopes me, and I drink in the wonderful scent he possesses. Without a word passing between us, he carries me through the empty hallways.

When we finally reach the room I have stayed in, he crosses over to my bed and lays me down. He expectantly looks at me, and I look back, puzzled.

"Aren't you going to go to sleep?" He asks me impatiently, and I laugh.

"I only said that to get Griffin to stop nagging," I grin widely. Xavier groans, staring at me furiously.

"Mona, you make this so hard on me." His voice sounds strained as he looks away. "Just go to sleep like you said you would."

A few seconds of silence pass while I try to figure out what's wrong with him. He looks as if he is trying to restrain himself. Trying to force himself to be cold to me. His beautiful face is bent in concentration, then reducing to a stoic expression. Alarm enters my body.

He turns to go, and subconsciously I reach to grab his hand. "Please... please don't leave," I beg him.

He freezes, shivers running through both of our bodies. "Mona!" He nearly shouts in agitation, then rips away from me and almost runs to the door. He shuts it hastily, clicking the lock as well. Nervousness erupts within me as I survey his handsome form. I have never seen him look or act like this before.

He crosses back over to me, scanning my face, my body. I begin to feel even more nervous and self-conscious as I realize that not only am I clothed in a flimsy, see-through hospital gown over a tank top and shorts, but that we are totally alone. I am suddenly even more aware of him, of his attractiveness. Butterflies flutter in my stomach.

He leans over me, and my anticipation mounts. Without a word he reaches forward and takes the sleeve of the gown in his hand, ripping it off in one fluid motion. I am so scared of him right now, but at the same time, I feel heart-wrenching desire. What is wrong with me? Have I caught another cold?

Is this the desire to "bond" that I heard the werewolves talk about? For it is consuming my every thought, my every wish.

I begin to grow delirious with need as he climbs onto the bed next to me, fingering the frayed edges of the gown at the top of my shoulders. His mischievous fingers dance onto my shoulder, sending sparks of heat through my body. He touches my fading bruise, anger and an unfathomable emotion in his gaze. "Did he touch you here?" He asks, sounding even more strangled than before. It takes me a second to register what he asked.

I hesitantly nod, remembering the way Griffin kissed my arm with a guilty conscience. He tries to control himself, but loses it altogether. I stare at him as his eyes grow diluted, and then back to their normal size.

I look with wonder and confusion as he tilts his head towards my arm. An uncontainable delight consumes me as his soft lips brush