This Dark Wolf (Soul Bitten Shifter #1) - Everly Frost Page 0,23
to. Feeling numb is a welcome relief.
Helen talks to herself as she works, cataloguing my wounds. When the book tips in my direction, I catch sight of writing forming across the paper… multiple rib contusions… clavicle intact… fracture in right radius approximately four years old… multiple breaks in metacarpal of both left and right hands…
Helen is far more clinical in her descriptions of the old fractures in my arms and hands than I was expecting.
“Why are you writing all of that down?” I ask, breaking the silence.
“I don’t want to miss anything,” she says. “Sometimes the most life-threatening wound is not the visually obvious one.”
I can’t help my angry laugh. “My most life-threatening characteristic seems to be my scent, since it made one alpha-in-training go off the rails and another decide that I’m worth keeping alive to use against his enemies.”
Helen pulls back a little, her voice soft. “One of the reasons Tristan brought you to me is because I can teach you to control your scent.”
My eyes widen. “I can control it?”
She nods, her gray eyes softening. “But it will take time and a lot of practice.”
I try to hide my surprise, but I’m already working through what it means that Tristan left me with someone who has the skill to teach me to control this thing that could get me killed. I don’t for a second believe he left me here for my own good.
The more I think about it, something doesn’t add up. My father told me that only the strongest alphas would react to my scent. True to his prediction, only Cody and Tristan responded to me with anything other than abhorrence. So how does Tristan intend to use me against all of the other alphas and shifters—assuming they’re the ‘enemies’ he was referring to?
Helen continues to study me. “I can teach you to both diminish and magnify your scent,” she says.
And… there it is. Magnifying my impact on other shifters is what Tristan really wants. He told me that when he was done with me, there would only be one thing any male shifter would want from me. I guess sex really is power.
“Then that’s why Tristan brought me to this safehouse, isn’t it? He wants me to use my scent at will,” I say. “Or rather, he will make me use my scent at his will.”
Helen sighs. “He brought you here to keep you safe, but not only from others.”
I snort. “Safe? Don’t expect me to believe he cares whether or not I’m safe.” Then I scowl at her as I consider what else she said. “What do you mean—not only from others?”
“Until you can control your scent, Tristan can’t remain in your presence. This is the only place where you’re safe from him.”
I glare back at Helen. “Tristan doesn’t care whether or not he hurts me.”
“Believe what you will.” She steps around the table to focus on my back. Sweeping my hair aside, she runs her fingers down my spine, one vertebra at a time. I assume she’s now cataloguing all of the wounds I’ve sustained to my back and spine during my life.
I was sure she’d stop after she tended to my face and arms.
“What are you going to do with all of my medical history?” I ask, my mouth suddenly dry.
“I’ve already accelerated the healing process for your new wounds. I’m assuming you’re now pain-free?”
At my nod, she continues. “Over the next month, I’m going to start the healing process on your old wounds—but this, too, will take time. Mending old breaks always takes longer.”
“I don’t need your help with those,” I snap. “I’m already healed.”
She rounds the table again, places both her hands on my shoulders, and pins me in her calm gaze. Somehow, she challenges my assertion with the gentlest of questions. “Are you?”
I try to look away but can’t.
The wounds from the past aren’t even close to healed. Maybe the bones have knitted back together, but the hurt is raw. All the derision and pain I suffered seems pointless now. I sustained all of these wounds in the pursuit of hiding my wolf.
Now, in the space of an evening, my wolf is exposed. I’m exposed. Word will spread and I have no doubt that soon, the entire shifter community will hear about my wolf’s strange form and energy.
But the more immediate pain is the chasm that’s forming inside my heart because the only person who ever cared about me died tonight while trying to protect me.