Chapter six.

Ache. Ache, everywhere.

“How is she today?”

Arya groaned. “Why are all of you so loud?”

“She’s awake!” Why did he sound so excited? And why does her whole body feel like a fat man just gave her a lap dance?

“Why the hell can’t I move? And why is everything so dark?” she groaned.

“Because your eyes are closed, love,” a woman answered.

Arya’s eyes snapped open, and she immediately flinched, shutting them again.

“Too bright,” she muttered.

She blinked slowly, letting her eyes adjust to the light. Her surroundings came into focus—a small, sterile room with white walls and a faint smell of herbs lingering in the air. A pair of silver eyes locked onto hers, and next to him stood a strange, unnervingly beautiful woman, both of them staring at her like she was some kind of specimen.

Okay, now it’s time to panic.

“Where am I? And what the hell have you done to me?”

“Arya, my name is Helda, you’re fine,” the woman said with a calm, measured voice. “You’re safe.”

“Yeah, no, I’ll be the judge of that,” Arya replied, narrowing her eyes before turning to Silver Eyes. “I know you. Do you have plans to sell me? Harvest my organs? Because let me warn you, I’m not going down without a fight.”

Noctis leaned back, an amused smile tugging at his lips. “Well, I hope not. What’s the last thing you remember, Arya?”

Her brow furrowed as she sifted through the blurry haze of her memory. “Prom. Dean Murphy. The music—it was so loud. And then… everything started to hurt. Like, my whole body was breaking apart. I ran outside, and…” Her voice trailed off as she looked at Noctis, realization dawning. “You said I was shifting. Was that real?”

Noctis nodded.

Arya stared at him, her breathing quickening. “This is all a little too crazy for me, sorry.”

The woman, Helda, stepped closer. “Yes, Arya. What you went through was truly crazy, and your body is still recovering from it. You’ve been unconscious for three days.”

Arya froze. “Three days?!” Panic gripped her chest. “Where are my sisters? Are they okay? Beatrix is going to lose it! I need to go home!”

Noctis stepped forward, his expression serious. “Arya, you can’t.”

She glared at him. “What do you mean, I can’t? My family is probably worried sick!”

Helda sighed, her tone gentle but firm. “Arya, listen to me. If you leave now, without understanding what’s happening to you, you could hurt someone—maybe even your family.”

“Hurt them?” Arya scoffed. “I wouldn’t hurt my family.”

Noctis crossed his arms. “Not on purpose. But you don’t know how to control your wolf. If it happens again, the shift could be worse, and you might not come back from it so easily. You could lose control.”

Arya hesitated, her stomach twisting. “So, what? You’re saying I have to stay here? For how long?”

“Until you can master it,” Helda said simply. “Shifting isn’t just painful—it’s dangerous. You need to learn to control your wolf, or it will control you.”

Arya wanted to argue, but the memory of the pain, the sound of her bones breaking, stopped her. She sank back against the pillows, her chest tight.

She hated how weak she felt, but as the seconds passed, she noticed something strange. Strength was creeping back into her limbs, slow but steady, as though it were coming from somewhere—or someone.

Her eyes narrowed. “Fine. I’ll stay. For now.”

Helda gave her a small smile, clearly relieved. “Good. You’ve made the right choice.”

Arya sighed, her head falling back against the pillow. “This is ridiculous,” she muttered.

“You need to rest now, the alpha would like to see you later.” Noctis said.

Arya blinked, the words taking a moment to sink in. “What?”

Helda placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Don’t panic. It’s standard procedure. You’re… new. The alpha will want to understand your situation.”

Arya’s mouth went dry. “Right. Because that doesn’t sound terrifying at all.”

Helda gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. “Just rest for now. We’ll be with you every step of the way.”

Arya didn’t respond, her mind racing with questions and fears. She closed her eyes, exhaustion creeping in again, but her thoughts refused to quiet.

Arya didn't realize she fell asleep until she woke up, the previously unbearable pain in her bones was now a dull ache.

“How do you feel, dear?” Helda asked, stepping into the room.

“I no longer feel like I'm being run over by a truck.”

“Well, I'm glad to hear that,” Helda replied. “Noctis is coming to get you, the alpha wants to see you,”

Arya sighs, “oh yeah that, I hoped it was a dream.”

Helda chuckled, then she handed her some clothes, “there's a washroom just through that door, you can clean up there,”

“Thanks”.

Few minutes later Arya stepped out of the washroom, fully dressed in a black hoodie and sweatpants, she found Noctis in the room instead.

“Noctis, that's your name?”

“It is, are you ready?”

She nodded, “as I'll ever be,”

“You don't have to be nervous, just answer any questions as honestly as you can and leave the rest of the talking to me.” He said, actually making her feel a little better.

They stepped out of what Arya assumed to be the infirmary. She looked around taking in her environment, it looked like a regular town and not some werewolf stronghold. The houses around are simple and modern, all following mostly the same pattern, but what caught Arya's breath was the thick obvious forest behind them.

“Wow,” she marvels, “everything looks so normal,”

“What were you expecting,” Noctis asked, leading her down the tar road.

“I don't know, not normal,” she replied.

Arya's mouth drops when she sees where they're about to walk into.

The massive iron gates opened with a whine before they reached it, the men at the gates bowed slightly as we passed.

The stone driveway leading to the mansion was long lined with tall towering trees casting their shadows and waving at us as we passed. The path split into three, the middle one leading into the massive Mansion and the other two leading into the thick forest behind it.

The mansion, like the rest of the town, is also a modern structure; the high pillars at the sides have images of wolves carved into them. There are two guards at the entrance, they move to open the doors without breaking their looks of pure focus.

People in several kinds of outfit, all moving around with purpose, they all bow slightly at Noctis and then cast curious looks in my direction, but none stop to ask any questions.

“Wait here, I'll come get you,”. Noctis says then he walks through another set of heavy doors.