Chapter 8. An Unknown Fate

Gavin felt pain all over. The worst was his head. It felt like someone was using it as a drum. He groaned as he opened his eyes and stared at an unknown ceiling. Quiet beeping came from somewhere nearby. He looked around as he heard soft snores coming from his right. 

Remember Gavin. You must not reveal my existence to anyone at the present moment. For your safety and theirs. Veronica reminded him in his mind. Her cooling presence washed over his mind, which helped with some of the pounding headache he was experiencing. 

He looked around and saw messy red hair that covered a peaceful face laid down by his side on the bed. Hospital equipment and monitors covered the room. He looked down and noticed wires and needles hooked up all over his body. 

He winced as he tried to sit up and grabbed his head. He had a pounding migraine for some reason. As he moved to sit up, Erza awoke with a gasp. "Oh my god, you're awake!" She exclaimed as she started to fuss over his body. She double-checked the wound on his shoulder to confirm it was healing properly. She looked over his vitals on the machine to make sure nothing was immediately wrong. 

"Erza, what happened?" Gavin asked. He felt like playing stupid was the best way to go at the moment. "My memory is so fuzzy. The last thing I recall was seeing Aria on the ground and those guys standing above her..." he said as his memory flashed in bits and pieces. A black-clawed hand lifted one up before bursting through the man's chest with a still-beating heart in its black-covered paw of a hand. Then he sliced the third man's throat out. "What happened to me?" he asked. His heart rate started to spike as he slowly remembered parts of what happened. 

You need to try to relax, Gavin. Yes, you did kill two people that night. But if you had not, chances are high that your friends would be hurt or dead right now. Veronica said softly as she tried to reassure her master. 

Erza placed a comforting hand on his arm and soothed the chaos in his mind with a few soft words. "It's okay, my love. We will talk about that soon. What's important is you saved us. You, me and Aria. Then you collapsed, and I called the medics, who took us all to the Saint James hospital a few miles away from the studio," she said slowly and soothingly. 

"I don't really remember. Did I get hurt?" he asked groggily. He put his hand over his aching head, his shoulder still burned, so he assumed he had been shot or something. 

Her amber eyes softened. "Yes, you got shot in the shoulder, but the shots went through and through," she said as she pointed to his right shoulder covered by bandages, her brow wrinkled in concern as she looked down at him and fussed over his bandage. 

"Then why did I pass out and why don't I remember anything?" he asked, still confused. He hoped he wasn't laying the act on too thick. 

"It was unknown at the time. After the doctors checked you out and ran their tests, they determined you passed out due to mana depletion," she said quietly, and studied his face. 

"But... I don't know any magic", he shook his head again. 

"You really don't know what happened, do you?" Erza asked seriously. She hadn't heard of memory issues being part of mana depletion before. 

He looked her in the eyes, his fear and confusion evident in his gaze. "Erza, I swear I don't know what happened or have any magic. Please you have to tell me", he pleaded with her, desperate to fill in the missing memory gaps.

Erza took a deep breath before she started. "We were both behind cover. They started taking shots and using magic to try to kill us. Luckily, they missed. But when a shot landed close to my head, something changed or happened to you." She paused, thinking back to the events that happened so quickly in that room. "Suddenly there was a wild energy emitting from you. Your body began to change into a large black werewolf with blood-red eyes. You threw your head back and let out this horrifying howl and attacked the men, killing them both. It all happened so fast, it was over in a matter of seconds." She informed him her voice trailed off at the end as she remembered the terrifying sight. The fear she felt in her heart at the sound of his howl. The speed and pure ferocity of his attack. The ruthlessness in his actions and lack of mercy as he slaughtered the attackers without mercy. It wasn't the actions of an eighteen-year-old kid, but of a trained killer, or the instincts of a wild, feral animal. 

"What do you mean I was a wolf? I'm a human. I can't shift into a were beast", Gavin argued. As far as he and everyone else knew, he was a human. He was born a human without any kind of shifter blood or abilities. Until that night anyway. 

"Gavin you..." Erza was interrupted before she could finish by Mr and Mrs Johnson coming into the room. Mrs Johnson's shriek of joy was loud enough to hurt both of their ears as she ran forward and launched herself into her son's arms, tears flooding down her face as she latched on to him. 

"Thank the gods you're alive and awake" she said as she held him close, despite his protests and pain.

" I'm okay, I'm okay," he said as he gently wrapped his arms around his tiny slip of a mother. She was racked with sobs as she buried her face against his chest and sobbed in relief. 

"How dare you make your mother worry like that?" She yelled at him as she cried even harder. She gripped his hospital gown in her hands, her knuckles turning white as she glared at him, her eyes red from the tears and her breathing ragged. 

"I'm sorry mom, it all happened so fast. We saw on the news that the abductions were happening in the city now, and we had to check on Lyla and Aria and make sure they were okay," Gavin responded. He tried to sooth his angry mother while his father just stood at the side of the bed looking down at his son sadly, his face soft and an almost regretful look in his eyes. 

"We are just glad you are both okay and survived this horrific ordeal." Mr Johnson's deep voice filled the room as he stepped closer to put a hand on his wife's shoulder. 

"What happened?" Gavin asked his parents. "Erza said I shifted into a black werewolf? But I don't know how this is possible. I'm human. Not a shifter," Gavin asked, and looked at both his parents. At the mention of his shifting, his mom stiffened and pulled back, the waterworks came to a quick end as she looked serious and forlorn. She fidgeted against his chest as she looked between her son and husband.

"Well. About that." She started, then bit her lip indecisively. "We have to tell you something," she said as she stood up and pulled a chair over to the bed. She grabbed the hem of her shirt and looked at her hands in her lap as she bit her lip indecisively. 

"You're adopted," his father said bluntly. His mother yelled in protest and glared at her husband. He shrugged and said, "You were beating around the bush and the lad has a right to know," he said, and looked at Gavin square in the eyes. 

The news should have shocked him to his core. All his life, his parents and family made it seem like he was their true blue flesh and blood child. If he didn't have the system and conversation with the god Koray, he would probably have been shocked senseless at this mention. But he had to play it smart, he had to be dumb and act shocked by this revelation. "What are you talking about? I'm adopted?" he asked his father in mock surprise. Erza sucked in her breath as she moved to sit by his side and took his hand in hers. 

"On one of our hiking trips. We stumbled upon what looked like a massacre of a group of several dozen werewolf shifters. We searched around and you were the only survivor. It appeared as if they were ambushed out in the woods and the mother tried hiding you under her body to protect you," his father said, and looked grim. Erza covered her mouth with her hand in horror. Tears filled her eyes as she listened in. "In order to protect you, your mom and I decided to keep this a secret until your 18th birthday. "We had planned to tell you after you fully graduated next week," he said while he looked at his son, worried about his reaction. He always dreaded telling Gavin this information. He knew it was dumb, but he was afraid that his son might, for some reason, resent him and Evelyn for keeping this a secret all these years. 

Gavin sat there. He appeared to be stunned. He was processing this revelation. So he was saved, as a child, from a group of dead werewolves. He isn't even human. And his parents aren't even his biological parents. Erza squeezed his hand. She could feel his rapid heart rate behind her palm. She felt the tension in his body as he held onto her hand. The warmth was a stark contrast to how cold he felt in his heart. 

"I don't know what to say," he finally admitted aloud. "You are still my parents, whom I love and cherish." So I'm not human, so what? "Now I have something to figure out, and a past to hunt down," Gavin grinned as he decided nothing had changed. The information, while shocking and new, didn't change how much he loved his parents. No matter what, these two people had seen an apparently helpless baby and took him in. They fed, loved, nurtured and cared for him for the past almost eighteen years. What better parents could he have asked for growing up? 

Both his parents teared up a little at his proclamation. As if they were afraid of him being angry or rejecting them. They didn't realize how much they held their breath as they awaited his response. 

"We love you, son" his father said as he reached down to hug his beloved son. Erza sat there with a broad smile on her face as she watched the scene. She knew he'd respond this way. He had such a kind and loving heart. He was always like this. Until the night he shifted, she had never really known him to show a mean or vicious bone in his body. 

"So. Not only am I a werewolf shifter, but I also killed 2 people yesterday," he said quietly, and looked down. He had taken two lives. He was barely eighteen and had killed two people. Granted, they were scum, but he still took two lives. His stomach was in knots, and he leaned over the bed as he emptied its contents into the trash can next to the bed. The full ramifications and weight of his actions felt like an oppressive force was crushing him down. 

"Umm. That was 2 days ago, love" Erza said quietly as she walked over and rubbed his back comfortingly. "You've been out for 2 nights. "It's Monday evening," she informed him. 

"Where's Aria? What about Lyla?" he asked suddenly. Gavin looked from face to face and searched for an answer. It just dawned on him, after all this talk about what happened, he still didn't know what happened to the other girls that night. 

Before anyone could respond, the door opened again. Lyla and Aria both walked in. Aria was covered in bandages and Lyla stood on crutches with a cast on her right leg. Erza smiled softly as they both shouted and ran to Gavins' side excitedly. Well, Aria ran while Lyla did a sort of limping hurry to his bedside. "You're awake." Aria said in appreciation as she looked him over. Both girls had bright smiles on their faces as they looked at the boy in bed. 

"You're alive" they both exclaimed in tearful joy as they held him close in their arms, crying softly tears of joy. Lyla let the crutches fall to the ground in her excitement of seeing Gavin awake and alive. Aria sniffed her tears back as she held onto his chest. 

Gavin sat there in happy, stunned silence. He was worried about both of them and was so glad to see them okay. He tried to look over them as he took note of the bandages on Aria and the boot on Lyla's leg. 

He let them go and looked at them. Aria had a few bandages on her arms and one on her cheek. He could see some bandages under her shirt around her torso. Lyla had a bandage wrapped around her head and a black boot on her right foot.

"I thought something had happened to you, Lyla. Where were you?" he asked her. He tried to recall seeing her at all during the fight but couldn't recall anything. 

"When they busted in, it came out of nowhere, and I was caught by surprise and knocked unconscious pretty quick, and they threw me out the window. Probably intended to grab me when they were done grabbing Aria," Lyla said as she felt the back of her head where a lump was. 

"The medics found her outside when they arrived and took the 3 of you into the hospital", Erza said. 

"I'm glad we are all alright. But this gives me even more reason to go to the academy. I have to learn how to control my shifter form. I have to learn magic. I have to protect you", Gavin said. A hint of steel entered his voice. He felt a primal need. A hunger for power. Of a desire to protect his loved ones. A strong desire to protect his mate. 

Erza shivered at his words as she held onto his arm. "We will figure this out together. Remember. If we stand together, there is nothing we can't grab by the throat and beat down", she declared. 

The door opened and a tall, slender, gray-haired woman entered. "Good afternoon Mr Gavin, my name is Dr Aliza. It's good to see you awake. You gave these folks quite a fright, you know." She introduced herself as she walked over and checked Gavin's vitals. She had on the standard white lab coat of the hospital staff and a tablet in her hands as she went over the machines checking everything. 

"Nice to meet you, Dr. Aliza," Gavin said. "So am I good to leave? I have things I have to do," Gavin asked her. He hated being tied down in a hospital. With everything he had just learned, he desperately wanted time to be alone and figure things out. Yes, he knows what he said to his parents. But he was still shaken by the revelation of being an orphan. On top of that, he is a shifter now apparently. The icing on the cake, was the conversation with Koray and the AI system Veronica. It was so much to wrap his head around. Almost too much. 

"Gavin!" Erza chided him as she smacked the back of his head, which caused him to help and wince at the pain. "You just woke up, and you will stay as long as the nice pretty doctor decides you need to" she demanded as she yelled at him, anger in her eyes. 

"The young lady is right. You have just gone through a traumatic event. From what I understand, you shifted for the first time?" She asked him. This young man astounded her. From what she understood, he had no prior knowledge of being a shifter. No practice or experience controlling the shift. Nor did he have practice with magic and controlling his mana. Yet he shifted fully for the first time and went into a fight to protect his loved ones. By all rights, the mana depletion should have kept him out for another day at least before he awoke. 

"That's what they tell me. I didn't even know I was a shifter," he responded, as he nodded his head towards Erza. 

"I'd like to run a few more blood tests, maybe find out your family lineage if you'd consent," Dr Aliza asked, as she handed over a tablet with the request to be signed. "This could be an easy way of finding any living relatives."