Chapter 17

Talia's POV

 "How could you have stayed there all the while?" It's the first thing I hear when I blink back to life. 

Everything is still a little blurry and in my head is disorganized, but I'm alive. 

The cottage owner, who threw all the tantrums was hovering over me, clothes now. 

 "How could you not tell me you were there?" His voice sounds softer than how I remember before passing out. "I went out searching for you, I was calling you." 

I'm confused as hell. For all I know, I don't even know what he looks like. How does he know my name? Kara hasn't been talking to his wolf, has she? 

He keeps staring at me in concerned annoyance, bidding me to reply to him.

I'm bruised all over, and my throat is parched. That aside, I really do not know what to say. 

I feel like he has mistaken me with someone he expected to be in the woods at that time, maybe his mate. 

She could be out there. But he would know that… 

He's standing over me, still looking. 

The day is beginning to break and I can see him relatively clearly, making more distinct images than I had last night. 

 "Water." I croak finally. He scurries away, stumbling over all sorts of things in the process, like one running to get a prize. 

He dashes back sooner than I expected with a metal cup in his hand. "Here" He says, offering me the cup half filled with water. 

I'm too tired and blind to check the hygiene of both the cup and the water, as I gulp it down in the more embarrassingly unfeminine way. He does not mine though. "Is that enough?" His voice is surprisingly soft from the first impression I had, making me question if I bled or hit my head too hard to have glitches in my memory. 

I could really get used to this amount of care. He's still standing over me, looking like he expects me to say another word. 

My physical inability aside, I'm scared to talk, 'cause he would know he has the wrong person and would probably throw me out as soon as his conscience deems fit, abandoning me back to my fate. Moreover, I could enjoy this attention as long as the darkness casts its shadow on me. 

He takes my hand in his and keeps sliding his fingers through mine. He has a big hand which makes it weird, but they also feel warm, so I'm enjoying it. 

I feel him breathe on me and can only imagine who could put him in this situation, whoever he mistook me for that is. 

She must be really special. 

My conscience starts biting me a little as I begin feeling guilty for being a fraud. I really do not want to imagine his reaction when dawn comes and he realizes I'm not who he took me for. 

For now, I need to rest. 

 "Hang on, don't sleep." He says as soon as I begin closing my eyes. "I should clean you up. I'll be back in a jiffy." it was starting to sound cringe. 

All of a sudden I begin feeling self conscious. The reality of the risk I'm taking dawns on me. 

In a cottage with a strange man, the owner of the cottage I'll presume, and a rogue judging from all the nuggets I caught from the discussion of the angry intruders. 

I have nothing that could serve as self defense on me. I'm so weak I could barely even transform. That's true! Kara. 

 "Hey Kara," She has been quiet in my head since I woke up. "how are you holding up girl?" 

 "Hey you! Welcome back to life." I felt like leaping up for joy in that instant. 

She does not sound as bad as I feel, so I'm probably the only one facing it. 

 "You've gotten too many chances, Talia." She continues, intruding on my victory moment. "Maybe keep away from touching silver? How do you see that?" There's humor in her voice, but it has to be laced with some facts for Kara to have brought it up. 

Silver? What silver? Ohh, the ring he threw in his fit! It's the last thing I remember touching before passing out. 

 "What do you mean by that?" I'm as lost as any other person. 

 "It means you've had too many chances at life." She says, in a 'it's quite obvious' tone. "Try appreciating this one. Something along the lines of using it well, maybe?" 

The day is getting brighter, it looks like we are about five hours past midnight. 

I still do not know his name. Anyways, he is not back yet, so I get my sore and wounded self off the bed where I'm laid and limb by limb. Each skin and muscle contraction hurts more than it's supposed to. My whole body hurts like a single large open wound. 

My head hangs limply as my neck feels too weak to assist. 

I muster all the strength in me and get up off the bed. 

The cold breeze blows against my raw skin. My clothes are off! The thick clothes covering me lay rumpled on the bed I left. Who took them off? That's a stupid question, it's only one person here with me. 

Dear Moon Goddess

Please do not let it be what I am thinking. 

I can't deny that as much as it hurts to have my clothes stripped off me while I was unconscious and the cold unfriendly breeze blowing against me, it feels good to have the dirty blood soaked pieces of rags off me. 

When the day gets fully bright, which by my estimation is not so far, what would I wear when he expels me? 

Taking off now with these pieces of covering would be presumptuous, I need to think and think fast. 

I hear footsteps getting closer. Would it be weird to ask him for his name? It sure would. He's been calling me by a strange girl's name, that I can't even remember, asking him would be making him doubt her memory, or worse, sanity. 

I wobble back to the bed and put the heavy beddings over my aching body. They hurt like silver on a wolf the instant they touch my skin, but the pain eases gradually after. 

He enters the room and my heart skips two beats. The ones that come after sound like they are echoing in the dark. My body is quivering, not from cold, but fear. 

 "Hey," He says softly, taking my right hand in his left. "It's okay, it's okay." I can't remember much from my past, but it does not feel like I've had this much care or been spoken softly to in a while. 

He sits me back down on the bed. Raising my arm up after so much painful moaning and protest, he starts cleaning my body with the clothes and warm water. Somewhere in the water, I smell antiseptic, these wounds will heal properly, thank Moon Goddess. 

 "You look like you've had it soft." He says, while still gently rubbing my body. "Been living large since you left me, huh?"