Page 10 of Hunted

“Where am I?” Abigail’s tongue was thick in her mouth, and her head spun as she tried to sit up.

“Please don’t do that!” The shifter placed a firm hand on her shoulder.

“Where am I?” Abigail whispered once more.

“You’re in the Moonstone pack infirmary. I thought Esme told you.”

“Esme,” Abigail murmured. She reached for the memories of the woman, but all she came up with was a bizarre image of Snow White in her mind. “Esme.”

“Yes, Esme,” the wolf shifter said encouragingly as Abigail lay back down.

“Now, our alpha wants to see you. I gave you some pain medication to help with your natural healing process. You’ll be a bit loopy for a while, but he won’t mind.”

Abigail nodded stiffly as the door to the infirmary opened.

The man who walked in was heartbreakingly gorgeous. Abigail could understand that even in her current state.

“Wow,” she breathed as she looked at him. The words she spoke next slipped from her unbidden. “You’re so beautiful.”

The man just smiled kindly as he looked down at her. “Welcome to the Moonstone pack. I’m glad Esme and Bert found you. If you had been out there for much longer, you would have frozen.”

“I’m glad they brought me here too. To you,” Abigail said without thinking.

The man laughed again. “Now…” He became serious. “I want you to tell me what happened to you. A young wolf like you doesn’t just end up injured like this without something bad happening.”

Abigail was silent for a moment as she tried to answer the alpha’s question. Then, to her horror, she found herself crying. The medication, she knew, was making her emotional and sappy.

“He hurt me,” she found herself whispering. Something flashed in the alpha’s eyes. “He hurt me really bad.” She sobbed then. “Christian. I don’t know what I did to him. But he hit me so hard. He clawed at my face. He made me bleed.”

“Okay, calm down for me.” The alpha placed a soothing hand on Abigail’s cheek and she leaned into his warm, slightly rough skin. “You’re fine. You’re safe now. Repeat after me, I am safe now.”

“I am safe now,” Abigail repeated dutifully, but as she spoke, she realized her words were slurred.

That pain medication must have been very strong.

The female wolf shifter who seemed to be the healer came back into the room then. In the moment of silence, Abigail forgot everything she had just said. Even the remnants of the remembered pain faded under the assault of the medication.

“Listen, Abigail.”When did she learn my name?“We’re going to sedate you now. Your arm is broken. It will be too painful for me to set it while you’re awake.” She nodded drowsily at the healer’s words.

The alpha, whose name she did not know yet, still had his hand on her cheek. He stroked her cheek gently with his thumb before removing his hand.

Abigail jumped at the absence of the alpha’s hand against her skin.

The sedation worked quickly, and she slipped into the darkness and safety of sleep quickly.

When Abigail woke once again, the infirmary room was dark, aside from a dim, golden light that shimmered from what felt like miles away.

Her mouth was dry, and the healer must have foreseen this because a glass of water sat next to her bed. She moved awkwardly, and when she looked down, she saw that her arm was in a cast.

Abigail had no memories of what had happened before she had fallen asleep, but it seemed that someone had set her broken arm. She sighed with relief after she took a gulp of water and then lay back down.

She knew setting her arm would help her shifter healing abilities to work more quickly. The sedation, pain medication, and setting of her arm would help her internal injuries to heal as well.

There must be a healer here in the Moonstone pack,Abigail thought. She pursed her lips.How did I know I’m with the Moonstone pack?Her thoughts were jumbled and her brow furrowed as she tried to remember what had happened before she was sedated. The only thing she could remember was the presence of an alpha.

Then Abigail thought about Luke. And Christian.

Sharp, shooting pains skittered up her arm at the thought of the two men.

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