Chapter 33 : A Wounded Heart 1

Maya

Damn, that woman! She thought as she walked and stumbled again.

She gritted her teeth and dug her claws into the palm of her hand, or tried to grasp it. Her left arm had long since lost all feeling, her hand unable to clench as she tried to restore sensation to the useless limb.

Maya had never received a spiritual attack in her life, and had always avoided holy priests and the like for that reason. Although her encounters with werewolves endowed with such powers were limited, she knew instinctively that the dead woman was stronger than most, and she only had to be hit by one of her spiritually powerful arrows like Karenina.

They had traveled only a few hours, but the journey seemed much longer as the wound refused to heal and the blood had long since covered her red clothing. The scattered patterns of her clothing had turned an ugly brown where the blood had dried, while closer to the wound the fabric was still a deep red as the blood continued to flow.

Her vision was getting worse, the surrounding forest blurring before her eyes, and her limbs felt heavy, especially her legs - yet she forced herself to keep moving. She was beginning to forget why she had to keep running, running to nowhere, when just a few hours ago she had told her new friends that they were heading for the Westwood Pack territory, claiming that Alpha Xavier Westwood might have taken her girl Karenina there.

Now she was too confused in mind and spirit to remember such intentions. All she could focus on was the pain in her left shoulder and the lack of feeling in her arm and fingers. And yet, she did fall.

At first she did not realize she had fallen because her mind seemed unfocused. She felt herself tipping backwards. How on earth did she end up on the ground?

A blurred figure came into view. Words were spoken, but Maya could not make sense of them. Her head was spinning. Her shoulder... why did her shoulder hurt?

Her vision went black. Was she going blind? No, her eyes were closed. No matter how much she wanted them to open again, they would not. She had to keep moving. Why? Then she didn't know, as unconsciousness stole the last shreds of her coherent mind.

Selene and Mike, who were on Felix's back, trying to keep Elena in sight in the distance of the forest, knew something was wrong when they saw the wolf below them. She was stumbling again and they feared she was hurt worse than they thought. She was down and suffering, now the focus of their attention as they tried to get closer to help her.

*****

Mike

Once they tried to stop their journey to Xavier's pack territory to see and check on Elena's injuries. But the she-wolf did not want to stop, she insisted that she would heal herself and keep on running. There was no other way to stop her, so they followed and watched her closely.

"She's very hurt," Samuel whispered, worried. For she was their only guide to finding Karenina.

"She's hurt, Mike. Have you noticed that her pace has slowed?" asked Selene.

Mike's eyes were fixed on Elena, watching her limping movements. "Yes," he replied seriously. He could tell that Elena was a powerful she-wolf, but she was definitely no match for Carolina's pure arrow.

"I smell blood," Samuel told them both.

"It's been over three hours! How can she still be standing if she's still bleeding?" asked Selene.

No one answered her. They could not understand Elena's journey to reach the territory of the Westwood Pack. If all she wanted was answers from Karen, why bother? It didn't matter if she checked her wounds first, even healed them a bit, before she continued. What did she really want from their friend? Or was it Xavier she was after?

Obviously, Elena had not won the heart of the Alpha of the Westwood Pack when his protector had protected the battlefield from most of the she-wolves. Did she want revenge on the woman who had taken Xavier from her? But that woman couldn't be Karenina, right? She was a hybrid, a half-human who wasn't even a full-blooded werewolf.

What was Karenina's role in all this?

Mike sighed. It seemed that one of his friends had a habit of stirring up trouble and making everyone worry. He prayed that Karenina wouldn't get hurt.

They all gasped as they saw Elena fall and then fell silent.

"Felix, stop!" cried Selene, clenching her fist at his back. Felix let out a small growl in response and stopped, landing near the fallen wolf.

Mike grabbed her uninjured shoulder and gently turned Elena onto her back. Her eyes were open, but she couldn't seem to focus.

"Elena! Are you all right? Can you hear me? Elena!" Mike tried to call out to her in a worried tone.

"What's wrong with her? She's just lying there," Samuel asked, shaking and stunned.

"Feel her forehead. She looks flushed," Selene instructed Mike, who was closest to the fallen wolf. Selene didn't want to rush the wolf and disturb her. Elena was like a wounded animal and might attack blindly.

"Oh crap! She's burning up," Mike informed them, pulling his hand back only to see Elena's eyes closed.

"Her eyes are closed. Is she okay?" Samuel asked.

Ignoring Sam's question, Selene told him to get some water bottles from Karen's backpack, which was lying on the ground next to Felix, along with some rags.

Nodding his head, the man ran to the large yellow backpack.

"This isn't good, Mike," Selene muttered quietly.

"I know, Selene. We have to take care of her. She's our best chance to find Karen. I've only heard of the Westwood Pack territory, but I don't know exactly where it is."

Selene shook her head. "I don't know either."

Samuel ran back with the necessary items and handed them to Selene.

"I'll take care of Elena. We should set up camp here," Selene said.

"I'll build the fire," Mike said.

"I'll help," Samuel added, and then started gathering firewood.

*****

Selene

Selene focused her energy on Elena. She took off her bloodstained clothes, trying not to shake the she-wolf too much despite her unconsciousness. That didn't mean she wouldn't wake up and attack on instinct.

She used the water from the canteen to wet the rag and clean off the excess blood before treating the wound. The wound was red and inflamed, probably infected. She knew she would probably have to sew it up to get it to heal and stop the bleeding.

Elena might be a she-wolf, but she had been hit by Carolina's holy arrow, and her healing would be much slower than usual. The wolf needed help with her healing process. Realizing this, Selene did the best she could, sewing up the wounds on Elena's front and back, smearing them with healing ointment, and calling for Mike to carry Elena while she wrapped bandages around her chest and shoulders.

"Hey, guys!" called Samuel as he ran toward them with a grin. "There's a river not far from here, over there," he continued, pointing.

"Well, that's good news," Mike said with a small smile, slowly and gently lowering Elena to the ground.

Selene handed the dirty top to Mike. "Can you wash this while I watch her?"

Taking the clothes Selene offered, he smiled and said, "Of course, my beautiful Selene." Then he left with Samuel, who had brought soap, as a guide.

Selene stared at Elena's flushed face, hoping the she-wolf would stay alive. They needed her help to find Karenina.