For Hannah, the last few days had passed quietly.

Once her vertigo had died down and the headaches retreated, there was no need to keep her cooped up in the consultation room, so Doc had made the decision to move her onto one of the wards.

There were four wards altogether, Jenni informed her during one of their many conversations. Built shortly after Blake had taken over as Alpha to accommodate the rapidly increasing pack. Each ward held six beds lined up facing each other with curtains that could be pulled across for privacy, just like a regular hospital.

What set them apart was the extraordinary view.

One whole wall on the end of each ward was made up entirely of glass overlooking a vast forest that stretched for miles in either direction. Nothing was built behind the pack house, so the patients had an unobstructed view of the tree line just a few yards away.

It was relaxing, she had decided, to look out over the natural landscape and forget that she was trapped in a nightmare of fog and confusion.

She was never entirely alone, of course.

The Alpha had assigned Issac to keep an eye on her. Whenever Blake couldn't be there himself - which was surprisingly infrequent considering he had an entire pack to run - the tall warrior was never far away.

Hannah had been allocated a ward entirely to herself, and had chosen a bed as close to the view as she could. Sometimes Issac would relax on one of the spare beds on the far side of the room, but more often than not, stood just outside the door flirting shamelessly with the other nurses.

Every now and then, his sister Amara - possibly one of the most beautiful women she had ever laid eyes on - arrived to give Issac a break, but she never ventured into the room to speak to her.

It wasn't personal, Jenni reassured her - their wolves were still disturbed by her unusual scent, and they wanted to take no risks around her.

"Why does your wolf tolerate it?" she had asked.

"Oh, Felicity is very docile," Jenni explained. "I'm not a warrior or high-ranking pack member, so she doesn't feel the need to be on high alert all the time."

"Do all your wolves have names?" she wondered.

"Oh yes, we're paired together by the Moon Goddess at birth, or so the story goes."

The Moon Goddess... the words evoked yet another familiar feeling, the memory floating so tantalisingly just beyond her grasp.

"I've heard that before..." she had murmured, then shot her companion a look of mild alarm. In the short time she had know her, Hannah had discovered that there was such a thing as over-sharing with Jenni.

Every time she alluded to remembering even the smallest of details, Jenni's eyes lit up like the sun parting the clouds; enthusiastically raining questions down on her - almost all of which she wouldn't be able to answer - until the headaches returned, and Hannah feigned exhaustion just to take a break.

Seeing the first question already form on her lips, Hannah felt little guilt feigning a return of her vertigo in an effort to distract her. It wasn't a huge subterfuge. Every memory required a monumental effort to retrieve, usually so fractured there was little to no substance to it, and always accompanied by so many bolts of pain, the threat of nausea was never far away.

She allowed herself a brief moment of remorse as the small nurse fussed around her, offering medication, extra pillows and a basin; before closing her eyes and sighing in honest relief. However, she was grateful for the girl's visits. She was a familiar face amongst all the strangeness and she liked to believe they were rapidly becoming close friends.

Doc visited her once each day to check on her slowly healing injuries, and she continued to regard him with a quiet but wary suspicion, much to his chagrin.

She had accepted that his Alpha had ordered him to inject her against her will, and that he was only following those orders. But the needle still loomed fresh in her mind, and he had lost the brief but oh-so-important trust she had held in him. Despite all evidence to the contrary, she was wary of him now.

Despite her mistrust, he'd spend several hours talking to her - never expecting her to talk back - and had proven to be a mine of useful information about the pack she found herself in the middle of.

He chattered about everyday things; cases that walked or - more often - were carried into his hospital, family dramas amongst the families from the villages, the latest pairings amongst the teenagers in the pack house. Anything he thought might interest her.

It became immediately clear that both he and Jenni were doing their best to make her feel comfortable and keep her entertained, without actually revealing anything that could potentially be used against the pack.

It appears wariness goes both ways.

She chafed a little at the lack of trust, but realised that they knew no more about her than she did about them. In fact, she held the advantage here because she was learning about them all the time; things they couldn't possibly learn from her because she didn't know them herself.

She did find herself having one proper conversation with Doc a couple of days after she was moved, when the frustration of still not being able to remember became too much for her and overrode her usual caution:

"Your memory loss is linked to your head injury, Hannah," he was trying to reassure her.

"But I don't understand. Why can I remember some things and not others?" she pleaded, frustration giving her voice an edge. "I know my favourite colour, what food I like, the fact that I hate coffee and that liquorice brings me out in a rash..." All the things she'd gone over and over with Jenni, stumbled out in a rush. "I know that I prefer being outside, I like the sound of the rain, the smell of pine needles and I don't watch much TV. But when I do, I watch Supernatural... on repeat... a lot."

"Oh, don't tell me, you're in love with... which is it? Sam, Dane?" Doc interrupted, casting a glance at his daughter squinting at the computer on the nurse's station. When Jenni didn't have her head buried in a mountain of medical books, she too could usually be found glued to her Supernatural box sets.

"It's Dean, father," Jenni's dulcet voice drifted in from the corridor.

Doc's expression suggested his ability to care one way or the other was limited.

Hannah shook her head. "Neither. I think I'm in love with their car." She sighed dreamily. Then she frowned again. "How can I remember all of that, and not know my own name? Or my parents? Or anything about my life or my home?"

"Or what happened to you?" he asked, guessing the real cause of her distress.

She nodded numbly. "How could I forget that?" she whispered in a small voice.

He smiled gently at her. "The mind is a funny thing. It can store unlimited amounts of information, but occasionally won't allow you to remember where you put your keys in the morning." His brow furrowed in annoyance; misplacing items had been an everyday issue for the doctor for years.

"Think of it as an extremely advanced computer," he suggested. "Your injury has knocked out some of the systems and it's having to reboot. As you recover, so will your memory...are you still having nightmares?"

She nodded. Every night.

His brow furrowed with concern. "I'd give you something to help you sleep but I don't want to risk it with the concussion. If they get worse, let me know, ok?"

"It's just so frustrating!" she blurted out, flinging her hands in the air. " I feel like Alice after she fell down the rabbit hole; surrounded by things I hardly understand and with everyone constantly asking me who I am... only there are no drinks or sugar biscuits here to help me find the answers." She flung herself back against the soft pillows with an undignified pout.

Doc offered her a rare chuckle. "You know Alice was on drugs for most of the novel, right?"

She raised her eyebrows.

"Oh yes, there's a reason one of the foods she ate was a mushroom... and a very good reason she too suffered from chronic memory loss." he peered at her over his tiny spectacles. "I wouldn't recommend it as a short cut."

No, her memory was addled enough.

"Mind you," he murmured. "I could happily eat a couple of sugar biscuits round about now..."

Blake also visited as often as he could.

Unlike the others she'd met so far, the Alpha was deeply confusing for Hannah. She was attracted to him, there was no denying it. His eyes mesmerised her every time he glanced in her direction and she had a nasty habit of losing her train of thought if she stared into them for too long. She found that she felt oddly safe when he was around, as though all the unknown fears that plagued her couldn't reach her when she was near him.

But she didn't entirely trust him. He was just too unpredictable and her lack of memories made her wary of believing everything he told her. He seemed just as conflicted as she was - obviously wanting to get to know her, spend time with her and help her but, just as obviously, harbouring a deep mistrust of everything she did or said.

When he spoke to her, he alternated wildly between warm and welcoming and deeply suspicious. She never knew which man was going to walk into the ward to talk to her that day.

Jenni had patiently explained the role of Alpha to her one evening when she'd commented on everyone's outward display of respect. It helped her realise that he was torn between wanting to protect his pack and wanting to protect her. When she'd asked her why he felt this way, Jenni had made it abundantly clear that his interest wasn't personal:

"While you're here it's his responsibility to take you under his protection. While you're on his territory as a guest he has to give you safe passage, that means keeping you safe and looking out for your wellbeing." Jenni shrugged dismissively. "He'd be failing as an Alpha if he didn't follow it through properly. Now, what would you like for breakfast tomorrow?"

Either way, conversations with him were often emotionally exhausting, and she found herself wishing that she could remember her past simply to make their relationship easier.

Not everyone in the Blackridge pack was welcoming, however. There was no mistaking the undercurrent of malice emanating from the note she'd found pinned to her bed covers the previous morning:

GO HOME BEFORE YOU REGRET IT.

YOU'RE NOT WANTED HERE.

LEAVE OR DIE.

The bright red ink had splattered in places where the author had jabbed at the page in their agitation.

Jenni had been horrified; Issac furious.

He'd searched the hospital thoroughly but whoever it was had long gone. There was no unexpected scent lingering about the note, and no sign of a stranger within the hospital walls.

Jenni confided that they had to assume that it had been a member of the pack - no one else could have made it in and out of the hospital undetected.

Although unsettled, it was clear that they were more worried by it than she was. She'd never expected nor desired to be universally liked - especially when she'd seen the evidence of her scent's effect on the wolves first hand. Still, it was slightly disturbing that someone she didn't know could hold such hatred for her.

Later that day she was unsurprised to find Blake sat on the edge of her bed when she returned from the bathroom with Jenni. He leaned casually against her headboard. His dark eyes lost in thought while he gazed out at the forest, currently shrouded in a thick layer of autumn fog.

She raised her eyebrows at him in way of greeting as Jenni carefully helped her back to her bed one step at a time. Even after days of healing, her feet still seemed to believe she was forcing them to walk across a field of shattered glass.

He jumped up as soon as he saw them and took over, wrapping his arm around her waist and supporting her weight for the last few steps.

Trying to ignore the shiver of pleasure that ran through her at his touch, she noticed a subtle change in Jenni's demeanour - her usual cheery smile falling away to be replaced with something akin to dismay. Ever protective of her patients, she clearly had concerns that Hannah might not make it safely to the bed without her assistance. As soon as she'd seen it however, it was gone, replaced with a furious blush when Blake offered her one of his full-on smiles.

'Thank you, Jenni."

"You're welcome, Alpha," she squeaked, dashing out of the room with a spring in her step.

They both watched her leave.

"I don't think she's used to your praise, Alpha," Hannah said lightly.

"She's always been shy..." Blake murmured, looking puzzled as he watched her flee.

Hannah took the opportunity to slip out of his grasp and into the relative safety of her bed. She couldn't think straight when he touched her. She thought he appeared vaguely disappointed for a second then his usual mask of calm slid back over his face and she shrugged it off as a sign of her vivid imagination.

It wasn't hard to guess the reason for his visit.

"You've seen it then." It wasn't a question; she knew Issac would have taken the letter straight to his Alpha when he got off duty.

Blake nodded gravely.

"Do you know who sent it?"

"Of course not."

He ran his fingers through his thick black hair and, irrationally, she wondered what it would feel like if he reached out and ran them through hers. Catching herself, she realised he was talking to her.

"You don't appear very shaken by the news," he remarked, sinking into the seat opposite her bed and leaning back.

Trying not to think about his hands, she observed him carefully. He appeared completely relaxed, but his gaze was anything but casual. "I wasn't thinking about it," she admitted. She waited for that dark brow of his to lift and, as she had anticipated, it did. Despite everything, she smiled slightly, liking the expression of dry humour.

"Have I said something to amuse you?"

"No, it's just that I was expecting you to raise one eyebrow when I admitted that I wasn't thinking about the letter - and you did."

Both brows shot up and he grinned, instantly taking years from his age as the cool reserve he carried around with him vanished. "I shall have to learn to be less predictable around you in future."

"Believe me, you're anything but predictable," she blurted out, then blushed furiously, cursing her inability to keep her thoughts to herself.

Blake laughed openly and bowed his head to her. "Always a pleasure to keep you on your toes Hannah." He tilted his head, a half-smile still dancing around his lips.

She waited patiently, rearranging her sheets about her, knowing what his next question would be.

"How are you feeling today?" he asked. It was how all their conversations started.

"Better, thank you," she responded, as always. It wasn't a lie. Physically, her injuries were healing rapidly; faster than expected according to Doc who had a tendency to scratch his chin and mutter to himself in disbelief whenever he examined her.

"Are they treating you well here?"

"Apart from the occasional death threat, I'm treated like royalty."

His face darkened and she realised too late that it was the wrong thing to say, she'd brought back the serious Alpha.

"We will find whoever did this Hannah."

"I'm sure it's nothing serious," she sighed, hating the dismissal in her voice but unable to summon up the enthusiasm to worry about anything else. She had enough plaguing her mind as it was.

His eyes narrowed. "These are werewolves Hannah, not humans. All threats have to be taken seriously. I've brought in a second guard to watch over you until further notice."

That explained why she'd seen Amara out in the corridors that morning.

"Is it really that dangerous?" she asked very quietly.

"Just a precaution," Blake said. "I want to keep things under control until we get to the bottom of this." Frowning, she looked away. What he said made sense, but it did not comfort her at all.

***

She looked suddenly worried and Blake cursed himself quietly for being the cause of her discomfort. He wished he could reassure her. Promise her there was nothing to fear. But, if anything, he worried that she wasn't afraid enough.

His brother had delayed his return to Darkmoon in the aftermath of the note's discovery. After a careful examination of the paper, he'd suggested that the letter could have originated from outside the territory, but been delivered by someone on the inside - an idea Blake was loathed to consider, but he couldn't dismiss it.

The mere possibility made the whole situation far more dangerous than a disgruntled pack member. Even Rothan, whose mistrust continued to simmer in the back of his mind, had suggested several fates for the letter writer, once discovered. None of them particularly pleasant.

"Have you any news for me?" she asked, changing the subject.

He shook his head. "I've sent out enquiries to all the integrated human settlements nearby and contacted several police stations in outlying areas. They're circulating your description. We'll find them, Hannah. I promise you that."

His Beta had scoured the area near where she stumbled out of the forest, but all he'd been able to find was a faint scent trail leading to a high, rocky embankment just outside their territory. A small pool of dried blood confirmed that she'd probably received her head injury falling down the hill. Sharp rocks and boulders littered the route from top to bottom, and Marcus had expressed his astonishment that she'd walked away without more serious injuries. Frustratingly, all trace beyond that point had been washed away by the rains.

Blake leaned forward, trying to think of something to say that would lighten the mood. Instead, his attention was caught by Doc hovering in the doorway watching them.

Doc never looked more than mildly interested about anything, but right now he was almost agitated - glancing down at a piece of paper clutched in his hand and then back up at Hannah, his face twisted into an expression of concern.

Another letter? Blake was immediately on alert. "What is it?" he asked in a clipped tone, startling the doctor into looking up at him.

"I think you need to see this," Doc said seriously, avoiding eye contact with his, now curious, patient.

A strange feeling of disquiet knotting his stomach, he reached out to take the paper off him.

"Blake!" It was his brother calling over the pack link. "Rogues! On the Eastern border!"

He bit off a slurry of curse words under his breath. His wolf snarled in agitation.

"Sorry Doc, this is going to have to wait." Leaving them both looking after him in confusion, he ran out of the door and down the corridor towards the exit.