"Is she going to be okay?" A voice crept into the blackness. It was small, delicate even and it spoke so close to a whisper I almost missed it.

There was a long pause, and as as the words drifted in my head I briefly wondered if the voice was speaking to itself, until another voice joined. This one was very familiar. "She's getting there, Sweetie. Hopefully not too long now." Holly.

"She's been asleep forever!" This was also a different voice, but so similar to the first I was beginning to think I knew who they belonged to.

My eyelids hurt as I tried to open them. When that didn't lead anywhere, I tried my fingers, my arm, a leg, practically anything to prove to myself that I was alive. It was very dark in here, and very still, and while I was grateful to hear the voices, even they sounded farther away than what had to be normal.

What happened? The last thing I remembered was the popping and cracking as I changed back to normal. At least, I feel normal now, so I had to have gotten there at some point!

"She looks different."

Holly chuckled, but quickly covered it with a cough. "Well, remember when you met her? Eva told me you two pushed her over. Do you remember how easily that happened?"

"Yes, it was strange; isn't she a wolf?"

"She is a wolf, but she wasn't a very strong one yet. She looks different now, because she has shifted and her wolf has been healing her body and making her stronger."

"Wow," the child breathed in awe. "That's kinda cool! Will my wolf be able to do that one day?"

Holly's smile was easy to hear, "yes, Amber. If you ever get hurt, your wolf will be able to heal you, but I am here in case the process isn't fast or efficient enough."

"Or if it's wolfs-bane or silver!" Autumn announced matter-of-factly.

"That's . . . Right. . . Who taught you that?"

The answer was unanimous, "Kota."

I picked up the sound of her clasping her hands together. "Okay. . . why don't you two watch over her for a little while, and I have some other things to check up on. I'll be back in a bit, alright?"

"Okay!"

The second the door shut, I tried to move again. This time, my finger twitched, and then my foot followed by my other hand.

A small gasp sounded in my right ear. "Amber, I think she moved!"

"But Holly just left! Do we go find her?"

"No, maybe I just pretended it." Her misused grammar was adorable and I fought harder to be able to see them. Finally, I got my eyes to stretch open. The room was dimmed, so thankfully I wasn't blinded when seeing light for the first time in who knows how long.

"Oh!" Amber exclaimed, "you were right!"

Suddenly a little face appeared in my view, her blue eyes shining with glee and her two ponytails swinging as she moved. After a moment, a copy of her joined from the other side. "Eirenae?"

I lifted my lips in the tiniest smile. My lips weren't dry, neither was the rest of my skin as far as I could tell. I wasn't in any pain, and the cast on my left arm was gone, yet the arm didn't look shriveled from being pressed down by the wrapping so long. In fact, when I lifted my hands, I noticed my arms weren't as twig-like as they used to be. They were normal, they were healthy. Woah this is so strange.

"Holly says your wolf healed you up all good!" One of the twins beamed at me. "You've been connected to this bag the whole time too, and Kota's been watching you."

Following her line of sight, I slowly turned my head to see a hydrating IV bag hanging on the left and a tube connected to the inside of my elbow. I was in my room though, not Holly's infirmary, and as I looked farther, Kota was lying on his stomach on the floor to the left of the bed.

"He finally is sleeping. Holly said not to wake him for anything."

A smirk crept onto my face as I leaned back into the pillows, pushing myself into more of a sitting position. I knew he was protective of me, but goodness!

"Should we get Holly?" I shook my head. I was fine, I felt fine. A little out of it and confused with some minor memory gone, but fine nonetheless. "Okay," she threw her tiny little arms around my shoulders, putting her head on my chest. "I missed you, Eirenae."

Tears sprung to my eyes as she touched my heart with her words. Tenderly, I wrapped my own arms around her figure and gave the top of her head a feather of a kiss. Amber climbed over me and I moved my legs so she could sit between them.

"Guess what? We saw the horses again last week!"

"Yeah. Mom said she couldn't take watching Kota mope while he sat by you, so she made him take us to the park."

"Yeah and the horses were there and we told him how you liked them too! I think that made him happy."

They went on, explaining some of their recent days in as much detail as their five year old brains could pick up on. I grinned, enjoying every second of their storytelling, and loving that even though they didn't realize it, they were giving me some hints to what had been going on in the time I spent in darkness — which I was beginning to realize was a lot longer than I had been thinking.

It sounded like Kota had been staying in here with me every night, and every chance he got during the day he was by my side, holding my hand or talking to me. I wish I could've remembered what he had been saying. The others had gone back to school to keep suspicions away, as it could be very bad for the entire community to think these people kidnapped me. Though, apparently some of the teachers in school are wolves too. I had a feeling every time someone seemingly normal turned out to be a wolf, I was going to just as shocked.

Amber told me how excited she was for Thanksgiving to be coming up, because Thanksgiving meant Christmas came after. Ah, classic logic right there. The conversation led into how excited they both were for Christmas and for me to be here with them. They told me what they are asking for and which traditions they like the most.

Suddenly Autumn gasped, cutting her sister off, "And you're a real princess! Kota told us how you have white fur and that you could have magic somewhere inside!"

My smile turned into a grimace, though they didn't seem to notice. It was cute how excited they were about the princess thing, but I personally wasn't sure how I felt about it. What did this mean for me? For Kota and his pack? Mom was gone, so does this pack become Royal? It was all so confusing!

"Girls!" The grumble from my left was like music in my ears. I had missed his voice so much it was almost painful feeling the butterflies stir in my gut.

With squeals, the twins clambered off of me and slipped off the right side of the bed, peeking up over the comforter. "We were told not to bother you."

"Well I'm awake now, what are you two doing?" He sat up and I reached out for him. My movement caught his eye and his entire demeanor shifted. Instantly, he grabbed my outstretched hand and stood up so he could be closer, the sparks hitting me like bolts of lightning. It wasn't just where he touched me, though, the electricity traveled down all of my limbs and through my veins until it settled in my pounding heart.

"Oh my Goddess, Eirenae! You're awake!" His eyes were wide and bright now, seeming to sparkle with unsaid emotion. He had missed me, and he was crying over the fact my eyes had opened. "Where's Holly, does she know?"

The twins shook their heads simultaneously, "she left."

Kota opened his mouth and looked at the door, but I stopped him by placing a hand on his face and drawing his attention back down to me. He smiled and leaned down to touch his forehead to mine, breathing in so deeply I thought he might start floating. "It's been so long, too long." I closed my eyes as his lips brushed my nose and I pulled him down into a proper hug, breathing in the moment as much as he had.

Kota sent the girls away and he sat down next to me, careful of the medical cords that I probably didn't even need anymore. "Are you doing okay?" I nodded. "Do you need food or water? I can get you anything you need." I shook my head, I just wanted to be here with him, no interruptions.

The door swung open and I groaned ever so softly. "Oh my Goddess, Eirenae!" Jaycee exclaimed as she made her way to the foot of the bed. "You have no idea how happy I am that you came to; that was such a long six weeks!"

I've been out for six weeks?!

Gawking, I turned to look up at Kota. He nodded, confirming it. That means it really was that close to Thanksgiving! A beep to the left announced that my heart rate had sped up.

"Relax, it's okay," Kota reassured me softly. "Don't panic over it, everything is fine. You didn't miss much, and your body was able to heal. While it was torture for me, your body needed those six weeks to overcome the trauma of the shift." I sank into him, my head tucked into his chest. I knew he was right, but I hated that I missed so much time. It was now mid-November; I probably missed the first snow!

"There is something we should talk about though, that you have every right to panic about." Jaycee admitted, holding up a hand. I swallowed, knowing this had to do with the white-wolf-princess-crap conversation.

"Hold on hold on hold on," Holly warned, coming into the room. Behind her trailed Sydney, Cole, and Dexter. She walked over to the machines I was attached to and quickly unplugged them and removed the cords from my chest and arm. She gave a quick report before taking her equipment and closing the door behind her.

I met Jaycee's eyes, waiting for her to say something I was bound to panic about.

"You said your mother is Anne — or was. Basically you confirmed for us right before you blacked out that you are a Royal descendant, perhaps the last living one. We couldn't find any information on really anything with your family, so all of that is still unclear."

My lips tugged themselves down into a frown. No it wasn't. She left me with Jack to be raised in a life of misery, and on her way out, she died. Simple. Oh, and she took my little sister with her, clearly picking a favorite child to save. Not that I'm salty about it or anything.

"You okay?" Cole asked, searching my expression with his eyes. I probably held a fire in mine, and poor Jaycee likely thought it was directed at her for not finding more information.

"Look, Eirenae, I'm -"

I held up a hand shook my head, erasing whatever look I had and replacing with with a passive one. I signed its okay, hoping she understood. It was unclear if she did, but we moved on anyway.

"But you lived with your dad, right?" Dexter piped up.

I pleaded with my eyes to Kota and he gave Dexter a warning rumble from deep in his throat. Dexter threw his hands up in defense. "Look, man, it was just a question."

"Leave it, she doesn't want to talk about that."

I released a grateful sigh, glad he understood the plea and that he wasn't going to force me to open up about my past yet. Even for this circumstance.

"Speaking of which," Sydney added, "are we going to just blow past the elephant in the room?" We stared at her. "You know, she talked. . . when she shifted back right before she blacked out for a month?"

All the blood drained from my face until I probably looked like a ghost. I did it? I used my voice? Why? How? When? Obviously Sydney had answered when but why couldn't I remember? Squeezing my eyes shut, I forced my thoughts back to my shift and the conversation in Kota's office. The reel ended when the blanket was thrown over my changing body and skipped to the twins waking me up.

Their eyes found me and I swallowed hard. Kota gripped my hand as if he thought that was going to make this better for me. I cracked my mouth open and fought. I did, I really did. But the memories of my life before meeting the people standing in front of me closed around my mind, forcing me back into that dark, lonely shell of a hole I'd been hiding in for so long. I couldn't. Not when I was truly trying.

I couldn't recall why or how I got my voice to cooperate before I went under, but it had to have been instinctual or triggered because trying to talk ordinarily in a conversation was not working. Something wet touched my cheek and I realized a tear was trailing down my cheek. This was so stupid; what was stopping me from speaking to my friends? I was healthy, I was safe, I was in a new life! I shouldn't still be this broken.

If looks could kill, Sydney would be six feet in the ground from the angry glower shadowing Kota's face. He wrapped an arm around my waist and swept me impossibly closer to his side. I gingerly wiped my face with the sleeve of the hoodie I was wearing. After a second of thought — and a sniff — I realized it was Kota's.

"All of you, out." He growled.

"But-"

His growl turned to a snarl, "NOW!"

Instantly, all four of them ducked their heads and shuffled out the door. Jaycee hesitated to send me a saddened look over her shoulder before she disappeared out of view.