I suspected something, it was in the air. After another glance at Carol, I still found her sleeping. She had no idea about the world around her. I let her rest and stepped out of the room.

There had to be a reason why King Emerson was here.

Was he informed about me?

I shook my head. Why would he be informed about me?

We danced, we had a date and we had sex. That was all. But something was odd about his car being at the hospital today and being at the cemetery that night.

My subconscious gave me an unusual idea and I followed it. Steeling myself, I looked around, taking in my surroundings after being in pain for over three hours. My body was numb from the medicine.

Whatever it was, it helped.

My brows crept up, forming creases on my forehead. I took in a sharp breath and walked around the hospital that was fairly empty. There were a few nurses here and there, mostly crowded at the reception.

I turned away from the nurses and headed to the hallway. There were numerous rooms, some occupied, some not.

A voice came to me from afar. It wasn't the nurses that were gossiping about another nurse, it was someone else's.

Something was not right with my hearing as I could hear things I couldn't before—from a very long distance.

"We haven't had a case like this in decades, Mr. King but we have followed your advice and put her on the essence of monkshood. She has shown development since then, I suppose it has to do with suppressing the wolf for the time being." The doctor spoke, certainly mentioning me to King Emerson.

He was the senior doctor. It wasn't anyone else. It was him.

"Yes, keep her on it till it's possible," King replied, tone brimming with worry.

"I hope you're aware the essence will not work under the full moon. She'll have to shift."

My lips parted. I placed my hand over the wall outside the room the doctor and King were talking in. A breath blew out of me and I grew concerned.

"I'll see to that myself. You don't have to worry about it. Just do what you're doing." King replied.

"As you say so, Alpha." The doctor said, using a different term for him than his name.

My brows furrowed more. I swirled around and quickly returned to my room as I felt the conversation had ended. Careful at my steps, I didn't budge anyone nor clicked anyone off that I was out of my room.

Once I returned, I silently closed the door and got underneath the sheet.

Staring at the ceiling of the hospital room, I imagined the worst. My mind made a clearer picture of what was happening with me—around here.

It was either I was being poisoned or the wolf's bite was doing something to me.

•

Before lying on the couch, I pulled my shorts up to feel comfortable. There was a little bruising on my knees from falling onto the bathroom floor earlier but thankfully, it wasn't painful nor bothering me.

"Oh, that was one long-ass day at the hospital." Aunt Carol groaned while stretching her arms and then her back. I heard a crack before she sat down. A smile spread on her mouth. "But I'm glad it's over and I'm happy you're doing good."

I brushed my sweaty palms across my thighs. "Better than ever."

"Let's hope it doesn't come up again." She prayed.

"I hope too."

I didn't want to deal with pain for another day. This month—this whole year I had been in pain—emotional, physical, every kind.

After taking a breath, Carol stood up and yawned. "I'm going to fetch a cup of coffee from the kitchen. Do you want one?" She asked.

"No," I shook my head. "I just want my laptop."

"Why?" Her forehead wrinkled. "No working until you're better."

"No, no, I just have to see something." I responded.

"Fine but if I see you working for even a second, I'm going to rip away your laptop and put you to sleep." She said, her index finger moving back and forth in the air while she took her steps upstairs to my room.

I giggle slowly, "I won't!"

Aunt Carol returned moments later with my laptop in her hands. She disappeared into the kitchen while I switched it on and quickly searched something up.

Wolves in Frostford

A thousand searches appeared along with a ton of images. I went through most of them, hoping to find something but there was nothing except for a bunch of articles about wildlife and wolf care.

There was no mention of attacks by wolves nor anyone that had gotten bitten by a wolf.

"What are you searching for?" Carol asked, hovering behind me with her coffee in her hand. I looked up, finding her eyes scurry through the articles. "Wolves? Here? Oh, there are a thousand of them." She laughed and crouched over me.

"Really?" I stared at her in disbelief. "I thought they were usually in the forest." It's what I had been taught in school.

"No, silly," she gave my head a pat and sat near to me. "Frostford is popular for its beautiful wolves that surround the town. This town is a sanctuary for them but it's uncommon for any of them to bite."

I closed my laptop, growing interest in my own aunt who had more knowledge. "Tell me more."

"Well, it's a legend that hundreds of years ago, before this town was formed, wolves lived here, in packs. It's also mentioned they were a form of shifters." She continued.

"Shifters?" A lump formed in my throat.

"Shifters. They could shift their forms—human form and wolf form." She wavered her hand in the air. "It's probably a myth."

"I want to know more." I said, sounding intrigued with what I had just heard.

"Well, I don't know much but it was known that these wolves survived in packs, their leaders—Alphas. They lived just like us, worked, and ate. On a full moon, they'd shift and bow to the moon, creating a siren that would strengthen them and give them a longer life to live." She explained with doubt in her eyes as if she believed it.

The picture had just become a little more clear.