#Chapter 103: Echoes of the Wolf
Nina
Edward left and didn’t come back for a long time. I laid on the bed, trapped there in my restraints as I waited for him to come back.
Eventually, the medicine stopped making me fade in and out of consciousness so much. I knew that that meant that Edward would return soon to give me more, and I craved it; I knew that the more I took his medicine, the closer I was to getting better.
At some point, I fell asleep from pure exhaustion and boredom rather than from the medicine. I slipped back into the dream with the wolf. It was almost as if she was waiting for me.
“Are you ready to wake up?” she asked.
“I just fell asleep.”
“Not like that,” she replied, her dark eyes fixed on me as her voice echoed all around me. “I mean, are you ready to wake up to your true nature? I can give you a little bit of my power, and you can get free. I can only give you a tiny bit, though; I’m still weak.”
I frowned and shook my head. “No,” I said. “I know you’re not real. I need to get better so I can go home, and if I keep talking to you, then I won’t get better.”
“Fine, then,” the wolf replied. “I’ll wait.”
I watched as she lowered herself down onto her belly and laid her head on her paws. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.
I paced around for a while, unsure of what to do. I didn’t want to wake up from this oddly realistic dream because it only meant that I would be laying in the bed again, unable to move from the leather straps around my wrists and ankles, but at the same time I couldn’t leave this clearing — and all the while, the wolf slept
Finally, I grew bored. I sat down in the grass across from the wolf and stared at her.
“What was your name again?” I asked.
She opened one eye. “Cora,” she said, then closed it again.
“And you say you’re my wolf?”
“Yes.”
“So, if you’re my wolf, why can’t I shift when I’m awake?”
“Edward is giving you medicine that’s making me weak,” she said. “I was just about to emerge, and he realized that So he started giving you that medicine to keep me away.”
“Why would he want to do that?” 1 asked.
Cora lifted her head finally to look at me: “I’m not sure exactly, but I think that it’s because you’re special in some way,” she replied. “If I emerge before he can accomplish whatever it is that he’s trying to accomplish, it’ll be a lot harder for him.”
I frowned, thinking, and flopped backwards onto the grass to look up at the sky with my arms outstretched beside me
“So… Let’s just pretend that this is all real,” I said.
“It is real,” Cora interrupted.
“Let’s pretend,” I continued, “and say that I do accept that you’re my wolf, and I wake up. What then?”
Cora was silent for a moment before speaking again. “I can give you just enough power to break the restraints. I won’t be able to help you much more. than that, but I know that you’re smart. You can find a way out. You can get Enzo out, too.”
Now, it was I who was silent. I racked
my brain to remember the things that Luke and Enzo had told me before about werewolves, and the longer I did, the more I realized that Edward had lied to me by telling me that none of it was real. My memories became clearer, more palpable
“Are you doing that?” I asked, lifting my head to look at Cora.
She shook her head. “No. The medicine only works for so long, so your memories are becoming more clear to you. But that won’t be the case for long Just a few more doses, and he’ll have you fully convinced that your entire life has been a fantasy that you made up in your own head.”
I sat up then. “How much longer until
he comes back?”
“Not long,” Cora replied. “He’s going to beat Enzo again and again until it breaks you, unless you do something about it.”
Suddenly, I felt tears begin to well up in my eyes. If I thought hard enough, I could remember the way that Enzo’s arms felt around me. I could remember the way that he smelled. He really had come for me, just like I knew he would, but now I needed to save him.
I stood, nodding as the tears streamed down my cheeks. “Okay,” I said. “I’m ready”
Cora stood as well. She couldn’t smile, being a wolf, but I knew that she was happy “Touch me,” she said, lowering her head. “I’ll give you a little power 33
I reached out and touched the cream- colored streak on her face.
Then, I woke up… and I knew what I needed to do.
I tensed all of the muscles in my arms and legs, feeling the little spike of power surge through me. I strained against them, scrunching my eyes shut, and let out a gasp as I felt the leather snap beneath the force.
I sat up then, glancing around, before climbing off of my bed and running over to the door. But the keypad… I didn’t know the code.
“Think,” Cora’s voice echoed in my mind. “You saw him punch it in before.”
I nodded and shut my eyes, thinking back to the last time I saw him do it. I could picture him punching the numbers in.
One… Seven… Eight…
Two.
The door slid open.
I stifled a squeal of delight and poked my head out, looking both ways down the narrow hallway. Edward was nowhere to be found, and nor was anyone else. But I could smell Enzo… That sweet, tantalizing smell.
I quickly darted toward his room, the sound of my bare feet slapping on the tile floor echoing through the hallway. The smell was so strong now it was almost dizzying. Was this what it was like to have a werewolf’s sense of smell?
A grin spread across my face as I stopped in front of his door, but that grin quickly faded as I realized that I couldn’t get in without a code I bit my lip, thinking, but before I could come up with anything, I heard the sound of a distant door slam, followed by the sound of footsteps pounding toward me.
I quickly ran back to my room, my
heart racing. One. Seven Eight… Two. I punched the code into the keypad and slipped into my room, running over to my bed and placing my hands and feet back where they were before in the hopes of Edward not noticing that the straps were broken, then I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep.
The door slid open. I heard Edward’s footsteps approaching. He muttered something to himself, then shook my shoulder “Medicine,” he said, lifting my head.
I pretended to wake up groggily, my mind racing as he lifted the cup to my mouth. I wanted to spit the drink out I wanted to find some way to avoid drinking it, but I didn’t have the time, and he poured it down my throat, watching and waiting for me to swallow.
I had no choice but to drink it. But at
least I was free from the restraints.
Once he was satisfied, he dropped my head back down and retreated from the room. I waited several moments until I was certain that he was gone before I sat up and immediately shoved my fingers down my throat, making myself vomit onto the floor.
Then, I heard the sounds of Enzo being beaten mercilessly next door.