Chapter 8 Answer to me

Veil.

"You're awake, finally." The baritone voice slams through me as I pop my eyes open, groaning at the intense pain I feel going through me.

A look around the place shows I'm in a hospital. Again?

What's with me and getting stuck in a hospital?

Seriously, I'm beginning to dread the idea of it.

"How do you feel?" I blink up at the male, surprised to see it's Pudim, Emma's brother, hovering over me with a worried look etched on his face.

His appearance hasn't changed: tanned skin, a rough beard, and wild curls of jet-black hair, falling in fringes over his forehead.

"Pudim?" I croak with a smile and wince when I feel my lip crack from being parched. "How did I end up here?"

He gives me a long look and steps back a bit, shoving his hands into his pocket. His mouth opens, ready to respond, but the creak of the door as it flutters open snaps Pudim's lips shut.

A heavy presence, thick as fog before a storm, wafts through the atmosphere even before I set my eyes on him.

Hunter.

Oh, shit.

Please don't tell me he's the one who brought me here?

The sneer on his lips seems to confirm it as he pulls away the cigarette between his lips.

"So, news has it that you're skilled in fainting like a spineless fish, witch. What happened to your fins?" He spits out, voice laced with mockery.

Goodness, I'm minutes away from melting in this bed, and I don't know why.

I used to hate it whenever he called me that years ago, but after the two encounters I've had with him since my return, the term tugs at something raw and visceral inside me.

The scent of nicotine envelops the room as he casts a shadow over me with his height.

I can't help the cough that tears from my chest, despite how hard I try to control it.

"I...don't...know..." I cough hard, the back of my eyes stinging. "Could you please take that away?" I point at the cigarette.

"Ordering me around now, is it?" He drawls, lifting the cigarette and watching the tip burn as ash drops onto the bed. Eyes fixed on me, he takes a long drag and puffs it out through his nose and mouth. "Unfortunately, your juju isn't strong enough to make me do your bidding, witch."

Pudim watches us in silence.

If there's someone who's seen enough of our sibling banters, it's him because he's practically friends with my stepbrothers.

A sharp pinprick of discomfort settles inside me when Hunter sinks into the bed beside me with a lopsided curl of his lips.

"Tell me, did you think fainting while working would spare you from your duties?"

"It wasn't intentional," I affirm, steeling my gaze as I look at him.

Hunter laughs, but there's no humor behind it. "Oh, sure, yes. It wasn't intentional." He mimics my voice. "You were only looking for a knight in shining armor to come and save you."

I bite the inside of my cheek as I glower at him. Of course, the asshole doesn't so much flinch under my blazing stare.

The black leather jacket he's putting on is heavy with his MC patches, the largest one declaring him as the president.

"Fainting twice under twenty-four hours is a dereliction of duty, witch, and I must warn you, we don't do that here. Not in this pack." His smoky green eyes trail down to my lips, which I'm biting, and back up to my face. "Maybe in your spineless mate's pack, yes, but not here."

So, it was he who took me to my old bedroom?

Well, he doesn't sound like it. Besides, Hunter sees me as a plague to lay his hands on me.

Despite myself, I blurt. "You brought me here?"

Storm rages in his eyes, enough to swallow me whole. "You'd be the last person on earth I'd ever touch, witch." He spits it out like a curse.

It's just another moment of me questioning why he despises me so much.

His words shouldn't sting this much, but they do, and I hate it.

He drags a string of breath into his lungs and emerges to his feet, taking another drag of his cigarette. As he puffs it out, he leans into the nightstand and drops the cigarette on it.

I watch it burn, spreading its scent through the room.

"If that repeats itself again, witch, you'll have to answer to me; consider today a freebie."

The contents in my belly writhe from dread at his words.

Pudim and I silently fix our eyes on him as he adjusts his Jacket, flicks his fingers through his smoky blonde hair, and parades out of the room.

I flinch as the door slams shut, rattling the silence in the room.

Goddess, what have I gotten myself into?

Pudim clears his voice, drawing my attention to him.

There's a quiet understanding in his eyes, or maybe it's just my thoughts.

"I'm glad you're okay..."

"You clearly know I'm not," I snap, halting his words. It'd be stupid of me to admit I'm alright when everyone else is just a viper towards me, threatening to suffocate me with their venom.

"Well, you're not dead. So, I guess that counts." He says. The bed dips as he sinks into it, sitting beside me. "How did you do it, though?" I flick a confused look at him. "I mean, how did you survive Quin's rut?"

His question processes through my mind as I remember how Quin pulled himself away from me, roaring until he hauled me to his chest and took me to his inner chamber.

It's a mystery, if you ask me. Feral beasts like him would never do that.

To Pudim, I blurt. "I don't know. I guess it just happened."

Silence stirs between us for a minute. Then I ask. "Pudim, I want to see my mother. Can you take me to her?"

Desperation leaks through my voice. I clutch onto his veiny wrist to punctuate my plea and eagerness.

Pudim shifts uncomfortably, his face turning blank.

That worries me, sparking suspicion immediately.

"Pudim? I want to see my mother."

He scratches his beard, exhaling hugely. "I'm sorry, Veil, but...your mother is gone."

My breathing snaps like a whip the moment his words reach me.

"My...mother is...gone?" I stutter, the words bitter to spill, difficult to believe.

Pudim nods, confirming it.

My hand clenches around his wrist as tears surge to the edges of my vision.

"What...how...did...it...happen?"

"A few years ago, right after you vanished...there was a protracted rogue attack in the pack. Many people died, the alpha included. Well, same as your mother and the rest of the Lunas."

A rogue attack in the pack? That's impossible.

Moonbloom pack is the strongest in the realm, so how did it happen?

"The moonstone." Pudim chimes in as if he's reading my thoughts. "The moment it was gone, the pack became vulnerable. Prone to external attacks."

So this was why the whole pack wanted me dead the day I set foot here?

With effort, I blink away the tears rimming my eyes and peer up at him.

Pudim and I were somehow friends years back. Being Emma's brother, he attended just the same parties and events with us.

He was practically my prom during our junior year in Halesbridge. Maybe he'll believe me, even if others don't.

Holding his hand tighter, I rasp. "Pudim, I didn't take the moonstone. I promise you, I didn't. You've got to believe me..."

His eyes soften, and he presses his free hand over mine. "Veil, I don't know what to believe..."

"It has to be a mishap, a coincidence, or something. I think someone else stole it and is framing me for it..."

"Do you have any proof?" He asks, his pale gray eyes holding mine.

My shoulders deflate. "I...don't." I sigh sadly, the gloomy expression back on my face.

"Well, what if..." Pudim tries to speak, but the knock on the door disrupts us.

Without waiting for permission, the person on the other side steps in.

The doctor, Eliza.

An itinerant doctor who travels from pack to pack treating people with terminal illness, but her mate is from our pack, Jacob, one of the pack's warriors.

"I hope I'm not interrupting?" She asks, looking between Pudim and me.

Awkwardly, we pull our hands away from each other as Pudim stands up.

"No, doc." He hums, giving me a fleeting look.

Eliza nods, smiling at me. To Pudim, she says. "Do you mind giving us some privacy, beta?"

My eyes go wide as saucers.

He's the pack's beta now?

Interesting.

I never saw that coming.

Respectfully, he nods, heading to the door.

Somehow, I feel whatever Doctor Eliza is going to say won't be good.

She looks through the clipboard in her hands, then back at me as she asks.

"Ms. Veil, when was the last time you had sex?"

Tbc.