Sorry

There were no voices when she woke up this time. No shuffling around or worried screams. But that meant she couldn't be awake. There had rarely been a time within these few hours where she woke up and there weren't people fuzzing over everything, everywhere. But upon opening her eyes, she realized she was right where she had been before she fell asleep. On the couch. In Jazmyn's home.

Suddenly she heard something. A deep rumble. It sounded like a bear, but not quite. Lupita turned and stifled a laugh when she saw John on the floor. He was sleeping on a mattress and snored so it sounded like Odin himself.

She sat up on the couch and to her surprise, nothing hurt anymore. That was until she stretched her arm and the pain came rushing back, but it was gone after a few seconds. Not fully healed yet, but she could feel her energy coming back to her. Her wolf was happily running around in their headspace, limping slightly but having fun nonetheless. Other than her shoulder hurting and her other arm aching, the only other thing that hurt was the fact that she felt very stiff. The only solution seemed to be walking around so that was what she did. Her legs shook under her as she began taking her first few steps, but after some time she regained control over them and was walking normally.

After walking around the living room for some time, she decided to go out and get some fresh air. Though she would not go far as she still had a feeling some more of those rouges could be out there. The morning air was nice and cold against her skin. She was glad to only be wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top. She had been craving wearing less clothes than what she had to normally wear these past few days now that she had entered new territory. They were all so warm and itchy. And some of them were too tight and made her angry for no reason at all. Back home she would often wear a pair of loose pants and a loose tank top, or shorts and a slightly tighter top. No matter the weather, unless it was winter, that was the only season she actually wore shoes and long sleeves. But the shoes were comfortable and the sleeves weren't sticking to her skin.

After deciding she had had enough fresh air, she went back inside to find John running around in a panic and Elizabeth slowly coming down the stairs. She looked almost dead as she dragged her feet behind her down the stairs.

"What's wrong John?" she asked while rubbing her eyes.

"Lupita is gone!" he shouted, which caused Elizabeth to cover her ears. "She wasn't here when I woke up! I don't know where she could be!"

"She is in the doorway you mad man," Elizabeth said and walked over to the kitchen. John quickly looked behind him and ran over to Lupita once his eyes landed on her. He never once stopped to slow down and Lupita was scared they were going to burst through the door. But once he had picked her up he stopped completely.

"Don't ever do that again," he said. Lupita was still trying to figure out how he stopped so quickly and failed to realize her feet were no longer touching the ground.

"I just needed air," she said and felt him push against her bad shoulder. "Arm," was all she said as the pain was quickly building up. John sat her down at once and took her face in his hands.

"I was worried," was all he said, and was all he needed to say. His eyes held a storm of emotions, mostly worry, and the physical affection told her everything. He had done some research.

"Sorry," Lupita said and leaned into his hands. They stayed like that for a little while before finally going back inside where Lupita could smell the meat in the air. Her stomach rumbled and she hurried over to the kitchen where Elizabeth was preparing bacon, eggs and toast.

"Sit down, honey," Elizabeth said when she felt the young wolf's presence. "I'm almost done."

Lupita smiled and walked over to the table and took a seat. John came over to her and handed her a t-shirt which she took, but didn't put on. He gave her a funny look but didn't comment on it as he sat down in front of her. Elizabeth came over with a large plate of food for Lupita and then went back to make more after Lupita thanked her.

After devouring two large plates of bacon and eggs, the others finally came down the stairs. The werewolves were sniffing the air and the two fae creatures looked unimpressed once they threw themselves over the meat. Valeria was happily walking down the stairs but her smile dropped once she saw Lupita. The kitsune hurried over to her mate and hid behind them while she got food for them both.

"Good morning sleepyheads," Elizabeth said and ruffled North's already messy hair before kissing Jazmyn's head. Lupita took notice of everyone being fully dressed except for North who was only dressed in a sports bra and shorts. A werewolf like herself.

"Morning mom," Jazmyn said and sat down beside Lupita, a tiny blush on her cheeks.

"Your face looks better, Lu," North said as she sat down in front of her. Valeria cautiously sat down beside her mate and avoided looking at Lupita.

"Are you ok?" Lupita asked as the kitsune kept looking away from her and never meeting anyone's eyes.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" she said and picked a piece of bacon off her mate's plate.

"You look sad," Lupita said and leaned forward to get a good look at the fox girl. The kitsune sunk into her seat and she slowly started to glow.

"Don't you dare," North said and pulled at her ear.

"Ow!" Valeria exclaimed and held onto her ear, her glowing slowly coming down. "They are sensitive! You know this!"

"Just tell her," Aoi said as he and Mai sat down. They both looked exhausted, but that didn't stop them from wearing their signature colors of green and purple and blue.

Lupita looked back at Valeria and tilted her head at her like a confused puppy. Something was definitely wrong now. The girl refused to look up and started to caress her tail while her ears laid flat against her head. Lupita knew this position very well. She reached out her hand and placed it on Valeria's head and hoped this was not something not to be done in her culture. But the kitsune leaned into her hand. Taking it as an invitation, Lupita took her hand off and walked over to her side. Once she stood in front of the kitsune, she finally looked up at her. Tears were streaming down her face and her hands were clutching her tail. Lupita bent down until they were at eye level. She rested her hands on her knees and smiled at the red head.

"I'm sorry," the kitsune said after they had stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds. "I'm sorry for not being able to heal you. I'm sorry for not being able to protect you. I'm sorry for being weak." Her voice broke at the end and she clutched her tail to the point her knuckles turned white.

"It's fine," Lupita said calmly and removed her hands from her tail before she squatted down. "I'm fine."

"But I could have done more," Valeria said while her tears streamed down her face.

"But you helped," Lupita said and squeezed her hands. She was not used to comforting people with words, but she hoped what she was doing was helping.

The kitsune kept crying and crying, until she suddenly threw herself at Lupita and hugged her tight. It hadn't been a surprise to the werewolf as she had seen Valeria's muscles tense and untense for the past few seconds, but the force still sent her crashing down to her butt. They stayed like that for a little while until Valeria calmed down. She slowly stood up and whipped her tears.

"Your shoulder hurts a lot now, doesn't it?" she asked. Lupita nodded with a strained smile and stood up with the help of the kitsune.

"Take this," Elizabeth said and handed her a glass of water. Lupita drank it and sat back down on her seat. The rest of the morning was mostly uneventful. Most of the time was spent watching TV, laying on the couch and just resting after a few hectic days. Val would mostly be laying on top of North's chest in her fox form while the white wolf was laying on the couch with her legs draped over Jazmyn's legs. Aoi and Mai were sitting on the big comfy looking chairs to the sides, Elizabeth was up stairs most of the time, and John and Lupita were sitting on a mattress on the floor with Lupita leaning on the old man and him having his arm around her. Lupita also had to take pills every so often so her pain wouldn't come back. It helped a lot and most of the time the pain in her shoulder and the rest of her body was non-existent. It all made the day enjoyable, even when the movies weren't.

"Ok kids," Elizabeth said and walked in front of the TV that was playing a random movie. They all turned their attention to the older woman in front of them as she turned off the TV and sat down on the coffee table. "Tomorrow it's school, as lame as that is. But you have all skipped two days when technically we only had yesterday free. So everyone has to head home." There were a number of groans at the information being shared to them. Lupita didn't care much and leaned into John who was sitting right beside her.

"But Lupi needs someone to care for her mom," Jazmyn said and perked up. "I should stay home and take care of her since dad is still sick."

"I can stay with John," Lupita said in a weak voice. "I feel better."

Elizabeth smiled at her and sent a look to Jazmyn which sent the halfling slouching back on the sofa.

"If you feel good enough to go with him you can," Elizabeth said with a smile before turning to North. "I heard of your situation North. You can stay with us if you want."

North smiled and looked at Jazmyn. "How do you feel about being siblings?"

"You aren't the worst option out of these weirdos at least," Jazmyn said and pinched their leg which caused North to squeal, which in turn made Valeria to jump off her chest and fall to the ground.

"Hey!" Valeria said after she had transformed back. She rubbed her back and climbed back on top of North, but this time she decided to sit on her chest in her humanoid form.

"Val, I can't breathe," North wheezed out.

"I'll take Lupita back to my house," John said and rubbed her arm comfortingly while the others were bickering in the background. "She'll have plenty of time to rest for the next school day."

"With how she has recovered I can assume we'll see her tomorrow even," Elizabeth said with a smile but it looked extremely forced as her eyes trailed the new scar on Lupita's face.

Lupita subconsciously scratched the scar and looked away from the woman. She was not used to pity. Disgust? Yes, she had experienced plenty in her time, but never worry. Not like this at least. Not in a long time. A motherly worry for their child's safety and well being. It felt strange. Her chest tightened and her eyes stung with unshed tears that she fought to keep in. Memories of her childhood suddenly came flooding back to her. Memories of her mother tending to the new cut she got after she had fallen when she was out running. Or when she would comfort her after the other pups in the pack had picked on her. Her wolf whimpered softly and she took a deep breath and immersed herself back into the conversation that was being held as she was zoned out. She could think about her mother later.

"So, Lupita will be going with John back to his home," Elizabeth said. "If she feels better she comes back to school, if she doesn't she will stay with him."

"Is it safe?" Aoi asked suddenly.

"What do you mean sweety?" Elizabeth asked in a kind voice.

"Is it safe for Lupita out there? Is it safe for any of us?" he asked and looked at Lupita. "There hasn't been rouges in these parts for years, even longer since an attack of this scale. This had to be planned. If not, there is something really bad coming."

Lupita thought back to the night and tried to remember every last detail. Nothing strange came to mind. She had seen rouges before. These were the same. The same disgusting creatures that she had fought so many times. What was strange was the fact that they hadn't been seen in these parts for that long. And they were a big pack as well. Considering rouges only traveled in packs of 3, and a maximum of 6. A group of over ten was strange. Very strange. Had it all been a plan? If so… who stood behind it. And what did they want with Lupita.