Shaayna

An excruciating pain flooded my senses, almost as though I was shifting for the first time, infiltrating the darkness my mind lay at. A low hum of voices filled my ears, the volume increasing with every passing second. Not recognizing the voices, I tried to open my eyes but my body refused to comply.

"Try again," I commanded myself.

Gathering my strength, I tried again. This time, I was successful as my eyes flickered open, the white lights nearly blinding me. As my vision adjusted to the light, I noticed the IV tube that dripped saline into my veins and the monitor that checked my heart rate. I was in some sort of a medical facility and judging by the equipment, a posh one.

"Oh, you're awake," said a young woman wearing a nurse's uniform walking up to me, "how do you feel?"

"Whe-" my voice came out rough and scratchy. Clearing my throat, I tried again, "Where am I?" This time too, my voice came out quite raw but it was better than the previous attempt.

"The Moonstone Pack Hospital," she replied.

I was in the Moonstone Pack! How did I end up here? I jogged my memory in hopes that I would recall something but the only thing I remembered, was passing out on the forest floor.

Registering my confusion, the woman handed me a glass of water before saying, "Your friends are waiting outside. Why don't you drink this whilst I get them here?"

Receiving a nod from me in reply, she walked out of the room whilst I sat there, fully processing everything.

I was in the Moonstone pack!

I was in a hospital!

I had been shot!

Peering at myself, I checked myself for the wound. My fingers ran over the gauze stuck to my stomach. Lifting the gauze lightly, I searched myself for injuries. There were none. Save for a small, lighter colored scar, smooth olive skin greeted my eyes. Running my fingers lightly across the area, I could feel a light bump underneath the scar meaning that it still needed to heal further. Securing the gauze again, I closed my mind, calling out to my wolf in order to assess the true extent of damage that had occurred.

"We're fine," she responded, "I didn't shift when we got shot because I didn't want the bullet to lodge any further."

"But the pain I woke up to...."

"I took over some time ago and made us shift so that we could heal faster," she replied.

"Shaayna," barged in an ecstatic Sean, wrapping me in a protective embrace. Breathing in deeply, he released a relieved sigh, sending a quiet thanks to the Moon Goddess before pulling away to look at me properly.

I looked over his shoulder to see Alpha Rivera walk in with the backup warriors. I sank into the sheets in an attempt to cover my naked body. Seeing this, Sean asked the others to step aside for a minute whilst the nurse provided me with a hospital gown.

Having secured the gown properly, the nurse drew back the partition before leaving. The warriors fussed over me for some time inquiring how I was before the nurse ushered them out for creating a ruckus in the facility. Only Sean, Alpha Rivera and the man who had accompanied him to Shelton Grove, remained.

"How could you be so careless, Shaayna?" inquired Sean exhaustingly, sitting down on the hospital bed I was in, "you could've died back there. You're lucky he missed your vital organs."

"I-" I tried saying.

Dropping his voice low enough for only me to hear, he said, "I know why you did that, Shay. I would've done it too, had it been my mate. But I need you to stop risking your life like that, man. You passed out from the blood loss. If Alpha Rivera hadn't brought you in when he did, we could've lost you today."

My ears perked at this new information.

Alpha Rivera had brought me in!

"I'm sorry, Sean," I admitted, "I should've been more careful. He stood there, right in the path of that rifle and my head stopped working. And I…...I'm sorry. I should've handled that better."

"I just want you to be safe, Shay," he whispered, hugging me again.

"I know," I whispered back.

"Hi," a woman wearing a doctor's coat approached us. Her frame was petite and she appeared to be in her early thirties.

"I'm Doctor Lin," she said, "How do you feel….?"

"I'm Shaayna," I introduced, "and I feel fine, Doctor."

"Well, Shaayna," she said, checking my reports, "your vitals are fine and your wounds have been healing okay. But I would still like to keep you under observation for today just to be sure. Is that okay?"

"Well…." I thought. Staying at the hospital was a good idea especially when the doctor had demanded it. But how was I going to explain my disappearance to my family? Telling the truth simply wasn't an option.

"I'll tell them that you're staying over at my place tonight," Sean spoke, ridding me of my dilemma.

"Thanks man," I replied, "I owe you."

"I'll leave you alone with the enemy, then," he said, his voice filled with mirth.

"And Shay," he spoke, "for all that it's worth, the guy does care. He seemed miserable when I first arrived here today, he probably blames himself for what happened."

"I'll talk to him," I said.

"Okay then, bye. Gimme a call if you need me."

Saying this, Sean left, leaving me alone with Alpha Rivera and the man accompanying him in Shelton Grove.

Alpha Rivera looked at me and I held his gaze, neither of us saying a word as his gaze trailed down my body assessing me for injuries. He opened his mouth, almost as though he was going to say something before he got interrupted by the man next to him.

"Hi," said the man, extending his hand in my direction, "I'm Lance, this idiot's beta."

There were a lot of ways I expected people to describe Alpha Rivera. 'Idiot' was definitely not one of them. What surprised me even more, was the eye roll that the beta received from said alpha in response.

"I'm Shaayna," I introduced, smiling.

"Oh, I know all about you," he said cheekily, "this one's always talking about you. After all, you're working on this case together."

"Lance," called out Alpha Rivera, almost in a warning tone, "aren't you getting late for your date?"

"Yes alpha," Lance retorted.

"Later then, Shaayna," he said, winking at me before leaving me alone with the alpha.

The alpha walked up to me, sitting down on the chair in front of the bed before aimlessly drawing circles on the bedsheet.

"So…..," I began, trying to break the awkward silence, "you guys seem close."

"We are," he replied, a small smile on his face, "he's a royal pain in the ass but he's the closest thing to a friend that I have."

I quite liked this side of him. The side that wasn't all business, the side that was relaxed, the side that let his emotions show. Over the last couple of conversations that we had had, I had realized one thing. Alpha Rivera may have been closed off and a bit of a control freak but he didn't seem like a bad person.

We sat in silence for a while, neither of us wanting to disrupt it before Alpha Rivera quietly said, "I'm sorry." It was so soft that I would probably have missed it if I hadn't been sitting so close.

"Why're you apologizing?" I asked.

"You got shot because of me," he admitted.

"Bullshit! I got shot cause the guy had a gun and wanted me off of him." I replied.

"You shouldn't have done that for me."

"What else was I supposed to do? The guy would've shot you and there was nobody else covering you at that moment. I should've disarmed the guy first but that was a miscalculation on my part."

"Well, how bad does it hurt now?"

"Not really. I'm mostly healed up. On that note, thanks for getting me here. You technically saved my life, Alpha Rivera."

"And you saved mine."

"Now do me a favor, Romano and don't die on me just yet," he said, his lips curving in a small, almost non-existent smirk, "It'd be hell looking for another partner."

"I can't make any promises," I joked back.

"And Shaayna," I said, extending my hand in his direction, "call me Shaayna."

He stared at my extended hand for a moment as I stiffened, my mind running through every worst-case scenario that could take place.

Maybe I had come on too strong. Sharing a couple of jovial statements was one thing but getting on a first name basis with my supposed enemy, was a different story altogether.

But as I began lowering my arm, he reached out his hand, holding mine in a strong grip, looking me in the eye, his voice deep and sincere as the spark from the contact slowly travelled up my arm,

"Hi, Shaayna. I'm Damiano."