Is It Real?

Trey shifted first, running to Orfila's side to assess the damage done by the brown wolf, Ralph. Troy, still in wolf form, ran after Ralph. 

After chasing him for some minutes, he lost sight of Ralph. He ran back to the car, took his phone and called Cain to inform him of what happened. He came back into the house a minute later, throwing in some sweats at Orfila as he talked on the phone. "Yea, I am sorry we lost him….. He jumped through a window and took off north on Mayberry Street.Trey stayed with her while I went after him, but he was just too fast. I figured that I should come back and stay with them in case he comes back to attack her….. We are staying here and taking care of her while we wait for an ambulance. We will track him, we will get him, Cain, I promise!"

"Orfila, can you hear me? I am a friend of Cain's. We're going to help you, just try to relax, we're going to take care of you." Trey gently turned her onto her side so the gashes on her back wouldn't hurt any more than they had to. He pulled a cloth off the couch and draped it over her battered nude body.

Orfila didn't know if she was dreaming or just insane. It seemed like forever since she had walked into the house. She thought she had seen a brown wolf and two black wolves fighting inside her house. She could swear she saw tufts of fur and pools of blood everywhere she looked. When she first came to, the man hovering over her had chunks of flesh torn off his face but now his face was just as smooth as if nothing had happened. This must be a nightmare. It can't be happening. 

She moaned as she tried to regain consciousness again, she winced at the bright light and closed her eyes. She tried to move but screamed when she felt massive pain all over her body. She slowly opened her eyes and wondered why her body was on fire. She heard someone say something but she couldn't understand what the person was saying.

The closer to full consciousness she got, the more pain she felt. Her head hurt, her back was on fire, she felt like she had pulled every muscle in her body and she thought she might have some broken bones. 

She tried talking but ended up coughing, she felt a sharp pain on her chest as she coughed. While coughing, she felt nauseous and threw up. Someone kept on saying words that were reassuring and she tried to focus her gaze on the silhouette that was talking. 

She was able to see the person that was with her, he was average height and had a reassuring smile on his face. 

"It's okay, everything will be alright." He said as he looked into her eyes.

She closed her eyes and soon she heard voices again. There were strangers in her house, she could hear them whispering, about her she thought. Where was Ralph? Did she really want to know? She wished Cain was here. She needed to feel him near her. She was so out of it she thought she even saw Ash walk in.

"How did this happen?" Ash asked the twins.

"We were on the phone with Cain when we heard her screams. We came as fast as we could but he had already given her lots of injuries. While we were fighting him, he rushed to her and bit her. Cain is going to have our head when he gets her." Trey groaned, him and his brother were the best on the team. But Ralph was so strong and fast 

"You two are the best in the team, how could you let him bite her and slip out of your fingers that easily." Ash scowled at them.

"We tried our best Ash. He was too powerful and fast." Troy tried to defend themselves.

Ash took a good look at Orfila and the sight was enough to make anyone sick in the stomach. 

"She looked like she was mauled by a bear, no scratch that, lots of bear. Maybe five… or ten bears. Why would anyone do something so inhumane?" Ash muttered to himself.

Ash had gotten the mental message from his Alpha to get to Orfila's house as soon as possible. He knew it was bad. But he didn't realize how bad until he walked through the broken front door. The only thing that saved her was Cain had told Trey to follow Ralph. Trey and his brother had been parked down the street and saw Orfila come home. They had been on the phone with Cain when they heard her screams. He surveyed the room, noting the broken furniture and window, and blood, everywhere.

"Hey kiddo, we are going to take good care of you, OK? He will never come near you again!" Ash brushed the hair out of her eyes and tried to sound calm. As a cop he was used to seeing women abused by boyfriends and husbands, but this was his friend, and she had been hurt by one of his kind! His wolf paced, ready to track that bastard and bring him to justice, Werewolf justice. He knelt down next to her head, talking in what he hoped was a calming voice. He knew if she could hear she would be confused, if she could even think straight. "Orfila, if you can hear me, Cain is on his way. You are going to be alright, I promise."

Ash got up to greet the pack doctor when he arrived. "She has got some deep lacerations and he bit her! Trey swears he didn't have a chance to mate with her though. He thinks they stopped him in time. But I am not a doctor so I will leave the rest up to you. I need to get a search party together." He turned back to his battered friend, hoping he didn't look as concerned and scared as he felt. "Orfila, this is Jeff, he is a doctor and he is going to make you feel better." Orfila was looking at him, but he didn't really think she was comprehending anything he said.

Jeff and his nurse dressed Orfila's open wounds and quickly assessed the major injuries. They needed to get her back to the pack as fast as possible. They worked efficiently and were just loading her onto the gurney as Cain and Conri arrived. Jeff was glad Conri was with his younger brother. The Alpha was a calming influence on any pack wolf, but especially Cain.

"Damn it! I messed up, I knew I shouldn't have let her come home. I had a bad feeling, I should have gone with it. Orfila, Orfila, it is Cain, can you hear me?" Cain was beating himself up for allowing this to happen. He felt that it was his fault, she was living with some rogue and he should have said something instead of keeping quiet about it. He was scared that if she knew about the werewolves' existence, she might run from him and he would never see her again.

He should have known this would happen but he decided to investigate first instead of apprehending the rogue wolf. He was holding her hand and stroking her face, the parts of her face that weren't bruised or bleeding. It looked like every bit of her body was injured. He was whispering to her, maybe more to calm himself since he knew she couldn't hear him in her unconscious state.

And then he saw the bite mark, at the point where her neck and shoulder joined. His whole body stiffened, that dog marked his mate. He frowned as he looked at the bite mark,He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists in an effort to try and contain the rage he felt. He growled as he felt his wolf angry and wanted to howl out a warning to that animal that touched his mate.His heart raced as he traced his fingers on the mark, his canines elongated and he wanted to replace that mark with his.

Conri gently laid a hand on his shoulder. "Trey thinks it is just a bite, he said he thought they got here in time, they hadn't mated Cain." Conri could feel his brother relax just a bit.

"Cain, I need to get her to the medical facility. We really need to go. You can come with us if you want. You can ride in the back of the ambulance with her." Cain slowly looked up at Jeff and nodded his head. He held Orfila's hand as they got into the ambulance.

Cain's full attention was on his mate, but his brain was still working. "Ash, track that packless animal down, but don't kill him… I will do that! When you find him and bring him back to the pack."

Ash looked at Cain and merely nodded. He motioned to the twins and they began planning their search. Ash wouldn't give up til he had him! He owed Orfila and Cain that.