Opaline

The last thing I remember was gray eyes looking at me with concern and comfort.

My sleep was dreamless which was probably a good thing because I might have had nightmares otherwise. It felt short as well, like I only got five minutes, even though when I woke up screaming in pain, it was daylight outside. My hand hurt so much I couldn't think around the pain. The rest of my body just felt limp with exhaustion though, so when I went to get up and use the bathroom, I merely fell back on the pillows.

I felt a hand brush my hair behind my ears and lips press against my temple. I look over to see Lykaon sitting beside me, his mouth curved upwards a little. "Hey beautiful," he says slowly. "Ready to drink something?"

I furrowed my brows. Looking down, I see my hand is in a black cast and I can hardly move it. "It doesn't work anymore, just like my ears," I whisper.

Lykaon lifted my chin and frowned. "Not necessarily. Your bones are set, they just need to heal. You're going to be okay."

My eyes flutter close again and I sigh. "I'm so tired, Lykaon." His fingers brush through my hair and caress my cheek. I lean into his touch and sigh, barely conscious anymore. "It hurts so much."

Lips touch my temple and I feel him get on the bed, pulling me close to him. When I open my eyes, his eyes are only inches away from mine. He says, "I'm right here, Opal." After that, I fall asleep again.

Someone is shaking me awake gently and I groan, pain lancing through my hand and up my arm. I start to cry out until I open my eyes and see Lykaon holding a glass of water in one hand and something small in the other hand. Behind him, Klyn was holding a bowl of something hot and steaming. They both looked to be exhausted and distressed.

Lykaon says, "Here, we've got medicine and food for you. Do you think you want some soup?"

I glance at Klyn and nod once, craving anything. Lykaon put the cup and pill down before coming over and helping me sit up. I rest my hand on my lap and take the pill and water, then let Lykaon hold the bowl while I eat. Klyn stands near the door with his arms crossed, watching us. He's frowning and looks like he is having bad thoughts. I get tired of this after a while and pause eating to ask him, "What's wrong?"

He raises his brows in surprise before shaking his head. "Nothing, just thinking."

"About?"

This sparks a small smile from him. "The past."

I decide not to ask any more and finish my soup, then let Lykaon help me to the bathroom. He closes the door behind us and slowly helps me to the toilet. "May I help you, Opaline?"

I glance to my sweats then to my hand then to the toilet. Going to the bathroom one-handed was going to be difficult and agonizingly slow. I look to Lykaon and blush, nodding my head. "Okay."

Wrapping an arm around my back, he pulls my pants and panties down, then lets me sit. While I go, he gets the toilet paper ready and keeps his eyes averted. When I'm finished, we walk over to the sink and he helps me wash my hand while washing his own. By the time my hand is dry and we're back in the bedroom, I'm exhausted again. Lykaon lays me down on the bed and covers me, then sits beside me. "We need to talk, Opaline."

I narrow my eyes in confusion, wondering what happened or what I did wrong. When nothing comes to mind, I say, "Nadine isn't here? Someone died? My hand isn't going to heal?"

"No, no, and yes. Your hand will heal," my mate says with a small sad smile. "We need to talk about your trouble with mind linking."

"Oh," I say, a little relieved.

"We talked to the doctor and got some ideas on why it might not be working, and what might happen in later future."

At first, my hopes get excited. But then I remember someone telling me that it'll never happen. "It's not possible."

Klyn walks over and stands behind Lykaon. "That depends on your condition. The link not working can have many causes, one being you are deaf, which is probably why you can't receive Lykaon's thoughts."

I tilt my head to one side in curiosity at his statement. "So, in other words, I'll never be able to hear him or others?"

"Truent wants to see you when your strength is up," Lykaon explains. "He wants to see exactly what is wrong with your ears and maybe run some tests."

"But Whisper Eclipse had a doctor that said nothing could be done. I saw her not too long before I met you."

Klyn shrugs and gives me a grin. "Just because she says so doesn't mean ours will. Truent is one of the best around. Lykaon's father even let him go to human hospitals to check people out who were having problems, and not just with ears."

"And if it isn't my ears?" I ask hesitantly.

"Then it's your brain and he's not sure if anything can be done if it is," Lykaon says. "Either because of a malformation when you were born or when something happened in your attack a few years ago. If it is the brain, it's protecting itself from further harm or isn't responding correctly just because of the past. He isn't sure."

I take this all in carefully and try to stay calm. "So, it's a fifty-fifty shot? Ears or brain?" Both men nod their agreement and I slump. This didn't seem like it would just be because of deafness, but maybe…? It was one thing to talk about deaf being the leading cause to communicating with my mate, but a whole other thing when it's my brain—one of the most important parts of my body—being the leading cause.

"Think of it this way," Klyn starts, "at least you'll finally know?"

I shrugged. "What if it is my ears? How is he going to be able to fix them? It seems like something impossible."

"I don't know, Opaline, but we're going to try. Truent is a wonderful doctor and he hasn't betrayed my trust yet. We'll figure this out soon," my mate says and cups my face. In the meantime, why don't you get some rest. If you need anything and I'm not here, just holler. I'll be in my office."

He stands and kisses my head, then helps me lie down. I look to Klyn and say, "Thank you, for helping me."

"You're welcome. I will always be there for my Luna," he does a dramatic bow and smiles. "At least someone was there."

I nod and finally feel us getting closer. He and Lykaon leave the room, and I lie down. I try to sleep, but it doesn't come even though I feel like I might pass out at any moment from fatigue. Questions whirl through my head in a tornado while somewhere my wolf was there, healing just like I was. "What if I will never be able to hear mate?"

My wolf whines. "We won't ever be safe when we're away from him, that's what. We need him as much as he needs us, and if we're in trouble, then he'll never find us. We'll never find him if we get lost. Even after finishing the mating process, the bond will never be complete because our ability to communicate has been deformed."

This brings tears to my eyes as I think of different scenarios, scary scenarios that all resemble my past in some way. "Do you think it's worth trying?"

@I think if he can help, then we should let him, my wolf advises. Mate will do anything for us. He'll try to strengthen the bond and pay any price."

I was glad my wolf had more hope in Lykaon than I did at the moment because I was in a really bad mood. I realize this is the most we've ever spoke since losing my hearing, and she seems to be trying more than usual to help me out, though I am certain I get annoying sometimes. My wolf continues to guide me through each step with Lykaon and his pack, and it gives me hope. More hope than I've had in a long time.

I fall asleep then, and don't feel as alone as usual.

Two days later, Lykaon and I are going to see Dr. Truent about my ears. I was nervous being out and about, but after spending so much time in bed, I needed to get some fresh air. Lykaon told me what happened in the ER, and I was slightly stunned and regretful. He said no one got hurt, that it was mostly a reaction to medicine and my past, but I was still ashamed of my actions.

When we stepped into the hospital that afternoon, all the nursing staff eyed me cautiously while going about their work. Lykaon brought me closer to him and walked me down a hallway and into an office. Inside was a man with dark skin and black hair that reached his ears. He was a bit overweight, but had chocolate eyes that seemed to soften his stern face. My mate closed the door and leaned against it with one shoulder and gestured to the doctor. "Opaline, this is Truent. He's just going to look at your ears today."

I nod and look at the male. He smiles slightly and asks, "How's your hand?"

"A lot better, thank you."

Truent nods and walks over to a chair beside me, sitting down and taking out a handheld flashlight-microscope device. "I know you've had ear check-ups in the past, but I want to see for myself, if that's alright with you."

"It's fine," I say and hold still while he takes a look in my right, then my left. The whole time, I lock eyes with Lykaon for hope that something good might come out of this. He gives me a small smile and nods once, telling me that everything was going to be okay.

After a few minutes of going back and forth between both ears, Truent pulls away and goes back to his desk. I wait as he takes out a piece of paper and starts writing something down, then checks his computer. When I see his face, it's hard to read his expression. He says when he looks at me, "First, let me just say that you're a very special case and I hope you don't take this as I'm studying you like specimen. I'm not."

"I understand."

He nods and rolls himself in his chair over and gestures for Lykaon to sit beside me. "Your ears seemed to be healing very slowly. The pack doctor from Whisper Eclipse sent me a scan of them from when they were first damaged to give me an idea of how bad they were, and they were horrible. Now it's been a few years and you're fully grown, also having a stronger immune system. The good news is that it might not be your brain and maybe once your ears heal completely, you'll develop that link with others. The bad news is that I can't do much for several reasons."

"Are you going to at least look at her brain and make sure it's not the problem?" Lykaon asks.

"If Opaline is willing, then we certainly can." Truent takes a deep breath and puts the paper he was writing on between us. I see a diagram of the inside of an ear. "Your ear drums are ruptured too much that if I were to go in and help, it might cause other problems. However, I can give you something that might help it so it doesn't get infected."

"Like eardrops?" Lykaon asks in curiosity.

Truent nods. "Eardrops. I don't want any more damage to be done, and they're healing by themselves as it is. We just need to give them enough time to see what happens."

"What if nothing happens?"

"Then you're going to have to either rely on your own strength or find some system with Lykaon to communicate privately between yourselves. Anything I might do is too much of a risk to completely ruining your ears forever."

Lykaon grabbed my hand and squeezed. I look over at him and saw his worried face and questioning look. I squeezed back, trying hard not to look weak in front of this male doctor. My mate pushes some of my hair behind my ear and cups my face. "Do you need time to think about everything?"

From the corner of my eye, I see Truent put his things down and exit the room, shutting the door on his way out. My eyes land back on Lykaon and I sigh a disappointed breath. "What is there to think about?"

"Everything," he says and moves closer to me. "It's not common to possibly be deaf for the rest of your life because of rescuing a girl. It's definitely uncommon for wolves to go deaf because they rely on all five of their senses."

"I'm not worried about being deaf, but the communication part. I can't hear you if there is danger or you're in a bad situation. Mates are supposed to protect each other and I can't protect you or this pack. I weak."

"You're not weak!" he growls through gritted teeth, his gray eyes glaring at me. "And you can protect this pack. You protected Nadine and myself. You protected two children from being torn apart by rogues. You're everything this pack needs."

"Lykaon…" I gasp, trying and failing to keep my emotions at bay. "…I'm don't think they will accept me as their Luna when they find out I'm deaf. I don't think they'll let it happen."

"You need to have more confidence in yourself, Opaline. Just because you're deaf doesn't mean you can't do the things the rest of us can."

I shake my head. "I can't hunt in human form, fight, talk to multiple people at once, or even keep someone out of danger because I'm not focusing on the enemy unless the victim is out of the way. I'm useless in my human form."

Lykaon pulls me into his lap, careful of my injured hand, and holds me firmly against his chest. He makes me look up at him for a moment to say, "You're anything but useless and weak," before letting me rest against him.