Chapter Seven

The silence in the car is almost tangible. With her hands on the wheel, Nina spares Camila the occasional worried glance but otherwise keeping to herself. The conflicted and pained look that she'd been grateful to see gone was now returned on her friends' face almost bringing tears to her eyes.

Watching Mila, raw emotion almost oozes off of her, her eyes shut so hard seemingly trying to shut something out. But above all, the conversation between Mila and whoever the guy from the party had been sticks at the top of her thoughts.

"I know what you did, and I'll make you pay! "

Those words ring in her mind, the anger, coldness and conviction she'd had when uttering them sounds awfully dark. Unlike the Camila she knows. She glances at her friend wondering what it is she'd gotten herself into.

Thoughts flicker in her mind like bulbs, her mind working hard to concentrate on driving and trying to block the worry from soaking deeply into her. The pain, the secrecy and the anger from her friend making it almost impossible.

At last deciding it's too much, she pulls over. The dangers of what could be lurking outside at this hour making her lock the doors as soon as she's on the side of the road.

Camila fights the tears that threaten to fall freely when she feels the whisper, the soft touch in her mind. She pries her eyes open immediately and snaps her eyes around her to find Nina watching her with a conflicted look, curiosity and something else she can't place.

Despite her earlier conviction to tell her friend everything and knowing that Nina most probably couldn't handle not knowing anymore. She still asks, afraid of opening up, afraid of scaring her friend away but mostly afraid of the whispers that now seemed closer, noisier.

"Why'd you stop? " the slight shaking in her voice betrays her fear.

"You know why Mila. I'm worried about you , and you won't say anything. And then earlier with this guy, I heard what you said. As much as I want to give you your space, I can't help but worry and the not knowing is killing me." The words hit her square as the whisper in her mind intensifies, she closes her eyes breathing in deeply, knowing what's coming next and wishing she could at least hold it off, avoid being sucked into whichever brain she was about to venture into.

"I'll tell you, but please drive away from this forest. I can't think properly around here and..."

Her sentence is cut short as she's swept into a new vision. All around her is trees, trees rushing by her in a speed that makes her want to throw up and giving her a sense of deja vu. Making her already queasy stomach feel as if it was being pulled apart piece by piece.

And in place of her toes she can feel the paws barely touching the ground as she flits in between trees. The same sense of being in someone's mind comes again, the complete synchronization with another being.

Paws!

She nearly screams when she almost comes crashing into a huge tree before turning at an impossible speed at the last minute. She almost tries pulling out of the animal before she decides to first learn where it was headed.

Scents waft through her nostrils somehow all making sense. A strange scent hits her just and she soon figures out where she is, the road comes into view and Nina's car with it.

A worried Nina doesn't seem to notice anything outside the car as she shakes her own self. The peaceful look on her face making it seem as if she's asleep rather than inside a mind of some animal.

The fast pace changes to a slow walk, paws barely making a sound even to the enhanced hearing in the body she holds. Circling Nina's car, she catches a reflection of the animal. The earlier feeling of being on the surface changes with her panic, gaining a more firm grasp on the vision, fighting to control it, hoping she could. She feels like letting out a squeal of happiness when she feels it, like opening a door into a secret, she can feel herself going further in, controlling what the animal was doing and thinking.

Heading to the side mirror, bright, blue shining eyes stare back at her from the reflection of a big brown wolf. As if staring directly into her soul, she holds the stare, feeling the wolf fighting the grasp. It's thoughts so coherent as is its confusion and fear. So well placed they could be human. Or they are human.... The thought of Sophie brings her to a conclusion, the red eyes, how she'd said Phoebe thought there was another wolf in town.

Cogs turn in her brain suddenly understanding what this was, a werewolf. Despite the absurdity of the thought, she doesn't feel any panic or fear, it feels as if it was something she'd known all along and tried to deny.

Nina suddenly feels a nagging feeling of fear, Mila lies lost to reality like earlier in the day. But the uneasy feeling of being watched is what makes the hairs at the back of her head stand. She turns to look around her, heart beating so loud she can't hear anything else. A prickling feeling starts at the top of her head, a cold sweat dripping from her skull as her eyes find the side mirror.

A huge brown wolf meets her gaze, large, glowing blue eyes hold her to the spot, something strange seems to happen as the wolf turns around shaking it's head as if in a struggle with itself. It's eyes narrowed to near slits making them look almost human. The mere size of the wolf is impossible let alone the tilting of the head that seems to be directed at her, as if telling her to drive as fast as she can.

She glances at Mila who looks troubled now, a sweat breaking from her face as if she's holding on to something. Glancing back at the wolf, it holds an almost desperate look in its eyes while it also seems to be growling, winning against something unseen. That's when she starts the car, the tires screech as she presses the gas pedal, her normally careful driving forgotten at the moment.

Sophie and Phoebe both stand still behind a tree, for the first time in a long time, Sophie hides her scent completely. Blending with the dark surroundings, they watch as the wolf stands, almost as if admiring itself on Nina's side mirror. The urge to jump on the wolf and tear it into peaces at the highest but she bids her time. Despite the cool exterior, they can almost taste the fear and aggravating desperation in it. From what, they can't tell yet.

They share a look as Nina's car comes to life and the tires screech as it shoots forward in a speed so unlike Nina. The wolf sits on the asphalt as if beaten and tired before shifting into a guy she'd seen before.

"Richard! " she can't help but utter.

"You know him? " Phoebe asks as they walk towards the collapsed wolf.

"He tried to scare me at school, I thought he was a hunter. " She racks her mind if she'd felt his scent. "He must've hidden his scent so I'd never guess he was a wolf."

"Now that you talk about scent, his was all over my mom," Phoebe's says, her jaws clenched ever so lightly it's almost impossible to catch. "You should go, you don't want to see what I'll do to him."

"That is not going to happen, you can have your revenge but only after I figure out some things. And he's the only one I can think of who has answers." Sophie gives her voice the determination needed to sway Phoebe. "Besides, he's an alpha...."

"Meaning he most probably has a pack around him." Phoebe finishes her sentence while looking around as if to double check that there wasn't any other wolves around.

"Regardless, something just didn't feel right about him earlier. He was definitely here for something or to hurt Nina. Why would he just stop." Sophie looks at the boy one more time his body rising steadily showing he was fast asleep. "And then just drop asleep as if he's just been shot with a tranquilizer."

"Don't you mean how Camila made him do all that...?" Phoebe's voice trails off at her shocked expression. "You had no idea what she was did you?"

"What do you mean," she asks silently despite having an idea what Phoebe meant. Wishing it was t true.

"Makes me wonder," Phoebe says with a slight mocking laugh. "How do you survive without knowing the most dangerous thing there is for a Wolf?"

"She's a wolf whisperer..." her voice comes out as a mere breathe as she looks for a place to lean. "All this time I tried to think of any creature there's ever been and she had to be that one? "

"Don't worry, you're not the only ignorant brat there is. This one is worse, he tried to go after her, so it's either he didn't know what she was and if he knew, he was stupid enough to think he had a chance against her."

"Don't you call me a brat Aver," Sophie seethes, feeling her anger grow. "You know damn well that I did not survive by being ignorant. I just didn't think a wolf whisperer could just happen to fall into Bighton Valley."

"You're right, you aren't ignorant, you're worse. You were in denial, you couldn't face the fact that your friend" she utters the word friend as if it was poison to her tongue. "Could possibly be your greatest fear. Your superior, that she'd possibly be your doom." this time her voice was raised.

"She's your sisters friend too you know, " Sophie calms down, knowing why Phoebe was being defensive.

"Let's just take him some place I can make him cry without being disturbed... "

Richard tries moving his head a bit, the dull pain throbbing and making his head feel tonnes heavier. His eyelids flutter open just as a biting cold passes through his body.

What the hell happened? The only question that rings in his head repeatedly. Two voices immediately catch his attention, Sophie and most probably Phoebe. He'd felt their eyes when he'd been following Nina and that Camila girl. But they had stopped, or had they.

A huge gap sits between finding the girls pulled over near and waking up right now, asphalt gracing his skin.

He remains still, steadying his breathe so the two won't know he's awake yet. He flits his eyes around, looking for a way to dash and run from the two alphas currently arguing over a Wolf Whisperer....

The initial shock leaves him as he connects the dots, how he'd ended up sleeping on the ground must have been the Whisperer. Camila , she's the whisperer.

"She said she knew what we did and she'd make us pay. I swear to you Richard, she looked like she could kill me if her friend hadn't walked in on us."

He recalls the scared look Erol had had. It was part of the reason he'd decided to scare the girl and test the waters.

"I don't know what she is, but I think we should be afraid of her. " Erol had said. Now knowing what she was, he wasn't grateful he'd found out, he was scared. Whisperers were like their name, whispers, tales passed down by wolves from records, no one seemed to survive a whisperer.

He jumps, somehow grateful he'd survived his encounter with her but not sure how. And also sure that Phoebe would try to kill him so he had to run and a have a plan. The loud footsteps stop for a minute as he dashes into the forest making him jump and turn into his wolf form for the second time today. His mind preoccupied by thoughts of Camila. Nobody really knew about wolf whisperers but whenever or wherever they surfaced, wolves always ended up dying, be it the lycans or the trueborns. They all had absolutely no power against a whisperer.

Trees flit across his sight as he heads towards the town, knowing Sophie would have to stop since she couldn't risk being seen in her lycan form. Phoebe on the other hand was something else, she was a trueborn, the Lone Wolf. She would dash in and out of town without being seen or heard.

Nina rushes into the hospital emergency room shouting for help before rushing back outside with two male nurses hot on her heels.

"She just passed out and nothing will wake her up... " she blurts out, not waiting to be asked as the two put Camila on a stretcher before wheeling her away.

"I need you to explain what happened, try as much as you can remember and as accurate as possible. " one of the nurses asks, glancing at her for second.

"I was driving her from her birthday party, and I pulled over so we could talk. She's been distant lately and I couldn't take it...." she ventures into the story shuddering as she recalls the wolf part.

"Is your friend on drugs miss...?"

"What! No, she's not using anything. How can you even ask that! " Nina screams at the question feeling exasperated.

"Was she drinking at the party," the nurse goes on as if he hadn't heard her.

"No, she wasn't. She never drinks at any party."

"Were you drinking at the party?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" she shakes her head incredulously.

"Well, you did mention a big brown wolf and wolves have been extinct in this region for centuries now. " the nurses' smile shows pity which makes Nina angry

"So you think I'm crazy?" she screams

"Okay, calm down. And I did not say that." he holds up his arms in surrender, "All I wanted to know was what exactly happened. But as it happens, your friend isn't in any danger, she just collapsed of fatigue.Is there a relative we can call?"

"Why, can't I take her home? "

"For one she won't be going home today, and we have to call an adult, a relative if one is available and if not, the guardian."

"Okay, I'll call her mom then."

"Good, she's in the room two-oh-four. You can go see her but she won't be awake till tomorrow due to the sedative we had to give her." The nurse leaves her on her own and to her thoughts as she walks towards the wing Mila is in. Wolves indeed had gone extinct in the county for many years but there was no mistaking what she saw. And Mila, something was wrong and somehow it had to do with that wolf.

The curiosity was now killing her, whatever it was, she had to find out. And the feeling that Sophie knew settles at the pit of her heart. Making her feel both hurt and angry that neither of her friends thought to tell her about anything.