Veil.

The splash of cold, stinky water hit my face, and with a gasp, I rise up from the bed.

Bed?

Realizing it's true that I'm actually on a bed, I dart a frantic look around me.

How in the heavens did I end up here, or is the previous day a dream?

I mean, I clearly remember being in a cellar with Quin.

I remember his rough thrusts into me; the throbbing of my pussy is clear proof.

He didn't kill me. My worst enemy didn't feast on my flesh.

I bite my lip, unsure whether to feel relief or dread.

As if that's not enough magic in one day, I'm suddenly back in my old bedroom in the pack house. The smell of dust wafts into my nostrils.

Was it Quin who brought me here, or did I sleepwalk?

This doesn't make sense.

The barrage of thoughts spinning through my head hinders me from taking in the people in my room until another splash of cold, dirty water plummets on me again.

I perceive the acrid scent of...urine.

Disgust crawls up my throat, and I look up with anger and disbelief in my eyes, only to see them: Ava, Caroline, and Emma, my best friends.

My lips widen in a smile upon realizing it's them, but contempt twists their faces as they look at me, their hands crossed over their chests.

I look down at my drenched clothes as the thick scent of urine burns through my nostrils.

"Wow...what a nasty welcome," I say with a slight humor lacing my voice, wiping my face with the quilt before peering back at them. "Ava? Caroline? Emma?" I call, uncomfortable by their silent treatment and judgmental stare.

It's been years since I last set my eyes on them, but truly, they've not changed a bit. Caroline is still just as slim as she was before, and Ava is still radiant despite being plus-size. The spaghetti dress she's putting on reveals the freckles on her body that earned her the nickname 'frecky' from me.

Well, Emma is the only one looking different, with bright skin and a few pounds of flesh. Her dark hair looks silky.

My eyes catch the wedding band on her finger, which surprises me.

Is Emma married?

Caroline's scoff breaks the silence that envelopes us. She tilts her head, a sneer on her lips as she addresses me.

"Do you want to know what's nasty? It's you showing your goddamn face back in our pack, bitch!"

Her words sting, so icy that they freeze my blood.

Of all people, my best friends are the only ones I was hoping would believe that I'm innocent.

Certainly, they are aware that the night I eloped with Ryder, I left with nothing.

Weren't they the ones who led me to the border where Ryder and I met?

I force myself to breathe past the heavy stench, rising up to my feet.

"Wait, you also believe I stole the moonstone?" I ask in disbelief. "Is that why you poured..." I trail off, looking from my soaked clothes to the bed and back at them. "You just poured urine on me?"

They burst into laughter, their eyes shimmering with mirth.

Emma speaks this time, sounding accusing. "You know...I've always known you to be a pretender, Veil, and goodness, that bored the shit out of me." The blood drained from my face. "But guess what? We both know the truth, Veil, you're a thief..."

"But, you were there the night I left...You helped sneak away from the pack." I softly remind them only to be silenced by Ava's next words.

"It doesn't excuse the fact that you stole from us..." She walks forward, tsking and shaking her head. "You know, it'd have been better for you if you had died last night, because trust me, every minute you spend in this pack will be nothing but hell, Veil. Life wouldn't be as it was years ago, when you were feeling like the queen of the world, using us as your puppets. Now..."

"We'll make you suffer, Veil. You don't know how long we've prayed for things to turn like this, so we'll make you feel what it's like being like us, poor church rats." The threat she spills makes me grit my teeth.

Poor church rats, that's how they always refer to themselves whenever they see me in luxury clothes back in Halesbridge Academy. We'd laugh it off as nothing, and I always made sure they had access to any of my belongings they wanted.

Despite all that, this was what they thought about me all the years we've been friends.

The betrayal stings so hard, I try to fight it. Unfortunately, they don't give me the opportunity.

"Bring her along," Emma says with authority, snapping her fingers at Caroline and Ava, who quickly do her bidding.

They arrest my arms, and they drag me away from the bedroom with force.

Oh, not again! I whimper inside me, the ache I feel resurfacing.

"What are you doing?" I bite out, snapping my gaze at them as they drag me outside, several pairs of eyes watching me, the pack maids, obviously, until we arrive at the pack's public lavatory.

The buzzing of flies grates on my nerves just as the pungent odor wafting from the lavatory twists my intestines.

"What's this? Why did you bring me here?" I bark as they push me to my knees, my bruised hands meeting with the hot sand.

"What else?" Emma sneers. "The lavatory needs to be sparkling, and who better to do that than the..." she air quotes her red-painted fingers "slave?"

The color drains from my face.

I'm not surprised they've reduced me to that.

I flinch as another fly buzzes close to my ear as I watch Ava stab a mop on the ground before me, silently ordering me to take it and get to work.

My hands visibly shake, vomit building in my gut as I reach for the mop, the cool steel barely dousing the fire burning inside me.

Their laughter tears through me, filling me with bitterness.

"Come on, be quick about it. I'll be right back to check how it is once you finish." Emma announces, amusement dancing in her almond eyes.

I watch them whirl on their heels, walking away while I process how my life ended up being worse in my pack.

"Oh, and Veil..." I peer up, locking eyes with Emma when she calls, her wedding band glinting under the sunlight as she waves her hand. "That won't be all. You have hectares of land waiting for you to cultivate them, so chop-chop, there's too much work to do."

I nod slowly, bringing my eyes down at the mop as their footsteps fade away.

Now alone, the buzzing of flies fills the silence, weakness creeping into bones the moment I realize I've about twenty toilets to clean, all brimming with shits.

"Goddess, how did I end up in this mess?" I mutter to myself, tears rimming my eyes as I pick up the bucket and start cleaning.

My body aches all over, the bruises on my fingers hindering me from squeezing out the mop appropriately.

The silence causes thoughts about last night with Quin to flash through my mind again.

Why didn't he kill me? Truthfully, it'd have been the easy way out, even though I abhor the thought.

I don't understand his reason for stopping his brutal assault, only to carry me to what I assume is his bed chamber.

I formulate several theories in my head, trying to solve the puzzle, but I come up blank.

Was it really him who brought me to my old bedroom?

"Oh, shit!!" I hiss, slapping away the fly perched on the tip of my nose.

Goddess, this is so disgusting!

Having my best friends turn on me makes this new life insufferable.

Is this how my life will be now?

Why hasn't my mother come to see me, at least?

I remember our days together in Halesbridge Academy. We were inseparable, united, or so I thought.

Now, I'm nothing more than a slave to them.

Thinking about them reminds me of the ring I saw on Emma's finger.

Is she truly married? To whom?

Finishing with the first three toilets, I move onto the next, but just as I open it, a

My head swims so hard my vision gives way. I try to hold myself up, but I land face-first on the floor, the pain worsening.

Whimpers rip from my mouth as I hear it, a distinct voice calling my name; however, my mind is too frazzled, stuck in a dark web to make sense of the voice.

Tbc.

Veil.

"You're awake, finally." The baritone voice slams through me as I pop my eyes open, groaning at the intense pain I feel going through me.

A look around the place shows I'm in a hospital. Again?

What's with me and getting stuck in a hospital?

Seriously, I'm beginning to dread the idea of it.

"How do you feel?" I blink up at the male, surprised to see it's Pudim, Emma's brother, hovering over me with a worried look etched on his face.

His appearance hasn't changed: tanned skin, a rough beard, and wild curls of jet-black hair, falling in fringes over his forehead.

"Pudim?" I croak with a smile and wince when I feel my lip crack from being parched. "How did I end up here?"

He gives me a long look and steps back a bit, shoving his hands into his pocket. His mouth opens, ready to respond, but the creak of the door as it flutters open snaps Pudim's lips shut.

A heavy presence, thick as fog before a storm, wafts through the atmosphere even before I set my eyes on him.

Hunter.

Oh, shit.

Please don't tell me he's the one who brought me here?

The sneer on his lips seems to confirm it as he pulls away the cigarette between his lips.

"So, news has it that you're skilled in fainting like a spineless fish, witch. What happened to your fins?" He spits out, voice laced with mockery.

Goodness, I'm minutes away from melting in this bed, and I don't know why.

I used to hate it whenever he called me that years ago, but after the two encounters I've had with him since my return, the term tugs at something raw and visceral inside me.

The scent of nicotine envelops the room as he casts a shadow over me with his height.

I can't help the cough that tears from my chest, despite how hard I try to control it.

"I...don't...know..." I cough hard, the back of my eyes stinging. "Could you please take that away?" I point at the cigarette.

"Ordering me around now, is it?" He drawls, lifting the cigarette and watching the tip burn as ash drops onto the bed. Eyes fixed on me, he takes a long drag and puffs it out through his nose and mouth. "Unfortunately, your juju isn't strong enough to make me do your bidding, witch."

Pudim watches us in silence.

If there's someone who's seen enough of our sibling banters, it's him because he's practically friends with my stepbrothers.

A sharp pinprick of discomfort settles inside me when Hunter sinks into the bed beside me with a lopsided curl of his lips.

"Tell me, did you think fainting while working would spare you from your duties?"

"It wasn't intentional," I affirm, steeling my gaze as I look at him.

Hunter laughs, but there's no humor behind it. "Oh, sure, yes. It wasn't intentional." He mimics my voice. "You were only looking for a knight in shining armor to come and save you."

I bite the inside of my cheek as I glower at him. Of course, the asshole doesn't so much flinch under my blazing stare.

The black leather jacket he's putting on is heavy with his MC patches, the largest one declaring him as the president.

"Fainting twice under twenty-four hours is a dereliction of duty, witch, and I must warn you, we don't do that here. Not in this pack." His smoky green eyes trail down to my lips, which I'm biting, and back up to my face. "Maybe in your spineless mate's pack, yes, but not here."

So, it was he who took me to my old bedroom?

Well, he doesn't sound like it. Besides, Hunter sees me as a plague to lay his hands on me.

Despite myself, I blurt. "You brought me here?"

Storm rages in his eyes, enough to swallow me whole. "You'd be the last person on earth I'd ever touch, witch." He spits it out like a curse.

It's just another moment of me questioning why he despises me so much.

His words shouldn't sting this much, but they do, and I hate it.

He drags a string of breath into his lungs and emerges to his feet, taking another drag of his cigarette. As he puffs it out, he leans into the nightstand and drops the cigarette on it.

I watch it burn, spreading its scent through the room.

"If that repeats itself again, witch, you'll have to answer to me; consider today a freebie."

The contents in my belly writhe from dread at his words.

Pudim and I silently fix our eyes on him as he adjusts his Jacket, flicks his fingers through his smoky blonde hair, and parades out of the room.

I flinch as the door slams shut, rattling the silence in the room.

Goddess, what have I gotten myself into?

Pudim clears his voice, drawing my attention to him.

There's a quiet understanding in his eyes, or maybe it's just my thoughts.

"I'm glad you're okay..."

"You clearly know I'm not," I snap, halting his words. It'd be stupid of me to admit I'm alright when everyone else is just a viper towards me, threatening to suffocate me with their venom.

"Well, you're not dead. So, I guess that counts." He says. The bed dips as he sinks into it, sitting beside me. "How did you do it, though?" I flick a confused look at him. "I mean, how did you survive Quin's rut?"

His question processes through my mind as I remember how Quin pulled himself away from me, roaring until he hauled me to his chest and took me to his inner chamber.

It's a mystery, if you ask me. Feral beasts like him would never do that.

To Pudim, I blurt. "I don't know. I guess it just happened."

Silence stirs between us for a minute. Then I ask. "Pudim, I want to see my mother. Can you take me to her?"

Desperation leaks through my voice. I clutch onto his veiny wrist to punctuate my plea and eagerness.

Pudim shifts uncomfortably, his face turning blank.

That worries me, sparking suspicion immediately.

"Pudim? I want to see my mother."

He scratches his beard, exhaling hugely. "I'm sorry, Veil, but...your mother is gone."

My breathing snaps like a whip the moment his words reach me.

"My...mother is...gone?" I stutter, the words bitter to spill, difficult to believe.

Pudim nods, confirming it.

My hand clenches around his wrist as tears surge to the edges of my vision.

"What...how...did...it...happen?"

"A few years ago, right after you vanished...there was a protracted rogue attack in the pack. Many people died, the alpha included. Well, same as your mother and the rest of the Lunas."

A rogue attack in the pack? That's impossible.

Moonbloom pack is the strongest in the realm, so how did it happen?

"The moonstone." Pudim chimes in as if he's reading my thoughts. "The moment it was gone, the pack became vulnerable. Prone to external attacks."

So this was why the whole pack wanted me dead the day I set foot here?

With effort, I blink away the tears rimming my eyes and peer up at him.

Pudim and I were somehow friends years back. Being Emma's brother, he attended just the same parties and events with us.

He was practically my prom during our junior year in Halesbridge. Maybe he'll believe me, even if others don't.

Holding his hand tighter, I rasp. "Pudim, I didn't take the moonstone. I promise you, I didn't. You've got to believe me..."

His eyes soften, and he presses his free hand over mine. "Veil, I don't know what to believe..."

"It has to be a mishap, a coincidence, or something. I think someone else stole it and is framing me for it..."

"Do you have any proof?" He asks, his pale gray eyes holding mine.

My shoulders deflate. "I...don't." I sigh sadly, the gloomy expression back on my face.

"Well, what if..." Pudim tries to speak, but the knock on the door disrupts us.

Without waiting for permission, the person on the other side steps in.

The doctor, Eliza.

An itinerant doctor who travels from pack to pack treating people with terminal illness, but her mate is from our pack, Jacob, one of the pack's warriors.

"I hope I'm not interrupting?" She asks, looking between Pudim and me.

Awkwardly, we pull our hands away from each other as Pudim stands up.

"No, doc." He hums, giving me a fleeting look.

Eliza nods, smiling at me. To Pudim, she says. "Do you mind giving us some privacy, beta?"

My eyes go wide as saucers.

He's the pack's beta now?

Interesting.

I never saw that coming.

Respectfully, he nods, heading to the door.

Somehow, I feel whatever Doctor Eliza is going to say won't be good.

She looks through the clipboard in her hands, then back at me as she asks.

"Ms. Veil, when was the last time you had sex?"

Tbc.

Veil.

My breath hitches, and I gawk at Dr. Eliza. I wasn't expecting that question.

It's been years. So long, I can't even remember.

I try to respond, but the words can't seem to pour out of me.

She clears her throat and arches a questioning brow at me.

"I'm sorry if it's too sensitive to ask, but I pretty much want to know because this concerns your health." She draws closer, my heart beginning to gallop in my chest. "When was the last time you had an intercourse with a proper um...orgasm?"

Last night, that's the first answer that comes to my mind, but I very much know that what happened last night wasn't sex.

Whatever Quin did to me last night was far from intercourse.

It's shameful to admit that I haven't indulged in any sexual activity despite how much my nature as a wolf demands it.

Just like water, sex is life. It keeps us together as well as our wolves. It boosts our strength.

My silence is enough to answer the doctor. Her face falls, and with a sigh, she looks through the clipboard again, probably checking out my results.

"What does it say, doc?" My voice comes out in a croak. I doubt she heard me.

However, she peers up at me and reveals. "I'm afraid, Veil, but you're developing Malignant Rutlock..."

I don't know what that means, but the weight of it shows it's a severe...disease.

"Can you...explain?"

"Rutlock disease spreads quickly like...cancer, which is common among humans. But to us werewolves, Rutlock causes distortion in heart rhythm, damages the reproductive system, affects your nerves and blood flow..." she lowers her voice, adding. "And kills the development of a wolf which is currently happening to you, Veil. Your wolf is being suppressed by the Rutlock disease..."

Hearing her say that, my eyes widen like saucers.

My wolf?

That is impossible.

I lost Lyra, my wolf, the day Ryder marked someone else and rejected me.

"From the test result, it shows your wolf is still new, so I'm guessing you're a late bloomer?"

"You're kidding, right, doc?" I sputter, hyperventilating.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I don't have a wolf anymore...I mean it...died."

She gasps, checking the record again, and then looks back at me.

"Did you suffer a rejection?" She asks.

I nod meekly, and a sympathetic look crosses her eyes.

"This is strange. The results show...you have another wolf growing inside of you."

I stall, feeling the rush of blood through my veins.

Now, it makes sense. That voice calling out to me while I was in the toilet wasn't just any voice.

It was another wolf rising inside me.

This has never happened before. One person with two wolves.

Is that a good thing?

"What does that make me, doc?"

She shakes her head, "I don't know yet, but...I'll have to research it. But whatever it is, you should know it's at risk. The disease is spreading so fast. Something has to be done."

I bite my lip, looking away.

"What's the best cure?" I voice out, and her next response sends my heart racing.

"Sexual intimacy. You'd need it constantly for the...better part of a year."

I snap my head up at her, shaking visibly.

"I don't have a mate anymore...there's no way I can..."

"I'm certain some unmated pack males will be willing to help?"

That suggestion twists my belly.

It's not going to work. Yes, the majority of unmated people do that, but given my situation in the pack as a traitor, which everyone thinks I am, no one would want to get involved with me.

Suddenly, thoughts about Quin come to my mind.

He's your only option now. You just need to...

No! I snap at the voice in my head, hating the idea of it.

There's no way I'm going to let him touch me again.

If Quin happens to be the last option I have, then I'd rather die than have him touch me. It doesn't matter if he spared my life.

Doctor Eliza seems to notice the battle raging in my mind. "Well, there are other options left, Veil." She adjusts her glasses. "There's a medicine called Lunar Aegis, which helps to suppress the effects of the Rutlock disease. It hinders it from spreading fast, but the only problem is that it's very expensive, and only the alpha king of the realm can authorize it for aging werewolves who don't have the stamina it takes to indulge in sexual activities."

Oh, that's... bizarre. It already sounds out of reach.

Reaching the alpha king for the medicine will be difficult. Only the council members of the packs in the werewolf league can contact the alpha king.

"Well. It's...definitely not going to work."

Doctor Eliza nods. "That's why getting a male to do that for you is the best option. Ever heard of the Elite party?" She continues in my silence. "It's held in Yellow River Pack every first Sunday of a new month. People go there to find their mates or a sex partner, so you might as well take your chance."

"Thank you, doc."

She scribbles something on the clipboard. "With that said, you're not to undertake hard tasks that'll increase your heart rate, such as running and whatnot. Eat healthy meals and occasionally...masturbate. It'll help. Any day you start seeing blood coming out of your nose, just bear it in mind the disease has reached its limit."

I force a smile and nod, mentally dreading her last statement.

"The nurses will be here soon to discharge you, Ms. Veil. Thanks for your cooperation." She takes her leave right after, and as the door closes, I drop my head back onto the pillow, eyes on the ceiling as I wonder what exactly to do now.

Quin, the voice chimes in again.

He'll do it. You have to go to him.

I turn on the bed, restless.

Between developing a new wolf and having the worst disease a wolf will ever have, I feel so stuck.

A couple of minutes later, a nurse comes into the ward and checks my vitals one last time before discharging me.

It's the peak of the night, and the streets are empty as I trudge my way back to the pack house.

Only the guards patrolling the pack house perimeters are awake.

They don't so much as look my way, which is good.

The melodic sound of water rushing out of the huge fountain in the center of the compound calms my frayed nerves as I clamber the cobblestone steps and into the silent house.

I walk into the kitchen, open the fridge, and see leftovers of pancakes.

I grab them and devour, taking a sip of cold water before walking up the steps to my bedroom.

Every move I make feels so agonizing, my nether parts aching, the walls around my heart closing in on itself.

I bite hard on my lip at the struggle until I reach the landing, heading to my old bedroom.

With three long strides down the hallway, I hear it, a deep moan of pleasure coming from the door on the other side of the hallway.

"Ahhh. Yes, fuck...so...good..."

Curiosity pushes my legs to move in the other direction. My throat tightens as I pause before the door, which is thankfully ajar.

Taking a sneak peek, my heart drops to my toes.

Tbc.