Two

“There’s no need to panic, yeah? I’m going to bring a doctor to check on you.” He stood up and walked out of the room, not giving me the chance to reply.

 Thoughts raced in my mind. I didn’t remember anything about myself or even the attack they told me about. I didn’t even know who I was. Fear took control over my body, making tears brim in the corner of my eyes.

Xander came back with another man who had a white coat on. He was probably the doctor.

“Welcome back. Xander told me you can’t remember anything, so let’s just talk for a little bit, okay?” he spoke, and I nodded, knowing that there was nothing else I could do.

“Let’s start with a near event. You were attacked three days ago. What do you remember about the night of your attack?” the doctor asked me. I took a heavy breath and tried to recall the events of that night. They said I was covered in blood, and the wound on my side proved that. I tried to remember how I got that wound, but nothing seemed to come to my mind.

“Nothing. I don’t remember anything,” I whispered and glanced at Xander, who seemed to be observing the whole conversation.

“Do you remember your name?” he asked, and I shook my head. “Nothing about your family? Friends? Anything about your pack?”

“I don’t even know what a pack is.” I frowned, looking between the two men in the room.

“She doesn’t know what she is,” Xander spoke to the doctor.

“It’s clear. You’re suffering from amnesia. You got hit on your head and that’s the reason behind it,” the doctor informed me and my heart sank a little in my chest. Amnesia. That was a nightmare. Some kind of lucid dream I was going to wake up from soon. “Don’t worry. Most people who suffered from amnesia got their memory back.” Most of them? So that meant some people suffered from it for the rest of their lives.

“You said that I don’t know what I am. Shouldn’t the question be who I am and not what I am?” My eyes were fixated on Xander as I spoke to him.

“Both questions are correct and it’s obvious that you don’t know the answer to either of them,” Xander replied.

“And you know?”

“I know that you’re a werewolf, but I don’t know who you are, or which pack you belong to,” he answered me. I tried to keep a straight face but ended up laughing. Was I supposed to believe that bullshit? This was definitely a joke.

“You must be joking,” I said between laughter.

“Am I?” He revealed his hands and I saw how his nails were no longer the same. They were bigger, stronger and sharper. My eyes went wide in fear and I pushed my body away from him as much as possible.

“You don’t need to worry, okay? You’re a werewolf too. I won’t hurt you, even if you’re from a rival pack,” he spoke as he walked closer to me.

“So, I have nails like these?” I motioned for his nails.

“Well, eventually you will get them. You haven’t matured yet to be able to turn which indicates that you are younger than eighteen,” he told me. “I think you’re seventeen. Your scent is strong, but not strong enough for a mature werewolf.”

I didn’t know what to say. This was all too much to take in. Everything seemed like a joke to me. I had a feeling that I was in a nightmare and if I just pinched myself hard, I might wake up and find myself in a familiar place. I might actually know who I was.

“I just… Can I sleep?” I murmured. Honestly, I just wanted to run away from this reality and sleep seemed the only reasonable escapism I could resort to.

“Sure. Let me just take you to my house. You’ll be more comfortable there,” Xander told me. I didn’t really have a choice, so I just nodded.

“Florence, the girl who was here a while ago, is going to bring you clothes and help you change, alright? I’m going to leave you for a bit to process everything,” Xander informed me with a smile on his face before walking out of the room with the doctor.

I could do nothing but wait. I didn’t know what else could be done. The mental pain was stronger than the physical one. I carefully got out of bed and took reluctant steps towards the small mirror placed on the wall.

I examined my reflection in the mirror and it hurt not knowing the girl staring back at me. I probably did not look like that before. At some point in my life, I was sure I didn’t have bruises or a black eye like the reflection that bore into my soul.

My lower lip was swollen, there were small cuts here and there on my face and there was a small plaster on the bridge of my nose.

A knock made me look at the door and I saw Florence walking inside. “I brought you clothes.” She smiled at me. Everybody was so nice to me here; they probably thought I might break at any second. “Would you like me to help you get dressed?”

“Please.” I nodded and walked away from the mirror. She motioned for me to take a seat on the bed and I did as I was instructed.

“I brought you a dress because I didn't want you to move your legs a lot or put any pressure on your wound,” she informed me as she started unbuttoning the hospital gown I had on. “I know you must be thinking that life is so cruel to make you go through this, but trust me, we don't really know where good things are.”

“What could be good in forgetting who I am?” I whispered as she put the baby-blue dress over my head.

“I'm not really sure, honestly. But you have nothing to be afraid of here. We are the strongest pack and our Alpha is really caring, despite how outsiders view him.” She smiled at me.

“He seems nice,” I confessed.

“Indeed he is. You know that while you were unconscious he checked on you every day. He was actually the one who brought you. He could have let any patrol or guard bring you, but he didn't,” she said and I found myself smiling at that.

“I won't be doing anything with your hair because of your wound. But if you want, I can just gather it loosely with a hair tie,” she suggested.

“Yes, please. I'm so sorry for this hassle.” I apologized as my cheeks flushed. I didn't like how she was doing everything for me. I was exhausting her.

“Don't say that, okay? I'm only doing my job.” She helped me to stand up and adjusted the dress on my body. “Ready to go?” she asked me and I nodded.

I walked out of the room with Florence and found Xander sitting on one of the seats, waiting for me.

“I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused you,” I said, looking at him.

“You're not. I hope you find our pack welcoming enough.” He smiled at me and extended his hand for me. “You're going to need some support.” I was definitely in need of support. Figuratively and literally.

I took his hand and patiently, he guided me out of the clinic. Not being able to remember anything made me scared of everything around me, yet Xander made me feel safe.

There was a black Jeep parked in front of the clinic. I assumed that it was Xander’s car.

“As you can see, the car is a bit high, so I'm going to pick you up. I don't want you to undo the stitches again.” I loved how caring he was and how he always asked for my consent before doing anything. I nodded and he gently picked me up on the passenger seat.

“Is your house far from here?” I wondered as he drove off.

“Not really. Just five minutes away. You're going to have your own bedroom by the way and there's a huge meal waiting for you,” he told me, making me smile.  

“I'm really hungry,” I admitted, fidgeting with the end of my dress.

“That's expected. You haven't eaten in a long time,” he said. “So until you remember what your name is, what would you like to be called?” he asked me.

I stayed silent for a little while before shrugging. “I honestly don't know. You can pick for me. I don't really care.”

“Let me think of something,” he said, parking the car in front of a huge light grey house. The place looked like a mansion.

Xander jumped out of the car and he helped me to get down too. I was in pure awe as I admired the mansion before me. The black windows complimented the beauty of the place, making me wonder how it looked like from the inside.

“Do you like it?” he asked me as he guided me to the black front door.

“You have great taste.” I smiled, glancing at him. It was my first time to notice how beautiful his eyes were. They were forest-green, making him more handsome than he already was.

“Welcome to my humble place.” He grinned as a girl opened the door and Xander took me inside.“Sorrel, prepare us lunch as soon as possible,” he told the girl who mumbled a quiet ‘Yes, Alpha.’

“Am I supposed to call you Alpha?” I wondered as we both sat down at the dinner table. The mansion was as big from the inside just like how it was from the outside. The table was black lined with silver, giving it a sense of elegance.

“No, you can call me Xander,” he told me and I nodded. “How about the name Priya?”

“For me?”

“Yes, do you like it?”

The girl who opened the door for us placed the plates before us on the table. I took a look at her face and noticed how dull she was. Something was definitely bothering her.

“I like it.” I beamed once she walked away.

I had a feeling I was going to like my stay with Xander.