4: Time waits for no man

My mind feels raw, like it was put through a meat grinder. My eyes feel like someone used a melon baller to rip them out and then shoved them back in my head. These thoughts are the first to register in my mind as I return to consiousness. I am laying on something soft, i haven't opened my eyes yet, but i can tell the lights are very bright based on the redness shining through my closed eyelids. 

Then the voices register, loud, and angry, and all male. I know one to be my father, he is demanding to see me, but the doctors keep telling him he has to wait until I wake up. Micheal and Peter are fighting with someone, I can't tell who he is. A pack member maybe? or the man? Whoever he is I do not recognize the voice, but it is the most beautiful voice i have ever heard, even angry it sounds like music. 

I try to clear the fog from my mind while I am still alone. What happened? How long have i been out? Slowly I take stock of my body, my ribs are taped and sore, but i dont think that they are broken, only bruised. My legs, back, and arms ache like i went on a 20 mile hike through rough back country, a feeling i am very familiar with from my childhood summers spent doing just that. The last thing i remember is talking to Ri'elle on his porch, and then Micheal and Peter bringing the man who... had he followed me? I can't seem to pull up the answer to this, though i am sure i asked the question. 

I open my eyes, squinting up at the light, I know this room. I am in the hospital ward, a set of 12 rooms in the castle that our Alpha runs the pack from. Since i don't have a wolf I heal as slow as a normal human, meaning i spent more time in the hospital wing as a child then most of the rest of the pack. 

I sit up, wincing at the pang that shoots through my ribs. The wince was of course loud enough for the men in the hall to hear. I suddenly notice that i am naked, and barely have time to cover myself with the sheets before the door burst's open, and in rushes my Father, Micheal, Peter, Ri'elle, three doctors, but right at the front is the man. I fully take in his appearance for the first time, his eyes are greyish blue, thick full eye brows, and long eye lashes that make me a bit jealous. He has dark brown, almost black hair, he is muscular, i can see the definition of his six paxk even through the shirt he is wearing. I guess him to be 6' he looks maybe an inch shorter than Peter. His hair is long for a guy, or at least for a male werewolf, all the guys in my pack keep their hair short, his falls below his ears and is all combed over to the left side of his head. 

He has a wild, manic look in his eyes, he rushes to my side and visibly relaxes at the sight of me. 

I ignore him for the time being and address my questions to the doctors and Ri'elle, since they are the one's mosty likely to have answer's. Ri'elle speaks first "Annie, i was right about the curse, and him being your Inamorato." He indicates the man next to me. I glance at the man, But i am not ready to address him just yet, so i return my attention to Ri'elle. "What is the last thing you remeber?" He asks.

"I remember the guys returning to your house with..." My voice trails off and my eyes return to the man, the only stranger in the room.

"What is your name..?" I ask him in barely more than a whisper.

"Ansel" he answers quietly. I smirk and say "Protector" under my breath. His only answer, though i know he heard me, is to take my hand and squeeze it slightly, he doesn'e release my hand as he takes the seat next to my hospital bed, and i find that i don't mind. 

I return my attention to Ri'elle as he speaks "Well, when Ansel arrived, the wind shifted... When his scent hit you, you had some sort of seizure or something... You dropped to the ground, shaking and screaming...." His voice cracks and he stops talking. We are the very best of friends, my pain has always been his pain, and vice versa, neither of us can stand to see the other in pain. Micheal steps in here, though i know he love's me the same, he has always been the strongest emotionaly, so he can give me the details without tearing up like Ri'elle did. 

"Like Ri'elle said, you do have a curse. It is keeping you from being able to shift. When you met your Inamorato your wolf tried to force her way through the curse to him... only... it didn't work out that well. You were trapped half way between human and wolf, random body parts kept shifting and unshifting.... We didn't know what to do, so i mind linked your father, and he told us to bring you here. We had to knock Ansel here out before we could move you. He was beside himself what with you being your Inamorato and being hurt and all... When we got you here, to the doctors..." He paused here, looking to the doctors to help explain what happened next. 

Doctor Paul took up the story and said "None of us had ever heard of anything like this, so we were a bit out of our depth. But after 2 days it seemed you would not be coming out of it on your own so" "Wait..." I interupt him. "How long was i out?"

Everyone looks around at each other, and for a moment i think they arent going to tell me, but Ansel answers. "You were trapped midshift for 56 hours, then unconsious for another 12. It is now one in the morning tuesday morning." He is so calm and formal about it, it takes me a moment to absorb it all. Three days... It took me three days to come out of it..? 

I turn to Ri'elle, he is the only witch I have ever trusted. Eventhough he is only 23, he does have a stronger and more purely innocent magical aura of any witch i have even met. Or anyone in my whole pack has met, we all trust Ri'elle without reservation. That is why Ri'elle has been adopted by the pack since his parents died when he was 12. It is not because he is powerful, he is, but he also has the purest soul of any witch alive. He has studied more lore and magic than most witched twice his age. 

So his is the counsel I need, and when i speak, i speak only to Ri'elle. "Ri, what does this mean? What do we do now?" 

He nodds his head slowly, thinking hard before he answers. "First, Annie, you must NOT try and shift. I know you didn't do it on purpose, but we must be very careful until we learn more about this. I will help you, you know that... But... It will take some time to narrow down what this curse might be... In fact, we may have better luck trying to find what witch may have a grudge against you, or your parents, or... Ansel, if it was someone with the power of prophecy, well, they may have known that you two were destined to be together, and only targeted Annie as a way to get to Ansel." He pauses for a moment, a serious look on his face. "For now..." Ri'elle says, holding out his hands to me, they start to glow yellow and i know that he is using his power to give me a 'magical xray'. The yellow light scans my body and soul, telling Ri'elle what, if anything, may pose a threat to my body, or soul. Ansel growls, low and slow as Ri'elle inches closer to me. 

I shoot Ansel a reproachful look and say "Hey, Inamorato or not, you will behave, or leave."