The Last Spirit Wolf

-Vera-

I’ve been tossing and turning all night, hoping tonight of all nights I could get some decent sleep. The

clock on my nightstand reads 4 a.m.; it’s time to get up and I’ve barely even rested. I put on my

leggings, sports bra, a loose tank top, my running shoes and take off.

The forest at this time of day is breathtaking; only the soft glow of the impending day lights my way.

The birds have begun to wake up and sing, the night critters are making their way back to their dens,

and the mist in between the trees makes everything seem so alive.

I stop at my usual spot, on the cliff that hugs our famed waterfall. It’s about 10 miles from the pack

house and now only visited for special ceremonies or celebrations. It’s a shame people don’t come to

admire it more often.

The Jade Waterfall gets its name from all the green that surrounds it. A thin, vibrant layer of moss

found nowhere else covers the 60-foot cliff from which the water falls; the deep pool at its end is of

crystal-clear water revealing all the rocky, green terrain underneath. Under the right moonlight, the

entire waterfall appears to be made of pure jade. Its gentle fall of water also makes this the perfect

place to meditate.

Closing my eyes, I begin to stretch, breathe, and clear my mind but as I’m about to sit down, I feel

everything around me still and a chill runs down my spine. My eyes frantically scan the surroundings,

from tree to tree, from plant to plant. The forest is trying to tell me something is wrong and alarm bells

ring in my head, fear creeping up my spine.

Well, ‘morning to you, too- I interrupt her before she can continue.

I need scouts by the Jade Waterfall.

Vera, what’s wrong?

I don’t know yet, but –

Yes, I know.

Not ten minutes later about twenty-five scouts are joining me, feeling the same tension in the air I do

when they approach. Our Alpha arrives shortly after, accompanied by her mate in wolf form. We are all

feeling uneasy, but none more so than I. Even in human form, no one is more attuned to the forest than

me. Our Alpha speaks first,

“Whatever this is, it isn’t only affecting Vera. Everyone, gather in pairs and search the forest starting

from the north side. Keep me informed.”

The scouts do as they’re told, rushing into the forest with a howl. Our Alpha turns to me,

“You should head back with us, Vera. You have an important day ahead of you.”

“If you don’t mind, Alpha -” She grunts.

“If you don’t mind… Sofia… I’m going to stay here a little longer. Maybe I can help.”

Sofia, our Alpha, is the daughter of the previous Alpha and my best friend. We’ve known each other

since we were young and know everything about each other, but now that she is our Alpha, this

knowledge feels a little intrusive. It doesn’t even feel proper to call her by her name anymore. She

gives me a worried look,

“Please be safe, you may be one of the best warriors we have, but you still can’t shift. Whatever is out

there, is strong enough for us all to be uneasy.”

I lower my head at this and she sighs. The fact that I have not yet been able to shift has been a great

concern of mine. Any decent wolf can transform by the age of 12. I’m 23 and still can’t connect with my

wolf; sometimes it makes me wonder if I’m a werewolf at all.

I notice Sofia trying to waddle her way onto her husband’s back. She hates riding him like this, but in

her very pregnant state, he has given her no choice. I help her climb on top and he gently stands,

bowing his head my way in a silent ‘thank you’. Sofia squeezes my hand before letting go and taking off

with her mate.

Once they’re out of sight, I take my shoes off and crouch on the ground, putting both my hands deep in

the soil. I take a deep breath, and begin. Goosebumps rise all over my body as I connect to the forest.

The wind has once again begun to blow, easing the stuffiness that was there before.

I clear my mind and focus only on my senses; how humid the air I breathe feels, how my hair blows at

the wind’s whim, how all the hairs on my body are standing to attention.

5 minutes

15 minutes

30 minutes

Despite my best efforts, I sense nothing. It seems that whatever was there is gone along with the eerie

feeling. With a sigh, I take my shoes in my hand and begin walking barefoot through the forest, heading

back to the pack house.

As I near the edge of the forest with the pack house in sight, the wind begins to blow on my back and I

stop in my tracks. I don’t even have to turn around to sense it. I lift my face to sniff the air and it’s

unmistakable.

It smells like blood. A lot of blood.

I jogged back to the pack house and back to my room. The smell of blood was intense, but there was

no way of telling who’s it was or where it was coming from.

After a quick, hot shower, I change into my scrubs and grab my duffel bag for the day. Heading down to

the pack clinic, I skip breakfast.

I enter the clinic on edge, as if anything could happen at any moment. I’m starting to feel a little

paranoid.

“Hey, Violet? Do we have any incomings?”

Violet, our head nurse, gives me a puzzled look as she double checks our charts. I notice her usually

long dark curls have been straightened, and her mascara frames her blue eyes perfectly. She’s in her

forties and an exceptionally beautiful woman with glowing dark skin.

“No doc, we have a quiet day ahead so far.”

I can’t help but give everything in the ER a quick look, just to ease my nerves. This uneasiness seems

unshakeable, it’s almost as if I carried the scent of blood with me from the forest; I’m smelling it

everywhere.

Maybe I’m just on edge because it is a big day, a life changing day, for me. Today is Dr. Owen’s

retirement party, which means today I become the Head Physician at the clinic.

Our pack has the biggest population of wolves from all the primary packs in the country, it’s

understandable considering we guard the south border with lycan territory. Werewolves and lycans

signed a peace treaty over forty years ago, proposed by their lycan King at the time. Before that, both

species were constantly at war; for territory, for mates, for food sources, for… fun? Lycans are

notoriously combative creatures, even amongst themselves.

The clinic oversees all of the wolf population in our pack, and as the Head Physician, I will have to

oversee all of the clinic activities, even administrative. Quite frankly, I feel severely unequipped to

handle such responsibilities; I’ve been getting no more than four hours of sleep a night just pre-

stressing about it.

I proceed to make my usual rounds for the rest of the morning, all in preparation for the party. Dr.

Owens is one of the most important people in my life and we have worked hard to make this a very

special day for him. He took me in as an apprentice when no one saw any potential in me.

I was only 12 years old but I was already learning all the basics of surgery; Despite my young age, I

had the stomach for it. I graduated early from high school and managed to get straight into med school

where I graduated top of my class. Yet here I was facing this new challenge, feeling anxious as heck.

It’s past five o’clock and everything has been rather quiet. I’m ready to pass on my patients to the next

shift, anxious to get the farewell party done and over with. I think to mind link Sofia, but she beats me to

it,

INCOMING! She yells in my head.

Before I can ask her anything, I hear the commotion outside. A badly injured werewolf comes barging

in through the E.R door, holding an unconscious wolf. I rush to them and the nurses that were already

in their dresses and heels come to their aid. We place the unconscious wolf on a hospital bed and he

shifts to his human form. The other wolf collapses and we help him onto another bed. Dr. Owens has

come out of his office at the sound of the commotion.

“Vera, take Eric. Violet, prep the defibrillator. Erica and Sam, prep an O.R.” The urgency in his voice

can’t be missed.

I start checking the vitals on Eric. Wasn’t he one of the scouts today? In fact, weren’t both of them

scouting? He seems to have a concussion and his entire body is trembling in shock. We have to check

for internal bleeding.

The feeling of dread I’d been carrying with me all day comes back full force as Sofia mind links me

again,

Vera, we’re going to need all hands on deck. Get your people ready. Ten injured wolves total, three

lycans.

Lycans?! Did you just say lycans?!

Amongst the eight more wolves that show up with minor to severe injuries within the next five minutes, I

smell the three lycans immediately, two of them carrying an unconscious one; it’s clear he’s barely

hanging on.

I direct them to a bed and after roughly placing him on it, they both collapse beside him from

exhaustion. I instruct the other doctors and nurses to tend to the wolves, prioritizing those who seem to

be losing consciousness, but they are noticeably wary of the lycans. Luckily, most of the wolves seem

to have mild injuries, notoriously scratch marks. What the hell happened?

I turn my full attention to the severely injured lycan and for a moment, it’s as if I can feel his slowing

heart beat in my own chest. I check his vitals as a nurse reluctantly hooks him to all the machines. As I

put my hand on his head to lift his eyelid and check for pupil response, I feel electricity run below my

fingertips. What the…?

Without warning, his eyes shoot open startling me and sending both our heart rates through the roof.

He looks at me intently; I would never think those eyes are of a man who is barely alive.

He whispers something too low for me to hear. I get closer and as he whispers again; he flat lines and

my head is reeling.

Did he just whisper… mate?

Author's note: Thank you so much for reading :) This is my first serious story ever. Feel free to

comment your thoughts. This adventure is only getting started!

-Vera-

It takes me a couple of seconds to react. Did I hear him correctly? Did he say mate?! One of the lycans

who carried this man is regarding me with surprise. Did he hear him too?

“Crash cart!” I yell. Fortunately, my doctor brain kicks in and I can stop thinking about what I did or

didn’t hear. Sam comes rushing in with a crash cart and we get ready to bring this man back.

“Clear!”

First shock. No heartbeat.

“Clear!”

Second shock. Still no heartbeat.

“Clear!”

The young lycan who was staring at me has come closer to stand by his friend.

“Come on, Noah… come on, man.” He seems to be tearing up when suddenly,

Beep. Beep. Beep.

It’s faint, but it’s there. This is good enough.

“Let’s roll him up to an O.R!”

Now, this is one of those moments where I re-evaluate my entire life so far. Here I am scrubbed in to

operate on a lycan. Did I mention I know nothing of lycan anatomy? I’m going off on the assumption

that it is essentially werewolf anatomy, but different. How different? We’re about to find out.

I make the first incision and as I suspected, one of his lungs has collapsed. I insert a chest tube to

stabilize the lung and head for the next injury. Dr. Owens enters the OR, scrubbed in to help me. He

smiles gently and comes to stand in front of me, assessing my work so far.

“What are we working with?”

“Collapsed lung, internal bleeding, more broken bones than I care to count right now, and half of his

ribs are broken. I’m honestly surprised he’s still alive.”

“Well, lycans are very resilient creatures. I’ll start on the bones, if we let them heal incorrectly, we’ll just

have to break them later to correct them, let’s take advantage now that he’s under. Did you put him on

blood thinners?”

I didn’t even think to do that. Normally we don’t have to use blood thinners when operating on

werewolves. He notices my frown.

“Lycans heal much faster than wolves, if we don’t put them on blood thinners, the incisions you make

will heal before you can properly fix him.” It’s hard to believe he can heal at all considering the state

he’s in, but we proceed as instructed.

We continue the rest of the surgery with ease and we are relieved to learn that Jason, Dr. Owens's

patient, will make a full recovery. He was the wolf in by far the worst condition. With my mentor here,

everyone seems more confident. He starts humming quietly to himself as he works on the fractures.

Dr. Owens knows more about lycans than I imagined, it is evident as he works on the patient’s bones.

He explains in detail how to treat every fracture and how lycans have some different bone structures to

wolves. It seems logical considering how different our beast forms are.

As we finish the surgery, his vitals are stable and I’m quite happy with how everything turned out. Dr.

Owens will run additional x-rays to see any further damage to his bones that will require fixing, but

overall, he’s doing a lot better.

He’s rolled out of surgery and I head into the changing rooms for a well-deserved shower. I put on my

black leggings, a bralette and my favorite baggy sweater. It’s almost ten o’clock and I am more than

ready for the comfort of my bed. I am wiped out from not sleeping properly these past few weeks, but

first I have to check on my patients. Particularly the one I just spent hours on.

I enter the room and a nurse, Katie, is updating his chart. The room is dimly lit by one of the bedside

lamps and my hand instinctively moves to turn the main lights on.

“He likes it dark,” comes an almost growl from a figure in the corner of the room. He’s sitting down but I

can smell him, he’s one of the lycans.

Katie gives me an annoyed look, letting me know she tried it too. Well, I am not Katie. I turn it on with a

flick of the wrist. This inspires a growl from the friend in the corner but Katie is relieved that she can

actually do her job now. She hurries and finishes her notes, checks his meds and leaves.

The room the lycans are in has four beds; one of them has been left empty as I imagine no wolf wanted

to be in here with them; in the one next to my patient is the young lycan from earlier, apparently

sedated. The one in the corner starts moving when I approach the bed of his friend. He looks

noticeably older than the other two. I proceed to check my patient with him looming over us; it’s

incredibly annoying.

Once I’m done, I turn to him. One of his arms is on an arm sling and the other is heavily and incorrectly

bandaged; I frown at this, did someone from our staff do this? It seems like negligent care. I also notice

he has a deep cut across his forehead that is nearly healed and a scratch mark on his neck that is still

a vivid red color. It is no wonder he collapsed when they came in. He has deep grey eyes, whiting hair,

and a muscular build that betrays his likely age. His face is stern and his eyes are distant. Much like the

staff, I assume he is wary of us, and even warier of being on our territory. In any other case, they

would’ve been killed immediately for trespassing, but an exception has been made by our Alpha.

“How long until he wakes up?” He asks.

“The surgery went very well and he’s stable, depending on how fast lycans heal, he should wake up

tomorrow without a problem.” I smile out of pure professionalism, but his stance is getting on my

nerves.

“Will he be able to travel?”

“We will run more x-rays tomorrow to make sure his bones are healing in place. Depending on the

results, he could travel perhaps in a week’s time.”

“Perhaps? Our healers would’ve had him walking in a day’s time. You mutts can’t even do your jobs

right.” He almost spits as he speaks these words, but I am unfazed, we all know what to expect from

these creatures.

“We will cure you, feed you, and clothe you for as long as our Alpha sees fit. Until then, try to not to

offend my staff. Remember, you’re on wolf territory now.” I give him a tight smile and leave, he

managed to irritate the tired out of me; how is that even possible?