C6 Pregnant

Elena hugged herself her skinny arms barely providing the comfort she sought. She curled up into a fetal position, a shiver running through her body every two seconds. Her eyes fluttered, unable to stay focused, her vision seemed to adopt a state of permanent blurriness. She was drifting in and out of consciousness, staying awake was proving to be a major problem. The cold jagged concrete floor of the cell cut into her skin and made sleeping very uncomfortable.

She was still naked.

Her wounds had stopped bleeding but they still hurt. The smell in the tiny cell was very strong, it smelled of mold and decay and death, her nose was overwhelmed and had lost its ability a while ago. She brought her hands up to her face, her fingers were dirty and turning blue. She dropped them to the floor, utterly defeated. Her eyes slowly came to a focus on the metal that caged her in. If only she had her strength as a full wolf, breaking those bars would be nothing. She could tell, this prison was built for humans.

It made her almost chuckle. She was so weak she had to be thrown into a prison for humans, the weakest species. Her heart bled and cried, but her eyes remained dry. It seemed that she had exhausted all her tears. Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth, dry like sandpaper. Her throat hurt to swallow.

She wished she could die.

It pained her that she was a werewolf. A human would have died long ago in the forest. She was exhausted, hungry, in pain and covered with injuries. But she was still alive. Death had refused to come, death didn't always come so easily for werewolves. Her mind wandered back to the wolfsbane dagger that probably lay defeated in the forest. She found herself wistfully thinking that maybe she should have killed herself when she had the chance. If she had done that, maybe this wouldn't have happened.

It had been three days.

Or was it?

In the darkness of the cell, her perception of time was distorted. She hadn't moved from the spot she lay in....how many hours now? Her eyes started to drift shut again, her mind pulling her to another dreamless sleep.

She didn't know how long she'd slept when she was woken by a bright light. In her distorted mind she thought Marcus had come to release her. Her eyes opened slowly, taking forever to focus. The dark cell was filling with a bright cool light, it seemed to her like moonlight. But that was silly, who would let the moon in?

She gasped and opened her closing eyes. There was a woman in the cell with her. She was the source of the light. The woman was seated elegantly, her flowing clothes and long silver hair moved as if there was a breeze in the cell.

"Elena," The woman spoke, her voice was soft and sweet like distant silver bells.

"Hmm" Elena tried to speak but couldn't.

"Do you know who I am?" Elena tried to raise her head and peer at the woman's face. But her position on the floor prevented her from doing so. So she just shook her head.

The woman rose to her feet, she was very tall. She moved over to Elena and gently hugged her. Elena felt the cold vanish. The embrace felt warm, nostalgic. Tears filled her eyes and she began sobbing quietly.

"You must think I'm evil, that I hate you. I love you, Elena. I heard your cries."

Elena blinked. She could feel a little strength returning to her. "G-goddess?"

The woman nodded. "Don't be afraid, everything will be okay."

"Why....why.."

The goddess pulled away from her and wiped her eyes. Elena could see that her eyes were like the moon. "It will all work out, okay?"

Elena heard rustling, hurried footsteps. She got up in a start, wondering what was going on. She blinked and held her head, it was pounding. She looked around the cell, unsure exactly what she was looking for. She could still feel the linger of a warm embrace, a soft voice telling her something, the warm light of the moon washing over her. But she couldn't remember who it was.

Perhaps it was all a dream, she wondered to herself.

She didn't question how strength had returned to her, enough for her to stand up and take a few steps around the cell. Somehow, her body didn't hurt as much as it did. That must have been a good dream, she mused to herself.

The rustling sound caught her attention again.

"Elena!" A voice whispered fiercely. "Elena, are you there?"

Elena recognized the voice. "Nina!" She rushed to the metal bars. "I'm here!" She said in a fierce whisper. Her eyes were adjusted a bit to the darkness. She could see Nina's form faintly.

"Elena you need to leave, he'll really kill you." Nina said. She pushed a bundle of something into Elena's hands. It felt like clothes.

"Why are you here? You could die!" Elena searched for her eyes in the darkness but couldn't find them.

"There's a feast now, everyone is distracted." There was the sound of a whoosh, and the sound of metal hitting the ground. "Run now Elena, at the end of the hall is a small door, it leads to a secluded part of the forest. You have to go now."

Elena rushed out of the cell and hugged Nina tightly. "Thank you so much,"

Nina pushed her off. "Go now!"

Elena nodded and ran off. She looked down at the bundle Nina had given her, it was some clothes and food. She didn't pause as she threw on the shirt and jeans. Her wounds screamed in protest but she ignored them. She got to the end of the hall but the wall was smooth, no sign of a hall.

She felt her heart drop.

Nina had said that there was a small door, was she mistake?

Elena frantically ran her hand over the wall. About to go full blown panic mode, her finger tips brushed against what felt like wood in the wall. She pushed it hard and a small door was revealed. She wasted no time crawling into it.

She drank some of the water and ate the bread Nina had given her. Water had never tasted so good to her before.

The tunnel stretched on. Nina crawled as fast as she could. She came out in the forest. Without wasting time, she began to run. She had no idea where she was going, but she ran. She didn't know how strength filled her, but it was there.

After hours of running, she arrived at a pack house. Immediately, a group of people rushed out and met her. She went down on her knees and raised her hands up to show surrender.

"Who are you?" One of the people asked harshly

"Who sent you?!" Another one asked.

"N-no one!" She screamed. "I'm running for my life!"

"Which pack are you from?"

"Ash pack!"

There was silence for a while. Elena raised her head, a woman walked forward. "You're a long way from home, kid."

"I'm sorry, it's a long story. I mean no harm, please. I just....I need a place to stay."

The woman stared at her long and hard. "You look like shit."

Elena laughed. She laughed till her sides ached. "You're right, I look terrible."

"Come in. We'll see what we can do for you."

The woman turned out to be the alpha of the pack, Redwood pack. Her name was Lina. She had Elena bathed and clothed in a loose flowing gown.

"Your injuries are very bad," She said. Her eyes flashed with pity and unasked questions. "I'll have our healer take a look at you."

Elena agreed wordlessly. She was begining to wonder if she could really tell them what happened to her. The healer examined her injuries, shaking her head Everytime. She applied a cooling ointment all over her and gave her some herbs to drink. Elena felt greatly relieved as her whole body was enveloped in a cooling sensation.

"Girl," The healer suddenly said as she applied the last of the ointment to her feet.

Elena tried her head on the stone bed she laid on. "Yes?"

"We're you poisoned with wolfsbane?"

"No, why?"

"That explains your inability to wolf out."

Elena frowned. "I don't understand."

The healer turned away to mix up a concoction. "Someone was poisoning you with Wolfsbane, so you couldn't wolf out." She turned to Elena with sharp eyes. "Do you have any idea who?"

Elena thought about it. It couldn't be Marcus, she ate the same food as the servants, drank the same water. And they all could wolf out at any time without trouble. Could it be... Her eyes widened and she turned to the healer. The elderly woman nodded with a solemn gaze.

"With time, I will give you herbs that will destroy the wolfsbane. You'll be able to heal fully." The healer said.

"But, it has no cure,"

"Not this one." The healer said. "Whoever poisoned you was very careful not to overdose you. Wolfsbane is a powerful tool that can be used in diverse and wicked ways."

Elena shuddered. She felt betrayed, she felt used. She couldn't believe that her uncle had been poisoning her. What exactly did he stand to gain by making her weaker than a human? He was already the alpha, he had already taken her position in the pack. What else did her want?! She began to feel angry. He was the reason for all her pain, every last bit of it.

"How is she doing?" Lina said, walking into the room.

"She'll be okay, we heal fast." The healer said. The she turned to Elena. "Also, one last thing."

Elena blinked. "Yes?"

"You're pregnant."