His Little Human Mate

Chapter 21

Noella

It's the tingling that starts at the base of my neck, and the whisper of a voice. A breeze that brushes my hair. And then the throb that settles on the stem of my spinal cord. I cringe, hand coming up to rub against the pulsing skin.

I had excused myself from the breakfast table, and as I look in the lit up bathroom mirror, my eyes seem to swirl, colours rolling and reflecting in a rainbow of chaos.

My head begins to pound, limbs prickling with needles of sleep even though I'm standing up. Everything inside of me wars with what it once was and whatever is happening to me now.

I slide down the bathroom wall, head in my hands as I try to hold back a groan. It's like my head is splitting itself into two, the pain of it ripping apart almost too much. It's awful, it's-

Hello.

I gasp as everything stops. The pain, the throbbing, the pulsing, the tingles and needles. Everything quiets for that voice.

Did I end up with a mute?

I look up, down, around, left, right, sideways, backwards, and all over again.

Can you hear me?

It's..... it's coming from inside my head....?

Yes? I try out, contemplating whether or not I need to be assessed in an asylum.

Wonderful! I've been trapped in here for so long that I thought I would never speak to life again! You have no idea how much your voice comforts me right now!

Oh my gosh......

Someone is talking inside of my head.

There is an actual voice inside my head that is not mine.

Am I crazy? Dreaming? Delirious? Overwhelmed? Stressed? Making up voices in my head because of loneliness?

What are you? I ask, cringing at the encouragement I'm putting into this weirdness.

A giggle sounds, and I jump up, so scared that my legs shake and I almost fall right back down.

Why, I'm your wolf, of course!

Wait....

What did she just say?

Is it hot in here? I feel like maybe it's a little too warm. I have never been claustrophobic before, but I think the development has occurred. This bathroom is too small, too cramped. There's no air, no room to breathe.

A knock sounds, but was it in my head? I'm going crazy. I have to be. There's no other explanation at this point than to think-

"Noella?" Nixx's voice sounds, and something primal tips my gut.

What the heck is wrong with me?

"You alright in there?" He asks.

I'm not, but my voice won't work, too busy trying to get air in and out that words have no room to form.

Panic is a living, breathing thing inside of me, taking all my comfort and peace and replacing it with chaos and destruction.

"El?"

I wish I could answer him. Wish this stupid voice inside my head would go away so I could stop having to shove it out. It's like trying to lift a box of concrete and throw it out the window. It's too heavy, my hands too weak. I can't get rid of it, can't rid of the words it uttered.

"Noella, can you hear me?" Panic passes in his words, fear threading through its cracks.

Wolf.

I have a wolf inside my head. A wolf that's pushing against the walls I'm trying so hard to keep up. A wolf that's making the pounding in my head come back.