Midnight Wolves

Chapter Nine: Whole

The stench of vomit was making her feel even sicker than she already did. Yet, she still sat beside it, legs pulled up under her chin, arms wrapped tightly around them. She hadn't moved. Hadn't been able to move.

That fear. That same fear that had made her freeze when her moonmate had attacked her, sat heavily in her chest. All that therapy, all that time and nothing had changed. She hadn't changed. She was still the weak frozen wolf that she had been all those years ago. Why was she even here? Why was she bothering to uncover her past when she could barely even function in her future?

She was so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed the woman approach the tent, enter and crouch down before her. Her wolf hadn't either, it had retreated to some dark corner of her subconscious.

It was only when the woman placed a hand on her knee that Callie noticed her. Her wolf flashed out before Callie could stop her and slashed at the woman. Luckily, the woman was quicker than Callie and managed to dart out of the way just in time, toppling back onto the muddy ground and scooting away until her spine hit the bed frame.

"I'm sorry!" the young she-wolf yelled, holding her hands up in defence. Hands, Callie noticed, that were marred with scars. Wrists that were bruised by hands or chains, Callie wasn't sure. Her wolf sat up and paid attention, assessing the woman before her.

Young. Scared. Scarred. Callie felt like she was looking in a mirror.

"It's OK," Callie assured her, crossing her legs and giving the woman a reassuring smile. "I'm sorry, I was lost in my thoughts."

"No, it's fine. I shouldn't have touched you."

Callie shrugged, "I'm Callie by the way. Callie Magnum."

The woman nodded a hello. "Kennedy. Just Kennedy."

Callie smiled. "Hello, 'just Kennedy', it's nice to meet you."

Kennedy nodded and pulled at a thread on her top.

Callie shifted and grimaced at the mud now caking her clothes. "Is this your tent?" she asked, looking around at the relatively empty room. A small wooden bed with a thin mattress and a crate upturned as a table. On it there was a small bracelet made of wooden beads.

The woman watched her assessing it all. "Yeh. I'm bunking with Ola for now. Are you staying? Joining the pack I mean. I heard what Grant said to you..." the she-wolf shuddered and Callie's stomach tightened.

"I'm not staying, just visiting. I'm actually in the Rootbridge pack."

Kennedy's eyes flashed in understanding. "I visited them once, years ago now. Their packlands were beautiful."

Callie's heart warmed as she thought back to Rootbridge. "Yeh, they are. What were you doing there?"

Kennedy shrugged. "I actually wasn't supposed to be there. I'd been living on my own for ages, came across Rootbridge and just...didn't want to leave." She sighed wistfully.

"So why did you?" Callie asked, staring at her.

"I knew I didn't belong."

Callie nodded, understanding that feeling. "But you belong here?" She didn't mean the tone that she said it with. Kennedy flinched.

"They...found me, on their property. I shouldn't have been here. I owed them."

Callie eyed the bruises, the ligature marks. "They kept you here?"

Kennedy shrugged again and anger boiled beneath Callie's skin. "Only to start with. Once I'd submitted they let me out."

She said it as though it was entirely normal. As though there was nothing wrong with being forced to submit to an alpha you didn't want. Callie's wolf flashed in her eyes, the world going monochrome for a moment. The woman flinched at the sight.

"If you want to leave, then go," Callie said quietly, her voice tight, not trusting her wolf to do anything but growl.

Kennedy shook her head and for a moment she looked young. Much younger than she was. And Callie understood exactly what it was J had seen in her that day so long ago, when they'd first met. A wolf with potential. A wolf in need of a hand.

"I have nowhere to go." Kennedy muttered. "They feed me, they leave me alone. I'm safe here."

Callie couldn't help but eye the bruises again. "Are you?" Her voice cut against Kennedy. "You could come back with me to Rootbridge?"

The hope that filled Kennedy's eyes nearly flattened Callie.

"Really?"

Callie nodded. "Really. I promise."

And for the first time in a long time, Callie felt a little more whole again.