Chapter 4

　　Louisa's POV

　　"Is that her?" I heard a voice.

　　"Yeah." That's Lucian's voice.

　　I couldn't open my eyes.

　　They were covered by something.

　　"She looks so tiny. She wouldn't make it."

　　"You're a doctor or something?"

　　"It wouldn't need a doctor to see that she wouldn't make it. She's dying."

　　I'm not dying. I'm still alive!

　　I opened my mouth, but there was no sound coming out of it except a series of scratchy sounds.

　　I felt my throat burning.

　　I didn't know how long I had slept.

　　"Wa… water…" I gasped.

　　Every time I breathed, I felt my throat was burning on fire.

　　The cloth covering my eyes was lifted.

　　In a blurry vision, I saw a boy's face.

　　He was holding a bowl of water in his hand.

　　I struggled to get up, but my back was hurting so badly that I couldn't move.

　　"She can't even sit up straight by herself…"

　　"She'll be fine, Leon," Lucian said.

　　I grabbed the boy's arm and said, "Leon, please… give me… water…"

　　"Aha, she's calling my name and she's grabbing my arm now," said Leon.

　　"I've told you, she's not dying. She just needs some time to recover." Lucian said.

　　Leon looked at Lucian and said, "Do you mind giving me a hand, brother? Hold her up still…"

　　"Her back's broken. That's why she's lying on a stretcher." Lucian said.

　　My back?! No. That can't be it. I thought to myself.

　　If I couldn't stand up, how could I work as a help for the White Walkers?

　　I was in tremendous fear.

　　Are they going to kill me, or, even worse, dump me alive on the tundra? The scavengers will eat me alive, piece by piece.

　　Leon rolled his eyes and said, "Aha, I see. That's why she's on the stretcher. Thank you very much for pointing it out to me. That's very insightful."

　　Lucian sighed and took a clean bandage. He dipped the bandage in the water bowl and wiped my chapped lips carefully.

　　I licked the water on my lips very carefully and I felt a little bit moist in my throat.

　　The boy got closer to me.

　　He looked like a miniature version of Lucian, about 13 or 14 years old, with blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. But his hair was cropped and spiky.

　　"Do you have a name?" he asked, blinking his puppy eyes at me.

　　"She doesn't have a name, Leon. Leave her alone." Lucian said.

　　"Everyone has a name." Leon frowned and said.

　　"Not me," I whispered.

　　"Can I call her Lina? Layla? Lucy?" he paused and suddenly got sparks in his eyes, "Ah! Can I call her Luna?"

　　It seemed that he was very fond of names starting with the letter "L".

　　Lucian replied with a poker face, "No. She's not your pet. You can't randomly name her."

　　"You're such a party pooper, brother, and people hate that." Leon pouted.

　　"A man doesn't have to be liked by everyone, especially not by naughty little brats who don't have their manners in front of ladies." Lucian roughly stroked his younger brother's hair.

　　Leon swiftly shifted into a small white wolf, scowling at Lucian.

　　"Leon, I don't have time to play with you," Lucian said.

　　Leon showed his sharp fangs and paws at Lucian and he growled as if he was making a cute threat to his elder brother.

　　Then, he took a bite at Lucian's hand, but only closed his mouth around his fingers, instead of biting it.

　　Lucian sighed as Leon started a fight against his imaginary hand monster, growling and jumping around at his fingers.

　　Lucian looked at me and said, "You have to figure out how to heal yourself. Alpha Lucas won't accept a sick girl like you in our pack."

　　"I have… potions…" I said.

　　"The ones in your baggage? They were smashed and I guess you need to replenish some of them later. If I were you, I would focus on regaining my strength first. After that, you can move on to concentration. You're always in fear. That distracts you. You have to stay focused. Then, you'll get the power of healing yourself. But don't worry, one step at a time. Meanwhile, Leon will stay here and take care of you. You can tap his nose like this when he gets too annoying." He tapped gently on Leon's nose.

　　Leon roared and snorted, then he shifted into a boy.

　　"Don't do that, brother! It hurts!" He covered his nose and whined.

　　I couldn't stop but chuckle.

　　"She's smiling!" Leon looked at me with a sparkling smile on his face, "Does that mean she likes me?"

　　"I don't know, you have to ask her," Lucian said patiently.

　　He popped up his head next to my stretcher, holding the edge of it like a little puppy, "My brother lets me ask you if you like me?"

　　"Yes, I do," I replied with a faint smile.

　　"Woo hoo!" He jumped up and down.

　　I looked at Lucian and said, "I'll try my best to recover. I can do a lot of things. I can cook, sew, make potions, and clean…"

　　Lucian looked at me in a bit of surprise.

　　Then, he said, "You're not going to do those things."

　　"But I'm Alpha's maid, right?" I asked, "If I work very hard, I'll pay back my father's debt and I'll be sent back, right?"

　　Lucian didn't say anything.

　　I immediately had a really bad feeling.

　　Are they going to keep me here forever?

　　I don't want to become a maid of a big bad wolf for the rest of my life.

　　Then, I heard there was some noise outside the tent.

　　Leon quickly ran out and came back.

　　"Alpha's back! He's back early. That's strange." he said.

　　"Is Gamma with him?" asked Lucian.

　　"I didn't see Finn." Leon rubbed his nose and said.

　　Then, they suddenly stopped talking and turned towards the entrance of the tent.

　　I heard the footsteps getting closer to me.

　　My heart was pounding so fast. I couldn't stop it and I didn't know why.

　　"Where's Lucian?" I heard the sound of a deep voice.

　　"He's in the tent, Alpha." answered a soldier.

　　"With the girl?"

　　"Yes, Alpha. Together with Leon."

　　Then, I saw the curtain of the tent was lifted.

　　A giant figure strode out of the darkness of the night.

　　He was a tall and gorgeous man with icy sapphire eyes and dark hair. He was surrounded by a heavenly aura, which made him more intimidating and dangerous than any man that I had ever seen in my life.

　　He was wearing a black warrior suit. It was tight and it shows the perfect muscles on his chest and arms. His chiseled jawline was strong. It looked as if it was carved by ancient Greek artists.

　　I was amazed and bewitched by what I'd seen.

　　I thought he was an old man, just like my father.

　　But it occurred to me that he was no more than thirty.

　　I had never thought a young man like him could be the Alpha of the most powerful wolf pack of the North.

　　He glanced at me.

　　His gaze was cold and merciless, but my face was immediately set on fire, so I lowered my head.

　　But when I cast my eyes away from him, I felt an excruciating pain in my heart, like I was peeling my skin off.

　　What is this? Why was my body trembling like this?

　　And the burning sensation on my loins…

　　The sudden rush of adrenaline made me feel overwhelmed and suffocated.

　　What happened to me? I had never had this kind of feeling in my life.

　　Then, I heard the voice of my wolf in the back of my mind.

　　"It's him."

　　"What?!" I almost screamed out in my mind.

　　"He's your mate."

　　"But… That can't be it… It must be a mistake! He's Alpha Lucas of White Walkers!"