The Moon Goddess' Chosen

468 A h-healthy appetite?

After that short outburst of energy, Peter and Lyla didn’t need any further instructions.

To try and cope with the grey-eyed woman’s communication barrier, they assumed she could have been related to Honour. With that in mind, her value became significantly greater. If it had been any other pair of humans, perhaps they wouldn’t have helped her with this request.

But both of them had been saved by the young florist once before and they owed her greatly for it.

Peter helped Beatrice get into the wheelchair and wheeled her gently out of the hospital. The boy noticed how the woman gripped the handles of the wheelchair so tight that her knuckles turned white. It didn’t matter how much he tried to keep from bumping the wheeler, she still held on as though her life depended on it.

‘Something is not right,’ he thought to himself, trying to discern other reasons for this peculiar behaviour.

They proceeded through the hospital with next to no resistance in signing out. This was all possible because of the paperwork Peter had gone through while the woman was in a coma. If it hadn’t been for that, she would have been retained for a few weeks with the hope that she’d been claimed by family.

This was how the system normally worked. It would get increasingly difficult in case she’d lost her memory or didn’t have any family to speak of. From what Peter had already gleaned about the woman’s past, she was a ghost.

At first with next to no information and even after she’d woken up and spoken to the pack she was from. A quick phone call had him searching through his connections for a source of her existence in the Golden Moon pack.

Even then, there was no word of her existence.

.....

The phone call to the pack had yielded negative results, “Are you sure you’re from the Golden Moon pack though? The alpha acted like he didn’t know you.”

The woman sighed when she heard the question, her knuckles slightly relaxing. ‘So he’s that well-connected. Gotta hand it to a child with power.’

The wheelchair was now rolling over the gravel of the parking lot leading them to their car. Beatrice looked around in search of any stalkers. When she was sure they were alone, she replied, “That’s all part of a protocol. If it was I who had spoken on the phone, it would have been a different matter.

I’m… not meant to leave the pack. You can already tell from my eye colour that I’m not an ordinary wolf… How I wish I’d kept practising how to hide my eye colour! Like my daughter and granddaughter did,” the woman sighed heavily.

Eventually, they made it to a green hunchback parked not far from the parking lot exit. Lyla helped her into the car and got into the back seats with her. Patient and careful to make sure the woman didn’t hurt herself. With only having woken up from her coma, Beatrice could feel how sluggish her limbs still were.

If it hadn’t been for the fact that she was a werewolf, this meagre movement would have proved too much for her.

Thankfully, she wasn’t human… and her recovery was visible and astonishing. Even as she sat in the backseat of the hunchback, she could feel the strength return to her bones little by little.

She could feel the blood flow more freely through her near-paralysed limbs, waking them from the near-two-year slumber.

Closing the door for the two ladies, Peter got into the car as well and started the engine, “Aren’t you hungry? We should get you something to eat first.”

“If you can get some takeout, that would be nice. I have to get to that flower shop as soon as I can,” Beatrice quivered in her seat. The rushing sensation of water suddenly overwhelmed her, a visage of her past trauma haunting her even while she was awake…

The urgency of a mission that was never completed gripped her very core… “I have to warn them. I have to warn the Royals… the hunters… everyone’s in trouble.”

Peter’s hand paused on the key before he could turn it. Turning back to the people in the back, he noticed the woman’s eyes were glazed over.

Lyla was shaking her lightly… One sudden jerk brought Beatrice back to the present, “Huh… what happened? Did I fall asleep?”

Lyla frowned… “Now I’m worried.”

“I know what you mean,” Peter echoed, “I guess coming out of a coma is not the end of a struggle… Perhaps it was a bad idea to bring her out of the hospital so soon.”

“No, no, please… It wasn’t a mistake. It was the best possible thing you could have ever done for me. Look, I don’t know you. You don’t know me. I’m so happy anyone cared for me at all. You’ve done more than I could have ever asked of you, but this is really important,” the woman tried… ‘Why does this feel familiar?’

Beatrice’s memories rushed back to the time she’d started this journey. The small town she’d tried to get help from. Everyone she’d spoken to at the time hadn’t paid her any attention.

In the end, everything she said landed on deaf ears, ‘No, please… I don’t want that to happen again. I’ve already lost so much time already.’

Sensing the desperation in her voice, Peter changed his mind, “I’m going to choose to trust you on this. Just don’t make me regret it. I also deserve an explanation once you feel up for it.”

With that said, the young man turned the key and the car roared to life. They were cruising along the asphalt in no time…

Beatrice sighed in relief… she was moving. And she was moving forward at least. Was there still more time for her to warn everyone? Did she even know who to tell this to? Could telling them really help with anything?

So many questions and next to no answers. She’d spent so much time in the Golden Moon pack that she didn’t even know the procedures to follow if she was to have anything addressed in the fastest way possible.

Were there even any procedures to follow when trying to warn everyone of the threat that could potentially end the world as they knew it? Beatrice was at a loss… The least she could do was hope she’d made the right decision.

The last time, she’d tried searching for anyone’s help, she’d failed. Now she had the chance to ask for help from someone who might be willing to listen to her… someone who knew the reason for her odd eye colour.

There was a chance this ‘Honour’ would let her in without asking questions and heed her warning.

“So where are we going? The flower shop or the Sirius palace?” Peter asked, interrupting the woman’s thoughts.

“Let’s start with the flower shop. I’ll need to speak to the owner. She’ll be able to make my story sound less… far-fetched,” the Seeker sighed.

Peter looked back through the driving mirror briefly before turning his gaze back to the road, “Is it far-fetched?”

“Well… I am a grey-eyed werewolf. There is already so much about me that’s a myth…” she sighed and in a quieter tone, meant for her, “I just hope Madeline is alright.”

The car suddenly swerved and the tyres screeched against the asphalt as Peter regained control of the car. The boy gripped the steering wheel so tight with both hands and made sure he was in control.

That one name had made all the difference, snapping so many anomalies into place. Peter wasn’t shocked to see the female werewolf with grey eyes at all.

He’d actually vaguely remembered seeing something similar somewhere before. And now that she’d mentioned the missing piece to this puzzle, a lot seemed to make sense.

“You don’t mean, Madeline. Honour’s cousin, do you?”

“Cousin…?” the woman paused.

It wasn’t hard for her to imagine a story like that cropping up, but then again, what were the odds they were talking about the same Madeline she was missing dearly?

“Oh yeah! Madeline was the new girl that showed up in our final year of school. They had her do all this extra studying so that she could keep up with her grades and graduate on time. Then she was placed in the same class as Lina and the two of them graduated not long ago,” Lyla explained, “Looking at her always reminded me of a cute puppy. Such an innocent face…”

The more they spoke, the more Beatrice got convinced they were talking about her Mady, “What about her eyes? What colour were they?” she asked, excited.

Of course, it would be dangerous if the colour of her eyes turned out to be grey because then, it wouldn’t take long until their secrets would be revealed.

“They were… amber. She wasn’t that strong of a werewolf either but she didn’t need to be. Lina wouldn’t let anyone close enough to hurt her…” the girl paused, thinking back on something, “Funny story: Back then…

There was this rumour that her eyes would flash silver when she was agitated. The rumour soon died down when there was no proof. Peter himself seemed convinced she could change the colour of her eyes.”

“I know what I saw, Lyla… and Beatrice’s presence now confirms that I wasn’t making anything up. Tell her, Beatrice…” Peter raised his voice but it was met with silence, “Beatrice…”

The woman beside Lyla had gone into a short trance of her own making, “Madeline would be my granddaughter. Is she in the capital? Do you know where she is?”

Lyla wasn’t sure what to make of this anymore, “How about we take it one step at a time?” The car was just getting into the driveway of a restaurant. Peter turned off the engine, “What do you guys want? I’ll go grab it and be right back in a blink.”

Lyla gave him their options and bid him farewell with a short kiss on the lips. A silence took over them for a bit. Beatrice wouldn’t meet the girl’s gaze after watching the short display of affection, “Do you have a…”

“No, he died…”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”

“Don’t apologize. It was a long time ago. My wolf and I somehow managed to survive the heartbreak. So, don’t underestimate me… or feel sorry for me,” the woman warned.

“I wouldn’t underestimate you. Not after the injuries you defeated during that time, you spent in a coma. You were really injured in that river. I thought you wouldn’t make it. Seems I was worried for nothing.”

“Exactly… and don’t you forget it…” after a short pause, “How long have you guys been together?”

Lyla suddenly smiled, swaying lightly as she soared through her memories, “It’s been two years but it feels like yesterday,” she swooned.

“Ah, I see. A couple as young as yours is completely rare to find,” the woman replied, “A human couple, for that matter. It would be understandable if you were mates. Everything is less complicated that way.”

“Not the first time I’ve heard that one. We’ll be fine, though,” Lyla replied.

As they were talking, the aromatic scent of food and spices wafted in through the half-open window. Peter opened the door to the driver’s seat and sat in, passing them a large paper bag containing hot disposable containers.

“I was able to get it all and added some drinks in there just in case you guys get thirsty. Maybe eating once we get to the shop would be a better…”

‘Grr…’ went Beatrice’s belly.

The older woman blushed red… “I’m sorry… I didn’t realise how… how…” the food had all her attention… ‘I don’t remember myself capable of being so hungry even when I went so long without food,’ the thought crossed her mind.

“Talk about two years’ worth of hunger. Don’t be shy… dig in. I’ll drive slowly so you don’t have to worry about spilling anything and even if you do, I can get that cleaned.

Don’t eat too fast, your digestive system has not been functional in a long time, so you might want to take it easy.”

“Yes, ‘father’,” Beatrice nodded as she pulled out one of the recyclable containers in the bag. The smell of meat… that’s all that was needed to completely arrest her attention.

“There is a fork and… uhh, never mind…” Beatrice wasn’t listening. Her hands could do the job.

Peter was shocked at first, but then a smile spread over his face. ‘I guess we can check a lack of appetite off the list of things to worry about.’