Nani held the hand at her throat and whispered, “Please don’t hurt me. I am Nani Roselyn, Caretaker of Dawn Pack.”
“Prove it, show me something to prove it, or are you an imposter?”
Nani quickly searched for her Dawn pack’s seal she kept somewhere in her bag, hoping he’d release her neck, for he was choking her seriously.
“Here it is.”
The hand loosened on her throat, and she turned to see a man standing before her.
“I am sorry, Nani. My name is Eli. Forgive the circumstances we met. I have to be weary to fish out any spies for Vulcan.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Eli; why would you think I am a spy?”
“Vulcan is after us after we escaped from his tyranny. We didn’t want to be rogues and join him in his dirty work, so we escaped and formed a pack since we had nowhere to go.”
“Oh, so there’s more of you.”
“Yes. We are called the Freedom Fighters for now, but maybe we will soon change it; it’s the best name we could come up with,” Eli chuckled, explaining. “We are refugees from the other packs that Vulcan attacked. We gathered together to survive and stay hidden from all our enemies. We have a hidden village, but very few of us come out to protect the area and prevent just anyone from sneaking in.”
“Very well, that is good,” Nani remarked.
“Well, I heard the Dawn pack was attacked; is that where you are headed?” From his expression, Eli didn’t think Nani should be going there as Vulcan had taken over.
“No, I am going to the Dawn Pack refugee camp to find out what’s happened and see if I can rescue our Luna, Ava.”
“We heard of the fight between the Dawn Pack and the Black Dynasty. Even though the Alpha is no more, I pray that his mate and the rest of the dawners will be fine.”
Eli’s words brought pain to Nani’s heart. She hoped that Lucas’s death wouldn’t be true, but of course, Lucas would have to die before Vulcan successfully overtook the dawn territory.
Eli interrupted her thoughts. “How about you spend the night here? You can stay as long as you like before you continue your journey. There’s a dawn member here we saved and resuscitated. He might even follow you to the refugee camp once he recovers.”
“A dawn wolf? How did you know it was one of us?”
Eli chuckled before answering, “I was one of the high-ranking soldiers in my pack, so I know the scents of many other pack members.”
“Is that how you knew I was a Dawner?”
Eli shrugged, “Ummm…. you’re not a wolf, so no.”
Odd reminder, but Nani seemed more interested in this Dawn member Eli had found. “Please, come show him to me,” she said.
“The person is fatally wounded and was between this world and the other when we found him, but we placed him in the healing pool; that is the only thing keeping him alive.”
“You have a healing pool?”
“Yes, that is why we settled here because as long as many rogues keep trespassing, we have so many enemies; also, every monster now works for Fillip and Vulcan. We tend to fight a lot. So we are usually wounded; we need a healing pool since we live like rogues. Follow me to the pool.”
Nani followed the man she met, She should have been afraid, but something in her told her not to be, that he was being truthful. Besides, her instincts have never been wrong so far.
They arrived at a small village; it was like the living arrangement of rogues because the houses were made of thatch and clay, while some were made of wood.
The men stood up when they saw her, but Eli dismissed them by waving at them. Everyone returned to their business, but she could feel their gazes on her. The smile and happiness from the pack reminded Nani of the Dawn pack before it was attacked.
A little kid bumped into Nani’s legs; she caught her before she fell.
“Careful, little one,” she said before the shy girl turned and ran to her parents.
Nani smiled as Eli led her to the pool in a small hut, but surprise got the best of her as she discovered who it was lying there.
“Alpha Lucas! My Lucas is alive! Oh please, if this is a dream, let me wake up. Please don’t get my hopes high only to discover that he really died!”
Nani cleaned her eyes just to be sure that she was seeing well.
Eli looked confused, “he’s your Alpha? We found him lying in the woods. He looked so horribly beaten. We never expected he’d be the one.”
Nani threw herself at Eli in joy. “Bless the moon goddess for the freedom fighters! This is my Alpha, Lucas De’ Clan of Dawn pack; no wonder Madeline urged me to go immediately,” Nani said joyfully.
“He is an Alpha. It explains why he survived because if ordinary wolves had these many injuries, they would be long dead before we found him.”
“I thank the moon goddess for keeping him safe. I wonder what happened to him,” Nani observed as she scanned through his body. Eli was right. He must have been in a very terrible state; it was visible from the marks on his body.
“The Alpha of the Dawn pack was thrown off the cliff by the tyrant Fillip, but I didn’t recognize him when we found him; I just thought he smelled like someone from your pack.”
“Are you close to your Alpha?”
“Of course, my dear, I raised him; he is like my son,” Nani stated, taking Lucas’s hand. “I want to talk to him. Is he okay to be pulled out of the pool?”
Eli shook his head. “Of course not, Nani. He’s still healing. The pool is the only thing keeping him alive. If he is pulled out of it, he will die immediately.”
“Heavens forbid!” Nani looked worried. “So what should we do?”
“He might look fine now, but he still has a long road to recovery. We are to take care of him and pray he opens his eyes; otherwise…..” he trailed off, letting Nani understand the message.
Heavens forbid that from happening. Lucas survived for a purpose, and Nani believes he will get through this.
“I would like to stay and look after my Alpha myself; I am a healer; will that be possible?”
“Of course, your pack was destroyed by Vulcan, just like ours. You are allowed to stay, and your services will be much needed. Come, let me introduce you.”
After leaving Lucas’s hut, Nani joined him as he took her around the pack. They got to another of the huts, where there was a lot of screaming, and Nani and Eli moved closer to see what it was.
The women explained that three women were giving birth at the same time, and only two midwives were available. Nani, who had worked as a midwife before, rushed into the hut.
The woman in labour was tired from screaming, but the baby was not out yet. Her husband was inside the room, cleaning her sweat and holding her hands.
“Massage her waist in a downward slope,” Nani instructed her husband before running out.
She went to her bag and searched for two potions made of herbs. One of them helped women who had prolonged labour give birth fast. She rushed back and warmed the liquid in the fireplace before making her drink it.
“I want to go to the bathroom,” the woman said.
“Feel free to answer nature’s call right there,” Nani told her because she knew the potion was already working. It always made the drinker feel like they wanted to poop, but instead of the poop, the baby would come out.
“Push one more time with all your strength,” Nani ordered.
The woman looked at Nani’s face, holding her husband’s hand. She pushed with all her strength, and the baby came out immediately.
“Thank the moon goddess for the handsome boy,” Nani exclaimed, and she raised the baby up. The woman’s husband took the baby from Nani, muttering many thanks to Nani. He then took the baby to the mother, who was weak and breathing heavily.
“Look at our beautiful baby, love; he looks just like you.”
“Our baby is beautiful and will be strong like his father. I love him so much. Thank you for your help, ma’am,” she said to Nani.
Nani nodded, packing up her things. “It’s the least I could do for the pack that saved my Lucas.”
***
After Nani had stayed a few hours with Lucas, it was nighttime. Eli took her to the room where she would stay for a while.
The room was not that big; the inside was smoothed with clay and some straw, but she wasn’t in a position to be picky.
She dropped her bag and took a little food, a blanket, and incense herbs known to bring lost souls home before returning to the healing pool.
She lit the incense herb, sat down, and began to speak to Lucas. Maybe her talking to him will help wake him up. She took his hand.
“You have to wake up, Lucas De’ Clan. Ava needs you, Ramsey needs you, and the dawn pack needs you. You are the only one who can save us from the wrath of Vulcan Darin.”