Chapter 41: Arrival

~~~

Wryn’s grip around my good hand hadn’t loosened even after we’d both calmed down. Her fingers were slender but strong, curled around mine like she was afraid to let go.

I could still feel the tremble beneath her quiet. That guilt hadn’t faded from her eyes, and I hated that she carried it like a sin she had to shoulder.

My thumb brushed gently against the side of her hand. “Can I ask something?”

She didn’t look up, but her ears perked slightly, flicking toward me. No flinch this time, it seemed to be a good sign.

“Is it okay if I… ask about your scar?”

She maintained the silence. For a second, I wondered if I’d pushed too hard. But then, slowly, she nodded.

“It’s not a cool story or anything,” she muttered, voice low. “It’s not something I usually talk about.”

“I get it,” I said softly. “But I still want to hear it.”

She hesitated, then leaned back just enough to glance at me from the corner of her eye. Her face was unreadable at first. But then her lips parted, and the words began to trickle out.

“I come from a pack,” she started, eyes drifting to some point far beyond the sterile walls around us. “We’re all wolves, well, most of us. It’s a big… rowdy family. There were a lot of us growing up, and the rules were simple. Whoever’s strongest gets the most. Whether it be the most food, the most respect, or the most freedom.”

I stayed quiet, letting her speak.

“I had… six older siblings. Four sisters, two brothers. All stronger and meaner than me. My mom-” her voice caught for a second, “-she was the worst.”

She paused, pressing her lips into a thin line. Her ears drooped low, and she looked down at our joined hands.

“She always said I was weak. That I’d slow the pack down. That a runt like me wasn’t worth much unless I could prove otherwise.”

She lifted her free hand, the one that had struck me earlier, and pressed it lightly to the scar running over her eye. Her fingers hovered there for a long moment.

She went quiet. The look in her eyes hardened, her jaw tightening as she resisted pulling her face into a despondent frown. Her fingers grazed the scar across her eye, the tips digging up the remnants of buried memories being brought out.

“…My mother did this to me,” she said curtly.

The way she said it, the finality in her voice, it was enough to tell me she wasn’t ready to peel that wound open just yet.

“You can tell me the full story when you’re ready,” I said softly.

She gave a small nod, then moved without warning, slipping off the chair and into the narrow space beside me on the bed. I could feel the slight shift of the mattress as she nestled in close, her arms winding around me

Her body pressed against mine, the heat of her presence seeping through the thin layers of hospital linen, settling into me before I could make sense of it.

At first, it was comforting, but when I glanced down at her, I caught a look in her eyes.

Fixed, intense, almost fierce in their focus, it simply felt… predatory. There was something primal in the way she held me, like I was something fragile she had suddenly decided to protect, or maybe claim.

Before I could say anything, she brought a hand up and laid it across my mouth. Forceful enough to just enough to stop whatever words I was about to let spill.

She didn’t say anything.

Just… stared.

Her eyes locked onto mine, unblinking.

Something in the way her breaths started to grow heavier, shallower.

Her chest rising and falling faster than it should.

I could soon feel her arms slowly begin to tighten around me

I felt a chill crawl up my spine. A flicker of fear that pricked at my thoughts. Something about the way she was looking at me… made my heart rate spike like I just jogged a thousand miles.

But then, her gaze shifted.

It drifted slowly toward my injured hand, still wrapped and propped carefully over the blanket.

As if remembering where she was, what she’d done. A faint grimace crossed her face before she abruptly lowered her head and buried it into my chest.

I felt her arms coil tighter around me, both of them this time. Her cheek pressed over my heart, maybe to its rhythm, maybe to the words I couldn’t say. Then, softly, underneath her breath, she whispered.

"It’d be so much easier if you just hated me."

I was still a little stunned by how touchy she was being. It wasn’t like Wryn I knew, with how she usually kept her distance, remaining guarded at all times.

For a moment, I wasn’t even sure what to do. I felt her warm breath on my chest, the faintest tremble in her body against mine, and instinctively, my hand moved up to her head.

I hesitated at first, a part of me still felt afraid, but then I gently laid my hand on her, fingers threading slowly through her hair. I combed through the soft strands, patting her in slow, steady motions.

It was comforting… oddly so. Not just for her.

But then something flickered in the back of my mind. My heart gave a hard thud, like it had been jolted awake. Shit.

“Wryn,” I said, voice a little shaky. “Hey, get off for a sec.”

She didn’t budge at first. Just held on tighter, like a stubborn kitten curling into the warmth of a blanket. Her face nuzzled deeper into my chest, and I could feel the faintest whine hum against my ribs, as if pretending not to hear me would make me stay still.

“Wryn…” I shifted a little under her weight, trying to keep my voice gentle. “I really need to-”

A drawn-out groan left her, muffled and sulky, and she shook her head like a sleepy kid refusing to get out of bed. Her grip even tightened, arms squeezing me just a bit harder, if only to buy a few more seconds of this moment.

“I just need to make a quick call,” I said, trying not to smile despite myself, even as the anxiety was beginning to press down on me.

She finally peeked up at me, eyes half-lidded and pouty, and let out a soft huff like I’d just asked her to do something criminal but eventually let go with a reluctant huff, sliding off the bed.

The second she was off, I called in the nurse to help me reach Nora.

I just hoped she wasn’t too panicked right now.

~~~

The TV buzzed faintly in the hospital room, a low hum of voices trying to fill the silence. I wasn’t really watching, just letting the sound keep me company. The channel kept looping news updates, voices crisp and too alert for this hour.

"...St. Elms officials continue to investigate the rising reports of missing individuals, now exceeding the hundreds in the past six hours. Witnesses claim many of them were last seen standing or walking in seemingly random directions, as if in a trance..."

I blinked slowly, my eyes tracing the ceiling, trying not to focus on the slow throb still running up my arm. I couldn’t tell if it was the painkillers or the fatigue.

The words on the screen slid past me, some of them sticking, most of them not. I wasn’t sure what it was all about. I didn’t really care to think about it.

I had just called Nora a few moments ago. We didn’t say much, or rather she didn’t let me. She just asked where I was, how bad it was, and then told me she was on her way there.

Her voice sounded scared. Genuinely panicked. I was worried how her reaction would be once she looked at my arm.

As for Wryn, I’d asked her to leave before Nora arrived. She hadn’t argued, but the look on her face was hard to shake off. I didn’t want to make her feel unwanted, but I couldn’t risk her staying.

It’s just… I had a bad feeling, if they met eachother, things would go south real quick. If she said too much, if emotions flared up between her and Nora... I didn’t want things to spiral, and I didn’t trust where any of it might go.

The TV kept going, more distant now. Something about authorities urging witnesses to report strange behaviours to local units. I squinted faintly at the screen, brows pinching, but then just closed my eyes again.

The sound of hurried footsteps echoed sharply down the hall, sharp, frantic, unmistakably coming closer. I sat up straighter, heart lurching before I could even process why. And then the door slammed open.

Nora burst into the room like a storm. She looked like hell.

Our eyes met and for a heartbeat, we just stared at each other. Soon, she rushed towards me, but it felt weaker, more desperate in her strides.

Her legs wobbled slightly as she stumbled into the room, and without even slowing, she threw herself into my arms. The breath I’d been holding escaped in a stunned gasp as her weight pressed against me.

Her arms wrapped tightly around my torso, squeezing like she was afraid I’d vanish again if she let go.

“Are you okay?” she asked, voice cracking from exhaustion. “Did something bad happen to you? Are you hurt?”

Her words spilled out all at once, breathless and raw, her cheek burying into my shoulder as she clung to me. I could feel the tremble in her grip, the frantic rhythm of her heart thudding against my side.

Only then did I take her in fully, how tired she looked. Her usually pristine academy uniform was wrinkled and dishevelled, her tie half-loosened and her sleeves wrinkled as if she’d been tugging at them the entire way here.

Her hair was a mess, frizzed and tangled, and her delicate antennae drooped low and wilted, hanging limp beside her face like broken reeds.

Her eyes were impossibly red, bleary, as if she'd cried through every hour since I’d last seen her. Trembling with the rims puffy, inflamed. She looked up at me, her breathing uneven as her hands pressed harder into my back

“I’m okay,” I whispered softly, my voice low against the storm in her. “Nora, it’s alright… I’m here.”

She didn’t respond right away, only let out a long, shaky breath into my chest. But I felt her stiffen a little, subtly, like something had shifted in the air between us. I didn’t catch on at first. Not until her face paused against the fabric of my gown a moment too long, her nose twitching faintly as she inhaled, and I felt it.

She’d caught something. And then her gaze lowered, slowly, almost against her will. Her eyes found it, my hand. The bandages were still fresh, wrapping all the way up to my wrist

“Who was it?” she asked again, firmer this time, her red-rimmed eyes narrowing with every breath.

I swallowed, my voice catching as I tried to calm her down. “It was… it was an accident.”

“Don’t play with me, Markus,” she said, her arms still around me, but her grip no longer felt comforting. “Who. Was. It?”

Her stare bore into mine, all tenderness stripped away, leaving only a threatening glare, more frightening than anything I had been through today.

I hesitated. “It’s not-”

“Tell me, so I ca-” before she could finish, her eyes slowly fluttered shut from exhaustion.

She didn’t say a word, just leaned into me further, her weight growing heavier with each passing second as if the adrenaline that had pushed her this far had finally drained out of her.

“Nora…” I said softly, brushing a hand along her back. “Maybe we should go home first. The doctor said I can be discharged.”

Her voice was a soft, barely audible murmur. “...Okay,” she breathed, almost childlike. She didn’t lift her head, didn’t pull away, her chest pressing closer, the softness cushioning against me as she tightened her hug.

~~~

Our cab ride home was silent. Nora was nestled beside me, her body tucked tightly against me, head buried in the crook of my neck. Her antennae drooped against my shoulder.

Her fingers wandered, crawling as she traced my injured wrist. They moved slowly, ghosting over the bandages that covered the wound like they were trying to map out the pain beneath.

Then she spoke, voice soft and tired. “What… what did the doctor say?”

I exhaled, trying not to let the weight of it all sit too heavily between us. “They said it’ll heal… but not perfectly. I might not get full use back. Grip strength, maybe even movement… it’s hard to say yet.”

She was silent again. Then I felt it. Her shoulders trembled slightly. Her breath hitched.

A sniffle.

She pressed in deeper, arms coiling around me as if anchoring herself in the moment. Her fingers tightened into my side, and I felt the first few tears soaking into my shirt.

“I was so scared…” she whispered, the words cracking mid-sentence. “I didn’t know what happened. I thought… I-I thought I’d never find you again. That you’d disappear and I wouldn’t even know why.”

I just listened.

“I kept calling and calling…” she continued, voice breaking. “I couldn’t sleep. I kept picturing the worst things, your body lying somewhere, hurt, bleeding, used, calling for me, and I wasn’t there. I wasn’t there…”

I gently slid my good arm around her, drawing her closer, resting my chin against the top of her head. “It’s okay,” I murmured. “I promised I’ll never leave you.”

She didn’t answer right away. Just pressed her face tighter against my chest, curling into me like she wanted to disappear there. The pain I’d been carrying around in my wrist was nothing compared to the ache that bloomed in my chest now.

“I don’t want to lose anyone else,” she whispered. “I can’t.”

My hand, the one still whole, reached up and gently cradled the back of her head. Her sobs grew heavier, she leaned in harder, her breathing ragged as her body shook like a stranded leaf in a storm.

Each tiny tremble in her shoulders, each choked breath, made me feel like something was unravelling. I stroked her hair, slow and careful, like she’d break if I didn’t.

Eventually, the crying softened, turning into shallow, shivering breaths. She tilted her head upward, just slightly, and our eyes met. The city’s glow through the window brushed faint light across her face, tired, flushed, tear-streaked.

Her gaze was glassy but focused on me. Her lips parted, hovering just a breath away from mine.

For a moment, I froze. My heart skipped- no, it crashed. There was something almost desperate in the way her eyes flicked to my lips.

I didn’t know if it was comfort she was seeking or just her tired thoughts messing with her actions, but her face leaned in, slower now, closer until our lips were barely a breath away and-

-then her body slackened.

Her head dipped back onto my shoulder with a small exhale, the tension melting away. She was asleep. Just like that.

I blinked, breath caught in my throat, feeling her weight settle against me. Her fingers still curled near my chest, her scent clinging faintly to my clothes, her face tucked close.

I let out a quiet breath, heart still racing, unsure what would’ve happened if sleep hadn’t stolen her away. Disbelief still running amok in my mind as I tried to make sense of what just happened.

But for now, I just let her rest. Held her a little closer. Closed my eyes, and tried not to think too hard about it, about how close she’d gotten, about how my heart had started thudding like it was trying to claw out of my chest.

The cab jolted to a stop a few minutes later, the soft chime of the meter breaking the silence. I glanced at her, still fast asleep, lips slightly parted, her breath brushing against my collarbone. Careful not to jostle her too much, I whispered her name. But she seemed completely knocked out to respond.

So, I paid the driver with my free hand, awkwardly shuffled out with her leaning on me, and somehow managed to drag us both back to our home.

Once inside, I guided her to our usual bed, familiar, worn in, a place that smelled like her and me and some version of peace. I laid her down gently, as I slipped myself in beside her.

I brushed the hair from her face, strands of silver catching what little light filtered through the blinds. My fingers paused above her forehead, and after a moment’s hesitation, I leaned in and pressed a soft kiss there.

“I love you.”

And with that, I curled beside her, my arms paving their way around her as I brought her in closer with a hug. Soon, we both were dozing off to sleep.

~~~

When the next morning came…

Nora didn’t wake up.