My limbs ached and my breathing was distraught. As tingles sprouted like roots in my veins, making my body numb, I felt my legs wobbling against the bed. But I couldn't wake up. My mind was stuck in a blank space.

Brief images—that I assumed were fragments of a nightmare—fused with the strands of my brain, opening my eyes to visuals I'd never seen before. Only my eyes weren't really open. The images had me by the hook and I couldn't release myself back into reality. I was once again prey at the ends of its mercy.

What was I looking at? The sight was as dark as it was enchanting. But with only glimpses, it was hard to make out the proper context. There were lots of trees. Not the normal brown wooded trees, but dark—almost black trees.

There were whispers in the dark. Each of them whispered something different. Something new. They were all around me. But it all sounded like gibberish at the speed the whispers were moving. Some of the whispers were calm. Some of the whispers were alluring. Some of the whispers were aggressive. But the voice was all the same. And each one sent chills up my spine.

That's when I woke up.

My eyes flew open, my body twitching awake. The sweat inching down my skin was the first thing to alarm me. Next, was my body—not met by the soft cushion of the bed—but sprawled against the cold, hard, marble floor. The ache in my hip made it all the more real.

"O-ouch. . . When the hell did I fall off the bed?" I hissed.

My black bonnet was halfway off my head, my curls dropping loose from it. Until I had convinced Vincent to let me retrieve some of my belongings from home, I'd been sleeping with a make-shift head scarf to protect my hair.

I shook myself out of my slumber and spread my palms on the floor to steady myself up. Just then, there were footsteps in the hallway. The footsteps silenced in front of the door. I was able to sniff out a hint of men's cologne from the other side. It was strong like my father's. The lock on the door shifted along with the knob.

"Dimitri, what are you doing? You can't just barge in there," a voice scolded.

"Why not?" He growled.

"She could be naked or something!"

"Why would she be naked?" I could hear what I assumed was annoyance in his tone.

The doorknob shook, indicating Dimitri's grip had gotten tighter around it. I stood and reached for my glasses. They were somewhere on the nightstand. Then, I pulled my bonnet off my head, fluffing my curls out.

"What if she sleeps naked?"

"For the love of the Moon Goddess, you two should just mate already," another voice, I recognized as Mariah, countered in, "move it. I'm sure she can hear you guys talking right about now. She's a light sleeper."

The doorknob jiggled again. Then it opened. When Mariah caught me sitting on the edge of the bed, she smirked. "See? She's awake. I bet she heard everything," she said.

"I did," I confirmed.

"Ah really, awake already? Well, aren't you the early bird?" Dylan chuckled. Her hair was no longer out in a curly afro. It'd been braided into long, box braids, running down her back. There were accessories like golden hair strings twisted over the braids.

"I didn't even know it was morning already. . ." I muttered and sighed.

"Well, that's good anyways. It's time to train." Dimitri motioned for me to follow them with a nod of his head. "Get dressed and meet us downstairs. We'll wait for you."

"Ugh, so early," I groaned.

"It's the same time as last time," Dimitri responded.

"That's still early," I retorted with another groan.

He opened his mouth again (nothing sweet was probably going to come out) but Mariah beat him to the punch. She looked between all of us. Then, she tugged her black cardigan around her torso, holding it closed. There was a jumbo brown hair claw keeping her hair wrapped up.

"Vincent won't be joining you three again this morning. . . For obvious reasons," she said.

Dylan and Dimitri both nodded. "Understood," they replied in sync.

I closed my mouth and reeled in the news until I digested it.

Vincent had been cooped inside his room for five days now, unable to move. I last saw him after our return to the mountains. I'd called Mariah's phone from Vincent's and informed her of his condition. She then met us at Calamitous' entrance and immediately took over from there, after I explained what happened. That last I heard he was still recovering from his wound, but his fever had gotten much better. Of course, he was throwing a fit about being on the bedrest.

Mariah had been one of few people, alongside Amaruq, Bennett, and Claudia, who'd been in and out of the home, checking on his well-being. My thigh had been stitched up by Mariah when she took notice of it. Never in my life would I have thought I'd receive this many stitches in one month. We were nearing the last few days of October and I'd already been injured three times.

Maybe it was more. I'd lost count.

"Genesis, I need to speak with you when you return." Mariah's voice pulled me back into reality. My eyes opened fully for the first time since I'd woken up.

I pointed a finger at myself. "Me?" She nodded.

Ah man, what did I do this time?

"Okay." I crossed my arms and nodded too.

"Alright now, I won't hold you guys any longer. I need to head back over to the hospital facility." Mariah's hands dropped at her sides as she let out a long, deep sigh.

"Why? Does mom and dad need to speak with you again?" Dimitri frowned.

Mariah shook her head. "No. I need to finish working on something. But I'll be here again by the time you guys get back." Dimitri and Dylan both looked at each other, having some sort of silent discussion I was left out of, and took that as a means to end the conversation.

* * *

"Still nothing." I opened my eyes to the frowning faces in my view.

"Hmm"—Dylan sighed and stroked her chin—"well, this just won't do."

"We may need to take another approach with her." Dimitri rotated a pocket knife in between his fingers. The sharp end pointed at me every few seconds. I had felt his eyes watching my body movements closely all this time. He took note of every twitch and twiddle in my thumbs.

"You've too nervous. You're not going to be able to gain control if you don't relax," he said, walking forward.

"I don't know how to relax anymore." I sighed. knew I'd been on edge for a while now, and it was only getting worse by the day.

Dylan studied me. "What do you see when you close your eyes that makes you so tense?"

"I don't know. Whenever I close my eyes, if I'm not imagining something that turns scary . . . it feels like I'm looking at a blank space. It's all just dark and empty." As I said it, I reimagined it. That brought shivers to my skin.

"Maybe it's best if we call it quits for today," Dimitri suggested. "She needs a clearer mind for this to work."

"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too. Let's stop for now and get back to it tomorrow morning then," Dylan agreed. "Come on, Genesis. Maybe we'll do some meditation exercises with you tomorrow to see if that helps."

I nodded and followed behind them both. We began back towards the tunnels, both of them walking ahead of me. They were practically shoulder to shoulder, the back of their hands rubbing against each other for the entire walk. But neither of them grabbed the other's hand.

I quickened my pace, so that I could catch up. "Hey, how did you two learn to control your shifts?" Both were quiet for several seconds. Was it okay to ask that? It felt like I had taken a minor leap out of the prisoner phase since then, so it felt okay.

Finally, Dylan spoke up, "Hmm, I experienced my first shift pretty young. What was it, eleven-years-old? Lots of inner peace needed for that mess." She laughed.

"Inner peace?" I questioned.

"You know? Some inner peace to control all that turmoil running wild in my emotions with my behavior and all," Dylan said.

Dimitri cut in, "When you find some sort of peace to focus on inside, it gets easier to come to terms with your wolf. It's like playing middle ground and finding a balance where you're both satisfied."

"What he said," Dylan looked back over her shoulder at me, before looking at Dimitri and adding, "wasn't your first shift at fourteen or something like that?"

"Fifteen," he corrected.

"Right, you were a late bloomer." She giggled.

He rolled his eyes. "That's why we're going to help you meditate tomorrow. Meditation helps to ease the mind. If done correctly, practicing the technique can be helpful."

"Oh okay. I guess that makes sense." I shrugged. "So, do first shifts work like puberty?"

"Puberty, huh? I mean, yeah, pretty much. A shifter's first shift usually ranges between ages eleven to sixteen. Most shift by the time they reach the age of fourteen though," Dylan answered.

I didn't need to ask any more questions following that. We ventured inside the tunnels, along the path, back to the alpha's estate. The sunlight peered down on us as we exited the tunnels around the side of the property, within the gates. Mariah stood in front of the door, her back greeting us as she inserted a small silver key into the lock. She must've seen us from her peripheral view though because she turned to us immediately.

"Oh, you guys are back sooner than expected. . ." The confusion in her tone was obvious.

"Yeah, we ran into a bit of complications," Dylan said, shrugging, "We'll be back at it again tomorrow morning.

Mariah nodded. "I'll take her from here then."

"Okay, see you later sis." Dimitri saluted her.

"Whew, I need some food anyways. Dimitri, let's go. Bye, Mariah. Bye, Genesis." Dylan winked at us before looping her arms around Dimitri's. He scowled at her as she yanked him down the path. We could hear their bickering until they were leaving out the front gates.

"Genesis," Mariah said.

By the time they were gone, she had already managed to get the door open. I stood there for a moment. The eyes around us gave me the same glares they had when I'd first gotten here. It was like being trapped in a lion's den. But the lions were outside the den and I had trespassed onto their territory.

Mariah nudged my back. "The longer you stare, the more it fuels them. Save yourself the trouble and look away. Come on, let's get going."

"Um, yeah. . ." I kept my eyes on them but moved along with her motions.

"They're curious about you," Mariah said when we entered my room. She kicked the door closed behind us. She then sat down on the bed, where a first-aid kit had already been prepared, and patted the open space next to her. "I need to check your shoulder again."

"To see if it's healed yet?"

"Mhm hmm." She pulled out a pair of small metal scissors from the kit.

"I figured that much . . . about their curiosity by the way." Warm fingers caressed my skin. The straps of my bra were pushed off my shoulder, along with the top of my sweatshirt. I could feel the scissors slipping under my bandages. Pieces of the bandages soon fell off my shoulder. She then peeled what was left off my skin, tossing it on the floor.

"It's the first time a wolf-turned-human has ever been on Calamitous grounds. We've never taken in a human before. Most of your kind aren't able to survive the turn"—Mariah paused, surveying my shoulder—"your scar isn't as gruesome as I thought it would look. It's healed quite a bit since then. Looks like you don't need any more of these." She tucked the fresh bandages back into the first-aid kit.

I twisted my neck to have a look. She was right. My bite marks were fading into my skin. They still had their thick, whelp-like shape. But I could bear with that.

"Fuck yes," I cheered under my breath.

Mariah stood, giving me a small smile. "Thank you again, for tending to Vincent's wounds that day. It was much appreciated."

I shrugged. "Don't mention it. I just did what I thought was right."

"Still." I watched her reach into her back pocket for something. "Here."

"What's this?" I couldn't quite tell what the black object in her hands was.

"Vincent asked me to give this to you," she said.

When I looked closer, I noticed it was a small black device. The phone slipped into my hands from hers. It was similar to the phone I had prior to being here. Except, it looked like an older model. It was in good condition too. To say I was baffled would have been an understatement.

"He said he found it in his office a while ago. It must have been an old phone of Amaury's. I think he paid to have it turned on for you with a new number." Mariah pointed to the phone. "I don't think you can do much on it except make calls. Maybe more. I don't know, really. But he told me to tell you something like . . . now you two can call it even? Whatever that means."

"That sucker. . ." I laughed under my breath. Mariah raised an eyebrow at my laughter. I rubbed the back of my neck, clearing my throat. "It's nothing," I said, too quickly.

"Well, okay. . ."

Silence paraded throughout the room. I stared at the phone. She stared at me. It was only a few moments later when she decided to speak whatever was on her mind.

"To be honest with you, I don't think you're guilty."

"What?" I almost dropped the phone.

"I had my doubts. Ever since you were brought here. Your reaction to me was, well, not the kind of reaction I'd expect from someone who's a poacher or anything like that. But I'm sure I probably already gave you that impression when we first met."

"So, you do believe me?" I frowned at her.

"Precisely." Mariah chuckled. She strolled to the door, pausing with her hands on the knob. "I'm sure you can see all of us have our doubts about you. Vincent has his doubts too. However, you can tell he's treading carefully. . . Do me a favor and continue proving him wrong, yeah? I really don't want to be wrong about you."

I stiffened and glanced down at the phone in my hands. It was nothing more than a kind gesture. There was no other meaning behind it but to thank me for saving his life. After this, how he interacted with me would go back to normal—a prisoner and an alpha ensuring his pack's safety before his own.

"I'll try my best." I smiled.

"Good." She gave me a thumbs up, before stumbling out of the room.