She was alive. Her family wasn’t all completely gone, sure, Silver was sick and wasn’t looking too good; but she wasn’t gone. Regina could cling to that, it was enough for her.
Regina did miss the rest of her family though. Xander was always texting, sending pictures of Mary Fae and things like that. The Neri’s just had a birthday celebration for the month, the triplets turn 16 soon. And she missed it.
But she couldn’t leave Silver, even if that meant missing things back at home.
Things were progressing though, Silver was gaining weight and she was looking better. She hadn’t woken up yet, but to see more than just bones made Regina’s day.
29 days later, Silver woke up.
It had been a long wait, Regina could talk but there wasn’t much else they could do. With Silver healing, it took so much energy that she couldn’t stay conscious long. It was a normal day, Regina spent most of her time playing around with Rich and sharing her thoughts with Silver.
‘-then we can go home and we can play with big sister Mary Fae!’ Rich giggled in return as Regina spoke softly. ‘Yeah, that sounds fun, doesn’t it?’
Regina glanced down at Silver, loving the basic smile on her face. She couldn’t do much, but Silver would smile when she was ‘awake’.
‘And we will show you off to Nana, Papa, Oma, and Opa. They can’t wait to meet you!’
Silver’s fingers twitched.
‘We have a whole family waiting, so many aunts, uncles, and cousins. I may have to fight to keep you!’
Another twitch, this time Regina looked.
Silver’s eyes were black. Not a bright brown, glowing, or anything like that. They were dark, the light going in like a black hole. Regina couldn’t look away.
Silver was smiling, a light shining in her eyes. Her sister was right there, making eye contact with her! Regina didn’t know what to do.
Soon doctors were rushing in, checking Silver, running tests, and things like that. Even though Silver was blocked, Regina was frozen.
She was awake, truly awake. Now they could figure this out, what had happened to Silver and how to help her heal. This was the first step.
“We don’t know how you made this happen Mrs. Cooley, but she is healing tremendously.” Regina smiled up at the doctor, a puzzled but joyous look on his face. “You take care of her now.”
Finally, the doctors left and Silver’s eyes were still open.
‘Awake at last I see.’
Yet, Silver didn’t talk back, nothing happened behind those eyes.
‘Silver? Are you there?’
Regina got one squeeze, saying yes.
Then, what was going on in her head?
____
It was too bright.
Her eyes hurt, along with the rest of her body.
But she could see.
The person was beautiful, with long brown hair and bright green eyes.
So why were they truly there?
What did she want?
‘Silver? Are you there?’
This was it, this is where she asks for something.
First, it was a submissive face to look at.
She was a toy, a prize.
Then she really was a prize.
The first had been killed and the second was proud.
He didn’t feel anything for her, but his smile said everything.
Now what?
‘Are you in pain?’
She squeezed Regina’s hand twice.
‘Good, the doctors have been doing everything they can. But now that you’re awake, we can go home!’
Home?
‘We have so many people waiting, I want to show you to mom and dad, and moe and pa have been asking too. We wonder if they know your family since we all came from the same place. And I want to show you to Mary Fae, oh! And Rich!’
The girl bent down, coming back up with a small person in her arms.
‘This is Richard Oliver, look at how cute he is! Only three months but his hair is so long!’
He was cute, eyes closed, and a small mouth.
‘Mary looks like me, her hair is a mess all the time. I swear that girl gets into anything we say to avoid. I can see her and Rich getting into plenty of trouble when he starts walking.’
Regina talks a lot.
Yet, nothing about what she wants.
She said she wants to show her family, but why?
Why was she doing this?
To show off?
That she has a family while hers was, she couldn’t remember.
But she had no home while Regina did.
Was this why she was doing this?
‘So once you’re up, we can go home.’ Regina’s eyes were soft. ‘I can go home.’
She was tired, it was too loud and bright.
She could hear people, they were all talking in words she didn’t understand. The light was blinding, Regina was circled by it. She was so tired.
‘Your eyes keep closing, I bet you’re exhausted. I’ll talk to the doctor and see how soon we can move you. I’ll be back.’
Silver closed her eyes and finally, she was alone.
What was going to happen this time?
Whips didn’t hurt her anymore, the First had discovered that.
Starvation was nothing.
She didn’t care enough to be hurt by words.
Yet, her chest stung.
Home and Family, something she couldn’t remember.
She had been hurt in so many ways.
But nothing hurt like this.
Nothing.
‘Hello?’
Who was that!
‘Zoet?’
There was a voice in her head, one that wasn’t Regina’s.
‘Are you there Zoet? I can’t feel you anymore.’
Who was Zoet?
‘Your wolf of course.’
Suddenly there was a large gray wolf standing over her in the darkness.
She tried to scream, but nothing came out of her throat.
‘Wait! I’m Regina’s wolf, I’m not dangerous.’
Why was there a wolf here?
Why did Regina even have a wolf?
Why did she say that Zoet was her wolf?
‘Don’t you remember?’ The wolf tipped its head. ‘We are werewolves.’
What?
‘You were born with the spirit of Zoet, a kind, sweet and loving wolf. We grew up together, where is she?’
The wolf kept looking around as if another wolf would come out of the shadows.
She had never had a dream like this before.
‘This is no dream, where is Zoet?’ The wolf bared her teeth, but she couldn’t move away.
‘I felt her weeks ago, that’s how we knew who you were. But now I can’t feel her at all. What did you do to her?’
She hadn’t done anything, there was never a wolf.
The wolf began to pace, growling and huffing.
‘What could have happened to her? She was here, I know she was. Did she...’
The wolf looked back at her, stepping closer.
She screamed at her body to move, but it wasn’t working.
Soon, the wolf was inches from her face, staring at her with bright brown eyes.
Then, those eyes filled with tears and the wolf was gone.
What was going on?
She hated drugs, more than any sort of punishment.
____
‘Thank you for all your help.’
Regina shook hands with the last doctor, sharing the thought with all of them. They soon left, leaving her alone in the entrance hall.
Once Silver was stable, which they estimated would happen by tomorrow at the soonest, they could leave. For weeks, she would still need rest and a proper diet, but Regina could take care of that. It would take time, but things were finally moving along.
‘Zoet is dead.’
Regina fell to the wall, shook by the amount of emotions Speranza stepped forward with. Tears filled her eyes and she slid to the floor.
‘My sister is no longer with that human; I couldn't see her in that human’s eyes. She was a white wolf with blue eyes, this human has darker hair and eyes, Zoet is no longer there.’
Does that mean Silver would die!
Speranza laughed in her head, ‘No, I felt Viribus when I visited her. Your wolf is somehow helping her. I don’t know how, but you know that she can do anything.’
That she can. Viribus was like some kind of super wolf. And now, she was the only thing keeping Silver alive.
‘My guess is that she is giving Silver’s spirit time to adjust to no longer having another there. Please excuse me, I must go and mourn my sister.’
With that, Speranza left, taking all of those emotions with her.
Lorelai’s wolf was gone, Regina didn’t know how she was dealing with that. When she was kidnapped, she couldn’t feel her wolves and it was like torture. To never have them come back, Regina couldn’t imagine it.
Regina went back to Silver’s room and sure enough, she had changed from when she first came to the hospital. She was still pale from lack of sunlight, but her hair was darker at the roots, more of a natural blonde rather than white. Did this mean Silver was different also, if Zoet was kind was Silver mean? What would this mean in the long run?
Once again, Regina had too many questions and not enough answers.
As if reading her mind, her phone went off with Xander’s ringtone. Regina had a smile on her face as opened the face call.
“There you are, how are things with Silver?”
He had been calling daily, asking how things were going and how Rich was. He hadn’t told Mary though; it would break her heart to end the call and have Regina miles away still.
‘She woke up!’
Xander grinned in response as listened carefully as Regina rambled on and on about her sister. He didn’t get a word in, but it was worth it to see Regina animated again. He liked Face calls better because he could actually see how she was doing, instead of having to rely on the words she put in his head. For days, she had hope, but it was fading. Now, she was glowing once again, Xander couldn’t wait for her to come home.
‘-day that we can come home as soon as she’s stable, most likely after a day or two after waking up. Polo will need to keep an eye on her though.’
She left out what had happened to Zoet. Regina trusted Speranza’s words and emotions, but it wasn't something she wanted to spill to her husband. Silver could be hurting and she didn’t need more strangers swarming her to ‘help’.
“That sounds amazing.” He paused, wishing Regina was there in front of him. “I love you, I’ll see you soon.”
Regina pressed her fingers to her lips and then touched the screen. ‘Love you too, wait up for me?’
“Always.”
____
Two days later, Regina was pushing Silver in a wheelchair out to a car that was prepared for them. Sergio was holding Richard, her silent bodyguard. Rich was babbling, filling the silence.
Silver gave no reaction.
That was the one thing that was concerning Regina. Silver was awake, for hours at a time now, yet she did nothing. She didn’t ask to eat, use the bathroom, or anything else. If Regina asked, she would nod her head, accepting the food. Even then, she wouldn’t eat until Regina said she could.
Silver was like a trained animal.
She would respond a little nonverbally, a nod, a smile, a glance. But not a word left her mouth. Considering silver was taken around the age of eight, she was never given the chance to develop and grow normally. It would take time to help Silver change, to give her a normal life.
The drive was long and actually, quite boring. When Silver wasn’t asleep, she was just staring forward without a care in the world. They made frequent stops to feed and change Richard, but he also slept most of the time. That left Regina, talking to herself because Sergio was mean and kept teasing her. Making that turn that would lead to the pack house made Regina happier than she thought she would be.
There was a crowd waiting, it seemed like the whole family had gathered. Right there in front, was Xander and her baby. As soon as the car was parked, Regina was out of that car and in her husband’s arms. At last.
“I waited.”
She could feel Mary tugging on her shirt, Regina bent down to gather her baby girl in her arms.
“What took you so long Gigi?”
Laughs filled the crowd as Regina looked around. Mavis, Atta, and Sergio were near the front, with all her Neri relatives behind them. Not a single Bosman or Koosh was there.
“Nielia and the family are fixing their house, they are waiting for you,” Mavis explained, seeing Regina’s confusion.
It had taken time, but almost the whole family had finally gathered. That being said, there were a lot of family members. The Royal Family had spread across the globe after being attacked, some didn’t even know they were different until they shifted and noticed their fur wasn’t normal. Even then, they didn’t know why, just that it happened sometimes.
Thankfully, there was some land to the north, closer to Canada, that was open. After talking to pack leaders in the area, the land was given to the Jansen pack, the unknown Royal Family.
It was difficult, knowing her family was miles away and she couldn’t see them. But she shared a glance as Xander and the two went back to the car; Mary still holding onto her mother.
“Tell Josephine that I say hi!” Mavis shouted; Regina waved her hand in acknowledgment.
Xander opened the passenger side seat, startled that Silver was still there.
‘She doesn’t move much, you’ll have to tell her to get into the back.’
Slightly nervous, Xander told the woman to move.
Nothing.
He looked over the car, unsure of what to do with the person.
‘Silver, move to the back.’
Regina's voice was full of power, filling the car. Silver woke up, and move to the back almost robotically. Xander stood back as she unbuckled and went to the back. Her eyes stared forward, unblinking.
Regina just shrugged as Xander’s mouth stayed open. He got in, glancing at the statue in the back of the car. This wasn’t what he expected when Regina said Silver was awake.
Next step, the Jansen Pack!
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