Four days later, now that my foot was healed, William was back to his snappy behaviour from before. Like the first night. I wasn’t calling him out on his behaviour because I just couldn’t. Not knowing what my father did to him. It felt wrong to tell him he couldn’t act like a dick. He knew I wasn’t the one who did this to him, but he still felt like it was his mission to treat me like I had. So I was just taking it. What else could I do? I mean, I could tell him to piss off and stop, but that would solve nothing. It would just make things worse. I knew it.
Sitting by the fireplace, he was doing something behind me. I would have liked to know, but I didn’t want to get screamed at or thrown around. I was tired of sitting here and endlessly staring into the fireplace, like I had nothing better to do.
Wiping my hands on my pants a few times. I spoke.
“William, by chance, is there another set of clothing I might have to put on? I’ve been in these for a while and I also need a bath.”
I had been using the outhouse for my toilet needs, with William standing guard, of course. He threw whatever he was working on down and stomped away. When he came back, he had clothing in his hands. He tossed it at me and muttered something under his breath. With the clothing in my hands, I walked out the door into the snow. I remembered where the doctor was and I knew if anyone could point me in the direction of somewhere to get clean, it would be him. William was right behind me, yelling at the top of his lungs.
Not having his behaviour, I continued walking. The doctor must have heard us, so he opened the door and stepped aside. William slammed the door behind us. Before he could let loose on yelling anymore, the doctor stopped him.
“Alpha, this is a place for healing. Please keep your yelling to a hush low.”
“Elias took off again for god knows what reason—--”
“Doctor, do you know somewhere I can bathe and get cleaned? I need a bath in the worst way.”
“You couldn’t ask the Alpha about this?”
“I did. When I asked for these.” I showed him the clothing.
“But he ignored your needs?”
“Yes.”
“I did not. I just didn’t take him right the second he asked.”
“You could have just told me where I could go and I would have come back once I was clean.”
“Please, you would take off.”
“And go where, William. Please tell me this! Where am I to go? You destroyed my home.”
“It doesn’t matter where you just would.”
“Then make someone go with me, or go yourself. I need a bath.”
“We have a spot. It’s a natural hot spring, so we built a stone building overtop. To keep the snow and bad weather out. I’m sure William can take you to bathe.” The doctor said, narrowing his eyes at William.
“I am far too busy to take him—-”
“Then I will.” The doctor said, grabbing something to dry off for himself and one for me.
“I want him back in the next hour. Or else—--”
“I understand, Alpha. I will have him back once he is clean.”
He took me by the upper arm and pulled me back out into the snow. He didn’t wait for William to say another word. Once we were at a suitable distance from the pack houses, the doctor sighed.
“If you do have anywhere else to go, this would be the time to do it.”
“Why do you insist on helping me run away?”
“William is a good Alpha, don’t get me wrong, but this, this will get us all killed. William surely can’t think that other kingdoms won’t notice you missing and not come looking. You have allies in other kingdoms.”
“I do, but none that would fight for my people. Trust me.” I said.
“Do you honestly believe that?”
“Yes.”
“You are truly lost then, aren’t you…”
“It would appear to be that way.”
We came up to the stone building, and he opened the door. The heat from inside was amazing. It was so warm and welcoming. He closed the door behind us and for just a few moments; we were in a comfortable level of darkness. Then he lit some candles.
I wasn’t worried about him seeing me naked. I was comfortable with my nakedness. At an early age, I had people who helped me dress and bathe. Stripping off the clothing on my body, I dropped it before stepping into the water.
It was so hot on my skin, but not enough that it burned uncomfortably. I could spend days in this water.
“This is amazing. God, I feel so relaxed already.”
The doctor undressed, his back turned to me, and the name of another was carved into his back, much like William. I looked down at the water, unable to form words again. It was no wonder that William did not fight with the doctor; they had experienced the same hell.
The doctor got into the water before relaxing against the side.
“Elias. Enjoy the water, I’m not sure when William will allow you to come back, But I’ll try to make sure you—-”
“Why? I saw your back. You got injured because of me. How the hell was I so blind to what was happening under my rule?”
“It wasn’t your fault. Unlike William, I won’t blame you for your father’s actions.”
“Was it as bad for you as it was for William?”
“No. The vampire who carved her name into my skin was gentle. She taught me about healing and using kindness to repair damage. Her name, on my skin, was the only thing that saved me from being harmed by others of your kind. But she was proof enough that not all of your kind are monsters.”
“Did you kill her?”
“No. She died when we finally got away from your kind. She was killed in helping me escape.”
“Was she buried with my kind in my kingdom?”
“Hardly. I brought her back here, and she is buried in the forest. She wanted to be buried in a spot where life could continue.”
“I’m sorry she suffered such a fate.” I whispered.
“She took our unborn child with her.” He muttered, before looking up at the ceiling.
“My brother, he is a hybrid.” I said, not scared to share this information with the doctor.
“What happened to him?”
“He was sent away. I don’t know too much about it.”
“It’s not supposed to happen, but it does, and then there is such a fury around it, the life that a werewolf and a vampire can create.” The doctor said, looking at me.
“My brother was sent away for that reason. My aunt handled a lot of sending him away, and my father was never the same. That was when he started all this with your people.” I whispered, running my fingers over the top of the water.
“Would you ever like to meet him?”
“He is my brother, of course I would. Why wouldn’t I?”
“He’s a hybrid.”
“He is still my brother. I don’t care what he is, he could be a frog and I would still want to meet him.”
“That is proof enough you are not your father. But William—--”
“But William what?” William said, annoyed from the door. His arms crossed. Neither of us had even heard him coming in.
I expected him to shy away from speaking about William in such a critical way, but he didn’t.
“I was telling Elias that you’re always going to struggle to see that he is not his father because of what his father did to you.”
“Not all of us had a soft-spoken, gentle woman that kept her monster side at bay.” William growled, peeling off his clothing. I watched until he got to his pants and then I tore my eyes off him and kept them down, looking into the water.
Once he was in the water, he settled by the Doctor against the wall. They looked at me and seemed to be having a conversation with no words. Taking a deep breath, I plunged into the water. Opening my eyes, I kept my back to them so that I wasn’t being disrespectful and looking at their naked bodies.
I could stay under the water for quite some time, there was also a lot I could see in the clear water. I was yanked from the water before I could explore.
“Just what the hell are you doing? Are you trying to die?” William hissed.
“No. I was just looking at the rocks under the water and—- You do know that can hold my breath for a while? Right?”
He didn’t say anything. So I spoke again.
“My kind can hold our breath under the water for up to an hour.”
“That’s unnatural.” William growled.
“You can turn into an enormous wolf, breaking every bone in your body and be absolutely fine, but I can hold my breath for up to an hour and that’s unnatural.”
“I heard your heart slow down.”
“Yes, so that my body doesn’t need as much oxygen in my blood. When I hold my breath, my heart will slow down.”
William did not hide the dislike on his face when learning this information. He just seemed disgusted even more. The doctor sighed, and William looked at him.
“What.”
“You’re being judgmental.”
“It’s not normal to be able to slow down your heart so you can stay—---”
“For a vampire it is, for us it isn’t.”
William let me go, and went back to sit down. They were doing that thing again, where they looked like they were having a discussion but not speaking. I was positive they were communicating. Taking another breath, I turned around and sank to the bottom again, opening my eyes. There was nothing interesting right away until I got to the other side of the spring. I spotted something against the wall under another rock. It was shiny, and I wanted to see what it was.
Reaching out, I freed the object. It was on a string, and it was some kind of metal disk. It was definitely a necklace of some kind. It had some kind of writing on it, but I didn’t recognize it. Holding it by the string, I popped up and spoke.
“Look, I found something under the water. It has strange markings and I’ve never seen such a shiny metal.”
Both William and the doctor looked at me, just as interested in the necklace.
“Is it silver?”
“Hold on, let me check.”
Touching the metal, it burned my skin enough that I yelped and threw it away. Silver didn’t burn vampires, but that burned. William reached into the water and grabbed the necklace by the metal and it didn’t burn him in the slightest.
“This is old. It’s covered in the old wolf language. Long lost to time.”
“It burned!” I hissed.
“It will. It’s Rhodium. Rare, but highly painful for your kind.” The doctor said, taking it from William.
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