I ran up the stairs away from a dumbfounded Selene and Kalia. Returning to the main floor, I did my best to return to the room where Felicity was sleeping, but I accidentally walked into another empty room instead. My body ached all over from the stones that battered my skin during my swim. I was pretty sure some of my ribs were broken too from the pain I felt as I breathed deeply. Exhaustion was overwhelming me, so I collapsed onto the bed in the empty room, clutching the book to my chest. Hopefully, no one will mind that I am taking over this room, but I know I can’t keep moving. I probably need a hospital to fix the damage that my body has endured. My eyes started to flutter closed and everything faded into black.

  Somewhere in the grassy hills of my dreams…

  My eyes open as the first rays of sunlight greet my furry face. In the light of dawn, I rise and shake out my fur, and I admire my dark black fur which appears to have golden highlights from the rising sun. I lean back on my back paws to do a big stretch and wiggle any looming remnants of sleep from my body. I scent the air for danger, but most of the larger predators have returned to their homes for a nap. As I listen to the hills around me, I can hear the bubbling stream upwind, and I trot my way over to it. The refreshing water beckons me to it. Its crisp cool taste soothes my sandpaper tongue happily.

  When I finish, I sit back on my haunches listening to nature wake up under the bright sunlight. I can hear my pack members stirring back in the den. My stomach rumbled, reminding me that today I needed to hunt and provide for my small pack. It hasn’t been long since I took over as the Alpha of the pack. My parents, the original Alpha pair, died over a territory dispute a week ago. As the Beta female, I stepped into the role of Alpha female normally called a Luna, and my mate, the former Beta male, should have stepped up with me. He died from heavy wounds during the attack. Now, it’s just me, caring for my parents' last three pups, and three of my dad’s siblings. I know that death is a part of the circle of life, but damn, this week has been hell.

  I miss the days of running freely through these hills already with the breeze ruffling through my fur and sitting in the low branches of the tallest tree on the biggest looking over the peaceful hills. Watching fireflies dancing under the moonlight used to lull me to sleep at night, but my peace ended when the other pack ran us out of my ‘former’ territory. Now, I need to hunt something big to keep my little pack alive. The weight of the crescent moon on my shoulder felt heavier with each passing day. Suddenly, I smelt the musk of male deer waft downstream. My mouth watered at the delicious smell. One good-sized deer will feed my little pack for a few days. Fate be kind to me, I whispered in my mind as I set off on a hunt.

  Strangely, I felt myself tearing away from the black, fluffy form as my body was being shaken awake. Forcing my eyes to flutter open, my senses became overloaded with information as I felt someone’s warm hands shaking my left arm hard. Pain from my recent injuries nearly short-circuited my brain as I tried to process what was happening to me and what were these blurry shapes around me. Nothing was making sense at that moment. Where did the big paws and fluffy fur go? A wave of sadness filled me as I realized the fluffy black wolf was nothing more than a lonely figure in my dreams. The shapes began to make sense as pieces of bedroom furniture and hospital equipment. I could hear the beeps of monitors and feel an oxygen tube on my face. Was I still in the cave? Did I still have that damn book? Looking on the bed next to me, I could make out the shape of the leather book. At least, I still had my lame prize for all of my injuries. The shaking continued. The warmth on my arm was familiar, so the person waking me was Felicity. Hopefully, she can fill me in.

  Turning my head slightly, I saw an anxious, exhausted version of Felicity holding onto my arm. There was an IV hooked up to a needle in my arm, which hurt with each movement of my arm. “Please, stop,” I uttered quietly. My body ached and the exhaustion had not left me even though I had slept for a while since I had fluids pumping into me.

  “Thank goodness! You’re awake.” Felicity sounded like she was crying. What happened while I slept?

  “W-what’s…w-wrong?” I managed to whisper. My mouth was dry, causing my throat to ache as I talked. Great. Another pain to my already overloaded system.

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  “You’ve been asleep for three days! No one could wake you. Selene was ready to send you to the hospital if you didn't wake by sunset.” She answered half crying as she spoke. So, I am still in the cave in Turkey. “Do you know how worried I have been? Kalia told me about your challenge to get the book and how much damage you took to get it. Honestly, you probably should have just walked away-”

  “I-I cou…couldn’t,” I said as loudly as I could. “Y…you…be…begged me t-t-to do th-this.”

  Felicity’s panicked expression melted into one of guilt. She knew she was the reason that I didn't walk out of this damn cave a few days ago. I had wanted to leave. I never wanted to come here. However, Felicity couldn’t watch me in pain and had Kalia bring us here. Felicity didn’t want me to die an early death and begged me to complete this trial to be a monstrous dog just to save my life. So, here we are after the trial has just begun, and she wishes I had walked away.

  Ugh. Fe, I can’t leave now. My instincts are telling me that I have to finish this now. I spoke to her telepathically because my throat refused to work at this point. Yes, I am in pain. Yes, this is dangerous. There will be more danger, pain, and tons of frustration ahead. I just know it. Yet, stopping will do nothing. I will die an early death anyway if I don’t finish this, which defeats the whole reason for coming here. I can’t walk away now. I feel like there’s more to learn and another purpose for doing this.

  Tears streamed down Fe’s face. She was feeling scared, sad, and guilty all at once. “So, we are staying?”

  Yes.

  “Are you going to die from this?” She whimpered.

  I am going to try like hell not to.

  She wiped her tears. “This is so messed up. I just wanted to save you. I thought I had all my bases covered. This stupid Greek mythology magic crap makes no sense!”

  That’s how I felt four days ago when you were just excited to be here.

  Felicity glared at me. “It’s amazing how snarky you are in my head.”

  There’s the Fe I know and love. Now that the pity party is over, can I please have a damn glass of water and some painkillers!

  “Yes, Your Majesty,” Fe fake bowed to me before getting off the bed and disappearing into the bathroom.

  A knock on the door called Fe out of the bathroom, but all I could focus on was the fact I wanted water and painkillers. Fe opened the door revealing a young, sage-green woman at the door. The woman reminded me of Kalia a lot from the way she moved to her overall appearance. “Healer Min, please come in.” Fe welcomed her in. Both of them shuffled toward me smiling.

  “Oh good, you’re awake,” Healer Min greeted me. I nodded since speaking was difficult at the moment.

  Fe seemed to have a brain blast moment and quickly returned to the bathroom while Healer Min began explaining things to me about my condition.

  “Selene assigned me as your caregiver since I have the most experience with humans although I am nothing more than a nature nymph who likes medicine.” She chuckled. “So, from what I can tell, you have three broken ribs on your lower left side and two on your upper right side. Severe browsing of the epidermis across your whole body, and a lack of good nutrition for the last week. There was also an elevated number of stress hormones radiating in your body. Are you currently in pain?”

  I nodded.

  “Using your fingers, please tell me how bad your pain is on a one through ten scale,” Healer Min asked. Without hesitation, I held up nine fingers. Nodding, she walked over to the IV and pressed some buttons. The needle in my arm felt cold suddenly. “There. This should take the edge off from the pain.”

  Felicity returned from the bathroom with a cup of water and a straw. She brought it up to my mouth, and I downed the whole thing in seconds. My mouth felt relief, but my throat still felt rough from the dryness it experienced while I slept for three days. Healer Min came puttering around looking at all the medical equipment before doing a physical examination of me. I felt Healer Min poke and prod at my skin while examining the monitors for any changes. After fifteen minutes of examination, Healer Min stepped back with a confused expression on her face.

  Fe asked, “What’s the matter, Healer Min?”

  “Well, I am still new to dealing with human anatomy and their fancy medical equipment, but Korinne is healing faster than a human should. Are you sure you are just human? From these readings, I would say you have mythical magic running through you.” Healer Min answered. “I think you may be completely healed in a few days.”

  “Really?” Fe responded as she handed me my refilled water cup.

  “I would say so,” Healer Min looked back at me. “You are no longer just a human, Korinne.”

  Great. My body is already changing to a werewolf type of anatomy. I am not sure if I should be grateful or spiteful to Selene at this point. What’s a demi-goddess descendant supposed to feel like? The crescent moon mark began to tingle at that thought.

  “We should let you rest,” Healer Min suggests waving to Fe to follow her out the door. “Try to get some more sleep.”

  I nodded before curling up into a ball on the bed. It wasn’t long before my eyes drifted shut again. The beeping faded out of my mind, and before I knew it, I was back in the green hills and running on my fluffy black paws again.