IN FULL COLOUR - Dark Fantasy
Chapter 12

Axel

It had taken me almost twenty minutes to crawl over my bedroom floor, make my way into the bathroom and pull myself up by the sides of the tub. My abdomen protested with each movement and my shattered hand throbbed, the pain almost excruciating.

The steam-filled tiny space smelled of sweet herbs and scented salts. Bottles and jars of it stood on the far end of the stone counter next to the sink. Floating in the warm water of the awaiting bath, tiny bits and pieces of herbs drifted along the surface. That must have been what the female was doing. I’m not usually one for such things, but beggars couldn’t be choosers and I didn’t have the strength nor the will to drain the tub and fill it up again.

It didn’t smell all that bad, just unfamiliar.

When I finally stood, somewhat bent over the tub, clutching my red and purple-stained stomach, I felt nauseated. Lightheaded even.

My body ached all over and my organs groaned under the pressure of the swelling taking up their space underneath my ribcage. Luckily, I was dressed in gym shorts, so discarding them was not too difficult, even with the use of only one hand. The problem would be tomorrow, however. Training.

I was expected to train Dire Mountain’s warriors, but with only one hand and one eye, it might be more of a challenge than I initially thought.

The strange earthy aroma of wood and citrus wafted around me, making my head spin. Slowly, as I held on to the bath’s edge, limbs shaking and vision blurry, I lifted my right leg over the white, hard edge and dipped it foot-first into the warm, soothing liquid. The other soon followed and a strange, but not unpleasant, tingly sensation crawled up my legs, crept over my skin and disappeared into my back.

Although it made me dizzy, I did not want to get out of the tub. The warm water soothed my injuries and relaxed my muscles, so instead, I sat down and lay back into the tub, watching the hot water run over my newly formed bruises. As far as I could tell, I had no major injuries, excluding the broken hand and severely bruised eye.

All I needed was rest.

Besides, I have endured far worse before without even spending a single minute in a doctor’s office.

Didn’t need one then, didn’t need one now. I was an Alpha, and my abilities to heal was much stronger and faster than anyone else’s. I was brute strength, both inside and out. It would take an army to break me.

An army or, one woman.

One woman-

~

Deep, infectious warmth in my gut and an awareness of utter calm spread over me like a slow tide coming in. At first, my mind felt sluggish and fragmented as I stirred. The healing of bone, cartilage and ruptured blood vessels pressing on. A welcome sensation I had grown used to over the years. Wolf healing, granted to us by the Moon Goddess herself. It always came, but this time it felt different. More intense. Deliberate.

Finally, clarity pushed into my mind and with a jerk, my eyes snapped open while water splashed violently around me.

A curse word fell from my mouth and my hands slid along the slippery edges of the bathtub. I tried to steady myself, but water splashed everywhere propelled by my frantic movement.

No steam rose from the surface and the prickling chill that bit into my skin indicated that the water had gone cold a long time ago. The sun was hanging low in the distance, barely peeking over the horizon as it peered at me through the bathroom window.

“Shit,” I mumbled as I sat up, pain stinging within my hand.

How I had managed to fall asleep in the bath was beyond me. It has never happened before and for some reason, I felt incredibly confused. Lost even. Like time had been stolen from me.

I pulled myself up, wanting desperately to escape the harsh cold and grabbed a fluffy white towel from a shelf to my left.

Wait a second? Swiftly, I wrapped the towel around myself, shuddering from the cold and stepped in front of the mirror. My eye. I could see, through both eyes.

How?

I had always healed fast, but this, this was insane. Even for an Alpha, healing at this rate was something unheard of.

Shit. Maybe I had blacked out for a few days, instead of minutes?

As I turned around to study my surroundings, the herbs floating in the water drew my attention. Not only had the smell dissolved into nothing, but the bits and pieces of herbs had lost their colour also.

The once green leafy bits were now a pale yellow with blotches of brown and blue on some of them.

With a disbelieving frown, I leaned in closer to get a better look. That couldn’t be right. I rubbed my eyes. I must be delirious? Concussed, more likely.

Most of my pain had subsided, except for my hand, of course. The swelling was also considerably less and breathing felt easy. Effortless.

In a daze, I left the bathroom and found a tiny note perfectly laid out on my pillow.

Dinner with Gabrielle. 19h00

Well, fuck.

I glanced up at the wall clock.

18h22.

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