The Prophecy Of The Wolves I - The Beginning
~ Chapter Three ~

Liliana was now eighteen years old. She had moved into the pack house shortly after her fifteenth birthday. She was usually alone unless she was in the forest with Jacques and Orthrus. She had taken up dancing and continued with her drawing skills. She had also started cooking and baking right after moving into the packhouse. She had continued her lessons under the pack doctor and was now as good as the doctor herself. She had even gotten better with her arts and crafts skills.

Liliana had grown into a beautiful, strong young woman who could do everything herself. She never once let anything hold her back, and she never would.

It was late that night. Everyone had gone to bed for the night. Liliana had been tossing and turning when she heard it. She sat up with a gasp. She got up and went straight to the window, only to see the forest burning and people fighting in the field right outside of the packhouse.

Liliana quickly changed into a pair of black pants and a black tank top. She threw on her favorite combat boots before rushing out of the door and throwing her hair up in a messy ponytail. She may not have been a fighter, but she was a healer. She wanted to try and help. She ran right into the pack doctor. “Oh, Sharon!” Liliana exclaimed. “Please, what can I do to help?” She asked as she looked around.

Sharon sighed as she rubbed a hand over her face. “There are too many of our men falling. I can’t save them all,” she looked around. “I need help with all these wounded fighters.”

Liliana nodded. “Which ones have you helped already?” She asked as she looked at Sharon.

Sharon gestured to a small handful of warriors sitting in the family room around the fire. “Those are the only ones I have been able to help so far,” she explained. “The rest are outside either on the porch or on the field close to the house.”

Liliana nodded and grabbed one of the medical bags by the door. “I’ll start with those furthest out, and you can start with those closest to the house. We’ll meet in the middle.”

Sharon nodded with a small smile. “Perfect, Lily. I’m so happy to have your help.”

Liliana gave her a quick, bright smile before rushing out of the house and doing what she said. She started with those who were closest to the battle. After a while, she lost track of how many people she had helped. She knew that blood was on her arms and splattered over her chest and clothes, but she continued to work.

The fighting had finally stopped some time ago, and she continued to help the injured. When Sharon caught her attention, Liliana had just finished patching up a young enforcer. Liliana moved over to Sharon and frowned when she saw their best warrior, Eric, lying in a puddle of his blood. “I don’t think I can save him, Lily. He’s lost too much blood, and it looks like a witch used silver,” Sharon said as she looked up at Liliana with pained eyes.

Liliana shook her head as tears gathered in her eyes. “No, we can’t let him die,” she said in a panic. Liliana took a deep breath as she gently nudged Sharon out of the way. “Tell me everything you’ve found wrong with him,” she said as she got to work.

Sharon sat back on her heels as she grabbed a towel and wiped her face. “There’s a long gash on his side that looks like a silver blade of some type caused it. Then there’s a burn wound on his chest, and he has a nasty cut to his left leg,” she sighed heavily. “He also has a gash on the side of his head.”

Liliana nodded and made quick work of patching up the more superficial wounds. Like his head, his leg, and the burn wound on his chest. Once she had Eric’s other wounds bandaged, she moved to the silver gash on his side. She shook her head as she dug through the medical bags. She patched up the damage. When Eric started convulsing, she reached for the solution they had to flush out silver from the bloodstream. She swore to herself as she quickly injected him with the answer. After that, she leaned over him and checked his pulse. It was weak, and his breathing was becoming uneven.

Liliana shook her head as she started with chest compressions. She leaned over him and blew some air into his lungs. As Liliana pulled away, she quietly said to him. “You are not going to die, Eric. You have to live. We can’t lose you.”

Liliana continued that for a few minutes before his breathing evened out. Then, finally, she let out a sigh of relief and looked up to replace Ryan walking past her. “Alpha!” She called out.

Ryan rushed to her side and frowned when he saw Eric on the ground in front of her. “What happened?” He demanded.

Liliana cleared her throat. “I’ve managed to stabilize him. We need to get him inside, though. The silver solution that I have given him won’t last long. We have to get him hooked up to an IV of it. We also need to get him hooked up to a blood bag. I can’t move him, though.”

Ryan nodded and called a few other warriors over. Together they carefully got him inside and to the hospital wing. Liliana hooked him up to the IVs he needed and checked his wounds. “Is he going to be alright?” Ryan asked from behind her.

Liliana nodded. “Yes. His wounds were pretty bad, but I have managed to patch those up. They’ll heal in time. The main one we’ll have to keep an eye on is that silver one,” she said in exhaustion as she slid into a chair next to the bed. “A silver blade of some type caused it. We’ll have to ensure that it doesn’t become infected and that the silver fully leaves his system. Once the silver is fully out of his system, he should heal fairly quickly with his healing abilities.”

Ryan nodded. “Are you alright, sweetheart?” He asked as he gently touched her shoulder.

Liliana gave him a small smile. “Yeah, just exhausted,” she took a deep breath. “Are there any others that need medical help?” She asked as she looked up at him.

Ryan shook his head. “Sharon took care of the others while you were helping Eric. In all honesty, not as many warriors got hurt as we thought. We managed to kill off all of the witches before they could damage our pack and land too much. It was the fires that took a minute to put out,” he clicked his tongue as he ran a hand through his short hair. “Witch’s fire is always so difficult to put out.”

Liliana nodded with a sigh. “I want to stay here with him,” she said softly. “Just in case he wakes up or needs help.”

Ryan nodded. “We can have his daughter stay with the other kids for now.”

Liliana gave him a small smile before he left the room.

Liliana stayed with Eric that night and ensured he was healing just fine. She was relieved that the silver had left his bloodstream by the morning. Once the silver had left Eric’s bloodstream, the rest of his wounds healed quickly, just as she had suspected. Finally, he was well enough to wake up. Eric groaned as he tried to sit up. “Whoa there. Just try to relax,” Liliana said as she gently pushed his shoulders back onto the bed. “You’re finally healing, but you still need to rest,” she said tiredly.

Eric frowned when he looked over at her. “What happened?” He asked.

Liliana sighed as she sat up and leaned her elbows on her knees. “The witches attacked in the middle of the night. The battle didn’t last that long, but from what Ryan told me, you went up against the leader. She cut you with some sort of silver blade. So you had silver in your bloodstream. There were also other wounds. You had a bad gash on your head and leg. Then there was the burn wound on your chest. Sharon thought we were going to lose you for a bit there,” she shook her head. “I took over when I noticed it was becoming too much for her. Your wounds were relatively easy to take care of, but the silver in your blood had prevented you from healing. At one point, you convulsed, and I was so afraid that we would lose you, but I pushed through and cleared my head. I gave you enough of our silver solution to get you in here and then made sure your breathing was better before I had Ryan and some other warriors help move you here. Once you were in bed, I hooked you up to a couple of IVs. One for the silver solution and the other for blood since you had lost quite a bit of blood.”

Eric stared at her in awed astonishment. “You’re only eighteen, though.”

Liliana let out a laugh. “I know, but I have been learning under Sharon since I was ten, and I am a speedy learner. I caught on quickly, and now I’m as good as she is. She had already dealt with so many wounded and was exhausted and starting to panic. So I took over and cared for you while she helped the others with smaller wounds.”

Eric sat stunned for a few minutes before mentally shaking himself out of his trance. Finally, he reached over and took her hand in his. “Thank you so much, young Liliana. As much as I would have loved to be with my beloved Catherine, I can’t leave Audrey alone.”

Liliana smiled and patted his hand gently. “I’m just so grateful that I could help you,” she stood up and shoved her hair out of her face. “You get some rest. I’ll make sure that someone brings in some food and water. You’ll need both to regain your strength.”

Eric gave her a grateful smile. “Thank you, young Liliana. You will have my gratitude and protection for eternity.”

Liliana shook her head with a small smile. “I’m just happy that you made it through the night.”

With that, she left him alone. Liliana let one of the nurses know that he was awake and needed food and water. Then, she went up to her room to finally take a shower and get some rest.

~ Two Years Later ~

Liliana had just finished dancing for the day. She looked outside and smiled brightly. It looked like a beautiful day to walk in the forest. She took a quick shower and changed into her favorite white dress. She smiled as she looked in the mirror and twirled around. She slipped on her favorite white flats before putting her hair into a half ponytail. She grabbed her favorite satchel and tossed her sketchbook in it, along with a few water bottles and some snacks. She even caught a couple of enormous steaks for Orthrus. Once Liliana was sure she had everything, she went to Ryan and Evelyn’s to let them know where she was going. She knocked on the door and waited with a smile. Ryan opened the door and grinned. “Hi there, little one. You look like you’re going exploring again,” he said as he opened the door wide enough for her to walk inside.

Liliana slipped past him and hugged him. “Yes, I am. I just wanted to let you and Evelyn know so you didn’t worry. I also wanted to check up on Evelyn. I know it’s getting closer to her due date.”

Ryan chuckled. “She’ll love to see you. She’s in the kitchen.”

Liliana laughed. “When is she not in the kitchen?” She asked as she walked toward the kitchen with Ryan right behind her.

“Liliana!” Evelyn exclaimed in joy. “It’s so good to see you,” she said brightly.

Liliana smiled brightly as she gently hugged Evelyn. “How are you feeling, Evelyn?” She asked as she pulled back to look her over.

Evelyn waved her off with a smile. “I’m as well as I can be with this one causing a storm. Won’t let me sleep and is always wanting more food,” she said as she affectionately rubbed her swollen belly.

Liliana giggled as she reached over and gently rubbed Evelyn’s belly with her. “If you’d like, I could replace something to help you sleep at night. Plenty of natural herbs in the forest should help and won’t harm the baby.”

Evelyn smiled widely. “Oh, that would be wonderful. Thank you so much, Liliana.”

Liliana grinned. “I have been doing some studying lately about everything for pregnancies. I’m hoping I can replace this herb today. It’s supposed to help calm the baby and mother enough for the mother to get a good night’s sleep.”

Evelyn gently tucked Liliana’s hair behind her ear. “You are such a sweetheart. Your parents would be so proud of you.”

Liliana gave her a small smile with tears gathering in her eyes. “Thank you, Evelyn.”

Evelyn pulled her closer and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Off you go, little one. I can see you have your usual exploring satchel with you.”

Liliana pressed a kiss to Evelyn’s temple before leaving the house.

Liliana leisurely walked through the forest, taking her time to interact with the animals that came out and look over all the plants and flowers. She smiled when she heard them. Jacques and Orthrus were with her. She turned around as they came up behind her. “Hi, Jacques!” Liliana said as she hugged him. She turned to Orthrus and smiled as she pulled two huge steaks out of her bag. “You want a treat, Orthrus?” She asked happily. Orthrus barked and jumped around in joy before lying in front of her. She giggled as she took the two pieces of steak out of the plastic bags she had put them in and held them up. “You’re such a good boy,” she said in awe as she tossed a steak to each head. Both heads snapped them up and munched on them. She laughed as she turned back to Jacques.

“How are you, little Liliana?” Jacques asked as he pulled her into his arms and hugged her.

Liliana smiled brightly. “I’m good. I’m looking for an herb for Evelyn. It’s to help her sleep. She says that the little one is keeping her up at night.”

Jacques grinned. “If I could help, I would, but I’m afraid I have a bit of business to attend to out of the state.”

Liliana smiled. “That’s alright. I understand that you have to go away. I’ll be fine with Orthrus,” she said softly.

Jacques pressed a kiss to her temple and gave her another gentle squeeze. “I’m off now. I have to go far, but if you need anything, I’m a phone call away.”

Liliana jumped up and kissed his cheek. “Be safe, Jacques. I’ll see you when you get back.”

“Try not to get into trouble while I’m gone,” Jacques said with a knowing smile.

Liliana giggled and stuck her tongue out at him. “I make no promises.”

Jacques chuckled as he backed away into the denser part of the forest. “Keep her safe, Orthrus,” he said before disappearing into the woods.

Liliana walked happily through the forest, collecting flowers and gems. She grinned when she even found the herb that she had wanted to get for Evelyn. She enjoyed the scenery when she came upon a field full of flowers. She smiled as she sat in the middle of the clearing and took out her sketchbook. She sat in peaceful silence after putting a white lily in her hair with Orthrus close by, keeping an eye on her. She continued drawing until she heard footsteps approaching.

Liliana stood up and dropped her sketchbook as she looked around. A wolf came out of the trees and walked toward her with a growl. She held her hands up to show that she meant no harm. “Please. I promise that I mean you no harm. I didn’t realize that I traveled onto someone else’s land,” she stammered.

The wolf shifted to his human form, which caused her to squeal and cover her eyes. “Um,” she mumbled. “Could you put some shorts on, please?” Liliana asked in a small voice.

He quickly put a pair of shorts on before glaring at her with his arms crossed over his chest. “What are you doing on our land?” He demanded.

Liliana licked her lips as she hesitantly bent over to pick up her book and satchel. “I promise that I was just exploring. I didn’t realize that I had traveled so far. But, please. He can explain if you call Alpha Ryan from the Darkmoon Hunters pack.”

The man glared at her before sighing. He walked up to her and grabbed her arm. “Let’s go talk to the alpha.”

Liliana put her head down as the tears started streaming down her face. She walked as fast as she could to keep up with him. She didn’t know what would happen to her, but at least he hadn’t simply thrown her in the cells.