Chapter 2: The Aftermath
Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh
Yami and her Grandfather spent three hours sitting in the waiting room at the Domino Hospital Emergency room before they were finally called back to see a doctor. Thankfully the wound had finally stopped bleeding although it still burned terribly every time Yami so much as shifted her shoulder. Yami didn't even have her phone with her so she couldn't text Mai to tell her what had even happened.
"Yamira Motou? The doctor will see you now." The nurse called out. Yami and her Grandfather got to their feet before following the nurse back deeper into the emergency room before they were shown to an empty bed. "Please have a seat, the doctor will be with you shortly." The nurse said before she turned and strode out of the room.
Grandpa took a seat in another uncomfortable hospital chair as Yami sat down on the bed. "Grandpa, what happens if the animal had Rabies that bit me?" Yami asked.
Grandpa sighed, "Well, unfortunately Yami we're just going to have to hope the animal doesn't have rabies. You'll probably be given some preventive shots to your stomach over a period of a couple of weeks to prevent you from contracting rabies if you were exposed." Grandpa said.
Yami nodded slowly. That did not sound good, but what choice did she really have? The pair were not left waiting for much longer before the door opened and in walked the doctor. "According to your check in you said that you were bit by an animal outside your home tonight, is that correct?" The doctor asked briskly.
Yami nodded, "Yes, I got attacked when I was out back behind my house taking out the trash." Yami said.
The doctor nodded as he jotted down the information for his records, "And did you recognize the animal that bit you? Have you seen it around before?" The doctor said.
"If by recognize the animal do you mean I knew what kind of animal it was, then the answer is yes. If by that you mean do I know the animal then the answer is no, I've never seen it around before." Yami said.
The doctor again made note of Yami's answer, "You said you know what kind of animal it was. Could you tell me what bit you?" The doctor asked.
"It looked like a wolf to me. A big, black wolf." Yami replied.
The doctor paused for a moment before he jotted down the information before he set his clipboard aside, "Let's take a look at this wound, shall we?" The doctor inquired.
Yami nodded and allowed the doctor to look at the wound. "That's quite the nasty bite you've got there." The doctor stated, and Yami could clearly hear the frown in his voice as he examined the bite before he stepped away, "We're going to have to get the wound cleaned then we'll have to run a series of tests. The odds of us being able to track down a specific wolf that bit you is practically nonexistent which means we'll also have to go through with the preventative rabies vaccines as well. But first, we'll get this wound cleaned and then run some blood work." The doctor said.
"Okay." Yami replied.
"I'm going to send in a nurse to draw some blood for your blood work, while I get to stuff we need to clean and bandage your wound." The doctor replied before he strode out.
Grandpa rose to his feet and lightly rested his hand on Yami's thigh, "It's going to be okay Yami." Grandpa whispered.
Yami nodded, "Right, I know that." Yami replied, her voice sounding a lot more confident than she actually felt.
Another nurse, different than the one who had shown Yami and her grandfather into the room came in and drew six different vials of blood before she exited the room. The doctor passed the nurse on the way back into the room.
"Yami, can you lay down on your stomach for me please so we can clean your shoulder? Mr. Motou, you might want to hold your Granddaughters hands while we do this. Unfortunately, it will hurt a lot. We need to make absolutely certain that the wound is clean." The doctor said coldly.
Yami took a deep breath before she carefully lay down on her stomach. Her knees which had been scraped from when she was tackled to the ground stung as they met the paper covered hospital bed. Her grandfather walked to the front of the hospital bed and grabbed both of Yami's hands with his wrinkled ones.
"I'm so sorry honey. I wish I could make this better for you." Grandpa whispered.
Yami opened her mouth to reply, but what she was going to say was cut off but the loud bloody curdling scream as the doctor harshly scrubbed the bite mark with his antiseptic soaked cloth. The cleaning of the wound actually hurt 10 times worse than the actual bite itself and Yami just kept screaming as she squeezed her Grandfather's hands as tight as she could.
Her Grandfather just continued to hold her hands as he tried to soothe his sobbing Granddaughter. Five torturous minutes later the doctor declared the wound was cleaned before he placed a gauze pad over the wound and wrapped the wound with ace bandages. Once the doctor was finished bandaging the wound Grandpa helped Yami to sit up, her normally lightly tanned skin was now an ashen color as she straightened up. She was trying to take slow, calming breathes to keep herself from vomiting from the pain.
"Now, next steps are going to be the rabies shots and then we just have to wait on the results of your blood work. Once we have those done then you'll be free to go." The doctor replied.
The doctor then swept back out leaving the two Motous alone in the hospital room. Once Yami was confident that she could speak without vomiting she addressed her grandfather, "I didn't hurt you too bad did I? You have enough problems with your arthritis without me breaking your hands." Yami said.
Grandpa chuckled, "I'm fine, if squeezing my hands helped you even just a little bit then I'm glad I was able to be there for you. I hated seeing you in such pain but we did need to get that wound clean. An infection could have killed you." Grandpa said.
Yami nodded, "Right, I know that." Yami said.
The door once again opened and in strode the nurse carrying two large syringes. "Yami can you please lift up your shirt for me. I'm going to have to give you these 2 shots in your stomach, this is to help prevent you from contracting rabies." The nurse said.
Yami nodded as she slowly lifted up her shirt, biting her lip slightly before her shoulder burned terribly at the motion. Fortunately the shots to her stomach were not nearly as painful as it was when her wound had been scrubbed by the doctor.
The nurse gave Yami a reassuring smile as she disposed of the two needles into a sharp container. "It shouldn't be too much longer before the doctor is back with your test results. Then you should be able to go home." The nurse said.
Yami gave the nurse a tight smile before she swept out of the room. Then it was back to the waiting game Yami and her Grandfather had no choice but to play. She was so tired, she just wanted to go home and put this entire terrible experience behind her.
The door to her hospital room opened once more, this time about forty minutes after the nurse had left revealing a new doctor, this one a woman with tan skin and long black hair. "Good evening Miss Motou, my name is Dr. Ishizu Ishtar, and I'm a specialist that the hospital called in regarding your unique case regarding the bite you received earlier tonight." Dr. Ishtar said briskly.
Grandpa frowned, "Specialist? Why would the hospital need to contact a specialist?" Grandpa inquired.
Dr. Ishtar kept her eyes locked with Yami's terrified violet ones as she answered her Grandfather's question, "We got the results of your granddaughter's blood word and it does appear that the wolf in question was carrying a disease however, thankfully the disease was not rabies." Dr. Ishtar said.
"A-a disease? That wolf gave me a disease." Yami whispered.
Dr. Ishtar sighed, "Perhaps a better word would be a condition, rather than a disease. The bad news is that this condition is without a cure. However, this condition is not fatal and we can help you to learn to live a mostly normal life with this condition. However, before we can really get to that point we need to go into what actions we will have to take for now to help you to adapt." Dr. Ishtar said.
Yami frowned, as did Grandpa Motou, however it was Grandpa who voiced the question on both their minds, "What do you mean adapt? What actions are you talking about? And don't think that we haven't noticed that you seem keen to keep dancing around what is wrong with my granddaughter. Well, out with it." Grandpa commanded.
Dr. Isthar sighed once more, "Mr. Motou, the wolf that bit your granddaughter was a sufferer of lycanthropy." Dr. Ishtar said.
"You mean, like a werewolf? But, it wasn't a full moon. And werewolves aren't real." Yami spluttered.
Dr. Ishtar pulled the rolling stool up beside Yami's bed before taking a seat, "Miss Motou, I wish I could lie to you and say that Werewolves did not actually exist that that would be a lie. As I was saying once you have fully adapted you can of course live a mostly normal life however there will have to be some serious changes, especially while you begin to adapt. You will have to move in with the local pack of werewolves and they will certainly be able to help you get settled. Hopefully, if everything goes well in about six or so months you should be able to at least visit your grandfather once you have adjusted. But you will live with the pack for the rest of your life." Dr. Ishtar said.
"That is absolutely preposterous. My granddaughter will not be going anywhere." Grandpa growled.
"Unfortunately Mr. Motou, this is as much for your own safety as it is for your granddaughter's safety. By having her relocate to live with the pack she will be amongst her own kind, who will understand exactly what it is she is going through and they will help her to adapt to those changes." Dr. Ishtar said.
"But I'm her family. And family sticks together, no matter what. I will NOT essentially throw my granddaughter to the wolves." Mr. Motou growled.
"As I said Mr. Motou your granddaughter does not have a choice in the matter. We have already contacted the pack to send a representative to retrieve your granddaughter, only to find out the representative had already arrived because they were anticipating this."Dr. Ishtar said briskly.
There was a firm knock on the door before it was pushed open revealing a young deeply tanned man with waist length white hair and a nasty looking scar crossing over his right eye. "Dr. Isthar, I take it you've delivered the news to our newest pack member." The newcomer stated.
"I have indeed Akefia. And Miss Motou is ready to leave anytime." Dr. Ishtar replied before she turned and swept out of the room.
Akefia rolled his eyes as he gazed at the glaring old man, "Look pops, this is what is going to happen. The pack was already aware your granddaughter would be joining us which was why my pack alpha sent me to this damned hospital hours ago to sit and wait until you were given the official diagnosis. Now, I would like to get back to my cozy den at some point or another." Akefia muttered.
"And how, pray tell, were you aware Yami was going to be joining you?" Grandpa growled.
"Because we intervened in the damn attack to begin with. If it hadn't have been for our interference your granddaughter never would have made it back into the house to begin with. And since when our Alpha tackled the dead-wolf from atop your granddaughter his jaws were still buried in her shoulder we were pretty damn certain that she was going to contract lycanthropy. Hence my presence at this damn hospital." Akefia growled right back.
"And why did your pack intervene in the first place?" Grandpa hissed.
Akefia rolled his eyes, "For starters it is against pack law for a werewolf to bite human without consent of the alpha as well as the party that is being bitten. The dead-wolf who attacked your granddaughter violated that law. And he will die for his crime." Akefia replied.
"It wasn't a full moon." Yami muttered. That one fact kept sticking with her, the moon was only half full there shouldn't have been any werewolves running around. It was the last hope she had that this was all just one terrible nightmare and any second now she was going to wake up in her bed safe and sound.
Akefia rolled his eyes, "You're absolutely right, the moon wasn't full. All the better luck for you. Had the moon been full you would have undergone a forced transformation. Not pleasant, especially not the first time and without any help." Akefia muttered.
Yami locked gazes with Akefia for the first time since he'd entered the room, "But, there's a full moon at the end of the week." Yami said, her voice trembling slightly as she voiced this fact.
Akefia nodded, "Good, you know the timeline we're on. We've got to get you on pack grounds and we'll help you through a transformation prior to the full moon that way you will be able to avoid a forced transformation. You'll probably spend more than a week in your wolf form while you begin to get used to it before we start getting you changing back and forth. Contrary to what the stories say, we can change form at will. Only during the light of a full moon is the call of the wolf too great to be denied. There are some wolves among us who almost never assume their human forms, my pack alpha is one such case. Then there are those among us who only transform during the light of the full moon. It will vary from were to were." Akefia said.
"My granddaughter is not going anywhere without me." Grandpa hissed.
Akefia rolled his eyes, "Haven't we already been through this fucking argument?! Your granddaughter is no longer human thanks to that damn dead-wolf. She is not going to be safe with you, not only could she end up killing you she would not have the help or support of a pack who is familiar with what she is going through. To get through this she will NEED to be with the pack." Akefia growled.
"As I said she will not be going into a den of wild animals, the very same savage beasts who attacked her to begin with, without me. So, if you plan on bringing my daughter onto clan grounds then I am going with you." Grandpa spat.
"And the fact that the pack actually protected your Granddaughter means nothing? If we hadn't intervened when we did the dead-wolf who bit her would have just dragged her into the woods and no doubt forcibly transformed her and mated her. We PROTECTED her you stubborn old man." Akefia growled, this time actually baring his teeth as he did.
"Saving her after the fact means nothing. No doubt you intervened more for your own protection than my granddaughters. My granddaughter is MY number one priority, which I can guarantee she will not be yours." Grandpa argued back.
Akefia just shook his head before he whipped out an old fashioned looking flip phone. He starred at it for a few seconds before he pressed a button and brought the phone to his ear.
"Sorry to disturb you Beta, but the bitch's old man is not taking the news well and is point blank refusing to allow me to escort the bitch onto to pack grounds. At least he is refusing if we don't allow him to also enter pack grounds." Akefia said.
"My granddaughter is not a bitch! I will not stand here and allow you to refer to her as such a disgusting word." Grandpa snapped.
Akefia rolled his eyes before pulling the phone a little bit away from his ear, "For your information old man, the word bitch actually means female dog or female were, the term is one hundred percent accurate and in no way an insult. Your granddaughter is now a bitch, now if you don't mind I would like to finish discussing your pointless arguments with my pack Beta." Akefia snapped. "Sorry about that Beta, now would what you and Alpha like me to do?" Akefia inquired.
For a few moments the room was silent as Grandpa just glared at Akefia who was listening to instructions from whoever he referred to as Beta. They were interrupted by a light knock on the door. Dr. Ishtar who had been silent for the most part pulled the door open revealing a nurse carrying Yami's discharge paperwork.
Dr. Ishtar took the paperwork from the nurse. "Thank you Mary, I'll get this signed for you as I finish going over follow up instructions with the patient." Dr. Ishtar said.
Nurse Mary nodded before she headed back out of the room with Dr. Ishtar pushing the door closed behind her. "Mr. Motou, I know this is all a lot of your to take in, but unfortunately right now what we need to be looking at is what is best for your granddaughter. If you granddaughter does not go with the pack she spend her life locked in a steel cage before she is no doubt put down like a wild animal. There is a reason Mr. Motou, that sufferers of lycanthropy are believed to only be creatures of myth. It is as much for their protection as it is our own." Dr. Ishtar reasoned.
"Okay, I'll do that Beta. See you shortly with the bitch." Akefia said before he flipped his phone closed and shoved it back into his pocket and turned his attention back onto the Motous. "Here is what we are going to do. I have been instructed to escort the pair of you back to your own home. Our pack Beta will meet us there and go over things further with you in person. As for you accompanying the bitch onto pack grounds as of right now the answer is no. That answer may change depending on what the Beta and Alpha determine is the best course of action, the Beta will no doubt go over this with you once we have arrived at your home." Akefia said.
"Beta? Alpha? Do they not have names?" Yami said suddenly. If she really was going to be moving into a pack of wolves she figured she might as well begin to figure out the rules and who was who.
Akefia snorted, "Of course they have names bitch! I merely refer to them by title as a sign of respect. Our pack Alpha is the equivalent of your president or whatever you currently call your leader. He is the strongest and wisest wolf in our pack and it is his responsibility to oversee our pack is properly taken care of and protected. Our Beta is the packs second in command, if something does not need the Alpha to be personally involved in than the Beta is the one we turn to. He is also the one who is in charge in the event our Alpha is away from pack grounds. Our Beta is also the one who handles most of our human interactions, since the Alpha has little patience for idiotic humans. You will learn more about the different roles once you have been settled in on pack territory." Akefia said briskly.
"What are their names?" Yami asked.
Akefia rolled his eyes, "Curious little bitch aren't you. Fine. Our pack Beta is Seto Kaiba. And our Alpha is Atem Sennen. Satisfied now?" Akefia asked.
Yami nodded, "Yes, can we just go now? I'm tried and I just want to get out of here." Yami said.
Akeifa nodded, "No doubt you are absolutely exhausted unfortunately you won't be able to sleep until we get you settled on pack grounds. It'll probably be a few hours yet. I'm sorry but it's the way it is." Akefia said as he led the pair out of the hospital room and into the parking lot. Grandpa unlocked his car and Yami climbed into the front seat with Akefia making himself somewhat comfortable in the back. "Never figured out how you humans can put up with riding around in these damn contraptions." Akefia muttered.
Grandpa snorted, "You make it sound like you aren't familiar with living as a human." Grandpa muttered.
Akefia snorted, "That's because I'm not old man. I'm one of those weres who only assumes my human form when I don't have a choice in the matter. The Alpha telling me to go and retrieve our newest pack member sort of qualifies as one of those times." Akefia replied.
"And yet you know how to use a cellphone." Grandpa replied.
Akefia rolled his eyes, "Beta shoved the phone in my hand and told me press this button then this button to contact him if I ran into any trouble." Akefia replied.
"Ah." Grandpa said as he turned onto his street and the car fell silent. It did not take long at all for the trio to reach the Motou household. Grandpa parked his station wagon in the driveway and climbed out of the car. He frowned however when he said a man about six feet tall leaning casually against the wall beside his front door. The man had brown hair and bright blue eyes. The man was dressed in a simple pair of dark wash jeans and a collared shirt.
Akefia quickly scampered out of the car. "Beta, I hope we didn't keep you waiting too long." Akeifa said.
Kaiba snorted, "I have been waiting here about ten minutes, hardly a considerable wait. But we might as well get this over with. Atem is adamant that our newest pack member is on pack grounds before sunrise." Kaiba said.
"If your Alpha is so adamant about having my granddaughter in his territory then why hasn't he come himself?" Grandpa snapped.
Kaiba rolled his eyes, "Among other things retrieving new pack members from overly stubborn human relatives is hardly his responsibility. It shouldn't be mine either, but you have refused to cooperate with Akefia which is why I am here now." Kaiba replied briskly as he pushed off the wall and strode over to Yami who had finally climbed out of the car herself.
"Greetings…."
"Her name is Yamira Motou." Akefia supplied.
"Greeting Yamira, I am Seto Kaiba your pack Beta. I will be the one escorting you to your new home. A place in Alpha's home has been made ready for you, and you will reside there until such a time as you are completely settled and ready to set up your own den. Now, I can clearly see you are exhausted so in the interest of your wel lbeing we will allow your grandfather to accompany us this one time. He will not be permitted there again. Are we understood?" Kaiba said, and although he had clearly addressed Yami his eyes had flicked over to lock with those of Grandpa Motou.
Grandpa nodded, "I'm not going to be given a choice in this matter, now am I?" Grandpa asked.
Kaiba shook his head, "No, you will not. Humans and Weres for the most part lead completely separate lives. Humans reside in their fancy cities with their technological advances whereas the place for the Were is in the woods. Since we are able to assume human form there are many Weres who do choose to interact with humans on a limited basis. These interactions are highly regulated and unless you have permission from the Alpha you are not permitted to enter a human settlement. The full extent of our laws will be explained to you once we have gotten you settled." Kaiba said briskly.
"And why would I not be permitted to continue to visit my granddaughter in your settlement?" Grandpa inquired.
Kaiba snorted, "Apparently you humans have not acquired any additional intelligence as time has passed. The reasons we live in isolation should be fairly obvious but among other reasons it is for you own safety. There are weres within our pack who do not have the control of the temperament to be able to enter a human settlement safely. Not to mention there are also children, many of whom have never met a human before and might either see you as prey or mistake you as yet another were. Either could be dangerous for you, since if bitten you would then contract lycanthropy. And before you ask old man there is zero chance the alpha would approve of you being bitten. The first transformation would no doubt kill you at your advanced age. In addition to concerns for your own safety, your granddaughter will need to adapt to her new life. You constantly showing up out of the blue will only hinder that adjustment. She will be permitted to see you once she has settled and Alpha feels it is safe for her to do so, which will take at least six months if not longer. The exact time will depend entirely on her." Kaiba replied before he turned and began to head towards the woods.
"About time." Akefia muttered as he began to sprint towards the tree line.
"You mean we're going to walk there?" Grandpa inquired.
"How else do you expect us to arrive? We have no need for your fancy cars and our territory is deep within the woods, quite a hike for a human. Chosen specifically because it was difficult for humans to accidentally stumble upon." Kaiba said before he turned to Yamira and grasped her arm firmly pulling her up onto his back. "I'd hold on if I were you. Given what you've been through and as much time as we've wasted you are far too tired to make the trek under your own power, for this reason and this reason alone I will carry you. If you grandfather is unable to make the trek, that is not my problem." Kaiba said before he headed into the woods.
Yami was fighting to keep her eyes open at this point, but she was really so tired. She just wanted to go to sleep and put this entire nightmare behind her. It also didn't help things that it was already 2 am.
The trek through the woods took over an hour, traversing very rough terrain before coming to a fast moving river. Yami sat up the slightest bit as she took in the river. She and Mai had hiked out this far before when they were younger, they had even tried fishing in this river, but she had certainly never crossed it before.
"Akefia!" Kaiba barked.
"Yes Beta." Akefia replied.
"Carry the old man across the river. And once we've gotten his granddaughter settled you will be responsible for seeing him safely back home. Am I understood Akefia?" Kaiba commanded.
"Yes Beta, you are." Akefia replied before he trudged over to the Grandpa and tugged the old man up onto his shoulders. Kaiba entered the water and Yami jumped at the unexpected feeling of the icy water upon her bare flesh. Kaiba thankfully had little to no difficulty crossing the river although Yami clung tightly to him as the water ended up reaching the small of Yami's own back. A glance over in her grandfather's direction showed that she had gotten off lucky with the taller were. Grandpa ended up with water coming up to his neck.
Once they had finished crossing the river the quartet began to climb a massive hill that was so steep that on foot it was almost impossible to climb. Kaiba ended up crouching down on all fours. "I'd hold on if I were you." Kaiba commanded before Yami literally felt Kaiba's body begin to shift beneath her, and within a matter of minutes she was sitting atop a massive grey wolf. Once the shift had been completed the wolf began to easily bound up the hill almost as if it was flat. Yami wrapped her arms tightly around the wolf's neck in the hopes of not falling off and not wanting to risk upsetting the wolf by accidentally pulling its fur.
Once they had reached the top of the hill the wolf came to a stop and let out a very loud, "HOOWWWWOOOOOO." For a moment all was silent as a pure white wolf carrying her grandfather came to a stop beside her and Kaiba.
They did not move until they heard another, "HOWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOO!" no doubt responding to the beta's call. Once again Yami felt Kaiba's body shift beneath her and then she was once again clinging to the brunet man that she had met earlier.
"That was Alpha. He says that he is ready and that we can proceed." Kaiba explained.
"You can understand howling?" Yami whispered.
Kaiba snorted, "Of course I can. You will be able to as well, no doubt once you've undergone your first transformation. It's not much further." Kaiba replied as he strode briskly through trees and into a clearing. In the clearing there were many different almost native American style homes that had been constructed by felled trees and covered with animal pelts for insulation. As Kaiba entered the clearing a massive black wolf came trotting out of the largest wigwam before transforming min bound. Once the transformation was complete Yami locked gazed with narrow blood red eyes.
The Alpha was a lot shorter than Yami was anticipating, given how tall the pack Beta was. If Yami had to guess she'd say he was about 5'6 or for 5'7 at most, although his hair certainly made him appear taller. His head was covered with a mass of spiked black hair tinged with red, bleach blond bangs framed his angular tanned face. The man's chest was completely bare, revealing a hard muscular torso, and around his shoulders was tossed a cape of some type that was made entirely from animal pelts. For pants he was wearing skin tight brown pants clearly made from deer hide and his feet were bare.
"Greetings Alpha, as you can no doubt see I have brought our newest pack member." Kaiba replied, dipping his head slightly, no doubt in a sign of respect.
Yami knew that she should have guessed but she still could not help but be surprised that this man standing before her was the pack Alpha, the mysterious Atem Sennen.
