Chapter 5: Strange Wolf

Carlie's POV

I tried to keep up with the rest of the pack but my messed up leg was starting to take its toll on me. It began to slow me down and it got to the point where I decided it was best not to continue on anymore. The strange wolf that was leading us didn't seem to notice that I had stopped and the rest of the pack didn't say anything about it. Ethan wanted to stay behind with me but I told him I would be alright on my own and would catch up to them when I had regained the strength to do so.

Noah and Chloe stayed behind with me. I tried to get them to go with their father but they wouldn't listen. They were hungry and thought that my stopping and staying behind was the perfect opportunity for them to get a meal from me. So the pack went on without us after I assured them that we would catch up to them in a little while.

My leg throbbed badly as I laid there in the woods. I was sure that the pain had only worsened since I got the injury a little less than 24 hours ago. In the back of my head I started to think that remaining human might be the best option for me. At least when my injured leg was an injured arm it didn't hurt as badly because I wasn't putting weight on it.

I was startled when I felt something bite me. Until I realized it was just my babies trying to nurse. I shifted into a better position that would allow them to suckle easier even though it caused me more pain in my leg.

I closed my eyes as if that would somehow block out the pain. I shifted the focus of my mind onto that strange wolf that no one, apart from Charlie apparently, could hear. I wondered why that was. Why was it that only Charlie could hear him? So much of this was still a mystery to me that I had a hard time figuring it all out. It was barely starting to occur to me that there could be other strange inhuman creatures like us in the world.

I yelped involuntarily when my moved my leg slightly. I shook my head. I had to survive the pain somehow. I didn't have a choice. Pain killers didn't work on me and neither did surgery since even anesthesia didn't affect me much. The memory of me waking up during surgery when I was only eight years old made me shudder.

I heard a noise in the distance that made my heart pound. My head snapped up on high alert. I could sense something. I couldn't quite place my finger on it but there was something out there. Something dangerous possibly. After a few more minutes of nothing I began to breathe again. Whatever I heard was probably just nothing.

Noah and Chloe wandered off when they were finished eating. Then it hit me again. The sense that something was off. That something was wrong. I heard a strange noise. Realization suddenly hit me fast and hard in the face. This land was protected by law but that didn't stop poachers from hunting in the area. I spotted one in the area with a gun aimed right at my pups.

I sprang to my feet as fast as I could. The pain in my leg completely forgotten. I threw them both safely out of harm's way just in time. Unfortunately I wasn't so lucky. I got hit and the bullet pierced my already injured leg and the second one hit me in the shoulder. The wounds sealed up almost instantaneously with the bullets still inside of my body

A man walked out and grabbed Noah and Chloe before my babies had a chance of escaping. I yelped when I stood up. I was shot a third time.

"Would you look at the size of this wolf?" the man with the gun pointed at me said. "She will make a beautiful rug for my house," the man said gleefully.

"What about these puppies?"

"Tranquilize them and put them in the truck. At their size we will make a lot of money selling them to a zoo, circus, or some vivisection lab,"

For the first time in my life I felt sheer terror. Not for me. I didn't care what happened to me. For my babies. I would die if it meant keeping them safe. I felt helpless though as the pain induced dizziness overwhelmed me. I couldn't breathe right either because the third bullet had gone into my chest. I was probably close to passing out and never waking up again.

"Let's get the babies to the truck. This one will probably be dead by the time that we come back,"

I lost my balance and fell. I could barely breathe. My wounds had healed but the bullets being stuck inside were causing me major problems. It was weakening me by the minute.

Something ran up to me and started sniffing me and nudging me desperately. His frantic whimpering alerted me to the fact that it was another wolf. It was that stranger wolf that had wanted us to follow him. The one with the exact same fur color as me. The look on his face one of extreme worry. He looked in the distance the two poachers had run off in with my little Noah and Chloe. He growled with more viciousness and anger than I would've ever thought possible for a wolf. He ran in the same direction as if he were chasing after them. I hoped he was. I didn't care if I died at that point. I would be eternally grateful from beyond the grave if he got my babies back safely.

I felt like I was about to lose consciousness completely when I felt something ice cold press against the side of my body. I wasn't sure if it was just my imagination or if Carlisle really was pressing his hands against my injuries.

"I'm going to need to do surgery right away but you'll be okay,"

No! No! No! I couldn't do surgery. I'd rather die than wake up in the middle of surgery again like when I was only eight years old. The doctors had given me the correct amount of anesthesia back then and it still wore off extremely fast and I woke up in the middle of my appendicitis surgery screaming in pain. I'd rather die than go through a trauma like that again.

How could I convey that information to him though?

The answer was that I couldn't.

I lost consciousness.

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