2. Infection

"Ow! Be careful, Malachi!"

Malachi had ripped his shirt and boiled it over the fire. He was using the rags to clean the bite. "This would be easier if we did not have to hold your shirt, Quinn."

I bit back a yowl of pain. "What am I supposed to do? Take it off?"

I had discovered over the past few days that Malachi was highly practical (despite his insanity) and did not believe in the 'modern' ideal of modesty. "Little Moon, my love, you should understand that your life may be in the balance. Your beliefs to not matter right now." He stopped cleaning. "Decide or I might have to bury you."

I turned away from him and nodded, more to myself then him. "Could you maybe give me a second? You know, to compose myself?" He stepped out of our little cave. I slipped off the shirt and unfastened my bra. The bite was swollen puffy and oozing. Infection was most certainly the right word for it. I muttered a string of curses and called Malachi in.

He pressed the rag on to the wound and I almost fell over as the pain intensified again. "Are you truly in that much pain? I do not remember the Infection."

We were silent for several minutes. "Make it stop Malachi!" I screamed, as the pain suddenly moved across my back. I started to fall down.

He managed to lay me down on the good side. "It is okay," he said, trying to comfort me. "Let it out. Scream."

I wailed. It felt like my ribs were broken. "What the hell is happening?"

"It means the Infection has taken control," he whispered, taking one of the cleaner rags and wiping my forehead. "Your bones are breaking to prepare you for your first Phase. It's still a few weeks away, but the first is the most painful. We call it the Transition. Next, you will get a fever."

--

Malachi was right. When I woke up next, I felt chilled and foggy. The pain was still there, but the fever was masking it. I moaned and tried to sit up. Then I screamed.

Malachi had fallen asleep next to me and draped his arm across my chest, holding me next to his perfectly tan skin. I couldn't help but wonder what he looked like as a wolf…

Then my mind suddenly cleared. Get a grip! You are not turning into a werewolf! This dude is just crazy!

Malachi sat up. "What's wrong, Little Moon?" he asked drowsily. "I heard you scream."

Once his arm moved, I scooted away from him. "You—me—sleep—arm—couldn't move." I struggled to hold back the anger. "Stay away from me."

"The fever is speaking," he muttered to himself. "Little Moon?" He took a step closer. "Quinn! Look at me. Would I hurt you?"

"Yeah, you would!" I screamed back. "What do you call this god forsaken wound?!"

Malachi stood over me, practically glaring. "A necessary evil. Now, hold still. Remember, your ribs are broken."

"I don't freakin' care!" I replied. "I am not letting you turn me into a psycho killer who blames the killings on being a mythical creature!"

His expression softened. "Most defiantly the fever."

"I can hear you; ya know!" I screamed back.

He closed the distance between his carefully. One hand on my face and the other on my shoulder, he whispered, "I know you are frightened, Little Moon, but I need your help as much as you need mine. Can I at least tell you why I Infected you?"

He wasn't going to let me say no, so I nodded. "So ahead."

"Our kind has always been subcategorized by our lifestyle. There are several types of Rouges. Urban, Village, Wild. From what I know, most of the Village and Wild members in Europe have been hunted and there are two Urbans living in Paris, although I've only met one. One entire group is extinct.

"I was Infected as a Pack Wolf and moved up the ranks to Beta. My pack survived several attacks by the Volturi, a group of creatures called the Volturi who hate our kind. Then at the insistence of his mate, Alpha Infected a pup. A child in human terms. I was out on a scavenging trip when they killed the other 15 members and took the pup. That was eleven years ago; I am not sure what happened to her. She was the first one that I know of. Dark-headed, maybe a six-year-old, little thing.

"My kind, the Pack Wolves used to be the most plentiful and numerous members of our species, but the Volturi," he spat the word with disgust, "targeted us first. Placed themselves not only on the throne of their species but of ours as well. They want nothing more then to kill all of us."

I was seventeen, the same age as Malachi's pack's pup. I couldn't help but wonder if she was alive somewhere, with these Volturi. "The Pack Wolves aren't extinct," I muttered, "if you and the pup are still alive."

"You understand," Malachi whispered in astonishment. "You understand why I've kept my hope. I can start a new pack, with you. Away from the Volturi bloodsuckers."

"Bloodsuckers?" I whispered, voice cracking. "As in vampire bloodsuckers?"

"Vampires do not have blood to suck, Little Moon."

What was funny was that I believed Malachi. Only minutes ago, I thought he needed to be put in a loony bin, but he was being really sincere. Of course, the pain helped too and I had a slight fever. Everything Malachi had said was going to happen to me was happening. It made perfect sense. That didn't mean I wanted to be part of something that would make me a target. "Hell, no. I'm so not putting myself under the bus."

"Pardon?" Malachi looked confused.

"You're using me," I said sharply, "to get back at the beasts that killed your family! You don't freakin' care that I have a family in the United States that are grieving and/or worried out of their minds! My father died out there! Did you ever think that I have a life?"

"Your place of origin inspired me to Infect you. I want to go to the United States; to a place outside of Seattle Washington. They call it Forks. I just don't know where that is."

"So, you're using me to go where you want to go. It's not going to work. You burned my passport."

"Is Seattle close to Russia?" he asked, suddenly, quickly.

"You wanna walk there? Through Alaska and Canada? The islands are like sixty miles apart but I can't swim a mile."

"So you do know!" I flushed. "As for your worries: I have a friend in Paris with the uncanny ability to convince any human to do what she wants. Delphine's quite a man hunter when she wants to be. I'm afraid we can't get anywhere humans until you can control your wolf form, but she will help."