The Starlit Wolf
FOUR
They all walked back to the pack houses. Before they got there, Sage leaned against a tree and placed a hand on her right ribs.
Her breathing had become a little harder, and now it was at a point where she had trouble keeping on breathing altogether.
“Star?” Juliet walked back toward her. The others also turned around.
“I’m fine, Juliet.”
“You’re lying, again,” Juliet said accusingly. Sage smiled and started coughing. Something came out of her mouth. She wiped it away and saw blood. Fuck.
Leo and Aries saw it and were immediately next to her. Before she could do anything else, her breathing became harder.
Her legs gave in, but before she could fall to the ground, two strong arms caught her.
Leo came to stand in front of her. “Don’t think too much about this.”
She gave him a questioning look.
He placed his ear against her chest while she stood there startled by his actions. Sage coughed again, and her hand filled with blood again.
“Her right lung is punctured and filling with blood,” Leo said as he stood up straight again.
The arms around her moved and picked her up bridal style. She looked at their owner and saw Aries. “We need to get her to Doc,” he said to Leo.
Leo nodded and turned toward the two other males.
“Jamerson, Adam, you both run to the infirmary. Make sure Doc has everything in place for our arrival.”
They both nodded, shifted, and ran ahead.
Aries also started walking.
“Star…” Juliet’s voice was sounding further and further away. She couldn’t answer. Her breathing became shallower and shallower. Sage rested her head against Aries’s shoulder.
“This is all my fault!” Juliet cried as Leo picked her up.
Sage heard voices as they came closer to the pack houses.
“Sage!” She recognized her uncle’s voice. She felt hands on her arms and knew that it must have been his.
“What happened?”
She recognized the voice of the pack doctor.
“I saw her chasing Juliet and mistook her for a threat. We fought, and I must have broken one of her ribs. She is coughing up blood, and her breathing is becoming shallower by the second,” Aries said.
He laid her down on a bed. Were they already in the infirmary? Sage heard beeping machines and felt something cold against her chest.
“I need everyone out of the room. I’m going to have to close her lung and set her bones,” Doc said.
“I’m not leaving her!” Rick objected.
“Rick, I don’t have time for this. Every second I do nothing, she is closer to death.”
“I don’t care, I’m not leaving my…,”—he stopped for a second—“my niece.”
Doc sighed. “Rick, I know this is hard, but I need you all to leave.”
“I won’t—” Rick started.
“You will!”
Even Sage could feel the command Leo gave him. Rick groaned, and after the door closed, she could feel Doc removing her clothing.
She felt a needle enter her arm, and not long after, she lost consciousness.
***
Sage found herself in a dark space. There was nothing around her. She took a step and felt something move past her leg.
She looked down and saw she was wearing a midnight blue dress with shining white spots that looked like the night sky.
It had a plunging neckline, and her sleeves were made from white see-through fabric and were tight around her arm until her elbow.
From there, a long piece of fabric reached the ground from the back of her arm.
The circle skirt rested on the ground, and it had a small train. It was one of the most beautiful dresses she had ever seen.
She was barefoot, and her hair was loose. Where was she?
She took another step forward, and in an instant, the white spots on her dress fell away, except for a few bright ones, and filled the dark space. It was like she was walking in the night sky.
“Finally, we’ve been waiting for you,” a male voice said.
Before she could answer him, she could hear a familiar voice scream. She looked behind her, and everything faded into darkness.
***
“It has been a week! Why hasn’t she woken up yet?” Rick screamed at Doc.
“I don’t know. I did everything I could, Rick. She is human. There is only so much I can do for her,” Doc answered.
Sage felt someone place his hand on hers. She focused her strength on it and squeezed a little. The hand immediately reacted and squeezed back.
“Sage?”
It was Rick’s voice.
Sage slowly opened her eyes and looked at her exhausted uncle. She gave him a small smile. “Hi, uncle.”
A tear rolled out of his eye, and he kissed the back of her hand. “Welcome back.”
She looked toward Doc. “What happened?” she asked.
“Your ribs were weak because of the bruising. When Alpha Aries fought you, there must have been a blow that broke two of them. One of the pieces punctured your right lung.
“I performed surgery on you. I have set your two broken ribs on the right, closed up your lung, and cleaned it.”
Sage placed her hand on the bandaged wound.
“You will feel some pain for the next few weeks, but besides that, you’ll live.
“Now that you are awake, I want to run some tests on you, and if you pass, you can go home. There is no need for bed rest as long as you take it slow.”
Sage gave her a small nod.
After Doc was done with the test and she was satisfied, Rick gave Sage some clean clothes for her to change into. It was some clean underwear, sweatpants, and a T-shirt.
She put her hair in a messy bun and walked out of the room. Her legs were a little wobbly, but she was glad to walk again.
Rick walked with her toward the pack houses. He guided her through the house to the back porch.
She looked at the water where Elijah, Romeo, Juliet, Edward, Rachel, Aries, Leo, and the two males she now knew as Jamerson and Adam were sitting on the edge.
“These alphas really don’t have any obligations, do they?”
Rick chuckled. “They do, but they have a break. Juliet has been a mess ever since that day in the woods. She has come by to see you every day in the infirmary.”
Sage looked at the little girl that was sitting further away from the rest of the group.
“Edward couldn’t focus and Aries still feels incredibly guilty. So, they decided to call it a day for now.”
Sage nodded. None of them noticed her and Rick approaching.
They were still werewolves, right?
She heard Juliet sobbing. Rick released her arm as she walked forward. Leo was the first to notice her. Sage saw him and quickly shook her head to not let anyone know she was here yet.
He smiled and gave a small nod. She walked up behind Juliet. “How are you doing, Beta?”
Juliet turned around at the speed of light.
Everyone else also turned around, but Sage only looked at the little girl, who looked like she saw a ghost.
Sage slowly got down on her knees and looked into her eyes. “I’m okay, kiddo.”
Juliet started sobbing again and threw her arms around Sage’s neck. Sage rubbed her back and soothed her. “It’s okay, Juliet.”
“I th-ou-ght, y-ou were go-ing to d-d-d-d-die,” Juliet said through her sobs.
Sage chuckled. “You don’t get rid of me that easily.”
Juliet pulled away and Sage dried her tears with her thumb.
“Sage?”
She looked toward the group and saw Elijah and Romeo with tears in their eyes. Rick helped her stand up. She walked over to them and Elijah quickly wrapped his arms around her neck.
Sage chuckled. As he pulled away, Romeo tapped his shoulder, and she kissed his cheek. Romeo grabbed her also in a hug.
“Don’t ever do that again!” he said as he pulled away and grabbed her shoulders.
She smiled. “I’m sorry.”
“How are you feeling?”
She looked over at Aries. “As good as I can be right now.”
He gave her a small nod.
“So, you are still alive.”
Sage turned around and looked at her two sisters. “Why? Were you ever worried I was not?”
Iliza snorted. “Should we have been?”
“If she did die, would you guys even be sad about it?” Adam asked.
Sage snorted. “They wouldn’t,” she answered for them.
“Of course we would! You still are our little sister!” Jessica said.
“Well, I’m honored,” Sage said mockingly.
The sisters rolled their eyes and walked off.
“You really have nice sisters.”
Sage looked at Leo. “I know, right.”
Leo snorted.
Juliet pulled on her sweatpants to get her attention. “I made something for you!”
Sage gave her a small smile as Juliet handed her a drawing that resembled her tattoo, but it was in the night sky.
She and Juliet looked at it. Sage followed the lines of her tattoo.
“Where did you get that?”
Sage looked up at Aries and Leo who had shocked faces.
“It was something impulsive I got at the pack’s tattoo artist a while ago.”
Leo and Aries both looked toward Rick who gulped.
“Am I missing something?” Sage asked
“What’s your full name?” Leo asked.
Sage gulped and looked at Rick. He had a remorseful look on his face. “I…I don’t know what it’s short for,” she said as she looked back at the alphas.
Aries looked at Rick. “What’s her full name, Rick?” Sage looked at him as well. He had a begging look on his face. It was like he was begging for them to not make him tell it.
“Alpha, I…”
“What is her full name?” Aries asked again with his command. It didn’t work on him as he was also an alpha-blooded.
A tear fell from Rick’s eye. “Sagittarius. Her full name is Sagittarius.”
Continue to the next chapter of The Starlit Wolf