Chapter 7

The door cracked open, waking Zoe.

“Good morning, sweets.” Damien said energized, fully awake, and looking ready to run a marathon. She put a cover over her head and groaned, this was much too early!

I must look like a post-apocalypse survivor, she thought.

“Morning,” she said from beneath the sheets, her voice still groggy and drained from last night’s “exercise”. And what an exercise!

“I brought you breakfast,” he said. That woke her enough to finally realize that the awesome smell was not in her dream, fading into nothing. She composed herself and sat on the bed.

“Don’t get up, don’t get up,” he said, placing a tray next to her. “I have to leave, there’s some.... pending business due to yesterday’s encounter, I wanted to let you sleep so I didn’t wake you.”

“You already ate?” she asked, her voice sounding like a cartoon chicken with a bad case of the flu, definitely far less sexy than she intended. She cleared her throat and took the tray, there were several dishes there and the smell was absolutely enthralling. She realized she was starving, she hadn’t eaten since yesterday!

“I made you bacon and eggs, put some veggies in there so it’s not all fat and protein. I don’t know what you like, so I made you a little bit of everything, toast, here’s the orange juice, careful not to spill it... there’s more downstairs if you want.”

She was almost in shock, this was much more than she expected, it looked like a cereal commercial, where they have full breakfast like this and pretend it’s normal and say “part of a balanced diet”, ignoring how people like her just straight up serve a bowl or two of the thing and that’s it.

“Damien, you made all of this yourself? It’s too much!”

“Don’t worry, you don’t have to eat it all—”

“No, I mean, too much as in ‘thanks a lot, no one's ever done this for me before’ way, not in the ‘I’m a bitch, you made too much food, I’m not pleased’ way” she mumbled, “no, but really... thank you, this looks amazing” she said and his eyes just shone with happiness.

“Glad you like it,” he said and turned to the door, “I’ll see you in the afternoon, around four or five, that okay?”

“Yes, that’s perfectly okay.”

“You need to rest a little bit more, I know your wounds are much better today, you proved that yesterday evening,” he said with a wink, “just please, don’t go off the HQ perimeter.”

She made a funny face, “in English?”

He cleared his throat. “Just don’t go exploring outside the trail, at least for now, not until we make sure the Rot is really gone.”

She shivered when she heard that word.

“You mean there’s still danger?”

“Not in our area, not on the trail. Make yourself comfortable in the house, if you need more meds, remember to go down to the comms tower, it’s a ten, fifteen minute walk from here, nothing bad will happen to you, you have my word.”

She felt much better. Her stomach grumbled and she instantly blushed, her eyes dropping to the floor.

“You should eat it before it gets cold,” he said laughing.

“I’d like to shower and change, can I go get my stuff from the car, or should I wait?”

“We’re checking again near your camp, just to see if there’s anything weird, we could pick up your stuff and bring it here.”

“That would be awesome! I just need the green suitcase, I have everything I need there. Ignore everything else, it’s a mess, I left in kind of a hurry.”

Damien smiled, taking her keys from the bureau.

“I’ll tell Maverick to bring you your stuff, he’s headed that way.”

“Thanks, Damien.”

“All right then, have a great day,” he said walking out of the bedroom, taking a look back at her at her for a second, and leaving.

***

Damien walked the trail down to the headquarters, it was a wonderful morning. This was one of his favorite moments in the day: strolling just before the sun arose, cool air still lingering, dew on the leaves and ground.

He walked up the steps of the comms tower, Mav was there already, eyes on his cell phone as always, his face reflecting the blueish tint of the small screen. The smell of coffee filling the room.

“Morning Mav, how you doing?”

Mav looked up, face still half asleep.

“Waiting for my morning drug,” he said, pointing at the coffee-maker.

“Great, we have work to do, I don’t want you to miss anything.”

“Boss, you know I never miss anything.”

The coffee maker rang a soft bell, the coffee was ready. Damien took the jar, served a yellow mug and said “you take it black, right?” passing it to Mav.

“Sure,” he said, arching his brow. “Well someone’s in a good mood today! I can see why tho’, you haven’t stopped looking at that girl Zoe since yesterday.”

Damien’s smile faded.

“Stop it you fucker, can’t I be nice for one moment before you start interrogating me?”

Mav laughed.

“I’m not gonna complain, boss, I was just saying.”

“You know what we have to do today, right?”

“Sure”

They walked down the trail, away from the perimeter. Bear shifters —they were told— emitted a pheromone that lower animals could sense. Since the whole clan was living in a determinate area in the forest, the pheromone concentrated there in a half-mile radius mostly, fading quickly after that. The rot avoided places like that, the punctures happened deep in the forest, that’s why they were there, alone.

Each member of the clan had an area to take care of, their pheromones attaching to all things natural as they passed by. Most times, they went off for days, going as far as they could before picking up the scent of another shifter. That was the only way to make sure that everything was fine.

“It’s weird,” he thought out loud.

Mav turned to him, “what’s weird?”

Damien kept walking, still thinking, then replied.

“I was thinking it’s weird that the Rot punctured an area so close to the trail, it must have been a weak spot or something.”

“It just didn’t expect for someone to be there at that time, if you continued your round it would’ve passed undetected for a while. After all the mess with your girl—”

“Wait, my girl? What’s up with that?”

“Well I, you know, err, don’t it—”

“Make sense, man, now.”

“I mean, the girl you brought to the HQ, aren’t you gonna mate her?”

Damien stopped, turning to him. “Her name is Zoe, she’s not my girl, and she definitely isn’t my mate.”

“Yeah boss that’s what I meant, the girl who’s on her own and you brought back, wounded.”

“Okay, so, what’s up with that?”

“It was an opportunity the Rot couldn’t pass up, you know? You had already went on your way so no shifter would be around, a girl is coming back, alone, it probably thought it could feed off her, get stronger, and spread faster or something, I don’t know I’m just throwing ideas, see what sticks.”

“If that’s how it works now, we’ll have to be more careful. I dealt with it as always, hope it learns its lesson.”

“You can’t teach cancer a lesson, you just kick it in the balls as hard as you can.”

“You have to give it to her though, a thornbush got her leg and when I got to her she could talk normal. Enzo said her recovery was incredible, even for a shifter it would’ve been incredible.”

“It was, she got lucky you were around.”

“I’m the one that was lucky,” Damien said to himself.

Mav looked at him, not saying a word.

Damien felt his gaze and looked back at him, “What?”

Maverick laughed, “nothing, boss, I thought I heard something is all.”

The boss had found his mate, he just didn’t know it yet.

***

Zoe took a while finishing her breakfast. Every bite she took was delicious, but it’s just bacon and eggs! she continually told herself. It tasted different somehow, she was sure this was not one of those off the shelf brands she usually got on the supermarket. This was the real deal, organic, unmodified by hormones or whatever they put in them.

She turned on the TV and wasn’t that surprised to find Damien had an Internet TV streaming service. Of course he had to have one, she thought, happily amused.

She looked at the featured movies and series, but couldn’t find anything that interested her, so she turned it off, opened the curtains, and got blinded by the outside light.

The room had a huge window opposite the entrance door, parallel to the bed. The scenery was amazing: great pine trees towering around the house, the sun reaching out to her, warming her body, and just below her, the backyard, a garden that seemed straight out of a magazine or artist’s home. She knew he told her it was designed by someone else, Raiden, he called him? but to keep it like this must have taken a great deal of care. So you’re not a complete barbarian, Mister Damien Black, you just look like one.

She could use her leg almost normally now, walking hurt a little but nothing she couldn’t handle. It was getting late, and she was bored. She’d wash the dishes and find something to do after.

Outside the room, in the morning light, the cabin looked even bigger than it seemed yesterday. It had high ceilings. The decoration was minimalistic, everything in the house had its place, the rustic feeling combined with the minimal decor made the house look especially clean and cozy, she could relax in there just doing nothing.

She could see the entire living room area while walking down the stairs, some pictures above the chimney, hardwood floor and square-shaped furniture, contrasting the more natural, asymmetric elements everywhere else.

She went inside the kitchen and a sudden burst of pain flared up in her right foot. She supported herself on the kitchens island, careful not to step hard just like she had done so a second ago. She was so immersed in Damien’s home, what it told her about him, that she forgot about her messed up leg. Dumb, dumb, dumb, she scorned herself, rubbing her foot.

After a minute or two, she continued, the pain mostly gone. She cleaned the dishes quickly and put them on the draining board. She didn’t want to open any of the cupboards, it wasn’t her home, she didn’t want to look like she was snooping.

She sat on the sofa for a while, trying to read a book on her cell phone. She was getting antsy, a shower was definitely needed, but didn’t know if she should walk down the trail yet. Oh well, whatever, she finally decided. She’d walk —slowly walk— down to the HQ and if she felt any pain she’d ask for painkillers or something.

The walk was not as bad as she expected. Yes, her foot bothered her, and the thorn pricks on her arms and leg flared up from time to time, but the pain wasn’t nearly as intense as the day before. She was sure that by the end of the day, her wounds would be completely healed. Just in time for dinner she thought, smiling.

She reached four mid-sized, rectangular structures That’s what I’d believe the government would provide. Simple, all function, no decoration, steel structures. She was surprised her suitcase was sitting by the lab area she was taken to yesterday.

“Hello?” she called, “anyone around?”

A muffled voice came from inside the Lab “Oh, yes! Yes, wait.”

A big man came out the door, he was not as broad shouldered as Damien, but still very, very strong. What is it with shifters? Do they all look like swimmers? She thought, amused.

“You look much better today, I’m glad,” he said.

“You are...” She remembered that voice but couldn’t place him.

“Oh! I’m Enzo, I helped you—”

“Oh yes! Enzo! Hey, thanks a lot for everything. I saw you helping, but couldn’t really see you, I was a mess yesterday.”

“No problem!” He walked out to meet her, “Did the pain go away?”

“Well, mostly, yes... I just have to be careful when I walk, I almost fell earlier because I wasn’t paying attention and it flared up and—”

“Oh damn, okay, do you need help to walk? Let’s take a look at that.”

He walked to her, grabbing her case on the way.

“Mav just brought this, I told him I could bring it to you, I was going to Damien’s to see if you were okay, you beat me to it I guess.”

He looked at the suitcase, then at her, his eyes shifted, thinking of something. Then he smiled and put the case down.

“I guess, um, maybe I should check on you first, right?” he said.

Zoe smiled and nodded.

“Right,” he said, “I’ll help you take this to the cabin afterwards.”

“I’m okay with that.” she said, entering the lab.

The lab was a little messier than yesterday, the steel tables weren't completely clean, a bunch of materials in them. Zoe sat on the bed, looking at the experiments in process.

“Please raise your leg,” Enzo said, pulling over a small round bench, for her to put her foot on. She did and he started removing the bandages, murmuring “all right, all right” every five seconds or so.

He touched the back of her shin and put a little bit of pressure on it, “Does this hurt?” she shook her head.

He inspected every puncture, gently touching the ones that seemed bigger, asking if it hurt. Most of them didn’t, others were still sensitive, Enzo just nodded. Inspected the base of her foot, where a small gash was still healing.

“May I see your hands, please?”

She put them forward and he checked them. After he was done, he cleared his throat and went to the medicine racks, took out a bottle, shook it, and went and grabbed some pills out of another box.

He placed the bottle and pills on the steel table beside the door, mashed the pills into dust, then mixed it with the bottle’s fluid, creating a light toned paste. He picked up the paste with a tongue depressor and started smearing it on the base of her foot. The whole thing seemed overly unscientific to her.

“It’s not unscientific,” he said, “I mean, um... this paste will help speed up the healing, which by the way is almost finished, but I don’t want to risk it.”

Zoe nodded calmly, then stopped.

“Wait, how...—?”

Enzo looked at her confused, then his eyes went wide.

“Oh, I’m sorry, it wasn’t... it wasn’t on purpose, it’s just, you’re new...”

“Did you just read my thoughts?”

He looked at her, then sighed deeply.

“Yes”, he said, then corrected himself immediately, “I mean, no, not really, I cannot actually read your thoughts. But I do pick up the general idea of what you’re thinking. Surface thoughts only,” he mumbled, fishing for words, then continued, “I don’t do that, not consciously, I block everyone, I don’t like reading people like that. Feels like an invasion of privacy, and I can’t read most shifters anyway—”

“But I’m not a shifter.”

“Yes, yes you’re right. I try to block everyone whenever I’m in public. It’s kind of a curse, you know, I can barely concentrate on my own thoughts, and people shooting ideas straight into my brain can mess me up sometimes.”

“Are you serious? You know what everyone is thinking?”

“No, I mean it, just surface thoughts, strong thoughts, emotions, I don’t know how to explain. I pick up the surface ideas only, like if you’re hungry, I can tell whether you’d like to have sushi or a burger or whatever you want. Or if you’re not very sure about this paste, I pick up a word or two, it’s not like your inner monologue infiltrates into my thoughts.”

“You just said the word I was thinking.”

“Yes, you were really worried about the whole process and that word came to my mind and I just spewed it, sorry I didn’t mean to pry.”

She laughed

“Don’t worry, I’m just glad you told me. I wasn’t aware shifters could do that.”

Enzo smiled, softly touched the sole of her foot, and his other hand went to her right knee, putting a little pressure on it.

“There are things that we do that either people don’t believe or we don’t make public. You know how the masses are, and the media, they just want to scare people off, we have to keep it low profile.”

She understood. He stopped talking, concentrating on her leg. She felt it warming up, the paste tingling on her foot. Slowly, the pain faded, her body bathing in relaxation.

“You’re doing great. I didn’t know humans could heal so fast from Rot poisoning.”

Zoe’s face fell.

“I mean, that’s how we call it, you know, it’s not bad, not bad at all, you’re doing great, nothing bad happened to you, don’t worry.”

She breathed again, calmer now.

***

They walked back to Damien’s cabin, Enzo had her case on his shoulder.

“So how do you like it in here?” he asked.

“It’s beautiful, really, it feels... it’s a great place, I never imagined I’d be deep in the woods like this and meet so many great people, you know?”

He smiled. “I’m glad you’re liking it. Despite all that happened.”

“Lucky me, I had Damien to save me.”

“For real, it could’ve turned into a tragedy if he wasn’t around. He always knows what to do, he’s a good example to us all. I’m a bit more, I don’t know, I wouldn’t know how to deal with all the responsibility. He always keeps his cool.”

She nodded in silence.

“He really is your friend, right?”

He straightened with that, and smiled.

“He’s our leader, our alpha, we couldn’t have chosen a better one.”

She remembered Damien by the creek, warning her about her surroundings, but not in a commanding, demeaning tone. He trusted her even back then. Her camp was close and if there hadn’t been otherworldly problems, everything would’ve been okay. He was funny and charming in a weird way, she couldn’t keep from smiling, remembering how she was flirting. It was just a dumb thing to do, she was never so in-your-face like that. Accountants like her weren’t known for being such extroverts, but it just flowed so naturally, she couldn’t believe it happened.

“Well... we’re here,” Enzo said. Zoe was lost in thought and didn’t realize they were at the door.

“Thank you for everything Enzo, you were right, I do feel much better now,” she said, shaking hands with him.

“Told you, it’s science,” he said.

“Science...” she teased.

“Well you know, science does the trick, but if a shifter can channel nature and help it a little bit, well... you know he’s going to.”

She gave him a friendly hug, “It was great meeting you.”

“You too! I should go back now, talk to you later!” And with that, the awkward, strong, tall bear shifter walked back to the headquarters.

It wasn’t so late yet, there were some hours left before Damien was back, she bit her lower lip. She already missed him —just a little bit, though.

“Just little bit”, she said out loud, “nothing to worry about, Zoe Fox, nothing to worry about.”