Chapter 132 - Artem - Reconnecting To The Wolves
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Artem
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It took a few minutes to get all the children moved down the hall. Trinity and Reece helped and so did me and Star. Still, there were eleven kids to move right now and only seven of us. And as Doc had said we were doing our best to have them walk.
They had all been asleep for a long time and so their legs were a little weak and hard to get moving. They all managed it though. Slowly and steadily they all made their way down the hall to the library. Lana and Griffin stayed with them while Doc went back with us to wake the other two boys.
None of us knew what to expect with the two boys that were technically old enough to shift. We didn't know if the connections would force a change or not. Plus, we didn't know what state their wolves would be in if they did shift.
We had to be careful with these next several minutes. So many things could go wrong.
Juniper put her hands on Flint's arm. He was thirteen but looked no older than ten at most. He was a good kid, smart, sarcastic at times, but sweet as well. I hated that any of these kids had been treated this way. I wanted to make their lives better and I couldn't do that if they were in a coma because of some sick asshole of a Warlock and their own stupid families.
That light started to shine again while I had been lost in thought. The intensity grew and grew just like before. This time though, it didn't fade immediately. It was like the connection was harder to fix than the ones for the younger kids had been.
The shining light began to shift colors without fading. It shifted from a pure white to yellow then into a golden color, finally it shifted into something that looked like bronze. The intensity was a little less with the color added to the light but it was still hard to look at.
When the shining light finally started to recede it happened just like it did with the others. Flint began to stir and opened his eyes. He looked around the room and saw the three faces he didn't know but he also saw those of us that he did recognize. He smiled at Star and me before he started to talk.
"Artem, I heard my wolf talking. Does that mean that I can shift soon? Is my talisman gone?" He was such a smart kid, but he was still a kid and the excitement made me smile.
"Yeah, it does pal. We will have to be on the lookout for it sometime soon, huh?" That made his smile even bigger.
"Are we all better now, all of us?"
"We still have to wake Julian." Doc informed him. "But everyone else is all better. Let me get you a bottle of juice and then I will help walk you down to the library."
"Thank you. All of you. I don't know all of you but I know that I wouldn't be awake without you."
"You're very welcome." Trinity smiled at him. "I am just glad that you're awake."
We waited while Flint drank his juice and Doc walked him down the hall. Once he was back into the room, we all positioned ourselves around Julian's bed. It looked like we didn't have anything to worry about right now so we just went straight to waking Julian up.
For this one, Juniper said it would probably be best if she was standing by Julian's head. As his connection was the most severed it would be able to reach him quicker and easier if she were to start at that focal point.
I didn't argue with her, I just grabbed the foot of the bed and pulled it away from the wall by a few feet. That earned me a look from Doc and some grumblings as well. It was something about a scuffed floor and stressed tubes on the machines.
"Speaking of those tubes, Doc, would it be best to remove them before he wakes up? He is the last one and just in case you know."
"You might be right."
Following that Doc slowly removed all the tubes and wires from Julian except for the one that monitored his pulse. That would make it easier to see if something were happening to him.
With all the unnecessary things removed Juniper finally got to work. She placed her hands at Julian's temples and started to concentrate. That same bright white light began to shine. It immediately encompassed all of Julian in its radiant presence.
It didn't take anywhere near as much time for the light to reach its full intensity this time around. We were all blocking our eyes from the glare at about the same time, and that was when the light changed colors again.
Unlike with Flint, the light turned orange this time. It steadily grew darker and darker until it was red. That's not where it stopped though. The light darkened to brown and then black. The moment the light turned black it went out in an instant.
There was a loud, menacing growl coming from the throat of the boy who had been asleep. That was the only warning we had before Julian shifted.
It happened quicker than I would have thought possible. He was a growling, yet sleeping, boy one second and the next he was a wolf that was glaring at us all.
Julian's wolf was golden blonde, like his hair, and it had bright yellow eyes. It was smaller than a normal male werewolf but it was still larger than our cousins in the animal world. And right now he was standing on the bed growling menacingly at all of us.
I had just barely had time to pull Juniper out of the way before Julian had jumped up and snapped the empty air with his teeth. That was how close we had gotten with all of this. I had hoped that the connection would go as smoothly as it did with Flint. I guess we couldn't be that lucky again.
I saw Reece standing protectively in front of Trinity. It was so much like the stance I had taken to block Juniper and Star from the wolf's path. I also saw that Doc was standing at the ready and was prepared to help out.
The problem here was, this was not a rogue wolf. This was not a bad guy. This was not someone we needed to be fighting.
NO. This was a teenaged boy that needed our help. This was a young man that had been beaten, abused, and mistreated for too much of his life. This was a boy that I wanted to save.
"Julian? Julian it's me." I called out to him. "Julian, you need to come to your senses. Come on buddy. Remember who you are. Think about where you are. You don't want to do this do you?"
"I don't think he can hear you yet." Juniper called from behind me. "I was about to repair the connection when his wolf came to the surface. I need to finish my work."
"That's too dangerous, Juniper!" Reece yelled at her with anger and a ring of command.
"I can do it, Reece. I just need you guys to hold him down."
"No!" Reece's voice rang with authority.
"Trinity?" Juniper pleaded with her instead.
"Do you really think that you can do it?" Trinity asked her, willing to listen at least.
"Yes, I was almost there."
"Fine."
At that I watched Trinity sidestep around Reece. He made a grab to stop her but she just looked at him and spoke firmly.
"Reece! This is what we are here to do. She will help him." I saw the moment that the man was forced to listen to his mate. This was the true power of the Luna Queen I was seeing. It was amazing.
Trinity raised her arms and looked at Julian with determined eyes.
"Juniper, I'll give you an opening. Hurry and do what you need to do."
I was worried then. What was the Luna Queen going to do? What was Trinity planning that we three men supposedly couldn't. I didn't have to wait long to find out.
Trinity just looked at Julian, nothing more, but bright ropes flew out of her hands and tied the wolf boy up. All of his paws were bound like he was hogtied. There was even a shining rope around his mouth so that he couldn't bite the woman trying to help him.
Juniper moved quickly. She was at Julian's head and had her hands on his temples in no time at all. The shining light was back and it was once again white. I hoped it would work this time.
I saw that Juniper was looking tired though. She had put a lot of strain on herself with all of these healings. I didn't want her to hurt herself in the process of helping others.
This time when the light started to shift it took the yellow route that Flint's had. It shifted until it got to the same bronze color. That was when it started to fade.
When the light was gone we all looked at the boy who was on the bed. He wasn't a wolf anymore, he had shifted back to his human form.
Trinity made the shining ropes disappear and I grabbed a blanket from another bed. Just as I covered him up Julian opened his eyes. He was awake and he was himself again.