And Then She Was Gone

Battle Ready

"How are you feeling, Liz?" Alex asked with a clear concern on his face as they walked about the hall of the hospital floor that had temporarily become her home. He taking the reigns from Jason momentarily, so the Alpha could shower and report to his leadership in private, now that Elizabeth seemed to have progressed in her healing.

"I'm feeling much better. I can't wait to go home." She said honestly. This territory left her feeling uneasy and there were not many good memories she had within its depths, her eagerness to leave the region outweighed her vested interest in recovering.

"It's funny, you know." He said with a sigh. "Not too long ago, all I wanted you to do was come back, and now I find myself not being able to wait until you go home." A soft smile emerging on his face, as he shared a mutual understanding with her, the two of them would only be able to comprehend.

"I know what you mean... But I want you to know, I did truly love you." She said with her own soft smile. "At one point..."

"I loved you too... but things are the way they should have been all along. I'm so glad Jason found you." He said with a nod, giving a  light squeeze to her shoulder. "He's so good for you, Liz."

"Too good." She said with a soft laugh as her eyes looked down. "We all have come along way, and in rapid fashion. I just kinda wish I would have known what it would have been like without the others..."

"Me too, but I think it was meant to be. I don't think any of us would have found the strength we needed for this life, without them... like fate, you know?" He said with his head tilting, his blue eyes searching for her understanding, only meeting another laugh.

"You wolves and your talk of fate and destiny." She said shaking her head with a roll of her eyes, still wearing her small smile.

"Well.. don't forget you're a wolf too, my dear." He said giving her a gentle nudge with his shoulder, causing her walk to become slightly uneven for a few steps before he gripped her bicep and leveled its measure.

"Ah yes.. the noshif who disrupted the lycan nation." She said with raised eyes, holding a sort of a dejection in their twinkle despite the grin on her face.

"Noshif or not. You still got an unmatched prowess. You're strong, Liz. So, strong. And who knows, you've shifted before, you might be able to shift again." He said with a small shrug, not putting it out of the realm of possibility.

"That was Mathias, not me." She said with a firm shake of her head.

"It may have been him, but your body proved its capable. Don't discredit your own ability." He said back in his own confidence of her.

"I'm perfectly comfortable staying in this form. Shifting or delving too deeply into my other senses, never did me any favors." She said looking over to him with soft hazel eyes, showing her own tired weariness. "I'm just lucky I have the benefit of an overbearing mate who will not let me stray too far. I'm sure I'm going home and going to be locked away again, and I'm kind of looking forward to it."

"Oh, he's definitely going to tuck you away for a bit. But I doubt for long. He's way too proud of you to dim your shine... he's definitely going to want to show you off in a matter of time." Alex smirked with a shake of his head, knowing if he was in the Alphas place he would want to do the same thing.

"Are people really talking that much about this whole ordeal?" She looked over to him, her forward progress stopping.

"Absolutely. I think they're more impressed with you than him, considering your backstory filled with your obscurity from it all." Alex nodded as he nudged his head in the forward direction, wanting her to continue her exercise. "You're an impressive force all on your own. The men are fawning over you, and the women either want to be you, or loathe you entirely, my mate included, though she has fair reason." He said with a laugh as they continued forward.