Book 15: Am I Dead?

Marianna

I wake with a start in a sun drenched room I find completely unfamiliar. My brain is a dead weight in my skull–heavy and hazy–like someone’s been sitting on it, pressing me deep into the paper thin, but incredibly stiff, mattress.

New scents erupt all around me, but they’re not as sharp as they normally are. In fact, my senses feel… all tangled. I can’t feel my wolf at all. Instead, I just feel… odd.

I try to lift my head off a thin pillow that smells sharply of laundry detergent but can’t. A dull ache grips my neck, forcing me to give up.

I grip sheets that don’t feel familiar. Starched and stiff, they crinkle between my fingers, and I have a sudden, blurry memory of Skye’s birth in that hospital in Crescent Falls.

After a wave of nausea passes, I grunt with the effort of sitting up, using my elbow to lift my upper body into position. Off-white walls and sparkling clean tile floors in a soft gray greet me along with the glare