Aliana, who had fully recovered after her scream, left her room in her female form. She was worried about her brother and had a disturbing question: what was that painful noise that had affected her ears? She asked one of the guards where the Alpha was.
"In the dungeon, interrogating the witch," said the man.
Aliana had a bad feeling and ran to meet him, down the long stairs that led to the basement, which was full of empty cells except for one. She saw her brother standing upright, staring at the floor, and at his feet she saw the motionless body of the creature that had helped her free herself from the silver trap in the forest.
"What have you done, Cas?" Aliana shouted.
"Stay away, she's dangerous," the Alpha warned her not to approach.
"What are you talking about? She's not dangerous," she said to the Alpha in a clear tone of distress.
"The Beta informed me that the witch was following you!"
It was at that moment that Aliana realized the enormous misunderstanding.
"She only followed me because she wanted to help me and treat my wounds. She was the one who freed me from the trap."
Aliana threw herself over Luz's unconscious body, tears streaming down her face, repeating, "What have you done, Cas? For the Moon Goddess, what have you done?" She touched her body and shook her gently to see if she would react, but there was no response.
The Alpha, with a cold expression, snapped, "Do what you want with the creature," and left, leaving Aliana with Luz in her arms.
The teenager called the guard who was guarding the cell and ordered him to take Luz's unconscious body to the room next to hers.
Three women followed them in, laid her on the bed, and tore her clothes with knives, leaving her body completely exposed.
They prepared a tub with warm water and placed the unconscious girl in it.
They bathed her very carefully, removing all the thick mud and revealing her true appearance. One of the women cried out in pity at her wounds.
"Put her on the bed," Aliana wanted to see the woman's body to get a better idea of her injuries.
I cried when I saw them. She had a huge bruise on her abdomen and back. On her neck, you could see the marks left by the fingers that had grabbed her. Her cheek, cheekbone, and right eye were purple and swollen, her lips were split and still full of blood. When she lifted her eyelid, she saw the blood-red tint that covered the entire conjunctiva.
"Please wake up," she whispered in her ear, but got no response. She covered Luz's body with a white sheet and called for the healer.
Shortly after, a well-built woman with white hair, no more than 50 years old, entered the room and immediately reported to the Alpha's sister.
It was Roxi, the healer. In this world, a healer is like a doctor who, in addition to using herbs and different spices to treat ailments, also uses healing magic. Their magic was only for healing; it had no other purpose. On the other hand, wizards and witches could cast different types of spells and were more powerful.
The packs across the continent had these healing shape-shifters especially for serious situations. It was unusual to need their services when they weren't at war, because werewolves don't generally get sick and have an extraordinarily fast healing ability. Small wounds heal in seconds, and more serious ones take only a couple of hours to heal.
Aliana explained everything that had happened to Roxi and expressed her concern that a shapeshifter would have already healed from his injuries, but this young woman remained exactly the same as when she found her in the dungeon.
As the healer approached, she assessed the injuries, took her pulse, and placed her hands on Luz's body without touching her, running them from her head to the tips of her toes. She looked at Aliana with a surprised expression.
"She's not a shapeshifter, nor is she a witch, an elf, or any other creature from this world," said the healer, unable to hide her surprise. She had never seen anyone like her before and wondered what kind of creature she could be.
Werewolves and shape-shifters all had white skin and their hair varied in color, but it was always straight or with soft curls. She had never seen curls like these before. The description of the inhabitants of this planet also included elves, who differed in that they had pointed ears and could not change into animal form.
As for the witches, the only difference between them and the other two were that their skin had a slight green tint.
But Luz was different. Her skin was dark, lighter than a mulatto but darker than a white woman. It was as if someone with fair skin had been tanned to a beautiful dark brown. Her long black hair was full of curls like fine, thick springs, but the most surprising thing was the color of her green eyes. No one else on this planet had eyes like hers.
This woman was unique in her physical characteristics, not to mention the beauty of her features on the left side of her face, which was unbruised.
Roxi continued to move her palms over Luz's body.
The healer said she had internal bleeding in her abdomen and a brain contusion that was keeping her in a coma.
She applied all her energy to help heal her wounds. She managed to stop the bleeding and reduce the swelling in her brain and face.
"Give her time," Roxi said to Aliana. "Only time will tell if she survives her injuries."
Aliana was devastated and truly angry with the Beta and the Alpha for assuming things without asking, but she was also upset with herself for being so stupid as to not make the young woman's intentions clear.