Reluctantly Rescued

Elly is happy with her life. She enjoys waking up from in her crib, having her nappy changed and then being held in a warm pair of arms as she is being fed from a milk bottle. She loves how safe and comforted she feels. Here, she is loved.

So, when she wakes up one day in a hospital and is told by the police in uniform that she has been 'saved from those dreadful werewolves and their sick fantasies', she's understandably confused and adamant on getting herself back home.

Meanwhile, Werewolf Alpha is on a rampage to get his pup back where she belongs — by his side.

~~~~~ Excerpt ~~~~~

Elly wakes up feeling adrift and not at all like herself. The first sign that things aren't normal is that she can move around freely.

She looks around, trying to find Daddy. He doesn't like leaving her alone for very long, so she knows he'll be close. The more she looks, the more she panicked she gets because there are many people moving about and none of them is her Daddy. Her eyes fill with tears and she curls her knees up against her chest. She resists the urge to suck her thumb in her mouth because she doesn't know if her thumb is clean and Daddy gets upset when she does it.

“Hello,” one of the older nurses walk over to her side, the skin between her brow furrowing when she looks at her. “How're you feeling, darling?” she asks.

Daddy says she shouldn't talk to strangers, but if she doesn't talk to her, she won't be able to help her find her Daddy. “Where's Daddy?” she asks, her voice a little shrill and panicked because she's feeling a little panicked. Her heart is beating very quickly.

“Your father's not here,” she says kindly. “Do you remember how you got here?”

She shakes her head and curls up tighter. The last thing she remembers is going out for a walk with Daddy for their weekly walk and then running into one of his friends. She doesn't like John. He is always looking at her like there's something wrong with her.

“You were rescued,” she says. “Someone remembers seeing your missing poster and rescued you from your kidnappers.”

“Rescued?” she echoes, her voice shrill and child-like. It makes the nurse cringe and she doesn't feel any better for having said it in the first place. The word feels weird on her tongue, feels wrong. She didn't— she doesn't need rescuing. She's happy with Daddy. She remembers how terrible her life was before Daddy came along and took care of everything for her.

“Yes,” she says and her enthusiasm is fast waning, like Elly isn't what she had expected and she's fast losing interest. Elly doesn't blame her. She had been invisible before her Daddy found her too.

Daddy sees her though. Daddy sees her all the time and takes care of her and makes sure she's always warm and her tummy is always full and he gives the best hugs. She misses him. She wishes he was there. “Where's Daddy?” she asks again, hopeful that she'll get it if she repeats it enough times even though a part of her remembers that's not how things work around here. Here, everything needs payment. Everything's a transaction.

The lines on her forehead grows deeper. “Why don't you wait here? I'll go get the officer handling your case,” she says, dismissing her with a pat on her knee that Elly successfully flinches away from so she doesn't touch her.

Daddy doesn't like it when other people touch her. He's a werewolf and has a very powerful sense of smell. He'll be able to smell if someone's touched her.