Chapter 203: Waking Up To Chaos

LUMINA I gasped awake, my lungs burning as if I'd been drowning. The taste of copper filled my mouth, and my head pounded with a rhythm that made thinking nearly impossible. For several disorienting moments, I couldn't remember where I was or what had happened.   Then the memories crashed over me like a tidal wave.   The lights going out. The screaming from deeper in the hospital. The metallic scent of blood hitting my nose. Something large and snarling launching itself at me from the shadows -- not human, but not any species I could identify. The creature's glowing eyes and bared fangs as my wolf took over, forcing my shift just in time to meet the attack.   I pushed myself up from the floor of the waiting area, my body protesting every movement. My clothes were torn and bloodstained, and there were deep scratches along my arms that were already beginning to heal. Beside me lay the motionless form of what looked like a nightmare -- part wolf, part something else entirely, with unnatur