The Girl in the Woods

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The sun shines radiantly, sending brilliance to the stream of water flowing through the river. The water is so clear that it is so tempting for anyone to have a bath. Flocks of birds perched into the river to quench their thirst due to the intense heat from the sun, but they flew when they sensed that people were coming. They are a group of people in horses and carriages traveling and passing by the river. Horses whine and snort when their masters ask them to stop.

For the moment, the men stopped, led by Prince Darvyn when they reached the river. Nicholaus who is next to him raised his hands to stop their convoy at the back. Prince Darvyn then got down from his horse as soon as it stopped, passing the leash to Nicholaus. Nicholaus, who solely understands him, receives it and guides the horse to tie it for the meantime in one of the trees nearby. He commanded their men to take a short rest while waiting for the prince afterward. All of them got down from their horses, tied them to the trees nearby, and took their rest. Most of them leaned against the trees to relax for a little while. They've been traveling for almost twenty-four hours and staying in one of the villages, hence they still need to have rest as the night didn't give a peaceful sleep because they need to patrol in the village.

Some of them are quite curious about the actions of the Prince, but no one dares to ask about it. Moreover, they just continue observing him and become more comfortable with him.

In a while, Prince Darvyn strides towards the river, looking around like expecting someone to show up. When he reached the rocky riverbank just enough distance to reach the clear water, he bent down and used both his hands to scoop the water and freshen up his face. He again looked up with eyes closed. He took a deep breath and reminisced the times when he and Suranne enjoyed their moments at the river. He smiled when from his spot he seemed to vision the moment when Suranne kicked his bvtt that made him fall on the water when he was about to catch a fish. He can seemingly hear her laughter and giggles that made him chuckle.

“Naughty girl!”

“No! You are clumsy!” Suranne said followed by contagious laughter, that Prince Darvyn cannot resist not laughing too.

Suranne then ran for him not to catch her using her agility and not letting a chance for the prince to get him.

“Your Highness, are you okay?”

Nicholaus' voice helped him get back from his senses. He then turned his back and glared at him. The knight is smiling thinly looking at him.

“What is with that smile?” He asked, frowning. He knows that Nicholaus is trying to tease him. The knight just shakes his head lightly though he knows that the Prince knows that he is teasing him literally.

“The heat of the sun is piercingly hot, I think we need to continue our journey to the next village. The horses will be seemingly tired when we reach the place,” Nicholaus continued. “Unless you wanted to spend the day here and wait for her?” He moved a step farther away afterward before the Prince could realize what he just said. He loves teasing him like when they were still a child.

“Nicholaus?!”

Prince Darvyn darted at him with a fierce look while walking closer to him. When he finds he is out of the rocky river banks, he veers away back to where they left their men and horses. Prince Darvyn then chases him like they did when they were still a kid. The rest of the men were shocked but delighted to see their Prince as carefree and humorous as he is now. However, they still know their limits, they're still thinking of their ranks when it comes to being friends with the Prince. They are happy that even though there is a rigid and strict law imposed by the King, as long as the people are following the law, no one will be executed.

They then continue their journey to the next village. On their way, they tried to be vigilant about any tendencies of an accident or any actions associated with the disturbance from the previous night but they didn't find any traces. Residents from the villages also told them that after the night of the full moon, they didn't hear anything anymore. Prince Darvyn then assumed that his father might be true to his assumptions that the occurrences were related to the past. He shared his thoughts with Nicholaus and the latter agreed with him. Even their men express their opinions to their peers the same thoughts as they do.

Meanwhile, in the cave, Suranne is feeling better. She can eventually move freely without wincing in pain. She feels her sore muscles are back to their normal strength. She is sitting on the wooden bed that they prepared for her. When she looked around, the cave was built like a small house with two rooms divided by light materials like wood and a kind of woven leaves that she's not familiar with. One of the rooms is occupied by Montana and the other is the one where she spent her day and night for healing.

“How are you feeling, right now?” She turned around when someone spoke behind her. Her eyes then met with Gareth Straus.

“I'm feeling better. Thank you for your help,” she responded and smiled timidly.

“No worries,” told Gareth.

“Where is she?” Suranne asked when she looked around and could not find the person she was looking for.

“If you are looking for Montana. She is outside. She has a meeting with the rest of the pack.”

“Aren't you attending the meeting?”

“I've been there. We are done actually, but Montana wanted to stay there a little while.”

Suranne slightly nodded her head and halted when she noticed a young woman at the entrance of the cave that was looking at them. She felt uncomfortable the way she landed her stares on her. Gareth followed the direction of her stares and there he saw Elora is looking at them.

“Elora! Come over here!” Gareth called her, gesturing his hand, inviting her to come to them. Gareth knows Elora doesn't like the idea of joining them because of their little misunderstanding, but he will try his best to make the two get along together. Elora is right, he imprinted Suranne, the reason why he is happy that he was trusted by Montana to keep her on his watch.

On the other hand, Elora is reluctant to join them, but she wanted to try to be civil to Suranne. She has nothing to do anyway, Suranne is the only daughter of the Alpha that is leading their pack and might be the future Alpha of their pack. They are very rare alpha because of their ability to bear a pup, but according to Montana, Suranne can only be an Alpha if she must possess the personality of an alpha. Strong, agile, intelligent, and can handle pressures in leading the pack. At the moment, she cannot yet show off her abilities because she just found out her identity. Once she gets used to it, she will find her way to discover her powers related to her as a human.

“Hi!” Elora came and greeted Suranne but she stared at Gareth.

“Hello!” She responds timidly.

Suranne feels something off with her, but she just ignores it and thinks that it was their first meeting that made her feel so warm. Gareth just observes both of them. He looked at Elora and nodded, a gesture to tell her to talk to Suranne and he will leave. Elora smirked at him.

“How are you?” Elora asked hesitantly after a series of silence.

Suranne looked at her and smiled. “I feel better now,” she answered.

After that, they fell in silence again observing each other. Suranne who was new to the pack and had a lot more curiosity strikes her. She turned to Elora.

“How is it to be a wolf? I mean, in the pack?” She asked, but she doesn't know how and which is the appropriate question to ask.

“It was difficult, lots of struggles to undergo since we don't have the freedom to live like a normal being,” Elora heaves a sigh.

Suranne felt bad about it, but their lives aren't different from her before she knows her real identity. Being isolated in the woods surrounded by barrier spells, she is not different from a prisoner. But, she felt guilty sometimes to think that she disobeyed the rules of those who were trying to protect her. Now she fully understands why Helga and the knights are hiding her in the woods.

“I grew up with no one to play with, but a fairy. Animals of different species in the woods are my playmates. I grew up asking, begging to know who I am, why I should live a life in a way that is a lot different from that outside of the woods. Now, I think I understand the reason why,” she narrated.

“Still, you are fortunate.”

Suranne looked at Elora suddenly. Her brows creased. She is thinking that how she could tell her that she is fortunate when she doesn't have freedom at al. If she won't sneak out of the woods, she couldn't experience being outside and mingle with other people and while outside, her mind still has no freedom because she is thinking about the people who are trying to protect her. She felt the guilt of being able to get what she wished for but at the expense of the trust and protection that they have given to her. Maybe Elora is right. She is lucky that during those times that she snuck out of the woods, nothing bad happened to her.

Suranne heaves a sigh. “Maybe, I am!”

Elora wanted to say something when she saw Montana standing at the cave entrance and looking at both of them. When she notices that Elora is looking at her, she smiles and strides towards them.

“I'm happy that you get along together.” She said when she is closer to them. Suranne looked at her intently and smiled reluctantly. She can't still imagine herself, her identity being a werewolf that the humans considered a beast. That's how she heard when she was outside of the woods. The story version of the people who maybe had read the scrolls of history.

“Do you feel better?” Montana asked.

Suranne nodded. She is still uncomfortable with her newfound mom. She still cannot fathom everything that he discovered about her identity.

Elora, who felt awkward between Montana and Suranne, bid to leave and give them a chance to talk. When she left, Montana sat on the rock in front of Suranne, but she hadn't sat properly when Suranne asked, which made her pull herself up abruptly.

“How did I become a werewolf?”