The Woods

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            Daniel made me a sandwich with cheese and ham on rye. It was pretty good but I felt like I was swallowing a block. His stare was intense and I knew that he really wanted to know what happened when I was in the Capitol. I took a long sip of water and looked back at Daniel. He pulled out a chair and then sat down next to me.

            “Are you okay?” Was his first question. I nod slowly and Daniel grabs my hand. I smile gently at him. I was just so happy to see him but his anger was still evident in his face. He was going to punish Adam no matter what I said to try and stop it.

            “I need to know everything that happened Calla.” He says to me. I nod once and push my plate away. Suddenly I wasn’t to hungry. I take a big, long deep breath and look at Daniel right in the eye.

            I told him everything. From the time we arrived to when we went to dinner and I emphasized on the whole thing with Adam and telling him not to go with us hoping that Daniel wouldn’t punish him. I then told him about the group of men and how they were a pack. They smelled Daniel’s scent all over me and saw my mark. I told him they thought I was a werewolf and how they took me to some old building and tried to get me to talk. It was hard to tell him that they beat me and he seemed to grow more upset.

            “And then we got away, but I know they are going to keep looking for me.” I say. I didn’t tell him about how Victor helped me. He would never trust Victor and I wasn’t sure if I even trusted him.

            “Why would they keep looking for you? I know that female werewolves are hard to come by sometimes…” Daniel says trailing off. That would make sense but that was not the reason why.

            “They want your power. Mogard’s power. They just want to use me as bait.” I say to Daniel. He closes his eyes briefly and growls. He was pissed. When he opens his eyes, they are yellow.

            “Those lowlifes will never use you as bait. I won’t let it happen.” Daniel says and squeezes my hand. I smile and get up to hug him. I just wanted him to not be so tense. Daniel touches my face gently.

            “Who did this to you?” Daniel asks me. I look down but he lifts my chin up forcing me to look at him. He was waiting for an answer.

            “His name was Victor. The alpha’s son.” I say quietly. As much as I didn’t want to rat out Victor, I had to do it. Daniel wouldn’t let me hear the end of it if I didn’t.

            “If he ever comes near here, I’ll kill him.” Daniel whispers. I knew he was serious. Daniel would do it and I knew in my heart that I had to stop it if that ever happened. Victor was only following orders.

            I hug Daniel and he then lead me upstairs. Daniel gathers up a towel and some clean clothes for me. He leaves me so I can shower and I take a long hot shower. It felt so good to bathe. Especially after being filthy for three days.  When I got out, I dressed and braided my hair. I feel like it has gotten longer the past few days, if that was even possible. After I was all dressed, I headed downstairs to find Adam and Diana sitting on the couch in the living room. She was holding his hand tight and he had her arm around her.

            “You look—clean.” Adam says to me giving me a small smile. I grin and sit across from the two of them. Diana looks miserable. I lean forward a little bit.

            “I’m sorry—I tried to tell him not to hurt you.” I say quietly. Adam shakes his head and Diana gives me a cold look. She was just starting to warm up to me and now…she hated me again.