Hers Freely

19. The path less travelled

Wolf

After walking most of the morning, I was determined to have her make up for the time that infuriating human had me waste at early dawn. Apparently, she decided to be a bit of a brat refusing to get up. Not only that but she caught me off guard when she rolled away from me, having me tumble forward and hit my face into the tree.

I have to admit it caught me off guard and kinda hurt our ego a bit.

Instinctively out of frustration, I grabbed her needing to regain control of the situation, However, not before she let out a little burst of a laugher—bright and innocent. When I heard it, I was momentarily taken aback. It was as if I was dealing with a stubborn child who was old enough to understand the consequences of her actions yet didn't really care of the outcome.

Everything about her was so dark and serious, so it was a change actually, discovering the playfulness that she might have and getting a glimpse of the young woman she should be. Despite this, it was clear the weight of her tough life had crushed her spirit, but it also had her develop a sense of strength and resilience which has helped her cope with her unwanted situation.

All things considered, she was an interesting little creature. Although that friskiness was short lived when she became defensive towards me after noticing I had grabbed her roughly. I looked into her eyes and saw the fear and apprehension of my actions. It made me feel uncomfortable, hated it.

Fear is what drive humans to set on a path of hatred, chaos and destruction of things they don't understand. It bothered me knowing how much she hated me. But I reminded myself that her hatred wasn't totally unwarranted; she was mistreated by my kind, shown the cruelty, the heartlessness, the savage dominance of a few.

Looking back, I'm glad I got rid of Zef. That lunatic would have become even worse than what his father is.
In a way, I was kinda hoping that what I did, even if it wasn't the best choices at first, could've maybe changed how she saw me. Perhaps, slightly her opinion differs that not all of us are the same monster. I hope she can see that in the end, we're all just trying to survive.

Coming out of my thoughts, I give a quick gauge to the landscape. Sucking in a breath, I keep our high senses alert in case of running into any trouble.

I figured about a day or so we should be close to the human village. I just hope she can hold out till then.

I kept my distance giving her space. I'm not gonna pressure her to do anything she doesn't want. That's not my place. I've gotten involved far enough. I'm just showing another creature some empathy as she showed me.
We were meant to share this existence as the gods created a balance where it's up to us to maintain that balance. Unfortunately, that's not always the case for both humans and others of my kind.

Glancing behind us, my Wolf lets out a subtle growl, she's way behind but continues to follow aimlessly like a pendulum that only moves but reaches nowhere.

Ella

I felt like I was in a trance. I continued staring ahead at the Wolf, psyching myself up, preparing for the right moment to sidetrack the Wolf. I'm smart, I can make it out of here.
I feel like we're close to a village, we have to be.

Besides, I'm doing him a favor, he doesn't have to take pity on me or whatever it is that's pressing him to put up with me. Anyway, like he said I'm slow.

Right?

On the other hand, if my guess is correct, he's taking me for a ride, ready to exploit the situation.

It has to be unnoticeable. I can't get caught. When he finally realizes I'm not behind him I'll hopefully be long gone.

A rush of fear courses through my body as he turns to check on me. Now, I start dashing towards my left, away from the horizontal mountains on my right. I stumble across numerous rocks and fallen branches, struggling to keep pace. Running wildly, a stray branch swipes across my cheek, definitely causing it to bleed. No worries, it'll be added to my myriad of cuts and bruises adorning my body already.