The Wolf Girl

Chapter Twenty Nine

Molly's POV

"Who are you?" Alex growls. "Show yourselves!"

A light laugh comes from the trees. "He thinks he's tough," the male voice chuckles.

"Hmph," another person huffs.

"Addie, what should we do about them?" the male asks casually. I instinctively take a small step closer to Alex.

"Well," the girl, 'Addie', says. "They did intrude our area, so maybe we should show them out."

Another pair of glossy eyes peers out at us, and I blink. I try to stay still on the outside, but my nerves are trembling, and my head stars to spin. Our lives could be at stake here, and we haven't even gotten too far outside of camp yet. The Dreaming Wanderer is already asleep, and Bella must be, too. Alex and I are on our own.

I sprout my wings after a moment of concentration, worried that I will need them soon. They flutter around me silently, and I try to keep them out of Alex's way. I grab my bow and pull an arrow into the bowstring, keeping my eyes on the pairs of watchful eyes.

The boy suddenly springs out of the bushes, and I shriek, jumping backwards. He chuckles, his gray eyes darting to me.

"Scared?" he assumes, clearly amused. "Why'd you come here in the first place?"

"It's just for one night," Alex growls, unsheathing his sword. "I don't see what the big deal is!"

"This is our home!" Addie exclaims, walking out of the trees. She balances the top of a sharp, long blade on her gloved hand. "How would you feel if I broke into your house?"

"Adrianna," the boy hisses.

"Jason," she says mockingly. "Come on. We can't kill them, if that's what you're thinking." I tense up, my eyes going wide. My fingertips start to tremble.

"I wasn't planning on killing them," Jason sighs. "You jump to conclusions so quickly."

"You've killed the past visitors," Addie- or is it Adrianna?- grumbles.

"What do you want from us?" I demand, my voice more confident than I feel.

Jason looks at me. "Who else is with you?" he asks. "How many people?"

"Why do you need to know?" Alex spits.

  "You're in our territory!" Adrianna repeats.

  "For one night!" Alex retorts.

  "Alex," I mutter. "Stop."

  I take a tiny step forward. "We have two other travelers with us," I say. "We were just resting. We'll be leaving now."

  "I feel the need to escort you out," Jason growls.

  Alex glares at him, and I try my best to drag him away. After a moment, he obliges, and we crawl into the cave. I shake The Dreaming Wanderer, and her breathing grows quicker as she sits up.

  "Hm?" she hums sleepily.

  "We're on someone else's territory," I hiss. Her eyes widen under her mask, and she sits straighter.

  "Have they threatened us?" she demands.

  "Not exactly. But they want us out. I already said we would leave, and they insist on escorting us to make sure we actually leave."

  "Do they have weapons?"

  "Yes."

  She closes her eyes briefly. "Alright," she whispers. "Wake Bella up. Let's go. We don't want them hurting us."

  Alex shakes Bella awake, and the four of us make our way out of the cave. When we arrive at the top, I straighten, my legs trembling. My arrow is still suspended in the bowstring, but o have lowered the bow to my side.

  "Where are you heading?" Jason asks. A mask still covers his lower face, but his hood is down, revealing a head of fiery orange hair. Freckles are peppered on his nose. Adrianna still has her hood up, her mask revealing her lime eyes and a bit of skin. A lump under her hood tells me that her hair is not down; she must have styled it to keep it out of her face.

"Towards Blood Camp," The Dreaming Wanderer replies, her voice crisp and edgy.

"Come on," Jason says. "We know a shortcut."

"How do we know we can trust you?" I ask uncertainly. He moves his gaze over to me.

"You don't," he replies simply before turning and walking into the underbrush. Adrianna follows, and so does The Dreaming Wanderer after a moment of hesitation. The rest of us reluctantly follow. I stay in the back, suspicions crawling down my back.

"Molly," Alex says, looking back at me. He stops for a moment so that I can catch up, then resumes walking.

"What?" I whimper. My stomach is full of knots.

"You're so tense," he murmurs. I sigh heavily, my breath shaken.

"I-I'm nervous, okay?" I whisper. "I can't trust these people. I thought they were gonna kill us."

"Hey," he whispers, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me closer. Warmth shoots through me, and my cheeks are lit aflame. What's up with me lately?

"My nightmares don't help," I whimper. "I'm afraid you and my family are gonna get hurt..."

  He hushes me gently, and a calmness slowly washes over me. I rest my head on his shoulder as we walk, and the fuzzy feeling pokes at my heart again. The closer I get to him, the tighter the feeling wraps around me.

  "So many things are happening at once," I whisper, and he hushes me again. He stops walking for a moment, forcing me to stop, too. I look into his eyes and realize- again- that they don't hold the sparkle they used to.

  "I know everything is stressful," he says. "I know. It's not exactly a fun experience for me, either. But what am I doing?"

  I study his hazel eyes for a moment. "You seem happy," I guess halfheartedly. 

  "Exactly," he praises. "I'm trying to stay happy. I don't focus on what's happening now. I remember what we used to do. I remember Callie's beautiful face. I remember you giggling with her in the field that I worked in sometimes." He brushes a stray strand of hair out of my face. "Keep smiling, okay? You may not like it, but everyone else thinks it's beautiful." I give him a small, genuine smile, my heart skipping a beat. We continue walking quickly to catch up with everyone.

  My mind does a double take, and blush creeps to my cheeks as I realize something. This feeing has been coming to me since I was twelve years old. I've been oblivious to this fact for five years, but now, it rushes through me like adrenaline.

  I have feelings for Alex.
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  You. Have. No. Idea. How. Long. I've. Wanted. To. Write. That. Last. Sentence.

  :3

  Thanks for reading, and stay heavenly!

  ~Mabel