The Wolf Girl

Chapter Thirty Four

Molly's POV

I nervously twist the charms on the bracelet that my mother left for me in the container. "I swear, I keep hearing things," I mumble, keeping my eyes on the flickering flames in front of all of us.

"You don't need to be paranoid," Alex murmurs softly. "We're all here to protect each other."

"I'm still afraid," I admit. "And very tired."

Our day consisted of walking, running from wild animals and a few Wolfloxes, eating as we go, stopping at streams to drink water, sharing blankets to shield ourselves from the cold wind, and testing Alex's wings, as well as my own, and seeing how well we can fly. We need to get better at it; there have been deadly situations where my flight has failed me, despite the little bit of practice I've had. It seems as though panic makes it harder for me to fly.

"We can sleep soon," Nikki says reassuringly. "Who would like first watch?" We decided that it would be best to establish a guard system.

"I will, if Alex stays up with me," Morte volunteers.

Alex grins at him. "Alright."

I look away from the fire and up at the starry, black sky. They all seem to twinkle in unison, and I crack a small smile.

It isn't long before I tell everyone I need to sleep. Since our new area doesn't have a cave, I walk away from the fire and curl up near a leafy bush and pull a blanket from my infinity pouch, followed by my bow. I lay the bow next to me and put the sheath of arrows next to it. I drape the blanket over myself and tighten the ball I'm in, tucking my knees up as far as possible. I shut my eyes and feel myself drift off instantly, exhausted.

Alex's POV

"Any reason you wanted me to stay up instead of someone else?" I murmur to Morte, looking into the fire.

"D-do you know what it feels like to love?" he blurts, and I look at him in surprise. "I just haven't experienced it, and..." He looks down at his hands. "Sorry."

"It's alright," I reassure him. "I haven't loved anyone, but..." I shrug. "I know what it feels like. You get this funny feeling in your stomach. It's like someone's poking at your hea-" My eyes go slightly wide.

I've felt that feeling a lot lately.

Because of things that Molly does.

Whether it be her beautiful laugh, or her teasing, or her shy personality, or her stubbornness, I feel that loving little poke at my heart.

I snap out of my confused trance and continue. "You find yourself wanting to be around a person a lot more. Sometimes, you feel like you can see yourself with this person in the future. You don't see flaws in the person sometimes- think of them as beauty spots." I grow quiet and resist the urge to look back at the redhead sleeping nearby. What does this mean? Do I have feelings for her.

"Love is confusing," I moan, dropping my face into my hands and closing my eyes.

"Do you think you love someone?" he asks eagerly.

"I-I don't know," I reply, resisting the urge, yet again, to look at Molly. "If I do, I-I..." I take a deep breath. "I'm an idiot."

I shove the thought of love away. I'm not letting it get in the way of our friendship.

But while the thought of her is there, I smile to myself. Her red hair blowing wildly in the brisk air. Her sparkly eyes. Her delicate hands. Her fragile body. Her crazy imagination. Her wonderful laugh. Her pink lips- full, but gently moving when she talks. Soft. Smooth, maybe. Her soothing voice. Her singular dimple on the right side of her face. Her delicate laugh.

  My mind keeps darting back to her eyes. She has the most beautiful eyes. Dark brown- almost black, but not quite. A shade darker than dark chocolate- a delicacy. Even her eyelashes are hypnotizing; long, thick, dark, and complimenting her eyes perfectly. Her irises always sparkle, and it always looks as if she's taking everything in, as if she has to see it all before it disappears.

  I let myself give into the taunting, and I turn to look back at Molly. She is still curled up in a ball, and her pale hands peek out of the blanket. Her fingers curl in, toward her palm. Her lips are parted slightly, and from here, I can hear her soft breathing, just like everyone else's, but different, in a way. Her long eyelashes sweep over her lower eyelid, and her red hair is laid askew around her. The cold air gives her pale cheeks a pink tint.

I smile softly to myself. Just because I probably don't have feelings for her in the first place doesn't mean I can't notice how cute she can be sometimes.

"It's her, isn't it?" Morte asks quietly.

"Who?" I ask, the tips of my ears heating up. I know exactly who he's talking about.

"Molly."

I rub my forehead gently. "I don't know," I mutter. "Even if I do... like her like that... I'd rather keep our amazing friendship than let confusing feelings get in the way." I scowl and drop my hands to my lap. "Like they are at the moment." I look over at him. "Any other reason you asked me about love?"

"W-well," he mumbles, "there's a girl I had a crush on at camp about two years ago. Her name's Demone, which means 'demon' in Italian- we commonly have Italian names. People call her Simone because it's easier to say and sounds somewhat similar. I've trained with her for a long time, since we're the same age and both use a katana as a weapon. My mom used to call us Morte and Mone." He smiles softly. Something tells me this crush isn't just from the past.

  "What's she look like?" I ask.

  "She has brown hair, with a little red mixed in, like auburn. She's got eyes like the color of amber, and her demonic eyes look like poppies. She's stubborn, authoritative, brave..." He trails off, a goofy smile on his face.

  "You still like her," I sing teasingly.

  "Maybe I do," he squeaks, turning away to hide his red face. "I dunno."

  I smile and look back over at Molly. One thought breaks through the rest.

  A sleeping angel.

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I just dedicated half a chapter to Molly's appearance.

XD

She's my baby, okay?!?!

Anyways, I made a collab account with megsMOclay16 called megs_mabel160. There's not any content yet, but we're thinking of making a story together very soon!

Thanks for reading, and stay heavenly!

~Mabel