Lost but Loved

Chapter Seventeen: The Veteran

Lucy squirmed in the man's arms, trying to escape or cry out for help. Damon hid in the shadows, wondering how to help her. He had brought no weapons with him, and as he reflected back on that moment in the tent, there were plenty of weapons there he could've picked up. He'd been foolish. He couldn't leave, the hunter might leave and not be seen again. But he couldn't just hide there, the hunter could hurt or even kill Lucy.

But Lucy was a pretty young girl, surely the man would keep her for other uses. The man didn't know however, that Lucy had a knife in her boot. If only she could reach out and get it. He scared her, she had never been treated like this, so roughly before, but she would get her revenge. She feared for Maelgwn's leg, it wasn't twisted naturally. It was surely broken, but if it was beyond repair, she couldn't tell.

She took a deep breath, planning out how she would get away. She kicked him multiple times and elbowed him in the stomach. With a whoosh of air rushing out of his lungs, he doubled over and his grasp on Lucy weakened. She twisted away, crouched down, grabbed her knife and turned on him before he had a chance to stand up straight.

"Whoa, whoa." He held up his hands and backed up into a tree. He was cornered. Now Lucy would get him. "You don't have to hurt me, in fact, you could have a good life with me."

"Ha!" Lucy laughed in his face, her knife dangerously close to his stomach. "Like I'd want to. Do you know who you're messing with?" The hunter shook his head. "I am Lady Lucy of Fallor, Tamer of Wolves, Giver to the poor, Thrower of knives. No one, in their right mind, messes with me."

She drew the knife up to his neck, studied it as if she was calculating the best way to slice it, and did a little nick above his Adam's Apple which stuck out. "Now, if you wimp of a man are done, you can't hunt in these woods. They are private property, land which I own. If I catch you again in my woods, I'll have to kill you. Slowly."

She backed away from him and let him flee. She hurriedly placed her knife back in her boot and went to Maelgwn. "Oh, you poor dear. Here," she released his leg and studied it. Gently, she set the leg at the right angle that it should be at and gathered some branches to make a set. Maelgwn lay on the ground whimpering, but did not dare to snap at Lucy for she was the one helping him. All the while Damon stayed hidden in the shadows, feeling very much like he wasn't supposed to be there.

Finally, after taking a deep breath, he walked out into the open and helped Lucy to start the healing process on the gray wolf's leg. "Done. Now, can you carry him?" She looked up at Damon with her sparkling blue eyes and he sighed.

"I can try. Won't I hurt him though?"

"Not if you hold him correctly." She gently placed her furry companion in his arms, whispering encouraging words to the injured wolf. They walked silently, with the occasional grunt or whine from the prince of the wolves. When they emerged from the forest, Lucas was there, pacing back and forth.

"Ah! I was worried about you!" He noticed Damon carrying Maelgwn and how the two didn't stop to talk. Lucy went over the fence first, Damon handed her the wolf and he jumped over, getting Maelgwn again. "What happened?"

"Some idiot hunter set a trap and Maelgwn got stuck in it. His poor leg is broken. Maybe beyond repair." They trotted to the house where Thanos stood in the doorway, a worried expression on his face.

"Bring him in." Damon nodded and went inside, Lucy on his heels. Lucas tried to join them, but Thanos pushed him back. "Not you."

"But I'm the Commander!"

"And this is my house, my farm." He slammed the door in the surprised young man's face and knelt down next to the two teenagers. "How is he?"

Lucy stroked the ruff of fur around his neck, while examining the leg. The trap's mouth had pointed metal spikes that bit into the leg of the animal caught to keep them from wriggling out. It looked as if something big had bitten Maelgwn's leg, leaving it twisted and bloodied.