Our Second World book three: Personal Truth

Chapter 31: Wolf

It's been about three days since we brought Nephinae to the house of the beastman lord of the area. She'd been asleep for that time, and woke up yesterday. Although she'd told me she was feeling fine, I still decided to stay with her in her room. I slept on the couch, obviously, and I'm glad I did. It was a little past midnight when I first heard the scream. Within seconds, I was up and over to the bed.

Nephinae was awake by the time I reached her. I was about to ask her what was wrong, but froze when I saw her face. Her eyes were clouded with terror and tears flowed endlessly down her cheeks. I could see her body tremble and the smell of fear coming off of her was so strong I could hardly smell anything else.

Without really thinking about what I was doing, I put my arms around her shoulders. The moment I touched her, Nephinae shrunk into my hold, clinging to my shirt like her life depended on it. I felt a pang in my heart, and was overcome with a sudden, strong need to comfort her. I wasn't really sure how, so I held her a bit tighter and stroked her hair. Even that seemed to do nothing to calm her down.

"P-Please...don't. Daddy—daddy please! Don't go! Please don't leave me!" Her sobs, though quiet, claws deeply at my heart. My need—my instinct to protect her only grew in intensity as she continued to cry," please don't go! Please...I don't want to be alone again! Please-please don't leave me Wolf."

Hearing my name sent a shock through my body. I barely gave thought to what I was doing as I crawled onto the bed. Laying down with Nephinae on top of me and pulled the comforter around her shoulders. She continued to cry for another hour before eventually calming down. Though, she refused to let go of me even after she seemed to have fallen asleep again.

I didn't sleep the rest of the night, but thankfully, Nephinae did. She woke up around six in the morning, and didn't seem at all bothered by the fact that I was laying right next to her. She didn't say anything at all, for that matter, as she crawled to the edge of the bed and fixed her dress. She sat quietly staring blankly at the wall for a while.

As I opened my mouth to say something, Nephinae spoke,"...hey...can I...ask you something?" She was so quiet, I had a hard time hearing her. I didn't get a chance to answer as she continued," you won't... leave me... will you?"

I felt that pull at my heart again and I found myself reaching for her hand. She let me take it and I squeezed it gently," no. I won't," I said firmly.

"Swear you won't?" She gripped my hand tightly.

"I swear on my life, the life you gave me, I won't ever leave you."

Nephinae turned to look at me, her eyes red from crying,"...then...prove it."

"Tell me how and I'll do it," I answered.

Wordlessly, Nephinae crawled over to me and put her head on my chest," let me stay like this for a bit," she said, quietly.

My eyes widened as I realized she was crying again. I slowly put my arms around her. Stroking her hair gently as she cried softly. I didn't care that I might be crossing a line I shouldn't have, the only thing I could think about was how to help her. At that moment, my world was Nephinae, and I wanted nothing more than to see her back to her usual self, so I held her and gave her the time she needed.

"I'm sorry," she said after a few minutes once she'd stopped crying.

"Don't be," I answered, using my sleeve to dry her eyes when she looked up at me.

"Thanks."

"W-well, you're probably hungry, right? I'll go get you something to eat." I said, standing up.

Nephinae grabbed my sleeve and I felt that pull at my heart again as she looked up at me, a hint of fear in her eyes. Somehow, from that look, I could tell she didn't want me to leave. Still, I wanted her to eat. An idea came to mind and I lifted her bridal style. At first, I expected her to complain or whine about being treated like a baby, so I was surprised when she seemed to shrink into my arms.