Erased

21 - Woods

Mina and Soyeon tried their best to find Sihyeon. But when a pup gets lost... They usually aren't found. She was old enough to develop a scent, but with all of the trauma, stunted that development. She still had to be scented by her mother, and Soyeon had only scented her the day before all of this. Which meant the honey scent was fading fast.

"I can't pick her up." Soyeon panicked.

"Me either." Mina frowned. "Where could she have gone?!" She cried out.

Sihyeon stayed laying in the mud for a while, trying to steady herself before even attempting to get up. She heard a voice calling to her, but she didn't see anything.

"Sihyeon! You hafta get up!" Mia's voice was heard. "Mama needs you!" She yelled.

"Mia?" Sihyeon frowned.

"Come on! Get up!" She felt hands touching her, but she still couldn't see anyone or anything. So she sat herself up, wincing at the pain. "Mama is this way! Come on!" She yelled. Sihyeon looked over, the only light being from the Moon reflecting off the small river bank in front of her. She saw a flash of blond, her sister.

"Wait!" Sihyeon frowned. She struggled to get up, but when she did, she practically almost fell over again. Eventually she was limping behind the faint vision of her sister leading her down a new path.

"Come on! Hurry!!" Mia's voice shouted. Sihyeon lost sight of her, frowning again as she tumbled down a small hill. She was able to stop herself just before hitting a rather large tree, and crawled around it, seeing her mother lying in the dirt.

"Mama!" Sihyeon gasped. She forced herself up, running towards her body. "Mama please wake up. Mia says you need help." Sihyeon immediately started to tear up. Her mother looked beaten up to no end. "Mama please..." she placed one of her little hands on her mother's scratched up cheek, trying to give her good memories.

"I heard something I swear I did." Soyeon whispered.

"Here.." Mina pointed down the path, seeing a lot of broken branches and then a rather large indent in the mud at the bottom of the small ravine. "She came this way." Mina whispered. She sniffed the air, frowning before looking back up at Soyeon. "And she's hurt.."

"We need to find her before something kills her. I can't lose another child Mina.." Soyeon frowned. "I just can't..." She whispered. Before sliding safely down the ravine.

"I know. We'll find her." Mina tried to stay confident, but she could never put herself in Soyeon's shoes. The two followed the footprints, seeing animal tracks next to Sihyeon's.

"Are those...?" Soyeon whispered.

"They look too tiny to be wildcat paw prints..." Mina frowned.

Sihyeon could hear her mother trying to breathe, she did her best to wipe her face clean with her jacket sleeve. Just to make sure nothing was blocking her nose.

"Mama please get up..." Sihyeon sniffed. "Mommy misses you.." She cried. "I miss you so much mama." She sobbed while clutching onto her mother's body. She heard a small whine, snapping her head up to see her sister sitting on the other side of her.

"Mommy and grandma are coming.." Mia whispered. "Mama it's time to wake up."

Sihyeon heard the low mumbling coming from her mother. Her eyebrows stitched slowly together as she watched her mother slowly stir awake. As soon as her eyes slowly opened, she heard her mother and grandmother calling for her. 

"Sihyeon!" Soyeon shouted. 

"I found Mama!" She yelled out. Soyeon came running from another direction, stopping when she saw her daughter close to the body. "She's hurt mommy.." Sihyeon frowned. "Help her." She pointed. Soyeon hesitated... It wasn't like she was afraid, but she was afraid. The Shizuha that came back to her had hurt her... 

"Soyeon... We both saw what had taken control of her back in the clearing..." Mina frowned. "It's gone from her.." She whispered. "But if you're still scared.." 

"I'm not scared." Soyeon shook her head, immediately tending to her mate. Mina looked down at Sihyeon, seeing her scraped up face and body. She frowned, checking the little pup's body for more wounds before helping her up. "Okay... She's still not really awake." Soyeon frowned. 

"Mia can help." Sihyeon whispered to Mina. 

"Mia isn't here sweetheart..." Mina whispered back. Sihyeon shook her head and pointed next to her. Mina didn't see anyone, looking back at her granddaughter, she gave her a look of concern before she heard someone else calling for them. 

"How..?" The little family looked up, seeing Momo walking closer to them with a small group of alphas behind her. 

"Just help." Mina whispered. They were able to lift Shizuha up, carrying her up to the village. Mina heard the loud growls from the forest, her heart pulling her back towards the clearing, but her mind told her that she needed to stay far away from the area. Sana told her to get away from the area... 

"Minana..." Sihyeon frowned up at her. Mina looked down at her, smiling at the nickname she was given. "Sanana... She's not coming back.." She whispered. 

"She will... She's our strong leader." Mina tried to stay positive, but it was going to be impossible. 

"No... I see it." Sihyeon shook her head, placing her small hand on Mina's cheek, showing her what she saw. 

Soyeon walked with the rest of the alphas, hearing a low growl, then a rather loud yelp before a few alphas dropped Shizuha. 

"No! I need to go back!" Shizuha snapped up, attempting to stand, but falling over in the process. 

"You need help!" Momo shouted at her. 

"No! It's going to kill Mama!" Shizuha cried. "She needs help." Shizuha stood back up, running a few meters before dropping to the floor in pain. Sihyeon ran to her, grabbing her arms and helped her up. "Thank you Sihyeon." Shizuha whispered. 

"You're welcome Mama." She whispered. 

"We just got you back.." Soyeon whispered to herself. Shizuha looked up at her, seeing the sadness in her mate's eyes. 

"I love you." Shizuha waited until she looked up. Tears filled Soyeon's eyes. "If I don't come back... At least our leader will." She nodded to Mina before running towards the woods again. Mina cried silently, knowing that she could lose both of them. Soyeon shook her head, yes, the sadness was there... but at this point... She was unfortunately used to it.