Into The Mountains(COMPLETED)

Chapter Eleven

Lisa POV

Rejoining with Jennie the previous night had put me at ease in a way I wasn't sure I'd be able to get myself back to. Things had felt off since we'd left the Seer, and for the first time since then I felt centered again. It wasn't all about sex. It was about reestablishing that we could be intimate without that dark cloud hanging over us. I'd been afraid that would be lost permanently, but last night had proved that wasn't to be the case, and tonight we'd prove it again. The full moon was due, and the lusts of all of the kin would be running high. To my surprise Jennie wanted to spend the evening with me, despite knowing what that would mean. It was a somewhat terrifying thought.

I couldn't control everything when I was in that haze. I certainly couldn't stop myself from fucking her once the change took hold. I would be a passenger to my own actions. I wondered what Hanbin would do for the night. Females would be open to his attentions, but males would be extra hostile, territorial, very dangerous for him should he run into one. He, of course, could stay locked away in his room in our cabin, but I could only imagine the sort of sounds he'd have to hear. Of course, before I could worry about any of that I had to survive another day at the hunt. Whispers passed amongst the other hunters as I rejoined them that morning.

They'd expected me to be dead, or at least too injured to come back out. Jennie's stitching was making a big difference. I healed fast, and with the wounds properly closed that healing worked even better. With some effort I wasn't even limping this morning, and in a week I would only have the scars to show as evidence of what had happened. "Lalisa, it's good to see you." An older wolf named Seungri said. He was one of HyunSuk's close friends, so I doubted it was too good to see me again. "I see you're not skipping your responsibility today."

"My family had an emergency. My first duty is always to them." I said, my voice as calm as I could make it. "No, your first duty is to the pack, Lalisa. Always. Without the pack you have no family. I'd thought you would have learned that by now." Seungri chided, arms across his chest. "I'm a slow learner." I responded with a shrug. "I've noticed." He said. "That's alright though. I'm a patient teacher. We're running dread cliffs today. I'll expect you to take point. Once you've run the course and come back we'll decide whether it's safe for the hunting party to cross." The dread cliffs were treacherous. They were the fastest route between our forest and the plains of exalt beyond, prime hunting grounds, but they were by far the most dangerous.

We generally took the route across the sinking swamp. It was safer for those who knew the path through it, and only took a half an hour longer than crossing the cliffs. "If you're having me run the course and come back, then we're going to waste more time on the cliffs than we would crossing the swamp." I pointed out the obvious. "Not if you're fast. I plan on getting home early today, so I'll expect you to scout quickly." Seungri growled. There was no point in arguing it any further. I'd do what I was told to do or I'd have to take it up with HyunSuk and I wasn't ready for that yet. I'd have to cross the cliffs. I knew exactly what would happen. I'd cross the cliffs and come back, hopefully, and when I did they'd be gone already, having gone off to hunt the deep forest, which was near the cliffs, on this side of the divide.

They wouldn't lose any time, and I would get the excuse that I'd taken too long and they'd had to go hunting in less fertile territory because of it, which would again reflect poorly on me. It was predictable, but there was nothing to be done yet. I followed the pack out on the two fast march to the cliffs, and then I parted ways with them, heading out across the rocky, and often dangerous terrain. "You better go faster than that!" One of the others yelled after me. "Try not to disappoint us all again." Seungri's voice called. I heard laughter, but soon enough I was beyond them, far out onto the narrow band of rock that spread across the cliffs.