She takes a step back and falls onto her back, tripping over a raised root she hits her head against the ground. Her vision, for a split second, looks like what you would see when someone in an animation gets hit. Black and a flash of light. She lifts her head to look back into the cave to where she knew a pack would be staring back at her. Something takes a step forward.
A wolf.
Not just any wolf. A huge, black, mouth-full-of-teeth, one. It looks at her with it’s piercing yellow eyes as it steps closer and closer until it stops right in front of her. It peers down at her and Edith holds her breath for what’s about to happen next, a gruesome end to her journey. She closes her eyes and waits.
I didn't want to do it anyway, she thinks
She waits for something that never comes. She hears a series of disgusting pops and stretching and only after it’s over does she open her eyes. But not to a wolf who was there a second ago.
A boy of the age of seventeen with somewhat long black hair and a middle part, half of it covering his right eyebrow. He has the same yellow eyes as the wolf and his lips are quirked up in a smile. He holds out his hand for her.
“Stop playing in the dirt like a dog, don’t you have things to do?”
She stares at him until she eventually snaps out of it and ignores his hand as she stands up on her own. She looks for her basket and is dismayed to see that one of the wolves behind the boy is holding it in its mouth. She swallows hard and dusts herself off.
“I… would like my basket please?” She says, she wills her voice to be steady and unfortunately that wish isn’t granted.
“Ah, yes. Aragorn? Her basket please.” Aragorn creeps forward and leaves it at his feet. The boy picks it up and hands it to her after cleaning the handles with his shirt. “Here you go, we haven’t touched anything inside of it while you were out dancing.”
She reaches out and takes it from his warm hand. He smiles and avoids his eyes, he’s a werewolf. They were dangerous and unpredictable, not people she wanted to mess with.
“Thank you.” She says softly. “I must be off.” She turns around to the doorway and stares at the rain coming down hard, a few minutes ago she had been so happy to be out in it but now she dreaded it.
“Or you could stay here, we won’t hurt you.” He suggests behind her. “You’ve met Aragorn. The others are Cypress, Fenrir, and Lupa.” He gestures to each wolf as he says their names. They don’t show any signs of aggression or bloodthirst, they even nod to her as they are called. She also notes he didn’t introduce himself although he does look a tad bit familiar…
“You don’t want to be sick, when you go up against your grandmother she will be stronger and it will be harder to overcome her and end her, even if you’re perfectly healthy.”
Her head snaps up and she narrows her eyes at him. She had been gripping her dagger in her basket but at the comment, she had dropped it back in her basket and let her hand fall to her side.
“How did you know?” She asks. “I haven’t told anyone, neither has my mother.” She doesn’t think her mother told anyone for she barely talks to people. The only two other options are he intercepted the letter but then how would he understand the part about the crow… the last option is that he knows Nana.
“Your grandma told me, Edith.”
She stares at him. “How do you know my name?” She asks, taking a step back. She can feel the back half of her getting pelted with rain.
“You really don’t remember me? I’m Maiken, the boy you played with when you were at Nana’s?” He takes a step forward, his eyebrows furrowed.
Her jaw goes slack and her eyes wide. “M-Maiken? I though you were an imaginary friend… because wll I figured Nana would never let me play with werewolves..”
“No, I’m not imaginary. I really thought you recognized me though.”
She looks away. “Yeah, kinda. You look a lot different than from when you were eight though.”
“I suppose so. Will you stay then? I hope you know that I meant it, when I said we won’t hurt you.”
She glances outside, she doesn’t see any point in trekking through that rain. “I guess I have no other choice.”
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