"Thank goodness. You're not dead yet" the person sighed with relief, pulling out a bunch of rusty old keys.
My heart began to race with panic. The voice of the man was unfamiliar. Who was he? Why was he relieved that I wasn't dead yet? Had he come to save me? My mind reeled.
I could barely see his face. The dungeon was cold and dark, if it wasn't for the torches hung on the walls outside, the entire place would've been pitch black.
To my surprise, he opened the door.
"I'm going to get you out of here" The stranger reassured me, drawing closer to unbind my shackles.
I was confused, puzzled, and disoriented. I had questions, but my words were caught up in my throat. I stared at my burnt wrists in stunned silence. I was free. The fact that I was still in pain told me that I wasn't dreaming.
"Let's go" the man, obviously in charge, took me by the hand. He led me outside my cell where the bright flames of the torches illuminated his features.
The first thing I noticed was the distinctively designed mask covering half of his face, leaving me a breathtaking view of his slightly full lips.
I felt my heart drop with an unfamiliar feeling. Who was this masked stranger who came to my rescue? I believed he must've been sent by the moon goddess herself.
As we approached the entrance to the dungeon, my jaw fell in awe at the bodies of the guards lying on the way. The stranger assured me. "Don't worry, they're not dead," he said.
Figures, I said inwardly. There was no sight of blood. How, then, was he able to knock them all out? I never heard any noises back at the cell.
He took me outside. It was night already so no one was around. The stranger led me to a rocky platform where I sat. He crouched before me, pulling out a medical kit from his bag.
"We've got a long way to go, but first, I'll take care of your wounds," he said.
I stared at him as he 'took care of my wounds' even though I felt no threat coming from him, my heart was oddly racing. I watched as his dirty blonde hair fluttered slightly under the cold breeze. His touch was tender, carefully wrapping a cloth around my hand.
Just who was this man?
Without thinking, I reached out to his face. He paused and looked up at me, making me flinch. I quickly retrieved my hand, a blush creeping up my face. His soft chuckle added to my embarrassment.
I looked away, flustered. "Why have you hidden your face?" My voice surprised me, coming out like a croak. If only I could melt away at that moment.
"Oh…..Nothing special" he said, effortlessly pulling up the mask like it was indeed nothing special. Not to me though. That brief moment I caught his emerald green eyes, my heart fluttered. I felt funny on the inside, almost like moths were flying around in my belly.
He put back the mask, continuing "Just in case everything goes south." He stood up after he finished, dusting his hands. "There. We'll do the rest later." he gave me a once-over. "How are your legs?"
I raised a brow.
He looked around a bit before shifting into his wolf form— a 5'0 ft tall large russet brown wolf— a majestic creature worthy of being stared at in awe.
He tossed me his bag "Hop on," he said, surprising me. I had always been the one to help. Never the one in need of assistance. It was an odd feeling, the feeling of incompetence.
As I climbed his fury back, I couldn't help but recall Daniel's words. He was right. As someone often spoken highly of, I'd failed to meet expectations.
As we rode along, I noticed the stranger's movements were a bit restricted. I hoped, flustered, that I wasn't too heavy. My mind clicked just then. I must've completely forgotten the man was a stranger to me. I suddenly felt stupid comfortably riding on his back.
"Where are you taking me?" I asked mid the journey.
"Somewhere safe" he replied, and funny enough, I was okay with that answer.
Minutes later, we were far from the imperial house, stopping in front of a sturdy cottage house. As I hugged myself for warmth, I looked around. All the buildings seemed to be in the same condition as far as my eyes could see.
It proved that Ariadne was more interested in claiming my Pack's land rather than caring for her people.
Inside his home, the man led me to a stool. He walked up to the table, dropped his things, and took off the mask. I shamelessly gawked at him as he ran his fingers through his hair.
He picked up his medical kit and flashed a smile at me before proceeding to clean the wound on my face. The silence was awkward but it ended quickly as I hoped.
He passed a bowl of water to me to drink.
"I'll whip up something to eat," he said, grabbing a brown apron and heading over to the kitchen sector.
I nodded at him, shifting my gaze to the bowl. I stared at my reflection. It was only then I noticed the deep gash on my face and how badly it looked. Three claw marks stretched from my temple to my cheek. It was a dreadful sight.
I never thought anything of how I looked until then. I was always confident in my looks because people were always around to compliment me. Now I couldn't even look at my reflection.
"I look terrible" My thoughts escaped my lips. "How can you even stand to look at me without being irritated?" I asked, my face falling as I muttered "My face is disgusting"
I couldn't see his expression, but I heard him sigh before walking away. It made me feel worse.
To my surprise, he returned saying "To me, there's nothing wrong with the way you look, but.." he threw something which I caught instinctively. "If you're worried about it, I hope that helps"
I opened my hand to reveal a black eye patch. Something inside of me shifted. It was odd how he seemed prepared for everything. I looked at him with grateful eyes before putting it on.
"What is your name?" I finally asked.
He flashed a wide grin, his canines visible. "Wilham," he said.
I nodded at him. "I'm Diane." I paused a bit before continuing, "Why did you save me, Wilham? What do you want with me?"
His small faltered. "It's not fair," he started. "Our Packs have been at war for as long as I can remember. And that for a land that clearly doesn't belong to us. Each one was a disaster, claiming lots of lives and properties."
His expression softened a bit "But when you took over as Alpha Queen. You instantly declared peace. You even offered us a space in Maven to grow our crops in exchange for our weapon and bane infrastructure. But I guess nothing's ever enough when you have a greedy wolf as a leader"
He looked at me, "You're not supposed to die. You will bring peace"
I stared at him half amused. My rescue tonight was nothing more than from a wolf's good conscience. My heart couldn't help but flutter. "Thank you" I muttered.
His next words threw me off.
"You will seek revenge, right?" Wilham asked, his expression unreadable. My brows came together, and I did a double-check. "Revenge?" I repeated his words.
"Word out there is that a member of your Pack betrayed you. They're the reason for everything. You will pay them back"
The way I saw it, his words were more of a request than a question. But revenge? Truth be told, it had never crossed my mind. Daniel was my brother after all. I still believed I could talk him over.
If anything, Ariadne was the one who needed her ass handed to her on a silver platter.
I opened my mouth to speak, but a series of howling cut me off, making my heart drop with a pang. Wilham rushed to the window and peeked outside. He gasped "The moon is out in its full bloom!"
I jerked to my feet, panic setting in. "It's time for my execution; they must've discovered my escape." My brows furrowed. "What are we going to do?! You just committed treason; if they find me here, you'll die too." I was panicking.
Wilham drew close and grabbed my shoulders to stop me from ranting. "You'll be fine, they can't find you here," he reassured me, but I wasn't convinced.
"My scent!" I gasped "They have my scent! They'll track me here"
"They won't" Wilham insisted. The corner of his lips curled up. "You don't think I just woke up and came to save you? I've thought of everything. You're 95 percent safe with me"
I stared uneasily into those green eyes. Some part of me felt comforted. Maybe I was indeed safe. I bit my lower lip, letting out an exhale in defeat.
I was just about to settle back down when…..*Bang! *Bang! *Bang!
Both our eyes snapped towards the door.