Finally. It was a refreshing change to see him standing up to his boisterous wife. How I wish he’d do it more often.
“But Sergius—” Brucella fumed.
“Quiet, Brucella!” Sergius growled. “Bastien is right. We would all be fools to turn down this offer.”
Brucella let out a snarl of frustration before storming out of the chamber, leaving Sergius and me alone.
My uncle shook his head wearily, scowling toward the direction of the open door. Then he said, “I will talk to the other wolves immediately and do all that I can to make them see sense, too.”
Victoria
After Bastien left, my parents explained exactly how they had managed to find me. Since the tracker in my jacket was not designed for the supernatural realm, I’d feared that it would not work at all. But it had worked, albeit intermittently. That was why it had taken so long for them to locate me.
As Grace and Heath told me how they’d escaped, it felt like a huge weight being lifted off my shoulders. I had worried about them so intensely during our time apart, I wouldn’t have been surprised if I’d developed an ulcer.
Arwen approached and grinned down at me. “So do ya still think it was a good idea to free that hunk?”
I smirked, although looking back on it, I couldn’t say that I would’ve done anything differently. Bastien was a beast of the wild. He hadn’t belonged in that cage… Just as he doesn’t belong in the cage Brucella is trying to lure him into.
Once Corrine had finished with my ankle, all the pain had vanished. I was able to stand and walk around normally, without needing to hobble.
Then I cuddled up to my mother again. As we stood together, I closed my eyes and buried my head against her chest. With her arms wrapped around me, it felt like I was back home already. I was safe, secure, in our own little bubble. And for the first time, I actually felt optimistic about the wolves’ situation.
Our obstructing the hunters here would undoubtedly lead to tension back on Earth, but then, from what my family had just told me, they’d already aggravated the hunters back at their base. The hunters already knew that we were here. Besides, we could not just stand by and watch them get away with this. Why should humans be more deserving of the League’s protection than wolves, who weren’t much less vulnerable against the mutants? The wolves who had entered the human realm to cause trouble had nothing to do with the wolves living their lives in The Woodlands. They were different people—different tribes—just as we were different from the hunters.
Of course, there was also another reason for my lightness of mood. And that reason’s name began with B. My hunky werewolf friend. I grinned to myself. I don’t have to leave him so soon.
Speak of the devil…
I caught sight of Bastien emerging from the tunnel entrance. As he sprinted toward us, his black curling hair ruffling in the breeze, I felt an unexpected surge of butterflies in my stomach. Butterflies. Those aren’t something you typically get with friends, are they?
I left my mother and approached him as he arrived in the clearing. “What happened?” I asked.
“My uncle is speaking with the chieftains,” he replied. “I requested him to come out here and inform us once he has news.” His eyes fell to my ankle. “You’re walking normally now,” he remarked.
I smiled. “Corrine fixed it.” As I said the words, an idea occurred to me. “Hey, why don’t we go check out that gate while we’re waiting for Sergius? Brucella already told you its location. That’s the gate we would all have to pass through in order to return to The Shade and fetch more recruits. It will save time if we go check it out now rather than waiting until later.”
“That’s a good idea,” my cousin Ben said, striding forward with the rest of them.
But Bastien furrowed his brows, looking reluctant. “I think, until my uncle has informed the wolves of your presence and spoken with them, it’s best you all stay put here. Away from the mountain. If you were spotted, it might put some wolves on edge prematurely if they jumped to the wrong conclusion…”
“Um, okay,” I said. “Well, you and I could just go alone? To verify that there really is a gate.”
“That we could,” Bastien replied, his eyes twinkling. He looked quite delighted by the suggestion.
As I turned to my parents, the last thing they wanted was to watch me leave again.
I squeezed my mother’s hands. “Bastien will take care of me.” I flashed him a grin. “Won’t you?”
He nodded, returning my smile. “It’s not far away from here,” he said. “I’ll be sure to bring your daughter back within half an hour. We should not stay away longer than that anyway, in case my uncle returns with news.”
“Promise me you won’t go exploring the portal without us,” my father said, eyeing me sternly.
“I promise,” I said. “We’ll just go to see if it really exists.”
With that, Bastien and I set off. We left the small wooded clearing and returned to the foothills. As we moved out of sight from the others, my hand instinctively inched closer to Bastien’s until our fingertips touched. He glanced at me fleetingly before twining his fingers with mine. I bit my lip. More butterflies.
I coughed my throat clear. “It feels so good to be walking again normally, without you having to carry me everywhere,” I said, attempting to divert my thoughts.
“Don’t speak too soon,” he replied