Episode 2
1462 Words
---
** Forgotten Memories **
Taking Kael by the hand, I dragged him back into the cave.
"Remain low," I muttered.
Without question, he obeyed. Perhaps he could hear the fear in my voice. Perhaps he still had a memory of what danger felt like. I didn't pause to reflect. Every sound struck me like a scream as I looked around the trees.
The cries have ceased.
It was worse than that.
There were wolves hunting wolves in silence.
"I don't get it," Kael muttered next to me. "Who's out there?"
I gave him a quick look. "Unsavory individuals."
He appeared perplexed. "How are you aware that they are pursuing us?"
I said, "They're not simply coming." "They've located us already."
Two or three wolves were circling the cave, and I could sense them. Their smells were familiar yet not strong. I knew the pack, but I didn't know their names. Varek's wolves, devoted to the person who attempted Kael's murder, devoted to deception.
I turned to face him again. "You must have faith in me."
Slowly, he nodded. "Yes, I do."
I accepted that kind of trust even though I didn't deserve it. Just in case, I retrieved the emergency pack I had buried days before from beneath the rock shelf.
Clothes, food, medicine, and a concealed blade are all inside.
I gave Kael a bottle of water and a sweater.
"We're heading out," I declared.
He looked out. "However, they are present."
"I understand," I replied. "We'll avoid them."
"We have no idea who they are."
I didn't respond. Still, he wouldn't trust me. He would be more broken than the crash ever was if I told him that he was once one of them and that they now wanted him dead.
I took another look outside. The wind changed. The smells shifted. Behind the hill was one of them. To the east is another. They were getting closer, but they had no idea where we were.
I faced Kael once more. "Do you think I'm trustworthy enough to run without question?"
He nodded and swallowed hard.
"All right. Remain near. Never give up, no matter what.
As stealthy as shadows, we went swiftly. Beneath my flesh, my wolf awoke, eager to run and battle. However, I was unable to change—not while Kael was still recuperating and mentally human.
We crouched under prickly branches, slid out the back of the cave, and descended the old creek route. As we continued, the woodland grew thicker. I paid attention. observed. My heart leaped with every rustle. Kael recoiled with every bird's call.
I remained silent. He didn't inquire.
We arrived in the gully before they noticed us. I paused and faced him.
I answered, "We climb down."
"That's steep," he remarked.
"I understand. Can you accomplish it?
"I'll give it a shot."
He made an effort. He made a slip.
Before he hit the rocks, I grabbed his wrist.
His gaze expanded. "How did you move so quickly?"
I went cold. I gasped.
I pulled him to his feet and said, "I—I simply responded."
Kael remained silent. However, the question remained unanswered.
He sensed it, too. The draw. The strength. The distinction.
However, he was unsure of its meaning.
We made our way through the tight opening between two cliffs and arrived at the bottom of the valley. It led to an ancient hunter's cottage that I had discovered many years before. Hidden, broken, and abandoned.
Ideal for the time being.
After assisting him inside, I quickly closed the door.
Breathing heavily, Kael collapsed upon the dirt floor.
"They nearly had us," he remarked.
"They don't quit easily."
He gave me a glance. “Really, who are you?”
I looked him in the eyes. "An individual who lost everything."
He kept a close eye on me. "Did I... know you prior to the accident?"
"Yes."
"Did we have a friendship?"
I turned my head away. "That kind of thing."
Slowly, he nodded. "You're not giving me all the details."
"No," I replied. "Not quite yet."
He kicked up dust as he stood and paced.
He declared, "I don't recall anything." "Not my name. Not my face. Not my life. However, there are flashes occasionally. A voice. A tree. The eyes of a woman.
He paused and gave me a glance.
"My eyes?" I inquired.
He gave a nod. "I believe so. Nevertheless, it's like attempting to catch smoke. When I reach for it, it vanishes.
I stepped forward. "Memories don't always disappear. You already have them. Awaiting.
"What if I find something that I don't like?"
I paused. "Then I'll assist you in facing it."
He blinked. "Why?"
I gave a sorrowful smile. "Because I can recall."
He remained silent. He didn't have to.
We were silent, and that said it all.
I used the ingredients in the package to make him some soup. He watched the flames while he ate carefully. His fingers shook.
That night, I watched him sleep, huddled up against the wall like a lost kid.
His sleep used to be so different. Open. calmed. having faith.
He recoiled from shadows now.
A harsh wind and dark clouds greeted the morning. I went outside to look around the forest. No wolves in sight. However, I knew they were close.
Kael was looking at the floor as I returned inside.
"I dreamed," he declared.
I took a seat next to him. "Tell me."
A wolf was present. Large. Gray. It was gushing blood. I was holding it, too.
My heart stopped beating.
"I was the wolf then," he said. "I noticed paws as I looked down."
I held my breath.
"I have no idea what that means."
Yes, I did. I didn't say, though.
Rather, I inquired, "How did you feel?"
"More powerful," he said. "Free. but afraid.
He gave me a glance. "Am I crazy, Lia?"
"No," I replied. "You're awakening."
As if he wanted to believe, he gazed at me.
Then he said something that caught me off guard.
"I believe I once loved someone."
I gasped.
He continued, "I know I love her, even though I can't see her face." In my chest, I sense it. As if something were lacking.
I felt like crying.
His heart was touched by him. " This is painful. As if something were broken.
I made a move for his hand but refrained.
"Perhaps it will return," I muttered.
"Perhaps," he muttered.
Outside, the wind howled.
Kael abruptly stood up. "I need answers."
"You're not prepared."
He scowled. "Why are you keeping the truth from me?"
"Because you almost died of the truth."
He faced me. " Lia, tell me one thing. Only one.
I took a deep breath. "What?"
He met my gaze. "Did I feel happy?"
I trembled when I spoke. "You were everything."
His expression changed. A glimmer of agony. A flash of recollection.
He made contact with his temple. "I feel like my head is burning."
Panic rising, I stood. "Kael?"
He fell to the ground.
"Kael!"
He groaned and gripped his head. "I saw a girl screaming, trees, fire, and blood."
He rolled his eyes back. He fell, but I caught him.
His heat was scorching.
"No, no, no," I said in a whisper.
It was more than a dream. This was a recollection attempting to surface. Too quickly. It's too early.
He mumbled as he squirmed in my arms.
"Alpha... betrayal... Liana..."
My heart stopped beating.
*Alpha* he said.
*Something* he remembered.
However, the more he recalled, the more painful it became.
I kept him warm through the night while saying his name and chilling his head.
He was motionless by dawn.
Too still.
I leaned in.
"Kael?"
No response.
I gave him a light shake. "Kael!"
Nothing has changed.
I put my ear against his chest.
He was scarcely breathing.
Fire blazed through his skin.
Something was going on.
A change.
A rest.
Then his golden eyes sprung open.
Not human.
WOLF.
He snarled and sprang forward, causing me to fall to the ground.
"Who are you?" His voice was no longer his as he growled.
I went cold.
"It's me, Kael."
He didn't flinch.
He held on tight.
Then he jerked his head. His eyes turned gray again.
He fell.
unconscious.
Still.
My heart was pounding as I gazed at him.
He moved.
not knowing how.
Without recalling his identity.
And now—
The front door made a creaking sound.
I made a quick turn.
In the doorway was a shadow.
tall.
Known.
chilly.
According to the voice, "Well, well." "Observe what I have discovered."
My blood turned to ice.
Varek.
He grinned.
"Hello, Liana."
---Kael moves without remembering... and the real threat has finally discovered them.
- Writer
