EP:3
1888 Words
HOPE'S POV.
I sighed, adjusted my jacket, and started down the winding path she’d mentioned.
It wasn’t my usual route, this one led deep through the forest, away from everything.
Fawn grumbled in my head.
“The long way? Really? We’ll be late, Hope.”
“I know,” I muttered. “But Odette insisted I take this one.”
“She also talks to birds and tea leaves,” Fawn complained. “Maybe we should stop listening to her riddles, Hope.”
I sighed. “Fawn…”
After a while, the trees opened up to a narrow stream that joined a bigger river. The sound of the waterfall echoed nearby.
I knelt and scooped some water to drink. It was cold and clean. But when I leaned closer again, I saw something flicker in the reflection — a small figure.
Behind me stood a little girl I recognized immediately. She was pale, barefoot, her hair messy and wet. She looked about eight — the same age she’d been when she died two years ago.
I turned and sighed. “Your brother again?”
She nodded slowly.
“It’s not that he doesn’t want to play with you, Alice,” I said softly. “He just doesn’t know you’re here. You’re from different worlds now, remember?”
Her lips trembled. “But I waited by the old fence all day.”
“I know.” I reached out but stopped my hand. “I’ll talk to him tomorrow. I promise, okay?”
Her sad eyes brightened, until suddenly, her face froze.
She stared past me, eyes wide, and pointed toward the waterfall.
“What?” I turned, and froze too.
A body was floating near the rocks at the base of the falls.
For a second, I couldn’t move. Then instinct kicked in.
I ran into the freezing water, swimming until I reached him. Grabbing the man, I dragged him to the muddy bank. His clothes were torn and bloody. His skin was cold and bruised. His hands were bound tightly behind him with silver chains.
I grabbed a rock and beat the padlock holding them together until the chains gave way, falling off.
“Come on…” I breathed, checking for a heartbeat. Nothing.
I pressed my hands on his chest and tilted his head back. I pinched his nose and placed my mouth over his, slowly and carefully blowing air into his lungs.
His chest barely moved. I pressed down on his sternum, then let go, over and over, pushing air into his lungs.
“Come on… breathe,” I whispered, jaw tight.
Two breaths, thirty chest pushes. I repeated it. At the same time, I mind-linked my patrol team. “We have a survivor. Northern woods by the waterfall. Hurry!”
Their shocked voices filled my head, but I focused on the man. He was alive — barely.
I pumped his chest again and leaned down, blowing more air into his lungs.
Then he coughed violently, water and blood coming out of his mouth. I tilted his head, letting the water pour onto the ground.
“Easy… you’re safe,” I whispered. “You’re okay.”
He coughed more, face twisted in pain, his hand lifting then dropping weakly onto the ground.
“Good… keep breathing… stay here, stay with me,” I said, gently patting his back.
His eyes opened weakly, meeting mine. They were stormy grey and dazed.
“Hey. Can you hear me?” I asked.
At first, he didn’t respond. When I tried to check his pulse, he weakly pushed me away.
“Don’t… don’t touch me,” he rasped.
I frowned.
“Well, that was rude,” Fawn commented.
Even injured and weak, he had the strength to resist. So much for the stress I just went through to save him.
“I’m trying to help you,” I said.
“I… don’t need your help,” he said, trying to sit up, but collapsing back on the ground with a groan. His eyes were glazed, but his defiance was clear.
“Really?” I raised an eyebrow. “Because it looks like you just lost a fight to a bear.”
He didn’t answer, just kept trying to push himself up, and each time he fell back on his face.
I sighed. He was stubborn, that’s for sure. And arrogant too.
“Fine,” I muttered. “You’d rather die? Go ahead, be my guest. But not on my land.” With that, I forced him to stay still, ignoring his groans and protests.
“Who… who are you?” he asked weakly.
“I should ask you the same,” I said, checking his wound. “Why are you this far into our territory?”
He didn’t answer. His eyes flicked toward me before rolling back.
“Hey!” I shook him, but it was too late — he went limp, blood pouring from his mouth.
“Goddess,” I hissed.
“Delta!” I heard my squad calling as they ran toward me. Liam knelt down. “What do we do?”
I looked at the blood. “We can’t leave him here. He won’t survive this storm.”
Vera nodded. “Roll him on his side. He could choke on blood and water.”
Carefully, we moved him. As his shirt shifted, Vera froze.
“Hope… look,” she whispered.
I followed her gaze — and froze.
On his shoulder blade was a tattoo of a wolf’s head with claw marks and flames — the Wolvesden pack crest.
“He’s one of them,” Vera said quietly.
My pulse raced. Of all the injured wolves we could find, it had to be the rebels. The enemy of the royal pack.
Liam frowned. “You mean he’s from Wolvesden?”
“Seems so,” Vera confirmed.
Eros cursed. “You should’ve left him to drown, Delta. Better still, let’s leave him to the rogues.”
I glared at him. “Not on my patrol, Eros. That’s not how we do things.”
Even soaked in mud and blood, this stranger looked different from other Wolvesden warriors I’ve met before. And I’ve seen plenty.
Vera whispered, “If we take him back, we’ll have a lot of questions to answer.”
“I know,” I said. “But if he dies here, we’ll never know why a Wolvesden wolf was on our land. This could mean the start of something bigger.”
Liam frowned. “Or it could just be trouble. Wolvesden never brings anything good.”
“Either way,” I said firmly, “we take him back.”
Eros muttered, “And if he wakes and attacks?”
“Then we deal with it,” I said. “First, we move before the storm gets worse. Be careful.”
We lifted him carefully.
Rain pounded us as we ran through the forest. His body was pale and twitching with every step.
“He’s losing too much blood,” Liam shouted.
“I know,” I said. “Almost there. Just hold on.”
His breathing was shallow. Blood ran from his mouth.
“He’s fading fast,” Vera said.
He convulsed violently. “Put him down,” I ordered.
We knelt in the mud. Blood poured from his side, his chest stopped moving for a moment, and that was when I noticed a black vein creeping up his left arm.
“Was this there before?” I asked Vera. She shook her head, worried.
I pressed on his chest, counting and breathing into him. Liam pressed a cloth to his wound.
“The infirmary is still far out,” he muttered. “He won’t make it, Delta.”
He twitched weakly. I looked at the dark horizon — the healer’s den was closer but with the storm…
“Marwen can stabilize him before we move him to the infirmary,” Vera suggested.
I nodded. “Alright. Marwen it is. Let’s go.”
We carried him through the rain. Relief hit when we reached the healer’s den.
“Go!” I barked. Liam kicked the door open and we rushed inside.
The healers froze. Amber — Alpha Damon’s sister, the princess of the wolf kingdom — sat by the fire in a silk robe, sipping from a cup.
“What in the Goddess’ name—?” she started as she saw us.
“He needs help. Clear a table,” I interrupted.
Dawn, standing beside Amber, stared in shock. “Hope… what are you doing? Who is this?”
We laid him down. Blood pooled onto the floor as we rolled him onto his side.
Amber’s eyes narrowed. “What did you drag in this time, Delta Hope?”
“I found him drowning in the river. He’s badly wounded,” I said.
Amber’s eyes narrowed further. “You brought a stranger in? From the river?” Her tone was sharp and disapproving.
“He was dying,” I said firmly.
“I can see that,” she snapped. “Why bring him here? This is a healer’s den, Delta Hope, not a graveyard.”
Dawn glanced at Amber, then back at me. “Hope… this could be dangerous. You don’t even know who he is!”
I ignored her and pressed on his wound. The man coughed violently, weakly pushing my hand away.
“Don’t… touch me,” he rasped.
I rolled my eyes at his stubbornness. “Fine. Just stay still.”
I turned to the head healer. “Marwen, he needs help—”
“Hope!” Amber interrupted sharply.
I looked up. She wasn’t staring at me — her eyes were on the man. Her fingers brushed his torn shirt, revealing the dark tattoo on his shoulder blade.
She gasped. “Hope! Do you know who this is?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “He’s a dying man.”
Amber’s eyes widened. “He’s Wolvesden. Look!”
The room went silent, everyone staring in shock.
Liam swore under his breath. Vera turned pale and quickly looked away.
Amber sneered. “You brought an enemy into our territory?! One of the rebels?! Wait until my father and Damon hear. You just lost your position, Delta Hope.”
Dawn’s eyes flashed in disbelief. “You brought an enemy into our territory, Hope?! How could you?!”
“I brought in a dying man,” I said calmly.
Amber scoffed. “You think this makes you look noble? Damon will have your head for this, you traitor.”
Dawn looked disappointed, glancing between me and the stranger. “Hope… you know what this means. King Gregory—”
“You should’ve killed him immediately you saw that mark!” Amber interrupted. “You should have buried your knife in his heart!”
“I’m a warrior, Princess Amber, not a murderer,” I said.
Just then the door opened and Damon and Gamma Lita entered. Damon froze, eyes on the bloody table.
“What’s going on here?” he demanded.
Amber pointed at me. “She dragged him in from the river — half-dead, covered in blood!”
Damon’s eyes narrowed. “And who is he?”
Amber quickly jumped to answer. “Wolvesden.”
Damon's eyes widened. “What?!”
- Writer
