Three.
1138 Words
Chapter Three.
Love's POV.
The sound of crackling firewood and the smell of something good woke me up.
"Ronnie, what are you making?" I groaned, turning. My body ached and my throat felt raw. I needed some wart.
"Please get me some water." My head spun the moment I tried to sit up. I blinked as I took in my surroundings.
Ronnie wasn't here.
Everything that had happened came rushing back to me. Being thrown into the water, the strange woman in silver, and then Sefina pulling me back from death.
I was alive. And we were in some kind of cave.
It was a little dark in here, but there was a warm fire casting shadows against the rocky walls. It was small but cozy, and there was a pile of old blankets on the ground where I had been lying. A few clay pots sat in the corner, and beside them, there was a wooden bowl filled with something.
My wet clothes had been replaced with a knee length bubu that smelled of herbs and smoke, but in a good way.
Sefina sat by the fire, stirring her cooking with a carved wooden spoon. She looked at me when I let out a sigh.
"You're awake. And back to reality too." She said, not surprised. "Good."
"Back to reality?"
"I'm not Ronnie." She simply stated, and I felt my face flush.
I swallowed, my throat painfully dry.
"Sorry. Where are my clothes?"
"Drying outside." She ladled some soup into a wooden cup and handed it to me. "Drink this. It'll help with the cold."
I hesitated.
She gave me a knowing look.
"Look here child, if I wanted to poison you, I would have let you drown or abandoned you by the water."
I didn't have the strength to argue. Taking the cup with shaky hands, I took a sip. It was warm and slightly bitter, but my stomach seemed to welcome it.
I set the cup down.
"How long was I out?"
"Almost a full day."
A day.
I rubbed my face, trying to piece everything together. The Rheyan Pack must have assumed I was dead by now. In fact, who wouldn't? My family had no idea of what had happened to me.
Were they mourning me? Were they looking like Ronnie?
"Did anyone else survive?" I asked. The downcast look on Sefina's face told me all that I needed to know.
"I didn't see their bodies. The water must have carried them away." She stated.
I clenched my fists.
"I have to go back."
Sefina sighed, like she had been expecting this.
"And do what exactly?"
"I need to see my family."
She shook her head.
"Foolish girl."
"Excuse me?" Who did she think she was?
"The moment you step foot in that village, you'll be dead before you can even explain yourself to your people."
"What do you mean?"
"No one has ever survived the sacrifice. Your people will not accept you."
A chill ran down my spine.
"What?"
"No one." She said again. "For generations, the Rheyan Pack has offered humans to their goddess, and none have ever returned. If they find out you lived, they will hunt you down, and if you are accepted back into the human community, who knows what they'd do to the people who took you back?"
I tried to process her words, but it didn't make sense.
"If no one has ever survived, how do you know this?"
Her lips pressed into a thin line.
"I know this because I've seen it before."
I gritted my teeth.
"So, what? I just disappear? Live in hiding like a coward? What are you even? How do I know you're not one of them?"
She didn't answer.
I pushed the blankets off and forced myself to stand. My legs felt like they were made of stone, but I continued to move. Sefina didn't try to stop me as I staggered toward the cave entrance, but her words stopped me in my tracks.
"If you go back, you will put your family in danger."
I froze.
She stood up slowly.
"Think, girl. They thought you died for a reason. If the werewolves discover you're alive, they won't just come for you. They'll punish everyone who knew you. Your family, your friends, anyone who might have helped you."
I turned to face her, my body trembling with anger.
"So what do you expect me to do? Hide forever? Let them get away with what they did to me?"
Sefina shook her head.
"They already got away with it. You're supposed to be dead."
Her words hit me like a slap.
I felt my nails dig into my palms. This wasn't fair. I had been taken, tied up, thrown into the river like I was nothing, and now I was supposed to just accept it? To let them win?
I refused to do that.
If I couldn't have my life back, then I would have to take something beneficial from them.
"I will kill their Alpha."
I hadn't meant to say it out loud, but once the words left my lips, I felt the will to do so become stronger in me.
I would make them suffer too.
The Alpha ruled the Rheyan Pack. He was the one who controlled them, the one who allowed the sacrifices to continue. If he died, the pack would have no choice but to implode.
"And how exactly do you plan to do that?" Sefina's voice brought me out of my daydreams.
I hadn't thought that far yet. I was weak, weaponless, and had no idea where the Alpha even was.
But I didn't care. I would figure it out.
I took a deep breath.
"Do you have any weapons?"
"Really?" Sefina scoffed. "You think killing an Alpha is as easy as stabbing a blade through his heart? You just want to waltz over and stab him?"
"Why not?" I snapped. "He's a werewolf, not a god."
She laughed.
"Have you ever seen an Alpha fight? Their speed, their strength? They are not just werewolves. They are monsters."
"Then I'll become a monster too."
She sighed, shaking her head.
"You're so stubborn."
"Determined is a better word."
She went to the back of the cave. She rummaged through an old sack and pulled out something wrapped in cloth.
She tossed it at me. I caught it, frowning.
"Open it." She said.
I unwrapped the cloth and found a small dagger with a silver blade.
"It's not much." Sefina said. "But it's a start. In case you choose to go through with your plan, that's your reminder."
I stared at the weapon, my heart pounding.
This was it.
I wasn't going to be a helpless offering anymore. I was going to fight and take our freedom back.
- Writer
