Chapter 16: Reasons.
1107 Words
Maya's pov
One minute then pain rippled through me like an earthquake, touching every part of my body, and the next it was gone like it was never there, a presence without a shadow.
The pack had been busy for the past few days now, trying to get things together, or so I was told by Sarah who I hadn't heard from in a while. Everyone seems to be busy.
No one seems to pay attention to me, and if they did, it was always a derogatory comment of how I was never to be here, how I was slacking off and not doing anything, how I was just allowed to roam their pack.
Even though I didn't want to be here, to be honest, I wished I had died after my banishment. It would have saved me a lot of the pain, the ridicule, the constant worrying that something bad was coming and that worry seems to grow day by day.
It was noon and I was in the woods, sitting on a fallen log, taking in the warm air and the sounds of the cricket which calmed me down and kept me company, even if that sounded ridiculous.
That was until I heard the snap of a twig, and I panicked ,my heart thudded slowly as I swerved around, trying to locate the source of the sound, “Who…. who's there?” the words barely came out as I stuttered.
“What are you doing out here?” Varek's voice drifted through the silence of the woods and I heaved a breath of relief, even though I was still their prisoner, at least it wasn't my former pack.
Yet.
“I'm sorry, I….I just came out to….uhmm,” I didn't know what excuse I wanted to give that wouldn't make him angrier, pushing the strands of my hair until they covered my features as I lowered my gaze, “I wanted to get out of the others hair, I'm always in their way,”
It felt like I was a burden trying to hinder them from completing a task, like I had been sent to be the name to their existence.
Varek hadn't said anything, and honestly I didn't know where he stood, “And you thought you had a free reign to come out here?”
My heart skipped a bit as I rushed to defend myself, “No…no .. it's not like that, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that,”
My breathing was heavy as the feelings from my former pack began to surge forth again, “I'll head back now,” I stated quietly before using the stick I had gotten and began making my way to the pack.
“You don't have to do that,” he was much closer, his voice echoed from right in front of me, how had he reached me so fast. I found myself tilting my head upwards to look at him as though it would make any difference.
I felt a creek on the log as though another person had sat down beside me, “You don't belong in our pack, and my people have faced enough of betrayals and losses to trust anyone again, you can understand that,”
I knew way too much about that.
We sat in silence, I felt awkward with this domineering presence and all I wanted to do was leave, “What do you want?”
That came out odd, no one has ever asked me that before and so I wasn't sure what he meant, “I don't understand,”
“I'm asking you what you want, what do you want from us? What do you want to do to us? What is your plan?” His voice was leveled yet dominant.
My frown deepened, I guess he still thought I was a spy sent by the Crimson blood pack, he had no idea that I was also in trouble for even being alive.
“I don't know,” I said quietly, honestly. My life had no purpose and I didn't know what I wanted to do with it, I didn't know when they were going to come for me, I was living for the day rather than the future.
Varek only hummed in silence, before he continued, “well neither do I,”
“The ashgroove pack was much larger than this, our pack brimmed with laughter and celebrations, we were more than a pack, we were a family,” there was an underlying sadness that followed in his voice, “The children played carefree, and everyone lived without constant worry, and we continued to grow, stronger because of this bond we shared,”
Hmm
“That was until we decided to help, my parents decided to help a stray, and outcast,” his voice was filled with bitterness, like he was starting at this person, “A rouge,”
“They had no idea that this was the beginning of their destruction, at first he was nice, calm, quiet, just like anyone who has been saved, he was…..respectful,”
“All along, he was collecting information, spying on us, making us feel comfortable around him, and so did I,”
Where was he going with this?
A sigh escaped his lips, “and the next thing we knew, we were surrounded by warriors from the crimson blood pack, no warning, no preparations, nothing, we were ambushed in the middle of…..” he struggled to finish or rather didn't want to.
“Apparently, the rouge has dismissed our men from the borders, made our defense weak and we were so relaxed we didn't know what was coming,”
“It was a last minute evacuation process that got us out of there, my parents made sure we were safe but, there was only so much we could have done on such short notice, let's just say a good number of us didn't make it out alive,”
“The ones that did are scattered with nowhere to go and I had managed to gather them,”
That did sound like something the crimson blood pack would do, “I'm..really sorry,”
I didn't know if I should place my hands on him or not.
His voice however stopped me, “I don't need your sympathy, and to my earlier question, I don't know what to do with you either,”
“I am not willing to make the same mistakes my parents did,”
At this moment, a splitting scream tore through my throat as I held my head and within seconds, darkness consumed me.
- Writer
