Chapter9 : The long-awaited camping day
1072 Words
Morning finally arrived.
Stephanie woke earlier than usual, a faint excitement stirring inside her without a clear reason. Today was the long-awaited day… the camping day.
She rose from her bed and opened the window, letting cool air rush in from the forest, carrying the damp scent of ancient trees and hidden rain.
Not long after, everyone gathered around the breakfast table. Leo was the first to speak, while Ian sat quietly among them.
“All right,” Leo said calmly. “Let’s plan this carefully. We don’t want any trouble.”
Their mother nodded, then glanced at her husband. He spoke firmly,
“Camping is allowed—but on one condition. You must not stray too far from the village. The forest here is full of dangerous animals.”
He continued in a decisive tone,
“One kilometer only. No farther.”
The siblings exchanged looks, then agreed.
Carly suggested a small waterfall they had heard about from the villagers, located just a short distance into the forest.
Ian smiled faintly.
“A good place… the sound of the water will be beautiful at night.”
A few hours later, they set out on foot, carrying their camping gear.
At first, the path was clear, and the village could still be seen behind them. But with every step forward, the sounds faded, the trees thickened, and Stephanie felt as though the forest itself was slowly swallowing the road.
“This is strange,” Leo muttered, looking around. “I’ve never gone this far before.”
About a kilometer and a half from the village—just before reaching the waterfall—they stopped abruptly.
A wall stood before them.
Not an ordinary wall, but a massive barrier stretching across the forest, growing more imposing the closer they came. It rose over three meters high, forged from dark metal, as if it were part of the earth itself.
“What is this?” Leo exclaimed in disbelief.
“I swear it wasn’t here the last time I wandered through this forest.”
He stepped closer, eyes wide.
“How could this be built in just one week? Is this… magic?”
Before he could say more, enormous iron gates came into view, guarded by men dressed in unfamiliar uniforms—nothing like the villagers’.
One of the guards stepped forward coldly.
“Humans are forbidden from entering.”
“We only want to camp near the waterfall,” Leo replied quickly.
The guard answered sharply,
“This is an automated barrier, concealed underground. It spans the entire forest and separates the human settlements… from our kingdom.”
They exchanged confused glances.
“Our kingdom?” Ian asked quietly.
The guard ignored him.
“The gate will not open without the Alpha’s orders.”
They froze in place.
They did not understand the word—but the authority in his voice was enough to send unease through them.
Deep within the forest, not far away, a massive gray wolf moved silently between the trees.
Its presence was overwhelming, its steps soundless, its eyes sharp and glowing.
Suddenly—it stopped.
It caught a strange scent.
Human.
In an instant, the wolf canceled its transformation and returned to human form. A tall man stood there, golden shirt clinging to his powerful frame, yellow eyes shining with an unnatural glow—his beauty effortless, almost dangerous.
He moved swiftly toward the source of the scent.
Minutes later, he reached the iron gates… where Stephanie and her siblings stood.
Fury flared in his eyes.
“How did these humans reach the barrier?” he demanded sharply.
“Where is your commander?”
The guards tensed, raising their voices and blocking his way, unaware of who he was. An argument broke out—until the commander of the unit arrived.
The moment the commander saw him, his face drained of color.
He bowed instantly and shouted,
“Bow! All of you, bow immediately!”
Every guard lowered his head at once.
Behind the gate, Stephanie, her siblings, and Ian stared in shock.
A man who looked close to their age… and everyone bowed before him?
Carly whispered in awe, staring openly,
“Who is he?”
Then, almost unconsciously, she added,
“He’s… impossibly handsome.”
Stephanie said nothing.
Something strange stirred inside her.
A familiar sensation… a weight in her chest, an unexplainable pulse—
as though the forest itself had stopped breathing.
And this… was only the beginning.
..
Ren approached the siblings, his imposing presence looming over them, his sharp voice cutting through the cold forest air:
“Humans… you must leave immediately! You are not allowed to remain here.”
Then he slowly turned toward the guards, his yellow eyes flashing with anger:
“As for you… you will be punished. After these humans depart, you will raise the other gates and proceed to the Alpha’s palace. He will determine your punishment, and I will bring other guards to replace you.”
Carly tried, her voice hesitant but firm, to intervene:
“Please… could they be allowed to camp? Just for a short time.”
Ren glanced at her for a moment, then nodded in agreement, but he set a strict condition:
“Very well… they may camp, but only outside this gate. They must not cross the fence, for doing so would be considered trespassing on the kingdom’s lands.”
Leo smiled cautiously, while Carly felt a small sense of relief, yet everyone understood that these boundaries were absolute—and that a single misstep could provoke the wrath of a power not to be trifled with.
..
Stephanie approached the gate, driven by curiosity despite the warnings. Her necklace sparkled under the sunlight, and suddenly she felt an intense heat radiating from it, as if a hidden force was reacting to her presence. She shivered slightly, yet something compelled her to step closer.
Suddenly, a dizzy spell overcame her, and she could no longer control herself. The sounds around her faded, and her vision blurred into a dense fog, until she fainted, collapsing unconscious onto the ground.
In that moment, darkness and silence enveloped everything, as if the entire world had stopped breathing. No sound emerged, and no one moved—except for the faint echo of hurried footsteps that lingered in the air, while everyone around her struggled to comprehend the terrifying situation, unable to understand what had just happened.
- Writer
