"Let's go for a swim in the river," says Chetan.
"This time of night?" Raising an eyebrow at him, I couldn't help but laugh at his
spontaneous suggestion.
"It would be fun," he says with a pouty lip.
"I am down, but you know Alpha will say no."
"He said only to tell him where you are going."
"Fine."
The timing must have been in our cards, because Ajay and Aanya were already walking
back in the others' direction.
"Hey, Ajay, we are going down to the river for a swim, the closest one to camp," Chetan
announces.
"At night with vampires, zombies, and who knows what else at bay?" Ajay scoffs
"Yeah, we are wolves. We know how to fight, remember?" Chetan asks.
Ajay glances at me, but my gaze is on the ground. I can't handle his stares. He isn't
looking at me the same way, it was like he saw me, but didn't. Only as his cub, his responsibility. Every wolf under the Alpha is called their cub.
"Fine, Chetan, you are responsible for Zare. So if something happens to her, don't even
bother coming back," he warns.
"Why do you even care?" The words come out of my mouth too fast, and I instantly
regret them.
"Because you are my responsibility," he declares.
Ajay and Aanya leave.
"He still loves you, Zare, it's all over his face," he mutters.
"Then he wouldn't have moved on so quickly with Aanya."
"I think he is using her as a distraction."
"Let's forget about it and go have fun in the river."
Hand in hand, we ran past the others. Chetan decides to be immature.
"Goodbye, losers. Especially you, Smoke!" he yells at them.
Laughing so hard like a crazy person, I swear I am going to pee my pants.
"Fuck you!" Smoke yells after us
I am sure it wasn't boys playing around with each other, either.
"Dev wasn't with the others. I wonder where he wandered off to."
"Ajay may have him on the run," Chetan answers.
"Yes, probably."
The river is close to the camp, like Chetan says. We can't see the others, but I still smell
their scents. Even before walking up to the river, Chetan starts ripping off all his clothes. My
eyes wander all over his body; he was beautiful. Everything about him, he has an amazingly built muscular body, his arms are massive, and I pity the poor guy who combats with him. Chetan prances into the water.
"Get in," he calls to me.
His eyes watch me as I take off my clothes piece by piece. Noticing him biting his lower
lip, I know he enjoys my features as much as I took pleasure in his. Finally, completely nude, I jump into the water.
Shit, this water is cold! Looking down at my arms, I see goosebumps everywhere. My
teeth chatter uncontrollably.
"It is too cold, baby." He puts his arms around me and pulls me against his body. He
kisses my forehead. "Let's get out." He let me go.
Before I can answer, I feel something or someone pulling on my body. They drag me
under the water.
"Zare!" Chetan screams over and over again until the water overtakes my ears. Then I
can no longer hear anything.
I see a green scaly creature with long hair that looks like seaweed pulling me along by the
feet. He glances back at me, and I observe his fish-like face, red eyes, and sharp teeth.
How am I still breathing? I should have drowned with all the water I inhaled. I can
breathe underwater, and I have no idea how.
We eventually reach a cave at the bottom of the river. All the fish swimming by are
fantastic. They are multicolored, like rainbow fish.
We enter the cave, and the creature drops his hold on me. Fear and panic fill my head and
my whole baby shakes.
"It's okay, Zare, I won't hurt you," the creature says.
"How do you know my name?" Wow! I can even speak underwater!
"I've been watching the whole pack through my spyglass, and I wanted to meet you," he
answers.
He seems nice, and lonely. "What kind of creature are you?"
"A sea monster, I guess."
"Living in a river?"
"Go figure." He laughs.
I gaze around the cave, feeling a little uneasy. It looks peaceful. He has rocks in the
corner of the room around a big clear pearl looking object.
"I gave you the power to breathe underwater," he says.
"How?"
"All I have to do is touch you, and I can transfer some of my powers to you."
"Oh, thanks."
"I really want you as a friend. You seem so fun, wild, and free, but you can leave
whenever you like."
"I guess I can stay for a little while."
"Good!" the creature clapping his fins.
"So, you have a spyglass?" I would love to see Ajay's reaction to the news of me going
missing.
"Sure, what to watch?" he asks.
"Definitely. By the way, do you have a name?"
"No," He sighs sadly.
"What if I call you Zero? Because I know Zero creatures like you, you are one of a kind."
"Zero, that has a nice ring to it," Zero says, and we both laugh.
He turns on the spyglass, and we took our seats.
"This is how I learned your language." He says some words in other languages, and I
have no idea what he says.
"I just said, 'Hello, wolf cub' in my language," he explains.
Seeing Chetan through the spyglass a big crystal ball, it was huge and clear in color.
Chetan is panicking beyond panic. He repeatedly dives into the water, frantically searching for me and crying my name. It hurts my heart, seeing how upset he is. He yells for Ajay over and over again, and it isn't long before Ajay and the pack show up.
"What's wrong," Ajay bellows.
"Zare, she went underwater, and she hasn't come back up," Chetan cries.
"How long has she been gone for?"
"About fifteen to twenty minutes," Chetan answers through tears.
"Shit!" Ajay madly starts searching the water, diving underneath, then coming back up.
He is screaming my name.
"See? I knew he still loves you," says Zero.
"He just feels responsible for me." I roll my eyes.
"No, it's something more."
"This has been an entertaining show for you, huh?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
We watch the wolves search some more. Ajay grabs Chetan by the shirt.
"I told you to take care of her," he yells.
"It wasn't my fault! Ajay, something pulled her under the water," Chetan insists.
Looking down at myself, I panic, remembering I am completely naked.
"I was waiting for you to do that." Laughs Zero. He throws me a seaweed blanket. "I
sewed it together myself."
"This is amazing." I wrap myself in the blanket.
Looking back at the spyglass, I see Ajay sitting on the rock next to the river. He has his
head in his hands, and he cries pitifully.
"I should have said no. She drowned, and it's my fault. I was supposed to take care of
her," he wails.
"Maybe she's fine," Chetan says through tears.
"The seaweed pulled her under, she's dead." Kiara is sitting on the ground crying, and
looking sick like she wants to puke. Cricket rubs her back.
"Who cares if the bitch is gone? Now she can stop being passed around like a toy,"
Smoke says with a grin.
Chetan rushes over, punching Smoke directly in the mouth. He drops to the ground,
grabbing his bloody lip.
"I am glad you did that, because I was about to," says Ajay.
"Don't you ever disrespect Zare's name again!" Chetan yells, kicking him in the ribs.
My mouth drops open, utterly shocked. Chetan did that, and Ajay allowed it.
"Calm down, Chetan. Smoke deserves it, but that's enough," Cricket shouts.
"He's right. I am doing one last swim to look for her." Ajay jumps into the water.
"Where is Dev?" Watching the spyglass, I am shocked he is not there.
"You'll think this is interesting." Zero says some words over the spyglass; it was the
language I don't understand.
A mist covers the lens, and when it clears, I see Dev in the cemetery, sitting on the bench.
He is with a zombie, a girl one, and he is making out with her.
"What the hell?" I shout.
"She is a wolf, too, and his Mark mate," declares Zero.
" Why hasn't he said anything?" Feeling beyond surprised and overwhelmed by the
news, my head hurts.
"Think about it."
"He is scared of Ajay, that he'll destroy her."