_08_
*Couple Of Minutes Earlier*
Lothanna had left Cara and disappeared into the woods due to her rumbling stomach. He had never shown interest in learning about humans, but he understood she must be famished—after all, she hadn't eaten since they left her kingdom.
Lothanna had barely run a hundred meters when he abruptly stopped in his tracks, a deep frown on his face. "Why am I doing this?" He muttered under his breath. "I'm not supposed to be concerned about humans!"
Lothanna had wanted to retrace his steps back to the carriage, but realizing they still had a long way ahead of them, and she might be extremely hungry and tired before they reached their destination, he decided to at least find any edible plants around.
Luckily, after going deeper into the woods, Lothanna came across berries and nut plants—it wasn't hard to identify them, and he plucked what he felt would be enough to sustain Cara until they reached their destination.
Hurriedly, Lothanna rushed back to the carriage but did not find Cara anywhere in sight. Disturbed, he dropped the berries and rushed towards the coachman, Zach, who was still tending to the horses.
Not having enough patience, he rushed his words out. "Where's Cara, Zach...?"
The coachman raised his head and pointed towards the spot where she had been standing a while ago. "She's over..." Words trailed off his mouth as he realized there was no one around except himself and Lothanna. "—but I was certain she was standing where you left her."
Lothanna didn't have time to discuss things with the coachman as he checked the carriage, but it was empty. Paranoid, he turned towards Zach. "If anything should happen to her..." He didn't complete his words before zooming off, but Zach understood.
Lothanna heightened his hearing sense, and just in time, he caught onto a yelp—he recognized the voice, which made the hairs on his back stand up as he rushed towards the direction the sound had come from.
Just in time, he stopped the wolf that had been about to pounce on Cara by swiftly grabbing its neck and ripping out its heart afterward. His breathing was heavy as anger coursed through his veins.
With a keen expression, he watched the fear on Cara's face slowly turn to wonder as she opened her eyes, her gaze locking with his. "I told you to stay still, didn't I? You should have stayed back in the carriage instead, Cara." Despite his veins bursting with anger, he couldn't deny he had been worried about her.
"Where is such emotion coming from...?"
***
Cara instinctively dragged herself back, fear evident on her face as she stared at the man before her—he was different from the mysterious man she knew. "Stay away...!" She muttered fearfully, her voice cracking. "Stay away from me, you beastly creature!"
There was a flash of emotion in Lothanna's eyes, one he couldn't fathom—the type that disappeared as quickly as it came. He was extremely angry. His anger wasn't directed towards Cara this time, but towards himself.
For the first time since he could remember, he felt like a fool. He had acted irrationally and without thinking. What was he thinking when he left her alone in the woods? Was he confident she could look after herself because she had been acting tough with him?
Despite Cara's fear, he squatted before her after wiping his bloody hands on his clothes, his eyes fixed on her bruised knee. "Did you fall while being chased?" He asked, attempting to touch her knee, but she quickly dodged his hand. "Does it hurt a lot?"
"Don't touch me!" Those were the only words Cara could say to him. She wasn't really afraid of his beastly side, but the fact that creatures like him existed was what she feared—and getting married to one felt more like a dream than reality. "Stay away. Please..."
"I'm sorry, but I can't." He told her in a straightforward manner, holding her left knee. Cara had wanted to resist him but... "Don't move, Cara. Let me see."
Cara sighed deeply, giving in to his words; there was no use resisting a man as strong as he was. "What are you?" She asked him again, her voice laced with curiosity instead of fear this time. "You said you aren't a werewolf, then what are you?"
"Do werewolves even exist?" Lothanna responded with a question instead, his tone husky as he tore a piece of cloth from his attire. He bent his head closer to Cara's bruised knee and blew air on it. "I don't believe they do—and I'm not one of them either."
Cara was at a loss for words, uncertain what else to say. Quietly, she watched him attend to her bruise and tie the cloth around it. "Can you walk?" He asked as soon as he finished. She shook her head negatively in response.
"Hmm..." Lothanna nodded slowly and lifted her in a bridal-style hold before heading back towards the carriage. "I'm neither a human nor a vampire, but I'm somewhere in between."
Cara raised her left brow at his choice of words. "That's absurd. How is that even possible?" She asked him.
"It is..." Lothanna confirmed his own words. "When vampires mate with humans, it happens. So, it's safe to say I'm a hybrid."
"Ah, I see..." Cara spoke slowly. Again, she was at a loss for words. Earlier, she remembered having so many questions to ask him, but they seemed to have dissipated.
"As a hybrid, I don't possess everything a full-blooded vampire has..." He continued, noticing the curiosity in her eyes. "There are limitations to my abilities, which is why I was treated like an outcast by other vampires—and humans don't feel like I'm one of them either."
Cara stared at his face, thinking he was hurt, but the look on his face was the total opposite—Lothanna was grinning. "Humans are weak anyway; it's a good feeling I don't completely belong to their race." He added, stopping as they reached the carriage.
As Lothanna gently placed Cara inside the carriage, she couldn't help but wonder what other secrets her new husband might be hiding—and her curiosity grew but she did say nothing.
The forest grew darker as they continued their journey to Lothanna's empire, and the sound of howling wolves echoed in the distance, giving the woods more creepy vibes.
Cara shivered, uncertain of what awaited her in this new and mysterious world she had married into, her future filled with untold possibilities and dangers—she could feel it...