More movements came from outside as I held onto Alijah. No one was coming to save us.
"Nothing, I'm just looking around the room." Caden huffed.
"But—" Aiden went to argue as Sophie stepped between them.
"Arg, I don't understand why they took that cave, though. Out of all the ways of Celestelia, that cave is the most treacherous!" Sophie said as someone rummaged around.
"Because it was abandoned. The miners made the entire thing unstable for tourists. Rem's brainless, but she isn't a lost cause. She knew that would be her best bet to get Alijah out of there." Caden scoffed as more movement was heard.
Though, I couldn't tell who was doing what.
"Well, I would put a point on brainless. The cave collapsed on them." Aiden chuckled.
I could imagine him rolling his eyes at me, which triggered me.
That entire plan would've been brilliant if I hadn't let my emotions overcome me!
"Well, it would've been a good place to find them. Until Alijah destroyed half of the cavern, leaving nothing but a crater behind. How strong is he?" Sophie pointed out.
"Fuck it! Let's look around this house before we leave. There has to be a clue here somewhere!" Caden opened the door next to us.
Oh! We're so screwed.
They would hear us if we moved, but if they opened the door, it was also game over. The twins had pinned Alijah and me down, unable to do anything to run away.
"Caden, you shouldn't do this." Aiden huffed.
"I don't care!" He scoffed, grabbing the knob to our door, leaving my heart to stop as Alijah and I were like rabbits caught in a trap.
The moment the knob twisted, it stopped as a different door opened.
"Excuse me, what are you doing here?" Wyatt questioned the trio, who was caught red-handed.
"Oh, sorry. Are you the owner of this clinic?" Sophie quickly countered him with her question.
She reminded me of how cunning Uncle Liam was. It made me wonder if he was also looking for me. The elf's tone was utterly different from how he spoke to me.
That's right; they don't take strangers lightly, especially those caught in the act.
Luckily, whoever was about to open the door to our room stepped away as I clung to Alijah tightly, unable to shake off the kiss or almost being caught. I knew he did it to tease me after being insulted by my brothers, but my heart couldn't stop hoping for more.
"Yes, somehow it stayed up during the fight. What could I do for you lot?" The elf asked, devoid of any emotion.
If his words could cut, they would've.
"Have you seen this girl?" Aiden stepped in, probably showing him a picture of me.
Crap... We're doomed.
"I have," Wyatt began, prompting my heart to stop. "But they left the village after the beast attacked." He finished, leaving me cocking my head.
Why did you lie to them?
Before I could even try to understand, they continued to speak.
"Ah, I see... could you show us where?" Caden asked. "It's imperative we find her."
Wyatt sighed, "I didn't see where they went, but I'll show you where I last saw them. Follow me."
The door closed shut behind them, allowing us to breathe freely. Alijah and I stayed there silently, waiting for the three wolves to be far from us. After a few minutes passed, we could finally breathe freely.
Well, to a point.
"Rem... what was all that?" Alijah asked as I shifted my gaze away from him.
Uh… How do I answer that without screwing everything up?
"My brothers have been behind us the whole time, it seems. They are really good at tracking." I responded.
They have probably been tracking us since the night we got away, and now those survivors from the raiding camp… Have they reported to Dad? Surely, they did. All of those iris and sedatives are an issue for him to fix if there is one.
For all we knew, humans could've been selling it to them, too.
Celestelia is a lawless land, after all.
"I don't care if they are tracking us, Rem. They are Fenris spawn, so it's predictable. No, what I want to know is why did they call you dangerous?" Alijah studied my reactions.
Oh… No!
"Ah... W-Well, you know I-I can't control myself well, especially when I shift." I explained as he narrowed his eyes at me, leaving me sweating where I sat.
"Sounds like it is more than a simple curse." He grabbed me by my hand.
I couldn't tell what expression I had on my face, but it probably was nothing convincing, which was terrible.
"Nope... Nothing else. They like to exaggerate everything." I lied through my teeth, only for Alijah to catch on quickly.
His expression changed as his fangs flashed at me while his eyes turned colder towards me.
"You're lying to me, Rem," He growled.
I turned my face away from him as this wolf had learned how to read me. It was impossible to lie to him anymore, so I kept silent when he tugged away from me; however, this time, it seemed different. It felt like if I didn't chase him, I would never reach him again.
Unable to stay behind, I followed him out the door as he rummaged around the house where my brothers had been. Their fresh scent was all over the place.
"What are you doing?!" I questioned, triggering him to roll his eyes and continue his search.
"Alijah!" I reached out to him only to stop before grabbing onto his shirt.
Ah… I don't have the right to touch you.
Shifting my gaze towards the grown, the bothered wolf suddenly picked an unlabeled bottle out of the shelves before opening it and sniffing its contents.
"Eh, it smells like it," Alijah mumbled, suddenly gulping the bottle and dragging my eyes towards him.
Stunned, I stared at him.
Just what the fuck do you think you're doing?! Wyatt has been nothing but friendly to us, which was unacceptable!
"What are you doing?! You stupid wolf! You can't just drink people's stuff!" I yelped, snatching the bottle away from him.
He licked his lips, suddenly stumbling where he was as he had bottled almost the entire thing down.
"Fuck! I thought it was alcohol!" Alijah muttered.
You thought it was what?!
Turning my gaze toward the bottle, I sniffed it, too. The scent was like ethanol, but there was something off about it, too. I mean, there were many types of alcoholic flavors. I didn't know what it was, but it smelled familiar, yet I couldn't place it.
"Oi! You wanted to get drunk?!" I growled loudly, grabbing his shirt as he lost his balance.
I caught him before he hit the ground.
"Alijah, are you hammered?!" I questioned, shifting emotions like flipping through pages.
It couldn't happen so soon, yet he could barely stand up. Grabbing hold of the desk beside us to help himself up, he struggled to stay up as his body shook and breathing became labored.
There is no way you are hammered! Even Lycan liquor takes longer than this to affect us!
He didn't seem okay, which meant whatever he ingested wasn't what he thought it was.
God damn it! Those idiots are at fault for this!
Though I couldn't blame them alone, I had hurt Alijah before they came around. All of this was my burden to bear. I couldn't even find liability in him for wanting to get drunk to get away from me.
I tried to take a few steps toward the room we were in, as maneuvering around the room was more complicated than I thought.
"You're heavy!" I huffed, struggling to get to the door before opening it as soft grumbles left him.
With each second that happened, he appeared to get heavier as his movements weren't his to take. His face was flushed red, too.
Damn it! After laying you down, I must rush to find Wyatt without my brothers finding me!
The bed was closer with each step, yet…
"No… I… Rem... get away from me," Alijah warned in a husky voice.
"No! I need to get you to the bed, then I'll get help!" I huffed, struggling to guide him to the watery waves the bed was made of.
It was a struggle, and he muttered a few incoherent things on the way, but I got him back onto the bed. A soft sigh left my lips as I relished this small victory.
Finally, now to see how this—
I went to turn around, only for him to grab my arm and yank me down with him. The bottle fell out of my hands and onto the floor. In an instant, everything changed when he towered over me. Everything from his gaze to his demeanor appeared different.
This black wolf wasn't entirely there.