AUTHOR'S POV
"Do you mind if I take a quick look?", with darkened eyes, Gregory uttered a decent calmness in his tone, but didn't waited for Dolphus' permission to enter his hut. Making his way to the slightly open door, nothing different blended with the air. The same usual smell of Dolphus' favorite soup welcomed him in.
Dolphus, despite worried to have the Luna get caught by Gregory, remained calm huffing smoke from his pipe. He puffed more, masking the scent of Diana lingering inside his home. He felt Gregory's light footsteps walking around. From the entryway, to the dining. By now, he is sure that the nosy caretaker of the Devlins have already the seen the crockeries on the table.
"The rodent must be thirsty, and very famished, I must say Elder Dolphus", Gregory picking up a bowl that have fell downturned on the floor that he have come across. His jaw tightened, not in shock but in confirmation. He continued to wander freely inside the house, glancing at every corner. Sniffing the trace of metallic scent somewhere in between the puffs of smoke.
Dolphus just smiled. Sitting down on his chair, he reached for his earthenware tobacco jar, and added more dried leaves on his pipe. Carefully, without the intent to show uneasiness, he lighted it with a match puffing a stronger scent of his favorite flavor. "Are they? Well, they've been roaming in and out, and a blind man like me would never notice".
The floorboards creaked as Gregory head onto Dolphus' disarrayed bed. As he glance at an open bin on the side, he saw a fresh bloodied clothes and bandages sticking out. Thinking that whoever the elder used it with... isn't too far. Gregory opened the backdoor, this time with rush and anticipation. He scanned the surrounding and still, saw nothing beyond the morning mist going to the forest.
"Elder Alarick and Beta Stanley wouldn't be very happy with what you did today, Elder Dolphus", Gregory grunted, slamming the door close. He faced the blind elder figuring out who he just took in. "How could you?!", he growled as his eyes reddened in anger seeing the elder unapologetically owning his choice.
"I just did the right thing. The Luna is innocent. In fact, she's exactly what the Alpha needs", Dolphus quietly retorted. He remained seated, and even crossed his legs despite discerning Gregory's low grunts. In a moment, he heard Gregory's loud thuds rushing towards him.
When Gregory was about to pounce at Dolphus, Lucas and Gunner opened the door and jointly shouted, "Where's the Luna?!".
Meanwhile
Trembling, Diana managed to quietly escape the hut before Gregory made it in. As she enter the forest, she saw a couple of wolves coming in too, which made her heart race even more. Hearing what Gregory just said, it seemed like things about her safety got more complicated.
Running stealthily in the woods as the cold air thins and the sun rays beam, she breathe heavily at her wounds flaring notably at the worst moment. Her escape wasn't freedom at all, it was a risk she had to take. There were voices calling her name reeling her back to the hut, and yet, she chose to runaway until they became smaller and almost muffled.
The forest remained unforgiving as it did last night. Its soft ground swallowed her bleeding bare feet, slowing her down. The misty air blinded her already clouded vision, which were pulsing at the edges. Her hand reaches for the tree trunks, that every breath was like knives piercing her chest.
A little farther more, her limbs felt heavier as they should. The world feels subdued, like she's already halfway gone. Staggering, Diana dragged herself leaning on one tree to another. In her mind, she wondered where is she gonna go. Recognition cut through the haze, she gaped at the massive tree with prop roots that flickered a memory. She thought it was the banyan tree that she assumed where Scott took her initially. Diana fell to her knees, with no more strength to make it to the tree. She smiled wearily, that as her vision warps she still thinks of Scott.
Her pale skin started to feel cold as her sweat swelter out. This time, each of her breaths was taking it slow. The wound on her back doesn't feel right anymore, for the pain that it came with... now spread to her chest down to every part of her body. Grazing the necklace she gave to Scott, she removed it and held it close. "I wish you were here", she uttered. She looked up, and saw how beautiful the sunlight filtering through the canopy of leaves, shifting its dappled light and shadow on her face. There was a silent peace as the wind twirl her hair.
Just then, the pain sharpened, torturing her from inside. Diana clutched on her chest, falling with her face on the ground. Before she closed her eyes, a black bird descended in front of her, which majestically shifted to a black wolf. Not even hiding itself, the creature with a pair of yellow eyes and a scar on its paw lowered its face on Diana. "Nagua...", she whispered. Without anymore strength left, Diana rolled her eyes shut... surrendering to the terrible pain that she could no longer bear.
The nagua in wolf form come closer to Diana, sniffing her as it softly growl. It licked Diana's face a few times before walking around towards her back. The nagua then lifted its paw, and scratched open Diana's gray tunic to see a clear view of her bandaged wound. It snarled at the blood leaking out of the cloth.
Diana drifted back and forth to reality. One moment she feels the bandages being carefully removed from her back, and then later, she's in her bedroom in the city lying on the bed with her mother. With her eyes refusing to open, she felt a pair of warm hairy hands touched her back. A certain kind of pain spiked from where its hands landed, that made her gasp. It was more like a fire burning her body, cutting her throat keeping her screams silent. Her fingers clawed the earth, as she writhe under the palms of the nagua. "Pl-ease... s-stop", she found her voice to beg.
Then, she felt a warm liquid drip on her back, as she hear a familiar voice whispering an incomprehensible incantation. The sensation shifted. Her back tickled a little, until the burning feels that wildly owned her body softened until it vanished. Her breathing hitched. Slowed. And her hands steady. As if they were all knots pulling away.
And finally, it's no longer hurting.
Diana felt not only healed, but renewed. She opened her eyes, and her first deep breath was as fresh as the morning dew around her. Bracing herself before moving, she chased her memories with a necklace on her hand and dirt on her feet. The thought of nothing hurts anymore was more unsettling that than pain she endured earlier. The lingering warmth on her back reminded her of the nagua who just came to her rescue. When she looked back, the nagua in its bird form was ready to fly away.
"Wait!! Why are you helping me??", Diana asked, hurrying herself to stand on her bare feet. This nagua have always watched her back for several time now, and she wondered why. The bird just stared at her as it open its large wings. "Thank you. Can I ask you another favor?", the bird snapped its bill as it make an aggressive sound. "I know it's too much, but, can you help my friends, Scott and Sebastian? I heard they were hurt too.. please?", Diana plead taking the rare opportunity to ask for more help, remembering that one can never easily find a nagualli. "Right.. you need something in return? I'll do anything, just please help them too", she said, as she tearfully beseech the superior being. The bird chirped as it strongly flap it wings, then it flew away leaving Diana wondering why the nagua is unbelievably altruistic in its generosity towards her.
Diana stood alone in the forest, closed her eyes and deeply breathe her another chance in life. She smiled as she folded her arms across her chest. Hearing someone approach as the leaves crunch and twigs crunch, Diana hurriedly hid behind the banyan tree, in between the large roots. She held her breath as she stay hidden quietly... waiting for someone to appear.
Back in the Town Plaza
Roman knocked softly on the door of the Devlins chalet. He was welcomed by a woman with a sullen face, who opened the door wide for him. Her eyes balled out from too much crying, that her tears made a trail on her cheeks. She didn't speak at all, and just let him in pointing to the room she assumed he's visiting. Going upstairs, Roman slowly opened the first door to his right. He saw Sebastian asleep on a single bed. Beside him is Priscilla who has puffy, red and moist eyes from nonstop crying.
"Mr. Brooke", Priscilla noticed Roman standing by the door, peeking without a sound. "He's still asleep.. The healer said, it will take twelve hours until the venom damages all of his organs. Every time he wakes up, he screams from pain and he shouts for Diana", she was left with no more strength as she remain seated on the chair beside her dying son.
"Sebastian is a hero. He's the bravest and smartest wolf I've ever known. My friend, Gunner, would have been shredded into pieces if not for him", Roman revealed, trying to console Priscilla as he stand at the foot of the bed.
"My son never wanted to be here. I just force him to. And here's what I got him", she regretted, staring blankly at Sebastian's pained face. Every moon bath, Sebastian have always preferred to share the full moon with someone else in the city. Priscilla, being the glue of the Devlin family, forbade it. And have always insisted to moon bath all together in their town.
"No one wanted what happened. Please don't blame yourself", Roman told her, with a much softer voice.