“Oh Anya.”

A calloused hand gingerly touched my cheek and I flinched away from the caress, hissing at the blinding pain which rose swiftly. Brenda sighed softly, uncapping a bottle as my sisters looked on.

My right cheek throbbed from where Savior had hit me before he demanded that I leave his house, disappointment laced with his words. I had done so eagerly, tears momentarily blurring my vision as the pain on my cheek increased.

I faintly remember the little girl calling my name in worry as I hurried to my house, where my sisters waited for me, all wanting to know what Savior had asked from me.

Brenda applied some salve onto my cheek gently, whilst Ivy asked why I didn’t just do what Savior wanted. My personal feelings weren’t supposed to interfere with what Savior asked of me to do, but it had. I didn’t bother responding to Ivy and my body shook as I heard her release a huff of annoyance.

“Thank you.” I murmured softly to Brenda after she pulled away, finally finished with applying the strongly scented salve. Her eyes held mine and I saw the pity in them, which was so unlike Ivy’s, who instead had glared at me after I told her about my refusal.

Savior passed by later that day, saying that he would go on a short walk in the forest. I said nothing as my sisters wished him a safe journey and I knew that me turning my back to him as he spoke was viewed as being completely disrespectful, but in that moment, I had little care for what he, or my sisters would think.

“You’re going to have to ask him to forgive you.” Ivy snipped to me right before I had left my house later to go stand by Naverna outside, who had finished cooking the rabbit I had caught earlier. We sat a few feet away from the little girl, who called out my name. I looked to her, noticing how dry her lips were and the small frame of her body. Light brown eyes dropped to my meal as she released a plea for food and water.

My fingers curled around the plate I held, head turning to my house which held many water bottles inside. Naverna was watching me and I hesitated to move. I looked to her and after a long moment, she inclined her head, eyelashes lowering as she looked to her own food. She would not say anything to Savior about the actions that I was about to commit.

I knelt by the little girl, watched as her small fingers grasped and pulled at meat hungrily. I left her eating for several seconds and returned with a bottle. She ate the meal quickly and managed to drink most of the water. Spit and water dribbled on her chin in her hurry and she thanked me afterwards, offering a lopsided smile.

As she wiped her chin, I sat beside her on the grass, waiting until she met my eyes before asking, “You mentioned a woman that I remind you of.”

The little girl nodded, immediately knowing what conversation I was referring to. “She’s my father’s friend. Well, her mate is my father’s friend and she became friends with my father through her mate.”

My eyebrows furrowed and it took me a second to figure out what she was saying. “Right.”

“She looks the spitting image of you. And she’s human.” The girl continued. “She’s been searching for her missing daughter for years. Her mate, who is an Alpha, has been helping her as well.”

The conversation was cut short at the noise of a door opening. I barely managed to take the plate and bottle away from beside the little girl before the rest of my sisters arrived by the small clearing, taking up their own meals and leaving the last bit for Savior.

My stomach rumbled in hunger as I watched them eat, releasing a small groan as I knew that I would have to wait until tomorrow to hunt. The sun was beginning to set and I didn’t want to search for food in the darkness.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” Brenda asked through a mouthful of her food. The little girl behind me looked guilty as I raised the empty plate, telling her that I’d already eaten. I could feel Naverna watching me as I announced that I would be reading a few books in the house, particularly English and Mathematics textbooks, which Savior had brought with him when he first came to this forest. He had made sure that we studied them as children.

The sight of the pink sky as the sun began to set drew my attention away from the textbook I had wanted to read and I languidly pressed my back against the wall in my house, allowing the book to slide out of my hands as I stared through the open window of the house, allowing the breeze to kiss my cheeks.

But then, Savior stepped into view and all sense of my peacefulness was wiped away as my focus turned to him. I had known there would’ve been a consequence for me refusing him, but that didn’t stop the annoyance that surfaced as I recalled him slapping me. I strode without much thought to the window, fingers gripping the top of the window pane as I slid it shut, the sound of it slamming interrupting whatever conversation that Savior was having with my sisters.

**********

In the afternoon the next day, a piercing scream broke me out of my reverie and I quickly sprang from the warm lake water and placed on the clothes I had brought with me, swung my bag over my shoulders. I ran up the pathway, barely avoiding overhanging tree limbs and bush as I hurried back to my house, worried that something had happened to one of my sisters.

Sweat beaded my forehead by the time I reached home, my feet skidding to a stop as I panted heavily, eyes falling immediately on Savior who had managed to lift the little girl clean off of her feet. Her face was a dark red color and her mouth was opened, but no sound came from her. The collar had tightened around her neck and her arms were slack by her sides but, little feet were kicking. I was momentarily surprised at Savior’s strength despite his old age.

“What’s going on?” I demanded to Sam. Sam didn’t take her eyes off of Savior.

“She interrupted Savior’s teachings.” Sam whispered to me over the loud chastising from Savior. “And claimed that he is delusional.”

Teeth sank into my bottom lip as I moved slowly over to him. Bugging, watery eyes locked with mine and I could see that she was struggling to breathe.

“Savior.” My voice was soft, but he heard me. His arms lowered and the girl breathed in air desperately, falling away from him. Her fingers clenched around the grass beneath her as she sucked in oxygen, eyes shutting in relief.

Savior turned to me sharply, enraged. “I’ve had enough of this pathetic half breed!” His yell seemed to stop the birds in the trees from singing and my sisters’ mumbling ceased. He jabbed a forefinger at my chest. “You will kill her. This evening.”

The little girl’s eyes shot open in panic. My chest tightened as I fumbled for a response, my mind reeling with shock.

“This evening?” I echoed, trying to think of a way to avoid killing the girl. She was anything but what Savior had led me to believe about her kind and even though it was extremely difficult to go against what Savior wanted me to do, I knew I couldn’t kill her.

“Yes.” Savior snapped. “Your sisters and I will be gathering herbs and when we return, I want to see that she is dead.” His eyes narrowed when I pressed my lips together, not saying anything. “Do you understand me, Anya?”

My eyes shot briefly to the little girl shaking with fear. My blood pumped wildly in my veins from anxiety and my head lowered in a bow. “Yes, Savior.”

The girl broke into sobs and I had to look away from her and instead listened to the wind blowing against the leaves of the trees surrounding us as Savior praised me for being so obedient. For a long time, I had doted and looked forward to his compliments, had reveled in his words of me wordlessly following every command he asked of me. But now, especially with what I planned to do once he and my sisters left, hearing him say these things only left me feeling uneasy and guilty.

*************

My fingernails scraped against metal, the keys jangling loudly as I finally found them. With a small grunt I allowed the matress of fhe bed to fall into the position it had been in earlier, walked away from the pistol which Savior had left for me on his table. He and my sisters had left fifteen minutes ago and I had paced around in the small clearing for a short while, biting my nails and ignoring the little girl’s cries as I attempted to formulate a plan.

I was still baffled as to why she wanted to return to the city, but then realized that maybe because she was both human and werewolf, she probably wasn’t treated the way that humans were.  

I walked slowly to the girl, sat on my knees as I clenched the keys in my hand. “If I let you go,” I told her. “You have to promise me that you will not reveal to anyone about where you’ve been.”

The girl’s head was nodding before I had even finished speaking, eyes fixed on the keys. My fingers went under her chin, tilting her head up so she was looking at me instead. “Do you promise, girl?”

Her eyes shone with what I thought to be sincerity. “I promise.”

My sigh was long as I undid the locks, took off the collar. Her hand went to her neck immediately, rubbing the red tender skin gently. I was takenaback when she threw her arms around me, pressed her head into my stomach. I stiffened. I hadn’t been hugged in a long while and my arms laid lax by my sides as she squeezed me tightly.

She pulled away, took a couple steps backwards. “I will save you.” She declared, darting off through the trees before I could say anything. My fingers wrung together nervously as I listened to her feet against the grass become a faint echo, until there was nothing but the sound of silence and I hoped, that she didn’t come across Savior or any of my sisters.

I’ve seen Savior angry before, but the rage he exuded when he came back to see that the girl was gone, and me sitting cross-legged with the keys by my feet, was frightening, but expected.

“Do you realize what you’ve done?” Savior howled, fingers delving into gray hair and pulling hard. “She will bring back a whole army of werewolves you fool! You were supposed to kill her!”

My eyes lowered. I couldn’t kill her. She didn’t deserve to die. When Savior advanced towards me, a dangerous gleam in his eyes, I climbed to my feet, my hand swiftly automatically blocking him from striking me. His face twisted into a sneer as I pushed him away and I could hear my sisters words of surprise at my actions. Naverna however, remained quiet, whilst Ivy shook her head in disbelief.

“She won’t bring anyone to this forest.” I told Savior after releasing his hand. “She promised that s-”

“Oh, so because she promised you, that automatically means that she means it?” His yell rang in my ears. “Do you realize how daft you are?!”

I exhaled, looked over his shoulder. Sam was watching me with a blank expression and Brenda wasn’t even looking my way; her green eyes were casted down to  her basket. The thought of the werewolves finding us made me shudder in fear and I swallowed the lump in my throat.

Savior spat at my feet when I said nothing, turned to face my sisters. “Tomorrow afternoon we will need to change location. Move further into this forest. We can’t let those beasts capture us.”