My mind was drowning in the vanilla, pine and earthy scent that seemed to pour from Tarrin's body and wrap around me in a comfortable, heavenly smelling blanket. Staring wide eyed at his body looming over mine, I prayed for my heart to slow since it felt like it was going to break right out of my chest. Trying to wriggle free, I frantically twisted my wrists that were pinned uselessly above my head and squirmed underneath his weight holding my small body secure. His scowl only deepen as I continued struggling, and to make his point clear that I wasn't going anywhere, he squeezed my wrists abnormally tight and dropped more of his weight onto me I didn't know he was holding back. I didn't stop thrashing.

"Tarrin! Get off of her! She isn't used to people yet!" Brydene demanded fearfully, giving up on escaping Kenneth's iron grip and settling with yelling hopelessly from the porch.

Frustrated grunts pushed passed my lips as I failed to move an inch underneath his body. Anxiety spiked through my mind at the unfamiliar sensation of being incapable and I found myself desperately thinking of ways to push him off of me.

"If I release her, she will just run away," Tarrin responded, annoyance evident in his tone.

Pushing off the ground with my feet, I noticed the subtle shift in both our weights and an idea struck my mind. With a sharp intake of breath, I drove my heels into the ground and sprung my hips upward, shocking the hunter and slightly throwing him off balance. Before I could capitalize on the situation, he fluently adjusted his weight to counter my small attempt at tossing him off. Now glowering hatefully at my writhing figure, he dug his fingers into my wrists as if to get back at me for unbalancing him. Small spirals of pain danced up my wrist from the spot his fingers pressed, my forearms tingling from the nerves he was digging into. I surprised myself when a yelp squeaked from my throat. He immediately stopped.

"Please Tarrin, let her go. She won't run away, I promise," Brydene pleaded, her voice losing its harsh edge and starting to become more begging like.

Hearing her make yet another promise, I felt like scoffing. It seems as if a pattern was starting to form of her making promises and not being able to keep them. Her words from a few minutes ago still rung in my mind, 'They are really nice people and won't hurt you, I promise. If they do anything to you, I swear they will not see the daylight of tomorrow.' Somehow, I had a hard time imagining her inflict even the smallest twinge of pain upon one of these men. Compared to them, she was a scrawny flea.

"Get me some rope," Tarrin demanded, his cold eyes capturing my own in approval when I finally stilled in his grasp, drained of energy from continuously struggling. Holding out his free hand, a long coiled rope was dropped into his palm by Wesley and he nodded his head in appreciation.

To my disbelief, my wrists trapped above my head in the grass were then gently lifted and brought in front of me to a much more comfortable position. The rough texture of the rope dangling in his hand scraped against my forearm as he positioned himself in a better angle to hold my hands together. Fiddling with the long cable, his eyes traveled over the decently thick length before dropping his gaze to peer distastefully at me.

My breath hitched in my throat as he bent down, his face lowering closer to mine until his hot breath fanned over my ear and sent strange tingles shooting down my spine.

"Everything will be much better if you just cooperate," he murmured gently.

The sound of his voice sent my mind whirling into a cloud of fog, dazing me and uplifting the butterflies once again awake in my stomach. Sitting back up so he was straddling my waist, he tugged my wrists upwards and held them at the appropriate position for whatever he planned to do. It felt as if a plume of cold air wafted in from where his breath once was, covering any evidence he was so close to my head moments ago.

The rough texture of the rope burned across my skin as he intricately wove the cord around my wrists and through gaps he created. Trying to rip my hands away from his grip that was now extremely loose around my arm, I gasped when the rope securely held my wrists together. They didn't budge at all. With one sharp tug of the cord, the rope tightened once more around the soft flesh of my wrists and I didn't miss the smirk of satisfaction that crossed the hunter's lips. Although I was terrified inside, I felt like laughing at the hunter's stupidity if he thought one of their petty ropes could keep me from escaping.

With a soft grunt, Tarrin stood and I didn't hesitate to scramble to my feet away from him. When I turned on my heel to begin sprinting away, my shoulders jarred in their sockets and my skin underneath the cord screamed painfully when I was roughly yanked backwards. Shock ignited within me as I stood again and tried to pull away from the rope knotted around my wrists, only to have my shoulders jolt painfully in the process yet again when another yank almost sent me to my knees. Twisting my wrists, I became desperate as the cord held snuggly and kept my hands in place without them being able to move. No...

Looking up from my bound wrists, the hunter stood with the end of the rope gripped in his hand. His emerald eyes watching me without interest, but amusement was still distinguishable under the deep pools of green.

"Get this off of me," I hissed threateningly, tugging forcefully again at the rope to no avail.

"She can speak!" A voice said in disbelief, drawing my attention to Christopher who was gawking at me in surprise. I felt like rolling my eyes. Obviously I can talk, I am human. Taking a last glance at Christopher before returning my attention back to the hunter in front of me, I caught a glimpse of the sewn line beside the bridge of his nose that I hadn't noticed when he introduced himself. A smirk pulled at my lips when the pieces clicked together and I realized he was the one I had punched in the forest. Satisfaction pooled in the pit of my stomach at the thought of my blow causing him to sew his skin back together.

Eyeing the hunter standing in front of me that was literally holding the end of my freedom, I noticed the arrow that I had shot at him was no longer imbedded in his shoulder. In fact, there was not even the slightest hint of an injury on his shoulder, and it was impossible to tell if he was wounded because his upper body was covered by a jet black, thin long sleeve.

Glancing over his concealed chest and abdomen area, the image of his muscular, nicely tanned, bare torso flashed through my mind from the recent memory of him lying sleeping on the sand of the West Coast. How innocent and friendly he looked at the time.

Yet this man in front of me that was so approachable at the beach and comforting to my wolf, couldn't be this rigid, cold glaring person standing a few meters away from me. Were all humans this wishy washy with their emotions? Then again I'm starting to believe it since the hunters went from being dedicated on capturing me to nice-talking and introducing themselves.

These humans were very strange.

Flicking my eyes back up to the hunter who met my gaze with a glare, I felt my own expression harden in response but didn't attempt to escape again. I could already feel the rough rope irritating the flesh of my skin from me constantly ripping at it.

"Are you done?" He asked impatiently, his voice gruff and obviously showing how irritated he was getting with my stubbornness. Clenching my teeth together to try and hold back my inner wolf instincts screaming for me to lunge at him and show him who was superior, I didn't move a muscle and firmly kept my mouth shut. Answering his question with silence, his posture shifted stiffly and he ran a hand through his hair frustratingly as he turned his head towards Kenneth, who loosely held an anxious Brydene by the waist. "Take and tie her to a post somewhere so she can't escape," he ordered, jerking his hand that was gripping the end of the rope towards him. "I have to meet with someone to discuss things," he explained, emphasizing his last word and shooting me a fleeting look. Letting go of his wife, Kenneth strictly walked down the stairs but stumbled slightly from Brydene forcefully shoving past him and eagerly striding towards Tarrin.

"I'll take care of her," she snapped, outstretching her hand for the rope expectantly. "She has more trust for me than any of you and I know she wouldn't hurt me," Brydene said confidently, her expression unwavering from its assured appeal. Failing to give her the rope, she scowled before jumping slightly as Kenneth appeared behind her, placing a hand gently on her arm and lowering his head until his lips brushed her ear lovingly.

"I know your heart is already getting attached to Dawn, but we don't know her well enough to know how dangerous she is. All we know is she is able to put up a fight against hunters... and because of that, I cannot allow you to be alone with her again. I couldn't bare seeing you get hurt in any way. Please understand, love," Kenneth pleaded softly, tickling his fingers across her skin which she shivered in response to.

Taking a deep breath, Brydene looked at me with apprehensive eyes, before sighing in defeat and reaching to place her hand over Kenneth's larger one.

"Fine," she complied grudgingly. "But just this once!" She added quickly, turning to face Kenneth with stern but soft pale eyes. Giving a quick kiss to her forehead, Kenneth smiled adoringly at her before Brydene more than willingly fell into his embrace and buried her face into his chest. "Because I love you, you convincing ox," she murmured, most of her voice getting muffled by his loose brown jacket. Kenneth chuckled before wrapping his arms further around her and hauling her body into his own protectively.

Their actions towards each other...

Were these ways people normally portrayed their feelings towards each other when they cared about each other? The way she had easily thrown herself into his arms without a second thought because she trusted and loved him, and he accepted her eagerly with a kiss to the forehead... It was almost the same how I acted with my family, except their love for each other seemed different. Was their love the same as Father loved Mother? Is this how Atticus, Seff and Accalia would love their soon-to-be mates?

A strange, pang of envy struck my heart at the thought.

"Time and a place guys."

I snapped out of my thoughts at the sound of Christopher's voice strongly hinting for them to break up their fixation in each other. Grudgingly, they broke apart but still had their hands linked together- just as Brydene had done to me before stepping outside of their house.

"I can take her for the day, I've nothing planned as of yet and maybe she'll warm up to me enough to tell me a bit about herself," Wesley piped, obviously interested in learning more about me.

Like I would tell him anything important.

Nonchalantly strolling over, I observed how his body slowly became more tense as he neared our forms. Once he was close enough, Tarrin transferred the rope to Wesley, who wrapped it tightly around his hand before looking at me with slight uncertainty. Looking away from his intense stare, I settled my gaze onto the ropes woven expertly around my wrists in order to start deciphering how to get them untied.

Trying to pick at a knot of rope with little hope of succeeding, I suddenly felt the heat of someone watching me and dared to look up, although I already knew who it was. Locking eyes with his dazzling emerald ones, it wasn't hard putting the hate building in my body for this man onto my face. I despised how he was treating me like a wild animal; tying me up with a rope to drag me around, making someone watch over me, ordering for them to hitch me to a post so I can't escape. It infuriated me.

If only he really knew what he was dealing with.

At that thought, I couldn't help but let a sly smirk tug at the corners of my lips.

Catching my sudden amused expression, his brows twisted together in confusion before he glanced uneasily back at my wrists securely bound together. He is already doubting himself, I thought pleasingly. Though he had a good reason to second guess his pitiful ropes that held my wrists tightly... which I couldn't get off at the moment.

Dragging his gaze up my body all the way to my face that practically radiated the revulsion I was feeling towards him, my eyes momentarily were drawn to his lips that parted. "I would also recommend securing her body even more. I have no doubt she will try to escape again," he stated. Throwing a final harsh glare in my direction, he turned on his heel and made his way towards the gravel road running past their property. The sound of grating dirt under his shoes receded as he distanced himself from my frozen figure.

Watching as he took a sharp turn and disappeared out of sight, I turned back to Wesley and the others who were observing me with silent eyes. Shifting uncomfortably under all of their stares, Wesley ended the tense moment by tugging sharply on the rope in an indication to leave, which made my wrists scratch unpleasantly. Following reluctantly into step behind his form, I kept my eyes casted down at the dirt ground and couldn't help but let my mind wander to where I was possibly being taken now.

I had a feeling deep down that I wasn't going to get as nice treatment as Brydene had given me.

After I distracted myself with the sound of stones and dirt grinding beneath my bare which didn't take long, I jumped slightly at Wesley's voice breaking the silence.

"How are your feet holding up, darling?" Wesley asked, not bothering to hide the concern in his voice.

Ignoring his question since I refused to speak to someone dragging me around by a rope and giving me nicknames, his comment did make me realize the continuous ache in my feet from the sharp rocks digging in at every step. Even though I have built up protection on the soles of my feet, I could tell the skin was becoming tender from walking on this packed road I wasn't used to traveling on. I could safely say, I didn't fancy the texture. Looking ahead at black boots on Wesley's feet that rhythmically padded on the ground, I'm guessing the gravel didn't bother his feet at all. I wished I had a pair of shoes for myself to walk in on this road.

Looking up from his feet, I saw Avalin Valley nearing to only be a few hundred meters away, and found myself wishing this road lasted forever. The longer I was on this rough path, the longer I would put off entering the village my Father and Mother sternly warned me of. My stomach twisted sickly into a knot at the thought. Swiveling my head around, I saw Brydene and Kenneth's house also only a few hundred meters away, and I contemplated asking for Wesley to bring me back so Brydene could drag me around instead. At least she treated me like an equal to her and comforted me.

Noticing I hadn't answered, Wesley looked at me over his shoulder from the corner of his eye. "So you're giving me the silent treatment, eh Dawn?" He presumed, returning his attention forwards towards the village we were almost upon. Not answering again, he sighed in frustration at my response while scratchy the side of his head in thought. Jerking back in shock, Wesley turned around abruptly and I backed up until the rope was tight to allow as much distance between us as possible. It wasn't enough for my liking.

"Listen, I am sorry that my friends and I haven't made a very good impression on you so far, but I promise you, we aren't bad people. What happened back at Brydene and Kenneth's house wasn't supposed to play out like that, but because you tried escaping again..." He emphasized, making his point clear that he wasn't impressed. "Tarrin had no choice but to prevent you," he finished, watching me with pleading eyes to forgive him.

Glaring at him and not being able to contain my anger any longer, I felt my blood boil in anticipation and my confidence rising to dangerous levels. Yanking deliberately hard at the rope, I ignored the flash of pain that soared through my raw wrists and was awarded when he jerked forwards in surprise. "If you are such nice people why are you binding and dragging me around like an animal?" I hissed, mentally picturing his bare throat in my sharp jaws as I drained the blood from his body.

Rolling his eyes exaggeratingly, he answered as if it was the most ridiculous question he had heard, "Because you will run away, obviously. You have proved that on more than one occasion sweetheart."

"Why would I not run from hunters who chased me with guns into the forest, shot me out of a tree, and then tranquilized me again when I tried to get away!?" I snapped incredulously, making sure not to remind myself of the fawn they had killed moments before our chase. Wrenching again at the rope, I prayed for it to magically snap and let me bolt into the thick of trees now further away but still calling out to me.

His other hand shot out the grab the rope for more stability, and a small amount of satisfaction fell over me that he couldn't hold onto the rope with just one hand.

Silence met my outburst, and as I looked into his hazel eyes unwaveringly staring at mine with such intensity, I felt my confidence fading away like a storm dying out and my fear starting to pump back into my veins with renewed strength. I couldn't make out his expression. I couldn't tell if he was going to lash out at me with pent up anger or pull a gun on my trapped state.

"I am sorry."

What?

Staring at him in shock, I couldn't contain the amount of surprise his statement brought to me. That was definitely not something I expected to tumble from a hunter's lips.

"This isn't enough for what we put you through, but I hope you can at least see why we had to do it and accept my apology on behalf of my friends and myself," he pleaded, watching me carefully to gauge my reaction. When I didn't intervene, he continued. "We have orders that we have to follow, and one of them is retrieving anything out of the ordinary from the forest and bringing it back to Avalin," he said uncertainly, not knowing how I would respond and hesitant as to what he should tell me.

At his words, I felt an underlying hatred burn behind the anxiousness I felt around this hunter. It was probably his words 'out of the ordinary' that caused this emotion to flare inside of me, since I knew one of the things they retrieved from the forest that wasn't natural. How they captured Charm wolves and brought them back alive to 'Drake' in Avalin. I had to remind myself that this person in front of me and his friends solely lived in the village to hunt down our pack.

"This pertains to you since we've never come across a strange girl in the meadows before, and to say the least, we were more than shocked at your presence," he said with a nervous smile. "And when you suddenly pulled a bow out and shot Tarrin with an arrow so accurately... We guessed you weren't going to willingly come with us so we had no choice but to follow in pursuit... You also surprised us again with how you could maneuver quickly in trees so effortlessly, so if it makes you feel better, you are one hell of a huntress," he complimented, eyeing my unmoving form keenly. "So once again, I am sorry," he finished.

The air around us stilled to allow for the awkward silence to envelope us. Scrutinizing his face, it was either he was very good at lying, or he was actually being sincere and genuinely feeling bad about the whole incident. Clenching my teeth shut, I let my hands fall in front of me which caused the rope to slacken.

"My feet are doing fine," I lied, not wanting him to know the pads of my feet were aching painfully.

This seemed to be enough for an acceptance of his apology because he dipped his head graciously before turning and continuing down the gravel path.

"And although I want you to warm up to me, I'll give you some more rope since you probably don't want to be near me right now," Wesley stated, sending me a wide grin that momentarily made me think he was a good person. "I'm at least that much of a gentlemen," he added with a chuckle, the rope hitting the ground as he dropped more slack behind him and only held onto the very end of the rope.

Less than two minutes later, I found myself gawking at my surroundings as we entered Avalin. Mostly cozy log houses were dotted along the side of the road with people bustling around their yards, tending to their colourful flowers or sitting contently on their porch steps enjoying the day. Other villagers were having conversations with one another, leaning against strange buildings that didn't look like houses but had a more formal look to them. The ground beneath my feet also became smoother from the lack of sharp rocks digging into my soles. Skinny tall trees were lined sporadically along the road and were littered throughout Avalin, camouflaging the large village only slightly that stuck out clearly in broad daylight.

"Mummy, who is she?" A sweet, small voice whispered. If I hadn't had sensitive hearing I probably wouldn't have picked the voice up, but as we walked down the middle of the road, I couldn't help but let my attention be drawn to the young toddler in a pink dress tugging on the material of her mother's green dress. Taking in her height that only seemed to be up to my hip, her blonde curled locks were drawn into a loose bun atop her head with a few strands dangling free and lining the round angles of her face. My heart squeezed as I saw her chocolate brown eyes that reminded me so much of Accalia's, observing me with interest. Flickering her beautiful brown spheres over my figure with curiosity, her expression suddenly morphed into a scared one once her eyes locked with mine and she edged herself behind her mother's legs, tightly gripping her dress while still watching me. "Mummy, she's staring at me," the girl said even quieter, a hint of unease evident in her tone.

"That is the girl from the Charmed Forest, dear. I want you to stay away from her, she isn't like us," the mother crooned softly to her daughter, finally taking her accusing eyes off me that were glaring as if I had just harmed her child.

My arms jerked forward slightly as Wesley tugged on the rope. Noticing I had slowed to almost a complete stop, I began to move forward again. Turning to look back at the girl, I saw her being sheltered from my view by the mother hugging her to her chest protectively, glowering at me as we continued on. Yet I didn't miss the way the girl twisted her head to look at me, just before I returned my gaze forwards.

I couldn't stop the strange feeling that made my heart heavy from seeing their reactions toward me.

The first people other than Brydene and the hunter's that I've seen... and they already know I am different. The first child I've encountered this close, and she was... afraid of me.

"News travels fast around here. It only took one villager to spot us carrying you in from the forest, before the entire village heard of you being found," Wesley informed, only sparing a glance over his shoulder at me as we maneuvered down the road.

Sucking in a few deep breaths in attempt to calm my racing heart, I pleaded for my instincts that screamed at me to flee to calm down. I couldn't blame myself for these feelings though. Growing up in a forest sheltered from people and only having a few wolves to trust, was hard to adjust from when walking through a village bustling with people for the first time, who were also the same type of being as myself.

This all was too much for one day. Meeting Brydene and four hunters was enough, travelling through a village filled with people was better for another time.

Taking in my surroundings that seemed to be changing all the time, hairs on my neck prickled at the feeling of being watched. Whirling my head when two men burst into a fit of deep laughter, their moment suddenly stopped once seeing Wesley and I walk by. Trying to withstand the urge to shy away when their eyes narrowed into slits and raked over me judgmentally, I urged myself to keep walking and adverted my attention to the crowds of people gallivanting down the paths connecting to ours.

All were the same. At the smallest sight of me, every person halted their movements and looked over my form unnervingly, before their features fell into a scowl. Catching one of the men staring intently at me, he quickly adverted his eyes guiltily to the large paper spread in front of him at a table where he sat.

Was this the way people acted towards each other? With glares and sneers of distaste whenever they encountered one another? If that was the case, I guess Tarrin wasn't any different from these heartless people. It didn't make sense though, before I arrive they are all smiling and chattering happily, but as soon as I walk passed they turn cold and stony.

Have I done something wro-

"Dawn look out!" Wesley's voice rung in my ears as I swiveled around, my blood running cold at the sight of an enormously large horse attached to a wooden machine barrelling towards me. Air was ripped from my lungs as my body was thrown to the side on impact, the side of my torso sliding along the gravel road until I came to a complete stop.

Trying to catch my breath, I barely noticed the hand that touched my cheek and concentrated on pulling air into my lungs. I groaned as I tried to sit up, but a heavy weight held me down along with my side screaming from the small rocks that sliced into my side when I skidded to a halt.

Confused at what was physically preventing me from moving, I blinked open my eyes before my breath hitched in my throat.

~~~~~~~~~~~

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