Chapter 4

Alaric Dawnsworn

It’s been a week since I’ve met the mysterious man-wolf in the forest. And I haven’t been thinking about anything else since. 

It was strange. A wolf. Then a man. I mean, it could’ve been another man who scared away the wolf, but the period of time where my eyes were closed was too short for someone to suddenly appear. 

So the wolf must’ve transformed into a man. But that’s impossible too, right?

The stories the old people of the village have been telling the children are not true. They can’t be. It’s so unreasonable. 

Werewolves don’t exist. Neither do vampires, zombies, fairies and all that fantasy shit.

Right?

My sister barges into my room. “Alaric!”

I sit up in my bed. “What, Val?” My voice is slightly annoyed.

“Whoa, why so grumpy? Anyway, have you seen my plushyyyy?”

She’s always been a brat.

“No.”

She squints her eyes together, trying tp find out if I’m lying or not.

“Hmm, fine. But I’ll burn your bed if I’ll find out your lying.”

I snort. She’s creative, I have to give her that. “You going to leave now or?”

“Yeah, yeah, always wanting to get rid of me. But okay, I’ll go.” She leaves without closing my door.

“Oi! Close the door, brat”

She doesn’t.

I get up, pissed off, and close the door. But as I walk past my window, I catch something in the corner of my eye. I look closer.

There he is again. The man. It’s hard to see him from this distance, but it’s clear that he’s attractive.

I quickly close the curtains because I don’t want him watching me. 

Why is he standing there? Was he watching me? Does he want to rob our house?

I open the curtain a little to peek outside. He’s gone. Damn it.

—————————–

My father sent me hunting again. Somebody kill me. Please. What does he even expect. I won’t become good at hunting from one day to the next.

Yet, here I am again, strolling through the woods, hoping to find something to kill. I’d be thankful for a frog now. Hell, give me a mosquito. Just something.

The leaves rustle under my shoes. I yawn. Why do I always leave the house when it’s late and dark…?

I’m not the smartest sometimes. 

Anyway, back to hunting again. I hide behind a bush, waiting for something to pass by. And it actually does. A rabbit. I draw my bow, focuse, and… miss the rabbit. I sigh. Fuck my life. 

I lower my bow and stand up. Hunting is just not for me. Maybe I should start sewing. 

Suddenly I hear a loud squeak from behind me and I whip my head around to see the same wolf form the pond a while ago. 

The animal is so… majestic. Even while it has a dead rabbit in its mouth. I’m also not as scared as I was last time. 

Though, I definitely won’t hunt something now. 

The wolf turns to me and slowly gets closer. Fear comes over me again, but I stand still this time. 

The closer it gets, the harder my heart pounds.

Now it is right in front of me. The wolf is huge. Bigger than a normal one. We’re almost at eye-level. 

It sits down and places the rabbit at my feet. 

Oh?

Suddenly, the majestic wolf turns into a man. That man. The man who was standing in front of me at the pond. The man who was watching me through my window.

He’s standing tall in front of me.

The man chuckles. “Speechless, huh?”

My cheeks are dusted in a light pink. “I… who… what are you?”

His lips curve in a slight smirk. “What? I’m hurt, darling. I’m not a what. I’m Ronan.” 

“Ronan,” I mumble to myself. 

“You gonna take the rabbit or not?”

“Oh!” I take the dead animal. “You killed that for… me?”

“Yeah. I’ve been watching you. You suck at hunting.”