The Mouse and The Wolf - Chapter 30: Chapter 30

-Jaden-
So, my father knew. I had no idea what to do with that information. Of course he knew... He knew everything. He had his eyes and ears everywhere, and I was surprised that he didn't already know exactly what the Thorn Morons were doing.
I kept running through our territory, trying to avoid everyone in my path. It was getting late already... It would take me almost an hour to get to the orphanage if I didn't hurry. If there wasn't so much snow everywhere, I could get there faster, but now I had to plow my way through thick piles of it. It would get easier once I got to the old, untouched part of the forest, but I had to get there first.
I was still thinking about my dad once I got to the edge of our territory. I wondered if he knew Oliver was supposed to be my mate. Tilly and Arch were the only ones who knew about it, and they wouldn't tell anyone. Maybe it was just a lucky guess. In which case, I outed myself. At least he didn't seem to mind, although I was fairly sure he was disappointed. It didn't matter anyway. I was not going to accept Oliver as my mate, so he was free to find me a female to make ties with. After all, an Alpha needed to have a partner. Mate or not.
I almost gagged at the thought. It was one of those things I hated about being an Alpha.
Maybe I wasn't forced to have a bond with Oliver by our goddess like Tilly said, but it still felt a lot like my opinion didn't matter. What if I had been crushing on someone else? What if I had been dating someone else, when Oliver walked into the picture? That had happened plenty of times to other werewolves.
Why was it important to know right away if a person was suitable for us or no? Humans didn't have anyone telling them who was their partner, and they still seemed to be doing pretty well.
Everything was just a great big mess in my head right now. Why couldn't things be simple? Why wasn't I allowed to have a simple life?
I just wanted to make my own decisions for once...
I didn't pay much attention to where I was going. I didn't need to. I could've kept my eyes closed the entire time and still end up at the orphanage. At some point, when I was close to the town, I smelled a group of humans somewhere on my left. They were making so much noise that I didn't need to be careful with my steps. I could smell a couple of dogs, though, so I didn't linger there too long. It wasn't that long ago when we liked to go harass dog walkers, but now it seemed childish.
Scaring people had stopped being funny for some reason.
It had to be close to nine o'clock when I finally arrived at the orphanage. Most of the lights were off already, and Oliver was nowhere to be seen. I made sure no one saw me when I stepped out of the forest and made my way across the street. There, I hid behind the small shed, and turned my eyes at the building. If Oliver wasn't asleep already, he should know I was here, so I stayed there, and waited patiently.
And it didn't take longer than two minutes, before the front door was opened. I stepped out from the shadows when he ran to me, pulling a jacket on him with a smile on his face.
"I thought you weren't coming today!" he said cheerfully and kneeled down to give me a hug.
I wagged my tail at him and let out a quiet bark. He scratched me for a moment with a smile on his face. He seemed to be in a better mood than ever.
"How was your day?" he asked and stood up.
I just barked at him as a reply and let him decide what it meant.
"Is that so?" he chuckled. "I had a good day as well."
I wanted to raise my eyebrows at him, but I didn't have any at that moment. He asked if I wanted to go for a walk, and since I didn't feel safe in the open, I agreed by walking towards the forest.
"I can't stay out too long, since my curfew is at ten," Oliver explained. "But I suppose you don't have a clock," he added with a chuckle.
I scoffed at his joke. Soon we entered the forest, and I didn't feel so exposed anymore. It was dark in the middle of the old trees, but we stayed close to the streetlights so Oliver could see where he was going.
"You know... I gave the chocolate to the guy who I said is maybe watching over me," Oliver spoke. "I hope he liked it."
I actually didn't eat it yet, but according to Tilly, it was delicious. But then again, she ate everything that stayed still long enough.
"Everyone's afraid of them," Oliver continued. "I understand why. I mean, they don't seem like they're humans at all. Like they're... aliens or something."
Excuse me?! Aliens?! Now hold up! Did he just compare us to some green people with massive eyes who like to probe humans for fun? What the actual fuck?
"Maybe they are vampires," he added.
I gagged. I literally gagged. Vampires. That's even worse than aliens.
"Or elves."
Or, you know, werewolves? No? All right then. Let's pretend we don't exist... Fine by me... It's not like we're the ultimate badasses or anything... But sure, aliens, got it...
"You seem annoyed," Oliver suddenly said, and I stopped to a halt. I kept forgetting he could sense my feelings. I wagged my tail at him as a sign of truce. Of course it was a good thing that he didn't know anything about us, but still... aliens?
"Oh, we're here," Oliver said and stopped as well. "Now I know why you're so annoyed."
I looked around. It was the place where we played fetch yesterday. I pinned my ears down, and he chuckled at my reaction.
"We don't have to play fetch if you don't like it," he said reassuringly. "Although you are very good at it."
I saw my stick lying on the ground where I left it yesterday.
"Come," Oliver said, and I turned to look at him. He was walking away. I was about to follow him.
But I didn't. Instead I ran to the stick, grabbed it with my teeth and started running around like an idiot, biting hard into the wood. I heard Oliver laughing at me cheerily, and I brought the stick to him.
When he threw it as hard as he could, I dashed after it. It was just me and my instincts. All there was in my mind was that small branch. All I had to do was to go get it. It didn't even matter if I stumbled and fell or didn't catch it before it hit the ground. In the soft snow it didn't even hurt if I had a bad landing.
For a short moment, I felt free. I could breathe.
"Good boy!" Olive cheered when I grabbed the stick in midair and brought it back to him.
Even though we didn't have a lot of time to play, I still felt relaxed and calmer when we finally started walking back to the orphanage. I liked how simple playing fetch was. It gave me a reason to forget absolutely everything for a moment.
"Are you free tomorrow?" Oliver asked.
I had no idea. I was still grounded, but maybe my dad would let me sneak out again. I did feel sad about not being able to tell him that. He would be wasting his time waiting for me if I wasn't allowed to come.
"Well, I guess I'll see it tomorrow," he said with a smile. "Don't worry – I know you have other things to do as well."
His words made me feel better. I guess he could also sense what I was thinking. Damn, our bond was that strong already?
Once we reached the orphanage, he bid his farewell. I waited until he was safely inside, before I started making my way back home. Now I had to pay attention to where I was going since I would probably end up back at the orphanage again. The bond encouraged me to go back to him.
I... I had started to like spending time with Oliver, and I had no idea what to think of it. How to feel about it. He was a good person and definitely deserved a hell of a lot more than what his life was like right now. I couldn't understand why he didn't have any friends. Hell, I couldn't understand why I hadn't even heard of him before. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember ever seeing him at school... Although, I never paid any attention to the humans anyway.
My thoughts were interrupted, when something small flew right past me. I stopped to a halt, and held my breath. When nothing happened, I took a step towards the place where I saw the thing landing. I saw a hint of... blue?
My heart stopped when I realized what I was seeing. I froze only for a second, but it was too late.
The next one hit me right behind my shoulder, and I couldn't help the loud yelp escaping my lips. It was then, when my instincts kicked in.
Hunters.
The humans from before, with their dogs... Hunters...
I ran. I had an arrow lodged deep in my side, but I ran. The pain was unbearable, and for a second, I thought that my time was up. If it was laced with wolfsbane... Had we been so careless that we had brought werewolf hunters in our town? Had the Groves brought them?
I was almost in panic. I could hear the dogs running after me, barking loudly as their masters cheered in excitement. I was injured, I was alone, far away from home and most likely poisoned... I could feel the arrow tearing my insides apart. I didn't have time to remove it. I wasn't even sure if I could. It was too late anyway. The poison would eat me up in minutes...
I ran faster than ever before. I was too fast for the dogs and the humans just didn't stand a chance. If I could lose the dogs... If only I had enough time... If only I could transform to throw the dogs off my tail...
As soon as I was far enough, I stopped and tried to grab the arrow with my teeth. I had to pull it out or I wouldn't be able to transform. It was dangerous to do. The arrow would tear my body apart if a changed into human while it was still in me. But I couldn't reach it!
I had to keep running. I heard the dogs in the distance. I was exhausted and in horrible pain and probably dying, but I couldn't let the humans find me. Or my body. I couldn't let them find our territory. I couldn't let them know we were here. That would be the end of my pack.
Please, Goddess... Help me...
I heard footsteps coming my way. Suddenly I couldn't feel fear anymore. It was like my instincts had grown numb. The pain subsided. This was it, wasn't it? The end of the line.
I stumbled and fell onto the soft snow. I couldn't get up anymore. I could only wish the dogs wouldn't find me.
"No!"
I regained my senses, and the pain hit me hard once again. I looked up, and saw Oliver hurrying to me behind the trees. In mere seconds, he was right next to me. I saw panic in his eyes when he looked at the arrow.
"You're hurt!" he whispered in fear.
Take it out, please...
"I need to take you to the vet!" he continued.
Take it out!
"You're bleeding," he sniffed.
Take it out!!
He stared at me for a split of a second, before he looked at the arrow. He took a firm grip on it, and I tried to prepare myself for the worst, but it wasn't enough. When he yanked the arrow out of me, the pain became almost unbearable. But only for a moment. My wound started to heal right away.
I almost fainted from relief. No wolfsbane. My wound wouldn't have started to heal if there was wolfsbane in it. Those bastards were just regular hunters after all...
But I didn't have time for that. I stood up. The hunters were still close by, and I really didn't want to face them for the second time.
"Wait! You're still bleeding! Let me see your wound!" Oliver spoke hastily, but I didn't let him touch me. The wound would be gone in a matter of minutes. He wouldn't be able to understand it.
I hated myself for leaving him out here, all alone, but I had to. I took a couple of steps away from him.
"No! Wait!" Oliver yelled, and tried to follow me, but I started running. "Wait!"
I grit my teeth together. He was so worried over me...
"Jaden!"
I stopped. I froze still for the second time that night. Then, slowly, I turned to look at Oliver.
"I know it's you," he spoke. "I heard your voice. You were calling my name."
I heard the dogs too close. I couldn't stay and explain. How the fuck could I even explain! I just ran.
And I ran fast.