Cruel Alpha, You Betrayed Me

ARAIA’s P.O.V "Good morning everyone!" Bea greeted him as she came down the stairs. "Good morning too!" Hasel replied. We are now in the living room, everyone woke up at noon because they were tired from the trip, but I only slept for two hours. What I saw in the forest early in the morning kept me awake all night. I wanted to ask Sky because he might know it but I'm not sure if what I saw was true or I just rolled my eyes. I'm sure they'll just laugh at me when they hear it. "Hey do you know, there are stories here," said Sky. Later Bea says. All of us sitting at the table stared at it, interested in what it had to say. "What's that girl?" Hasel asked. Bea sighed a little as if wanting to whisper. "There are unknown creatures living in the forest." It says poorly. My hair stood on end. Is this true? "Oh, how unknown is that?" Joseph asked. "It is said that many people see shadows in the forest especially when the sun is about to rise…" It continued. "Maybe they're just imagining it?" second by Hasel. My mind was focused on what they were talking about. "Many are said to hear crackles and footsteps in the forest, even though they have no one else with them…" My hair stood on end at what I heard. Does this mean that what I saw earlier this morning is real and not just a fantasy? "It's scary…" said Hasel. "Yes, so the advice here is that no one comes out from midnight until dawn- to be exact, before the sun rises." I stared at it. Wasn't it before the sun rose when it happened? I closed my eyes. Let's just assume that it doesn't exist… "Araia, are you okay?" Unbeknownst to me, my table companions were already looking at me. "Y-Yeah, Of course!" The smile I gave them. “Are you sure? You look pale. ” Hasel asked. I nodded at the question and smiled again. Maybe I won't ask them what I saw. Eventually, their attention was diverted. "Do you want to go around here in the villa?" Sky asked. Everyone agreed. "Of course bro!" Joseph happily agrees. "Good idea!" Hasel followed. There the plan was formed to tour the villa this afternoon. After lunch we tried to rest in the garden of Sky's house. There was a hammock and chairs with engraved angels. As can be seen in the shows at the time. "The beauty here in your house is Sky." Said Hasel. "Thank you." Sky replied aloof. It’s really stingy to speak often but it’s kind. "Hasel, catch!" After a while Joseph cried out. Hasel quickly turned to his habit and in a flash there was mud on the girl's face. "Oh my gosh!" Tili is Bea. Sky immediately grabbed the bride and pulled us away. "Joseph!" Hasel shouted angrily. The young man replied with a laugh. There is even equipment there for making clay pots. It turns out that Joseph threw clay at Hasel. Hasel angrily chased the young man and they threw stones at Clay. "Who makes the Clay pot here?" I asked Sky. The two sat side by side, a few meters away from us. "My uncle." its answer. “Oh…” I came a little closer to the Clay pot factory. There is a lot of equipment here, a variety of mixers and evenly, there is also a lot of clay but you will notice that it has been on the ear for a long time. Sky looked at me again. "Where is he, your uncle?" It took quite a while to answer. "He passed away last year." "Oh ... I'm sorry." It just smiled at me as if to say it was okay. I looked again at the place where the clay pot was being made. I don’t know why I'm so interested in it, I have no history of being involved with someone making it or being interested in this issue before. I tried to hold one of the seemingly knives that were there. There was a lot of dirt around it but I noticed what seemed to be etched on its handle. “L.A…” These are probably the initials of Sky's uncle. When the intensity of the sun was gone we decided to take a walk around the villa. We carried only a fan, except for the easily thirsty Hasel. It carries water. “Let’s go!” Joseph said excitedly. We have Sky’s house staff included. Sky is also not very familiar with this place, according to him he only went there once last year. We first went to the horse stable which was on the right side of the terrain. "Lots of horses!" Joseph shouted, still excited. "Hey reunion." Hasel teases him. "HA.HA.HA." Joseph had a fake laugh. They’re teasing each other everyday. A day wouldn’t pass without them teasing each other. "Can we ride?" I asked the keeper of the stable. "Opo mam, pwede po." "One!" Manong's horse picked us up, mine was white which was not very big. It's just my first time riding it and I haven't thought of a bigger horse yet. Hasel and Joseph got black, while Bea and Sky rode the same horse. We were taught the basics then the old man guided us as we sat on the horse and slowly made it walk. He left us after thirty minutes when we finally got some of his words. We rode the horse for almost two hours, we just stopped when Bea seemed tired. She has a weak body after all. They told us that they will go first and we can still continue our tour but we decided to just go home instead. That night Bea had a mild fever because she over exerted herself. We felt bad that's why we took turns taking care of her. While Sky reassured us that it’s normal for her and it’s kind of her fault we still took care of her. We also decided that we will do the tour the next day or anytime we’re free since we’ll stay here for two weeks. THE NEXT DAY we wanted to go horse riding again so after we ate breakfast, we went back to the horse stable. This time Bea and Sky aren't around, she needs to stay in the house so she won’t be tired again. She can’t risk her life so we advised that she stays home for now until she gets fully better. We go early in the morning because Hasel told us she wants to feel the fresh air here in the province that we barely get in the city. I wear a sweater because I am weak to cold, while Joseph and Hasel seem to enjoy the cold breeze that they didn’t even put effort into their clothes. Thankfully, the old man who guided us yesterday is still there. “Hello manong!” Joseph greets him. “Hello to you too young boy!” The old man happily accepts us. “Can we ride the horses again?” Hasel asks. He smiled and said, “Of course! There’s no problem with that.” He let us sit for a while because he’s still finishing something. He wants to guide us because according to him, we’re still new here and we still didn’t know the direction so we need a guide- a tour guide. After a while,we finally got to ride the horses that we rode yesterday.This will be our second time doing horseback riding but I’m still excited. This is a once in a lifetime experience though, especially to me, a city girl. Horseback riding in the city is quite expensive. “Yeehah!” Joseph shouted as soon as he got to the horse. The horse started running and he looked so excited. Meanwhile, Hasel and I just keep our pace, old man’s still guiding us not until someone calls him and asks for his help. We thank him before he goes. “OMG Araia! I’m still nervous!” Hasel exclaimed as she grabbed the rope tightly. “I am too…” We’re side by side while riding the horse. Later on, Joseph came and told Hasel that he will help her. Hasel agreed and joined him on his horse. Aren’t they mortal enemies? I can’t really understand what is happening between the two of them. Now they’re okay but later they will start fighting. Minutes later, I can’t see them anymore. They didn’t even pay me a glance! Are they that excited to be with one another that they forget their friend? Hello! I’m here! “Did they just leave me?” I raised my eyebrow and took a deep breath. I look around, there’s just trees and trees, nothing more. The morning sky looked so great which makes me want to set up a camp here and stay here forever. If only I could do that. I stayed in that place for almost thirty minutes, waiting for Hasel and Joseph to show up but they didn’t. “Where the heck are they?” I can’t hear anything besides the natural sound of the forest, bugs and such. I comb Angel’s hair, this horse’s name is Angel. I was really starstruck the first time I heard about it because it suits the horse very well. From her white as snow long hair, soft and comfortable fur and her posture that looks like a queen of horses. I’m joking, but she’s really beautiful. I waited for a few more minutes but I couldn't see them. Maybe it’s time to return to the horse stable since I don’t know where I am. I was about to turn when my eye caught something. “What’s that?” I lean a little to see it clearly. I was stuck in my place when I saw the familiar shadow. “Oh my…” It wasn’t really far from me but I couldn't see it clearly. A few seconds later, the shadow started running away. I was so scared for a minute that it might run towards me but it didn’t. It ran in the opposite direction, I didn’t know why but my hands started to move as well as the horse I’m riding. I just realized that I’m heading towards the shadow’s direction a while ago, I can’t think clearly. All I want this time is to see who that person is or whatever it is that I keep on seeing and giving me creeps. It’s still daytime so there’s nothing that shadow can do to me, or so I pray. The shadow started running fast as if it felt my presence and wanted to run away. “It’s fast!” I need to keep up! “Heeyah!” The horse started running faster, I can now see the shadow but still, not that clear. The air started to feel colder as I got closer to the shadow. I keep on chasing the shadow until I can no longer see it. “Where did it go?!” I look around one more time but I really can’t see the shadow anymore. I became nervous again, am I really imagining things? But I’m sure I saw it with my own eyes! I let out a frustrated sigh. I’m going to be crazy! My mind keeps telling me to look more into the forest but my instincts say otherwise. After a few minutes, I’ve decided to follow my mind. I better go back now and talk to my friends about this. Maybe I’m just imagining things and if I really did, I need to see an expert. I can’t live like this! I pulled the reins, telling the horse to turn back but I was shocked when the horse suddenly went amok. “Woah!” “Angel!” I called for her to calm down. What’s happening to her? Is she hurt? “Angel, calm down!” I was gripping tightly to her reins while calming her down, afraid of falling. She’s going everywhere, I can’t handle her! “Angel!” I called her one last time before I felt my hand slowly slipping to her reins. What is happening to her?! Goodness! I don’t know much about horses! I was calling her but she kept on jumping, she looked scared all of a sudden. I can feel my hand aching because of the reins! “Help!” Someone, please! Oh my gosh! She started running faster deeper into the forest. “Angel, calm down!” Why isn’t she stopping? She continued running until I saw a cliff in the direction she’s heading to. “Angel, stop!” I tried to stop her. I pulled her reins and called her name, hoping she’d stop but instead, she ran faster. I still keep on pulling her reins while praying, I don’t know what to do! Should I abandon her?! If I jump now I’d still make it! I think of another way but as she goes faster to the cliff, my head feels blank. I called her one last time and waited for a few seconds before I decided to jump off her now. I let go of her reins and look for a bush where I’ll get less hurt. I counted up to three before I jumped.

ARAIA’s P.O.V “Excuse me miss?” I can hear someone speaking… “Miss?” There it is again… I tried to open my eyes but my vision was blurry… “She’s awake!” Everything became louder… What’s happening? Few seconds later, my vision became clear. I saw a girl looking at me, on her left was an old man with a long white beard. “She’s finally awake!” The girl shouted. “Let me help you.” The old man said as he helped me to sit. The old man helps me slowly, I can feel my whole body aching. “Ouch…” My left hand feels like burning. “Careful.” The girl said. When I was finally sitted, I looked around me. Last time I remembered, I fell from Angel and accidentally fell off a cliff. Are they the ones who saved me? But where am I? “Who are you?” I asked them. I looked at the old man, he had white hair and a long white beard, he looked like he’s in eighties. While the girl looks young, she looks a year younger than me. She has a cute ponytail and her hair has a pink highlight. They’re wearing something on their head like a head accessory. I can’t figure out if it’s a turban or what, it looks like what the people are using in old movies. They looked confused all of a sudden. What’s wrong? The girl looked at me, she looked like someone who doesn’t get anything. “No miss, who are you?” She asks. “Me? I’m Araia. How about you?” I casually asked her. Is she the one who saved me? “Well, I’m Freya…” “Oh, thank you for saving me Freya.” She opened her mouth. “Save?” I looked at her. “Yes? You saved me from the cliff right?” I stated. She looked at the old man beside her. “You should get up first.” The old man and Freya helped me to get up and told me that I can go to their house so that we can talk much clearer. I accepted their offer because I feel like my body still needs to rest. While we’re walking, I noticed some things that I’ve never seen before. The houses here are concrete and bungalow type, there are plants everywhere and each house has a fence that has a sharp branch of tree that can surely pierce a whole into your body when you accidentally fell on it. That’s kind of creepy… Is what I thought. A few steps and we finally get to their house. As expected, it’s a bungalow type of house. Its color is brown but what’s different is it has a cute decoration outside. I bet it’s made by Freya. We were welcomed by their family, there I met Shoyo, father of Freya, Mui, her mother and her two younger siblings named Vin and Xin. They’re twins. They ushered me into their small receiving area and served me an orange juice. “So, miss Araia. May we know what you mean by we ‘saved’ you?” The old man asked. “Uhm… I just want to thank you for saving me from the cliff…” I was getting nervous, why are they asking me that? “But Miss Araiai, we didn’t know where this cliff you’re talking about.” Freya said. W-What… Does that mean… They’re not the one who saved me? “We just saw you there near the well lying and unconscious.” She continued. “But I fell from a cliff!” I exclaimed. What is happening? The two looked at each other. “Miss, there’s no cliff around this place.” I was dumbfounded. How come there’s no cliff around where they saw me? I’m not dreaming, I’m sure I fell off a cliff! “I’m not lying… I’m sure I fell and-” I suddenly remembered the bruise I got when I fell. “Here! Look! These are my bruises from-” I showed them my arm but to my shock, there’s no wound in it. “-when I fell…” Where are they!? “I can’t see any bruises in you, miss Araia.” The old man said. “I-I…” fear consumed me. Am I dreaming? Where are the bruises that I got? Is there any chance that they healed while I’m still unconscious? Maybe there’s someone who healed me, but why did Freya and an old man find me lying on the ground if someone helped me heal my bruises? I don’t get it! I looked all over my body that my eyes could reach. There’s no signs that I got bruises! “Where did they go?!” I panicked. I even looked at my feet, there’s nothing there! My hands are now okay but I’m sure I used it to avoid falling from Angel! Oh wait. Come to think of it, maybe they know Sky? “Old man, may I ask you, do you know Sky Fuentabello?” The old man shook his head. “I don’t know that name, young lady.” Maybe I need to describe him! “He looks handsome, old man. His family is the owner of the Hacienda Fuentabello near the city here in your province!” The old man seemed to be thinking. “Miss Araia, may I butt in?” Freya asks. I nodded. “There’s no such thing as hacienda here, and I’ve never heard of the name Sky or Fuentabello.” I looked at her, it even made me more confused! Is this place too far from Sky’s house? Where the heck am I? I was looking at them when the old man asked. “May I know where you are from miss?” “I’m originally from Manila but me and my friends came here to have a vacation, we’re staying at Sky's house right now.” I explained. He looked intently at me. “To be honest, young miss… There’s no such thing as Sky Fuentabello, hacienda or a place called Manila here.” There was a moment of silence after the old man said that. I couldn't talk, I couldn't open my mouth to ask what was happening. Everything feels like a dream. I couldn’t understand why they were acting like this. Am I filming a film that I didn’t know? How come they don’t know anything, even one from what I mentioned? Is it because they’re living here for too long that they don't know what’s happening outside? I looked at them, they looked serious that there isn’t even a possibility that they’re joking. “May I know what day it is today?” I asked instead, since I don’t know how long I am sleeping, I don’t know what day it is today. Freya searched for the calendar and said, “Today is Agate 6, 76.” Wait. Is that it? What’s with that day? “No, I mean, the day, like monday or what?” They tilt their head this time. They seem to be thinking. “What’s that?” They asked in unison. I gasped. “That’s…” I don’t know what to say at this moment. Everything feels weird. Am I still in shock? I can’t recall a place where they have their own calendar. It feels like I’m not on Earth. Lol. Wait… “No, no, no…” Don’t even think about it. That’s the most hilarious thought that I’ve ever had. After that talk, I also ask them if they can help me to get to Sky’s house but to my surprise, there's no means of transportation here. They also don't have police or local government here. Which I find really weird! Even a small bicycle, they don’t have that here. So since I don’t know anything about this place, I asked them if I can stay here for a short period of time just to familiarize myself with the place and to find a way to get back home. Thankfully, they agreed even though they just saw me the first time today. "Let me introduce you to the members of our family." The old man said. One by one, their family members came. "First or all, I am the head of this family. My name is Radia Marmui." The elder said. "We have a total of four omega here and two beta." He continued but I don't quite understand. "What's that?" I asked them. Is it some nicknames? All of them look at me. “Can you transform young miss?” Mui asked me. What do they mean by transform? "Of course not." I stated. Isn't it obvious? How can I transform? I'm not some kind of ghost or what not. What kind of question is that, though? "Then you're an omega." Mui said. What are they talking about? I don't really get it! I was about to ask when they explained what I should do while staying here. They didn't give me much work but I can't live here for free, and I don't like the idea of having debt. IT'S been two days since I got here, so far I can't find anything that will help me go home. Even the slightest possibility isn't showing, but the people here are all nice even though they're sometimes weird. They even have a hierarchy here like what they called the beta and omega. One afternoon, Freya and I are doing the laundry near the lake not too far from their house. It is also near the place where they found me lying. "How's everything so far?" Freya asked as she poured the soap in the basin. "It's okay, everyone's nice to me." I replied. "Do you enjoy living here?" I nodded. It's true, everyone's nice to me and they're teaching me the things that's new to me. I just always think of my friends, I'm sure they're looking for me at this point. I don't know about my parents though. I'm sure they don't care whether I come back alive or not. "Do you really not remember which family you belong to?" It's this question again. "I told you, my family name is Madrigal." I already told them my family name a hundred times but they don't know anyone with that name here, they also assumed that I lost my memory when I mentioned that I hit my head. "Anyways, since it seems like you don't know anything about this place, it's better to stay away from that place." She pointed at the tower near the well. "Why?" She comes near me and pointed to my ears, it seems she wants to whisper the answer. "It's because that place belongs to another Alpha." Alpha? "What's that?" Another term that I don't understand. "The leader, the ruler." She said. "Is it something like the one who gave rules?" She nodded. "Exactly." Oh… "But why can't I go there? Is it that dangerous?" "Of course, they might kill you because you belong here." I was too stunned to speak. "Kill, as in I'll be dead?" She nodded again. Why would someone kill a person that goes to their place? Isn't it illegal to kill just somebody? This place is really weird! We chatted while doing the laundry, we were about to finish when we heard something explode. "Oh shoot!" Freya hissed. I looked at her then to the direction the sound came from. "What's that?" I asked. "They're causing another commotion again!" She started to gather the laundry. "Who?" We're now gathering everything. Even though I can't understand what's happening, I followed her. Who knows if it's really dangerous! She stopped for a moment to answer me. "The Bones." She said. What!? "The bones are causing trouble?!" How come a bone causes trouble?! "No! What I mean is-" She was cut by another explosion. "I'll tell you later!" She shouted. We hurriedly ran to leave the place. We're near the border when something blocked us. "Hello, ladies!" He said, smiling. I screamed when I saw it. It has fangs! It was a man but he looked horrible! I didn't get to react when Freya threw the basin to the man and held my hand before pulling me. We're running faster than before. What was that?! What's that creature?! Freya's holding my hand while we're running. I thought that we lost the man before but it suddenly appeared in front of us. "Ah!" "Where do you think you're going!?" The man shouted. One second, he grabbed Freya and pulled her, causing us to separate. "Run Araia!" Freya shouted as she struggled to keep the man away from me. "But-" "Run! Don't look back!" What should I do?! I can't leave her here! I was thinking of running or helping her but instead of running, I searched for something that could attack the man. I need to help her! I found a branch of a tree that had a sharp end, I immediately grabbed it and without thinking, I stabbed the man, it pierced into the man's left arm. He released Freya and we started running. "Let's go!" We ran faster, we're about to enter the border when we heard the man scream. I didn't look back, I don't want to see it! We're a few steps left when the man appears again. He looks mad! "You b*tches!" He was about to grab me but another thing appeared. Everything went fast, in a blink of an eye, the mad man's not breathing anymore. What shocked me more is the thing in front of me. The one who killed the mad man. "W-What…" Is it… a wolf?!

Araia's P.O.V "Let's go." Freya pulled me towards the direction of the house. As we ran non-stop, we heard a massive explosion which made us get on our knees. "What was that?!" My head was spinning a little because of the explosion. I am catching my breath while covering my ears. My ears are ringing! "It must be the HEADS… Let's go!" What heads is she talking about? Freya didn't cover her ears, she looks like she's used to this! After recovering a little on what happened, Freya pulled me again and we started running again towards their house. While we were running, I noticed that the village was empty like a ghost town. You will not see anything moving outside, there's no people playing and talking outside like before. In a blink of an eye this lively village now looked like a deserted place. Where did the people go? Just what is happening… We ran towards their house and as soon as we got there, the door opened. "Come in!" Elder Baster is the one who opens the door. He pulled us to get inside as soon as he saw us, he immediately closed the door after we finally got in. "Freya, get your weapon!" "Yes elder." Free run towards the kitchen, when she comes back she is holding a sharp log with a thickness that fits perfectly in her hands. She gave me one and told me to point it towards the door. "What should i do with this?" "You need that to protect yourself!" Wait, why do I need to protect myself here in the house? don't tell me those monsters will come here?! "Will the monsters come here?!" I didn't realize that I was shouting. Both of them gestured for me to hush. "Lower your voice, Araia!" Freya faced me. "I'm sorry! But will they really come here?" I am trembling in fear, my mind's still occupied by what happened a while ago and because of the explosion. "We are not sure but it's better to prepare ourselves." Elder Baster places another sharp log on the door. Oh my goodness… What is happening here… "Get on your knees, Araia." Elder said. Freya helped me when she noticed that I couldn't move my body. "You don't have to worry, I'm sure that they'll not go here since Alpha Alejandro is already there." Who's Alejandro? "He's there?" Elder asked her. "Yes, elder, so you shouldn't worry too much, Araia." She tapped my shoulder to assure me but I still couldn't get myself to not worry since what I've seen earlier is worrying. It's my first time seeing a monster like that, he looks like a zombie but he's incredibly strong! Does the government know about this?! Why's there no news about those?! I can feel my whole body trembling, my mind couldn't forget the face of that monster I saw. Those red eyes, sharp fangs, body that's full of a combination of dirt and blood… Goodness, what did they do to their own bodies?! Are they drug addicts?! Wait, that's right! We need to call the police! "Cellphone! Telephone! We need to call the police!" Why didn't I think of this earlier!? "What are you talking about?" Freya and Elder faced me. Both of them looked confused, what's with that face? "We need to call the cops, they'll help us to arrest those monsters!" "Hurry! Where's the phone?!" Why are they still standing? "Hey?!" What's with them? Can't they hear me? "What's wrong?" Freya's eyebrows raised. "What phone are you talking about?" She asks me. What, why are you asking me about the phone? "The phone! We need a phone to call the cops so they'll take care of the monsters!" "I'm not sure if I know what you're talking about, you're saying uncommon words again, Araia…" What uncommon words? What's uncommon with that? "Come on, don't you guys have a phone or something we can use to contact the cops?" It's impossible if they don't have a phone or telephone here, this place looks like it isn't that far from the city! And even the countryside has a means to contact someone- they have phones! "We neither have a phone nor a policeman here, Araia." "..." My eyes widened, is she for real?! "How come- Ahh!" A huge bang echoed through the whole house . "What was that?!" Why's there a loud sound again?! "It must be them, get on your senses." Elder Baster points his log to the door. Who's them? Don't tell me… "Are those the monsters?" I glanced at Freya. I am praying that she'll tell me that it's not but my heart beats faster when she nodded. D*mnit. What should I do? "Relax, focus on your surroundings." I did what she told me but I couldn't stop my body from trembling. This is the first time I've encountered this event in my whole life, I can't help but to be scared. Is this the end of me?! Oh Lord, please help us… Everyone's focus on the surroundings, their stance and their gaze is shouting like they are used to these kinds of situations. I feel like this isn't the first time they encountered this event, looking at the ready sharp objects and the way they handle the situation, I can tell that they know really well how to do this. We are standing next to each other and Elder Baster is facing the door while I and Freya are facing both windows. We can't hear any sound other than the sound of our breathing. This place where you will hear the sound of the children's playing and everyone's laugh suddenly turned into a place where even a sound became illegal. This place is deafening to the point where I can now hear my heartbeat. We waited for a few minutes but we didn't hear any sound from outside. Later on a ring from the bell echoed throughout the whole place. "At last." Freya and the elder put down their weapons and sat on the floor as if relief of something. "What is happening? What is that sound for?" "That means the guards are now dealing with them." "Those monsters?" "Yes." What a relief. "Does that mean we can finally go out now?" "We can't just yet." Oh right, how stupid of me to ask that kind of question. I assume that they're still dealing with those so I will not push for it anymore. Besides, it's better if you're inside the house at this moment. I don't really know if I can still roam around outside after what happened today. "Can you call the others Freya?" "Yes Elder." "Thank you." Freya called for the others while we were cleaning the surroundings. We placed the logs on a big box. I never imagined that there would be more logs here in this box. The logs that we used are enough already to surround the whole house but there's still a lot inside this box. Just how many sharp logs are there? You're almost done cleaning the place when Freya's family comes. "That is terrifying!" "I know right! I really thought that we would be eaten!" The twins exaggerate and exchange their thoughts. That seems exaggerating but I also felt that I would be eaten earlier by those monsters. it's a good thing you that i'm not the only one who felt that way. "Are you ok Araia?" Freya's mom patted my head. "Yes, I am. Thank you for your concern." "We should prepare our food now, twins, help me!" "Yes mom!" The twins ran towards the kitchen. "Araia can we talk for a minute?" Elder Baster appeared beside me. He is not holding sharp logs anymore, looks like he finished cleaning the whole place. "Yes, elder." We went to the room where they first talked to me. It's just me and the elder inside the room. "Have a seat." I sat on the chair where I sat the first time I came here. "Can I ask you something?" The elder buster stared directly at me. I'm not sure why but i am getting this chill on my body. What is he going to ask that it needs to be just the two of us? "Where did you really come from?" "I actually came from manila but me and my friends decided to go on a vacation and we went to Sky's vacation house in Bicol." His gaze became sharper. Did I say something wrong? "You know what, there's no such thing as manila and bicol here and I have never heard of it." What? Oh, maybe it's because they're far from the city that is why they don't know such a thing, no. That is impossible. My head's hurting because of what's happening! "Can you tell me more about the place where you came from?" I told him what it is like in Manila and other things such as the government and that but everytime I say something his gaze sharpens more. I don't like the case that he is giving me because it feels like I am saying nonsense and he can't understand whatever I am saying. "Araia, what you have said are the things that we don't have here." What? I refuse to believe that they are just far from the city, that's why they don't know such things about what I grew up with but how come even a government is not a word here? "How about a swimming pool?" I had the urge to ask the first thing that came to my mind. "Never heard of it." What… This is confusing me, is there a place on Earth where they don't know such words? at this time, i don't know anymore, i am not even sure if i am still on Earth- Wait, is it possible that I am not on earth anymore? Maybe it's possible? Not to mention that- "There is no such thing as werewolves in our place!" His eyes widened. "How could that happen? Werewolves are the only species that is alive…" "..." "No…" "I'm telling the truth, Elder, werewolves are just superstitions in our place…" We went silent for a while. "Then that does mean that you are not a werewolf?" "Of course I'm not, I swear I'm not a werewolf!" His eyes widened. "Hush!" Wait,why? What's wrong? "Lower your voice." I nodded, and he gestured to me to come near him. "What's wrong?" Elder looked everywhere before he set up his gaze on me. "I don't think that we can just talk about it here but I want you to know one thing." "What is it?" "We're not sure if you are really a werewolf or not and if you really came to another place, but you have to keep your identity a secret." "Why?" "As I told you before, werewolves are the only beings that are alive here, and as you said, there is no such thing as werewolves in your place and you yourself are not a werewolf. So I think telling others that you are not a werewolf will put your life in danger." My eyes widened at realization. "Is it really dangerous for me to reveal my identity?" "Yes, you can also be a meal of other werewolves if you tell them that you are not a werewolf." I got goosebumps all of a sudden. "It is also dangerous for all of us if someone finds out about your true identity, it would be the end of us- Omegas, if that happens." "Yes, I understand,Elder." I understand what he's saying, it'll be really dangerous if people- I mean werewolves find out that I am a human. "But what do you call yourself in your place?" "We are called human." "Ha…" The elder scratched his eyebrows. Later on, he placed his palm on his head. "What's wrong elder?" I am alarmed at what he's doing, is everything wrong? "There is no such thing as a human here…"

Araia’s P.O.V What is he talking about? How come they don’t know the word Human? “Are you serious?!” I was so shocked that I couldn't contain my voice. Elder Baster nodded his head. “I’m telling the truth.” My jaw dropped, I couldn’t bring myself to ask him anymore. I tried to organize my thoughts. Is this for real? My eyes roam the place, it's hard to believe that I'm not on Earth anymore, but from what I saw… The wolves, attacking humans, those monsters like people, this place… No…This can’t be happening! I collapsed on my seat, my eyes widened in fear. "What am I gonna do?" I don't want to be here… "Bea…Joseph…" My tears started to fall. How I wish that this is all just a dream… "Shh…I'll help you, I'll help you find a way to go back to your home…" Elder tapped my back. I reach for his arms and hug him. "Elder…" I cried in his arms. I don't know how I could get back on Earth, or if I can even go back there… I don't even know where I am! How did I even get here in the first place?! "Mom…" Elder keeps on caressing my back, but instead of calming down, because of the warmth that his hug is giving me, my heart seems to be touched by it. I couldn't stop my tears from falling. My tears fell down even more. “I want to… home…” I don’t want to be here, I want to go back to my friends, even though mon and I aren’t that close, I still want to see her, to be with her! I held Elder’s hands. “Elder, please, help me get back to my family…” If I need to plead with someone just to get back home then I will gladly do it! I am just desperate to come home… I want to go home… ** “ARE YOU AWAKE NOW?” I open my eyes, I search for who’s talking. “Elder…” I sat down. I’m on my bed… It looks like I’ve fallen asleep while crying… Did he carry me? “Thank you Elder, I’m sorry about earlier…” I am so ashamed that I cried in his arms. Elder came to me. “It’s okay, but I think we need to talk about how you will go back to your home.” My eyes landed on him. “Yes elder, I’m listening.” He nodded. “So…” Elder told me that since it isn’t certain yet the exact location of where I came from, he will consult a friend of his that can help us to find the truth. He told me that he has a friend that is knowledgeable about sorcery, we’re not sure if that can help me but he will still try it. “When can we meet your friend, elder?” We need to meet that friend as soon as possible so I can go home. “He’s not here, it’ll take weeks to get to his home.” “...” Then, we still need to wait for a week… “It’s okay elder, when will we depart?” “I’ll tell you about that after I finish my job here.” Elder stands up. “Since there’s a commotion not long ago, everyone’s still in shock and there’s areas that’s surely damaged, we still need to fix those for now.” “Okay elder.” That’s right. Elder told me that he still needs to fix things outside so we’ll talk about it some other time. When he’s finally out of the room, I lay myself on the bed again. “I still need to wait…” Ha… Alright, I don’t have to be like this anymore as Elder Baster will help me. Although I still need to wait for a week- no, because of the attack of those monsters, I think it will take a week to organize and fix things in this village so it’s possible that we’ll get to leave this place the week after next week. I don’t have to be impatient as there’s already a way to get back home. “Let’s just hope that Elder’s friend knows how to transport me back to Earth…” Please… I wonder what my friends on Earth are thinking right now, are they searching me? How about my mom? “I bet she doesn’t even know that I’m missing…” But if she ever finds out, will she care? I’m just a desperate daughter, now, I don’t want her attention, but later, I still want her to care for me, even just asking if I’m alright or asking where I went and how’s my day… I guess that's how a child is to their parents… Even how many times a parent has already abandoned them, their child will still ask for their attention. “I thought, it’s the same for the parents?” But how come my mother isn’t like that? She’s acting as if she’s not my real mother… Ha… I want to go back… “Raia?” A knock on the door snapped me back to reality. “Yes?” “Can I come in?” It’s Freya’s voice. I sat on the bed and fixed my face. “Yes.” Freya peek through the door. “Are you alright?” I nodded. She looked concerned. I ask them to come in. “I’m alright, thank you for asking.” She gave me a flower crown made of red flowers and yellow ones that I don’t know the name of. “Wow, thank you…” She puts it on me. I am touched by her kindness, I wish I had a sister like her. She hugged me then lay on the bed, using my lap as a pillow. “I thought, something bad happened to you… Elder carry you when you pass out.” Her voice changed, it became the voice of a 10 year old. She’s really funny. “I’m sorry to make you worry, Freya, but I’m okay now.” I caress her hair, the assorted colored hair pins are still there in her head. “You’re not going to pass out again?” She looked at me like asking me to promise her. “Yes.” How could I resist those bright eyes? “Yey!” We both giggled. She, then, played with the skin on my lap. She’s so precious, I want to tell her about myself but I promise the elder that I wouldn't. I want to tell her badly, I don’t want to keep something from her but she’s still a child. She might have a slip of the tongue, even though it’s not on purpose, that can still put my life in danger. I’ll tell her some other time… I kept on caressing her hair. We stayed like that for a couple of minutes when Shoyo asked for our presence at the table. I was shocked to know that it’s already morning, I slept that long?! But then I helped them arrange the plates on the table. “Are you alright now?” Mui asked me. “Yes.” They all asked me how my condition was, they thought that I collapsed because of the sudden uproar yesterday. Thankfully, Elder said it like that as I don’t know what to tell them if ever they asked me what did the Elder and I talked about that causes me to collapse. I hadn't thought of it before going out here. While eating breakfast, I couldn’t stop thinking that this is what it feels like to have someone eat with you. I have never experienced this before. All I’ve experienced is eating alone at our dining table. I want to stay here just a little bit just to experience this kind of feeling everyday but I know that I can’t. I don’t belong here, I’m not a werewolf. After breakfast, the twins wanted to play with me but I had to reject them because Elder asked for my time. He asked me to help him clean the underground. “Where should I put these, elder?” I showed him the mini sharp logs on my hand. “You can put those there.” He pointed to the corner of this room. I placed the logs there and went back on cleaning. This place is spacious underground, and it’s really underground, you can’t enter this place if you’re from outside because the door is pretty tough as well as the roof. Attacks won’t reach this place if ever one occurs. Although it’s dark because there’s no ventilation, you can still see each other because of the torch. How will they get out of here if something bad happens and the main door is blocked? “Actually, I called you because I need to discuss something with you.” Elder suddenly said. Oh, is that so… “What do you want to tell me?” Although we’re still cleaning, the elder kept on explaining everything that I need to know while I’m staying here. “I understand Elder, then, is it better if I don’t go outside?” Since it’s dangerous if someone finds out the truth, Elder limits my time going out. “You can go out if you want but I suggest that you will just go where we can save you anytime. If it’s possible, you should stay away from other wolves.” “I understand.” “It’ll be better if you stay low for now, before we go to my friend and ask for his help.” “Yes elder.” I don’t want to cause any trouble for their family, I’m lucky enough to meet them. If I met someone with bad intentions, I don’t know what would happen to me now, so I will do my best to stay away from danger so that they won’t be in danger too. Also, I’m lucky enough that Elder Baster knows someone who knows sorcery, so my chance of getting back to Earth isn’t impossible now. We continued cleaning the underground but we paused because it’s already lunch time. I feel like we just ate and now we’re eating again. Freya’s family is happy, I’ve noticed that there’s no rice here, all we've been eating since I came here are either vegetables or some bread, and there’s no electricity here, like I'm living before humanity… Kidding. Another thing, there’s no vehicle here, they’re riding the ones that can transform into wolf form if they’re traveling, and if they don’t have someone who can transform, they will just walk even if their destination is far. Elder Baster told me everything that I need to learn while we’re cleaning, thanks to that, I’ve known other things about this world. There’s a lot of things that I grew up with that can’t be seen in this place, so I know that it’ll be hard for me to adjust that easily in this place. But I’ll try my best. “Can we play?” Vin, one of the twins, clings to me after lunch. “Of course!” I already rejected them earlier so it would be hard to reject them again. Also, I don’t have to be cautious of the wolf inside this house and this village because mostly, omega wolves are weak and won’t cause trouble that would end up finding my true identity. Although there’s Betas here, Elder assured me that it’s safe as long as they don’t find out who I really am. Vin and Xin happily clung to me, we went outside the house. Freya’s walking behind us, looks like she also wants to join. “What should we play?” Vin asked his twin. “I don’t know!” Xin happily said. Vin sighs. “I can’t believe you.” Vin is the one who thinks of the game that we would play but since it’s for the young ones, I thought of telling them a game that I know. “How about we play rake?” They focus their attention on me. “What’s that?” I told them what rake is and now they’re looking for a rock that they’ll use as a basis. After they found a chalk like rock, I started to draw the pattern on the ground. “Goodluck everyone!” “You’re not playing with us?” Freya asked me. I shook my head. "I'll play later." She nodded and they started playing. When other kids saw them playing, they joined them and everyone was happy while playing. I enjoy seeing the happy faces of these children. When I couldn’t keep on just looking at them playing, I joined them. “I’ll go last!” There’s a total of ten kids playing here, then me and Freya. Everyone’s laughing when they pass us and see us, particularly Freya and I, playing. I think we're too old for this, but I can’t stop playing! This is just the first time that I get to play like this. I’m old enough but I still enjoy these kinds of games. It’s pretty fun. It’s like, I am now experiencing the youth that I haven’t experienced before, and I’m happy for that. We kept on playing until the sun was about to set. “We’ll see you tomorrow!” Xin said his goodbye to his friends. “Yes! We’ll play again tomorrow!” “Bye!” “Bye!” Xin replied. He still has a lot of energy after playing that long…That’s incredible, I guess, that’s because he’s a wolf. “How did you learn that game? That’s so fun!” Later on, he asked me. Oh… What should I say? Hmm… “We’re playing that on where I came from!” It’s not a lie… “Really? Then it’s fun there!” Not really… “Yup!” We enter their house and take our rest. I couldn’t tell if it’s really fun where I came from, but I guess, it’s just me who’s lonely, not like other children my age, they must be having so much fun that time… Mui and Shoyo are preparing our dinner, while the four of us, who played outside, are just sitting here on the sofa. Calming ourselves. Later on, we’re called to help on preparing the table. We ate happily together. That night, we all watched the sky before we slept.

ARAIA's P.O.V "Give me the flower!" "I don't want to!" Vin and Xin are arguing over a flower. "Here, you can use mine." I gave Vin the flower that I'm holding, he gladly accepted it and continued making a flower crown. We’re now here at the backyard of their house, we’re making a flower crown for fun. “I didn’t know that you could do something like this using a flower!” Freya said. She’s doing great making a flower crown, so far, I noticed that Freya is smart. She caught up to the things around her easily and she can decide for her own, not like the other girls her age. "Freya, how old are you?" "I'm 15.” She answered me while still doing her flower crown. She’s only 15? She’s quite mature for her age, to be honest. She acts like a seventeen year old girl although she tends to have these colorful hair clips around her head and she’s always in a ponytail. If you observe her inside the house, she’s a reliable sister to her two brothers. Her cheerful personality makes her look like she’s a child but her mature side makes her look like a girl that’s becoming an adult. “Why’d you ask?” “Nothing, how’s your crown?” “Look!” She showed me what she’s doing, it’s beautiful. “Wow! It’s so beautiful, Freya, you did great!” She’s so happy that I complimented her work, the same as the twins. “But what are you doing?” Vin asked me. The other two looked at me curiously so I showed them what I was doing. "It’s also a flower crown.” “But what are these?” Full of curiosity Xin asked. “These are locks, so the flowers won’t fall off.” Their faces look amaze, what a funny reaction. “But why do yours look amazing while ours doesn't?” Xin said while pouting. What does he mean? I observe my flower crown, it’s just average looking. Oh! “Are you talking about the color combinations?” They look confused again. I explained to them what color combination is and gave them an example on how to combine colors. Later on, I helped them to create a flower crown while combining the colors so every flower will suit each other. “Woah…” “It looks completely different from before!” “That’s right, because color combinations are important also.” “You’re really great!” “Nah! I just know how to combine colors.” It’s no big deal. “No, you’re really great! You’re so smart sister Raia!” The twins said. Aw… “Well, thank you…” It’s kind of awkward to receive compliments as I’m not used to it but they’re so cute to just avoid it. I teach them some more and Xin seems like he’s really enjoying what we’re doing, he caught up faster than I thought. We continued playing until the snacks that Mui made arrived. “Take a break, kids.” The twins greet their mother while Freya and I prepare the carpet for the snacks we're going to eat here. “You’re smart…” Hmm? I glanced at Freya, did she say something? “Pardon?” She’s looking at the snacks we’re preparing so I couldn’t see her face clearly. She didn’t answer me so I just continued preparing the snacks. I swear, I heard someone… “It’s okay now!” Freya shouted after we’re done preparing the snacks on the carpet. “Yey!” The twins are happy while eating the snacks. It’s a sweet potato. It’s drying my throat but the snacks were accompanied by juice so it’s alright. Besides, this is the only snack that they’re making everyday so I don’t really have a choice. Should I tell them some snack recipes that I know? Maybe next time… “Did you make this?” Mui asked me. She’s pertaining to the flower crown that I made. I nodded my head. “Wow, you’re so good at making these.” I can feel my cheeks burning from what she said. Why do I feel shy all of a sudden? “T-thank you…” Shoyo came to our direction, holding an ax, he must be cutting logs in the forest. “Hello everyone.” The twins came running to him. “How’s my family?” “We’re good! We’re making flower crowns!” They boast about the flower crown we’re making. “Wow. These are wonderful, how’d you know how to do this?” He asked the twins. “Araia taught us!” Shoyo looks amazed by the flower crowns of his sons. He's so proud of them, I can tell. “You’re talented.” He said, now, looking at me. Again! “T-thank you.” Why are they so affectionate? I am not used to this! Just like before, when we’re eating, they’re so sweet to each other especially Mui and Shoyo, their family looks like they’re used to those sweetness but I am not! It’s awkward for me at first but then I eventually get used to it. I remember the first time I noticed them being affectionate to each other, I am so jealous because I haven’t experienced it before. My parents wouldn’t even dare look at me. I admire their family, I wish I had one. When it’s dinner time, hours passed like usual, we ate then spent the rest of our free time watching the sky. We’re now in the backyard, lying on the carpet in an open space while looking at the sky. “Do you know that there’s a star called sirius?” Vin looked at me. “What’s that?” “The star, there’s a star called sirius.” So, they don’t have an idea of Sirius. “No, I mean, what is a star?” “...” Oh! They don’t know what a star is. I point my finger to the sky, in which we can see a star. “Do you see those shining things up there?” Vin nodded. “Those are called stars.” “Oh…” “Yup, and there’s a star called Sirius, it’s the brightest star up there.” Although it’s what it is from Earth and I don’t know if we’re still on Earth, let’s just pretend that it’s also the brightest star here. “Wow, can you tell me more about it?” “Sure!” I told him what I know about constellations, he looked interested in it so I added some about the universe and such. Looks like Vin is the type of person who likes to talk about stars and such, while Xin is the artistic type. They’re so cute. I wish I had brothers like them… MY DAYS passed like that. We’re playing when we have free time, I am helping the house and so far there’s no monsters attacking. “Raia, can I talk to you?” Elder asked me. I nodded my head in response. We went to the room where we talked last time and he asked me to sit. “Do you need anything Elder?” “Yes.” He showed me a map that’s made from cloth, or can you even call this a map? All I can see is a set of lines… It’s even brown, the same as the cloth but it’s much darker. Elder points in a direction. “This is where we’re going to go to meet my friend.” My eyes widened, are we finally going to meet his friend?! “We’re going to go to his house?” He nodded. At last! I couldn’t contain my excitement because this is what I’ve been waiting for. “When are we going to go there?” “We’ll go there next week but I don’t think that I can accompany you.” Why not? “Why, Elder?” He told me that there would be an important meeting regarding the situation of this village and the recent monster attack and as he is one of the elders, he needs to be there. “Is that so…” Is it alright for me to travel alone? What if there’s monsters again and they attack me? I don’t even know basic self defense, and they’re much stronger than me! I’m just a human and they’re still wolves! “Isn’t it dangerous?” Elder sat on the chair across mine. “It is, but I will help you find someone who will accompany you when you travel.” Is it enough? Who could it be? What if that person finds out that I’m not a wolf and does something bad to me? I wouldn’t risk my safety, if I can go some other time, then I’ll just prefer that over this. “I can go some other time, Elder.” “Are you sure? You don’t have to worry about who’ll accompany you as I assure you that he is safe to be with.” “But what if that wolf found out that I’m not a wolf?” What will we do? It’s concerning since none of them would be by my side. I’m just feeling safe when I’m with them… “I promise you that he won’t do anything bad to you, we can trust him, he’s my nephew and my right hand.” “...” My trust issues can’t cope up… “I don’t know Elder…” I’m not really sure if I can relax if someone whom I don’t know will accompany me on my journey, and it’s a man. “Do you want to meet him first?” I am so concerned about it, so I think it’s really better if I meet him first. I agree with Elder Baster, he said that he would arrange a meeting for me and his nephew within these days. “Thank you for doing this.” I held Elder’s hand. I'm glad that he is helping me even though I’m not from this world. “Don’t worry about it, I want you to be with your family again so I’m helping you.” He tapped my head. Ha… If only I had someone like them… “I’ll teach you some things about what you should do when you travel.” “Okay.” Elder gave me ideas on what I should do and what I should remember to avoid being caught. While he is talking, I can already feel my hands sweating just by thinking that it isn’t impossible for me to face danger while traveling. “Can I ask you a question, Elder?” “Sure.” “I’m just really curious about this, do wolves have this special ability like they can smell someone’s blood like vampires?” I’m not really a fan of vampires and werewolves so I don’t know much about them, I just know the basics that they can transform, something like that. And I’m dying to know if they can smell blood because if they can, that would be the end of me… “What are vampires?” Elder asked. Oh yeah, I forgot that it’s only werewolves here. “Nevermind that Elder, but can you really smell blood?” Elder shook his head. “Ha…That’s great.” At least, they can’t smell blood, right? I will be doomed if they can smell blood. “How did you get the idea that we can smell blood?” Elder looked curious so I told him what I know. From what vampires are and what I know about wolves. Although my knowledge isn’t that great, he still wants to know what I know about them. “What imagination you got there…” Elder said. I'm quite embarrassed because I know that those are just stories, but of course, since those stories were passed down generation by generation I don't know anymore what is right and wrong. Also, I've believed in those stories since I'm a child. That's why I'm thinking like that. "It would be dangerous if werewolves could smell blood." Elder said. "That's my thought too." We share the same opinion about it so I'm glad. After we talked about important things, I helped Freya arrange logs in the underground. While we're working, Freya suddenly bumped my shoulder. "Ouch!" Can't she see me? But it's not that dark here since we have three torches with fire. I look at my surroundings, I'm not blocking the way either. "Oh, sorry." She continued arranging the logs after she said it. What's wrong with her? Did I do something wrong? She's not even looking at me when she apologizes. "Are you alright?" I'm concerned about her behavior, she isn't like this. Perhaps she's having difficulty with something? "I'm okay." Lifeless, she answered. Something's definitely wrong.

ARAIA'S P.O.V Freya's acting is weird… "Freya?" I called for her attention but she didn't pay me a glance. Should I let her just be? We continued arranging the logs but as we're doing it, Freya seems to have a problem from time to time. Like, she's dozing off sometimes then she'll bumped into me and won't say anything. I'm not even sure what's happening to her… We finished arranging the logs and she's still acting like that. even we are having a dinner freya seems to avoid me Did I do something wrong to her? I think I should talk to her later- no, I really need to talk to her because I am so confused about what is happening. She is not telling me anything so I wonder what is going on with her. if this continues, for sure i won't get any sleep as i want to clear things with her first. When we finished cleaning the table, the twins went straight to the backyard to watch the stars again. While Mui and Shoyo went to the sala to relax, Freya was about to go to the backyard when I pulled her hand. Freya, can we talk? I ask her, she just glances at me and looks away. "I am busy right now." No she's not…Why is she saying that she's busy? I can tell that she is really avoiding me this time. "Please, I want to clear things between us. You can tell me if something is wrong. Did I do something that you don't like? You can say it to me so I won't do it again." She can tell me what's her problem so I can change what she doesn't like about me next time… "No, I am really busy right now, excuse me…" She harshly pulled her hand from my grasp and walked away to the backyard. What… My jaw almost drops at what she does, I am thinking of what I have done these past few days for her to be like that to me. Since I didn't have the chance to talk to her again, I spent my night thinking about what caused her to act like that. "YOU LOOK UGLY." Vin, who's sitting at the salas said it to me. "I know." With this face, everybody will notice that I stayed up all night last night. Well, I can't do anything about it since it's really noticeable. Ha… "Does something happen?" Mui patted my head. I shook my head. "I'm alright." I took a glance at Freya but she's not looking at me. Will she just stay like this? I didn't expect that she would act like this when she is mad at me, I thought that she would tell me what is in her head to clear things out but she didn't. When we were eating breakfast, she still didn't talk to me, even Mui and Shoyo noticed that there was something going on between us but still Freya didn't talk about it. She was also asked by Elder but she just kept on being quiet all the time, so we just let her be. They said that it is just normal for a teenager and maybe she's just having mixed feelings and she is figuring it out herself but I don't think that is the reason. I know that there is something on her that's telling me that she hates me, I just hope that she will open up to me one day. I don't want us to stay like this forever. First of all, it's so sudden, the day after she started acting like this, I can't remember that we had an argument or something. When the afternoon came, Elder's nephew came to the house. "Hello, I am Elder's nephew, my name is Orlando." "Hello, I am Araia." We shook our hands, Elder told us to go to the backyard maybe because Elder doesn't want others to hear what we will talk about. We went to the backyard and sat on the chairs that they provided. I observe the man in front of me. He looks nice , timid and shy but is it really okay if we trust him about my secret? "He is the one who will accompany you when you travel." He pointed to his nephew Orlando and smiled at me so I also smiled at him. I'm still hesitant to let him accompany me but I don't want to be a burden to Elder anymore. I'll just trust Elder's words. "When will we depart, Elder?" Elder told us the schedule of our departure, it's tomorrow. "Isn't it too sudden?" Elder shook his head. "It's not, it's better if you meet my friend as soon as possible so you'll get to get back to your family, I know that you're happy here, that's what I am seeing to you but I know you still miss your family." Elder gave me a warm look. Elder… "You're right…" I couldn't disagree more, they're really concerned to me and what they're doing is what's the best option now. "Thank you, Elder…" I'm sincerely thankful to them for helping me. But, does Orlando already know what I am? I glanced at him, he's looking at me. "Don't worry, he'll keep your secret." Elder must have noticed my hesitation towards Orlando. I nodded my head. If you say so, Elder. "I'll tell you now what you'll do while traveling." Elder told us the things that we need to do while we're traveling. I just remember that there's no means of transportation here, wait- don't they have horses here? I tried to ask him about it. "We do have horses here but since wolves are quite territorial, even small animals or big animals aren't allowed to enter one's territory, unless they were given permission by the Alpha." "Really? Even if we are going to use them for travel?" "Well, yes. We can't use them here Araia." Elder seems to avoid that topic. it must be an important topic for them so I didn't ask anything about it anymore. "How many days will it take us to get there?" I asked them, Orlando is the one who answered. "Well, it would probably take us one week since we don't have an Alpha who will accompany us." "Wait, do you mean we will walk from here to there?" Orlando nodded his head. Wait. Is he serious? We're going to walk from here to there and it would take us one week, isn't it just an insane idea? Who would walk that far? "Then, it would be really dangerous for us right? We will take the road of the forest and since it will just be the two of us, it has the higher risk of encountering dangerous wolves like those monsters." Orlando and Elder seems has it had to answer but they still noted otherwise "Yes, but we will avoid them before they even notice us if that happens." "How could we avoid them?" Is it really possible to avoid those monsters? "We will climb the tree." Orlando said, as if it's a common thing. I don't know how to climb a tree, I am really unsure of this trip but I am trying my best to push myself because Elder is busy and he cannot accompany me. It looks like he wants to do me this favor as soon as possible even though I myself don't know if my family is looking for me. If it's my friends then it's possible but I don't think that iI have a family that is waiting for me in our home. We spent almost an hour talking about what we will do tomorrow. They said that we will depart early in the morning so we will have the whole day to travel. They also said that it is necessary to depart early because we still need to find a good place to stay during the night to avoid danger. As soon as we finished talking, I went straight to my room to prepare for our trip. "Where are you going?" Vin suddenly entered the room. I didn't notice him at all..Am I just too occupied by the trip tomorrow? I am now packing my luggage, although I don't have that many clothes because I have just been here for almost a month and change of clothes are quite expensive here, so I didn't ask for more as I don't have money even though Mui and Shoyo insisted. "I am going somewhere." I told him, the child went to my side. "Where are you going?" He asked again. Looks like a simple I'm going somewhere will not pass. "Well, I am going to a faraway land to learn something important." "When are you going back?" I couldn't answer his question as I don't know if I am still going back here. "I am not sure but it will take awhile since we don't have an Alpha who will accompany us." Vin didn't say anything but he looked sad so I hugged him. "Don't be sad anymore…" I couldn't continue my sentence because I'm still not sure if I'm going to get back here. "Take care on your travels…" "I will…" I hugged him tightly because he was like my younger brother to me while I was here so I will definitely miss him if I happened to go back to Earth. "Would you like me to help you pack your things?" He then asked me. "I will be glad!" He helped me pack my things, he even called Xin to help me and as usual, Xin almost cried after knowing that I would leave the house. I just assured him that I will be safe and if I get the chance to go back here, I will gladly do so. Vin just told him that I need to go back to my family and I will visit them from time to time. I just nodded even though I'm not sure about that. Both of them helped me and they also gave me souvenirs so that I won't forget about them. While packing, I suddenly realized that this would be my last day staying here and I will go back to Earth after we meet Elder's friend. To Earth where the cold treatment of my family will be the one who will welcome me everyday. I will definitely miss this family, their laughs, the way they treat each other and how they became a second family to me. I don't regret that I stayed here while I was in this world because it made me happy and content even for a short time. I thought about Freya, how is she doing? Is she still mad at me? I'm about to go home tomorrow and she's still not talking to me. I need to go and talk to her. After we finished packing everything, I told the twins that I would talk to Freya. "Freya…" I knocked on her door but she is not answering. "Hello? I want to talk to you. You know, I am going to leave tomorrow and I think we should clear things out regarding the matter between us before I leave…" There is no answer from inside. It looks like she still doesn't want to talk to me. "Freya come on, let's talk." I tried a few times to convince her to talk to me but she still doesn't go out of her room. Freya… I called her one more time but she still didn't answer me so I decided to go back to my room. I guess it would take time for her to forgive me or whatever bad thing I did to her. I am sad that we will not make up even though I am going to leave tomorrow but I can't do anything about it since it is still her choice if she wants to talk to me or not. I spend my night thinking and being nervous of what will happen tomorrow. "Can I wake the twins? I'll just bid them goodbye." I ask Elder Baster. "I think it is better if you don't because those two will just cry if they saw you leave." That is right… Elder Baster is right. I think I will just live like this. "So, should we go?" Orlando asked me. We are now here at the front gate of the elders house. We are carrying our own luggage and we are wearing a coat. My coat is color read while Orlando's is color black. "Good luck on your trip." Elder buster said. I hug him as I am thankful for his efforts in helping me. "Thank you for your efforts, I'll definitely pay you back if I have the chance." He just caressed my hair and told us that he better get off, so that is what we did. "Don't worry because I will not let my guard down during our travels." Orlando assured me while we were walking towards the forest direction. "Thank you Orlando." "Is this your first trip?" I guess? It's because I traveled before but that is when I am still on earth and this isn't earth so I think it is not counted right? "Yeah…" I replied to him. "Don't worry, I will take care of you." He patted my shoulder, although it's a little bit awkward. I just let him because it's just a pat on the shoulder and he stopped it immediately. That's right, I just hope that our trip will be safe.

ARAIA'S P.O.V "Should we rest first?" Orlando asked me, we are now walking through this forest but it hasn't been a day and my feet's already aching. That's why I really hate long distance walks. "Yes, please…" "I'll look for a spot." Orlando told me to wait for where I am so he can look for a good spot to rest. I did what he said and he started looking. I looked around us, there's just trees and rocks everywhere. I wonder if there would be a wolf attack here… No, let's not think about it. "Just what am I thinking?" I play with the rocks that's touching my feet, Orlando's not here. What's taking him so long? I took a glance at the direction that he went to, there's a big tree that's covering it up so I can't see where he is. Just how big is this tree? I can't see its end, it's too bright. I waited for another minute but there's still no Orlando coming. Should I go and look for him? But what if we didn't see each other? Nah, I'm just going to wait here. It's better to wait here than to get lost in this dangerous place. I look for a cleanest spot on this big tree's roots. It's so big that its root isn't under the ground anymore. I sat on one of them and stretched my feet. I place my bag beside me and fix the coat that I'm wearing. The thought of trusting Orlando came to my mind, so far he's still kind to me, but we just departed. Although we're far from the village already, I still can't trust him fully. I just felt like there's something on him that I shouldn't trust. Maybe because I just met him yesterday? Hm… That could be the reason, besides, we're going on a dangerous trip and I still don't know how we could handle situations like when monsters attack. Now that I realized, I'm not carrying any weapon, Elder didn't give me one, and I hadn't thought of it when we departed. Just why did I forget? I roam around this place, beside me, I saw a log that's a little thick and I think it would fit on my bag. I picked it up and put it in my bag. This is better. "Ha…This is relaxing." The cold wind is relaxing me, how come the wind is cold when it's almost noon? I close my eyes as I am enjoying the feeling. I will wait for Orlando here. OW… My head is hurting… What did I do to make my head hurt this much? It's throbbing… I immediately opened my eyes when I realized that I am waiting for Orlando. Then, I realize that I am not on the tree where I was resting just a while ago. What welcomes my eyes is darkness and this feeling that I was kept in a box. Where am I? "Ouch…" My head started to throb again. Why am I here? What is this place? "How much should we sell her?" My eyes widened, someone's talking! Who's that? It's not Orlando's voice! "It depends on you." Now it's Orlando's! I heard a laugh outside this place. What am I doing here and why is Orlando outside? What in the world is this… While I am here inside this box I don't know if this is a box but it is so cramped inside and I can't see anything because there's no light coming from outside. I searched for the things around me but all there was was my shoes. I searched for my bag using my hands because I couldn't see anything but I couldn't find it. Where did they put my bag? I tried to look for it again but because of it, it created a sound that made the people outside notice that I was awake. "Is she awake?" "I don't know, you should check.". I felt the moving stopped, because of fear, I moved to the corner of this place. Were they going to kill me? My hands trembled at the thought. What did I do wrong? I thought we were going to Elders friends but why am I here? Am I the one that they are talking about just a while ago? But why are they going to sell me? My trembling hands covered my mouth as I couldn't take what was happening. I heard footsteps coming from where I am. Will they kill me? Please don't! Please, I want to live! I still want to go home. Just a few minutes later I heard something like metal outside. Did they just lock me up? I heard it like they were removing the metal thing. I heard a door cracking. I tried my best to hide myself in the corner. Then, when the door was finally opened, Orlando's face welcomed me. I called for him. "Why am I here?" I was still hiding in the corner because I was so scared. Orlando opens the door wildly. "Surprises!" he said. What is he haying? "Are you happy with my surprise?" He laughs loudly as if he is finally getting what he desires. There's something in Orlando's voice that's making me feel more about what's wrong with him. It's like he is a different person. "Why did you do this to me? I didn't do anything wrong to you!" Just why did he have to do this when he can tell me what he wants in the first place? "What are you talking about? Aren't you the one who is insane?" What insane? I don't know what he is talking about. Orlando started to get inside this box, I can feel his glare from there. I felt my body shaking. "Don't come near me!" I look for what I can use to stop Orlando but there is nothing inside this box. "Shut up you crazy." He said. Why is he saying that I'm crazy? "Do you think we will believe you when you tell us that you are not a wolf? Then what are you, a leaf?" What? "You dare to fool our Elder! We will not forgive you!" I didn't fool them! "I didn't do that! I'm telling the Truth!" I swear! Why would I even lie about it!? "Stop with these lies! You're really crazy! It's better if we sell you so we'll get money for the family!" "What, no!" I was horrified by what he said, why would he sell me!? "No!" I tried so hard to avoid his grip. "Stop what you're doing!" Orlando and I are shouting at each other. "I'll tell this to Elder!" How dare he try to sell me!? Orlando laughed. Why is he laughing? "Go and tell him, don't you know that they're the ones who helped me to do this?" Huh? They? Does that mean… "You can cry!" Orlando laughed at me again. B-but…Why did they… I trusted them… "Now, let's tie you up, stop struggling and stay still!" Orlando tried to reach me but I avoided him. No! Don't come near me! I'm doing my best to avoid him so he'll not catch me. I pushed, punched and kicked him but because he's stronger than me, he subdued me after a few minutes of fighting. "I told you to stay still!" Orlando slapped me hard. It hurts! I can feel my cheek throbbing. Orlando starts tying me up and covering my mouth, although I'm squirming around, it doesn't stop him from tying me. "Hoo! You're quite a hard catch!" Orlando said after he tied me. What does he mean by hard catch!? I'm not a thing! "Hmp!" I couldn't talk as there's cover in my mouth, my hands and feet are also tied so I couldn't move freely. Orlando closed the door and I heard him lock it before he went to the man he's talking to a while ago. Then, I felt like this box moved. Ha… I didn't realize that my eyes were already watering. Elder, Freya, Mui and Shoyo? Did they really know that Orlando's going to sell me? But they're so good to me, they even let me stay in their house and feed me! What about Elder? He said that he wanted to help me, that he only wanted me to be with my family again, that's why he's helping me. What about his friend that we're going to meet? Is it all a lie? But, how? They're treating me like their own family… I felt it… All the time that I'm staying there, I felt like they're my family, that they treat me as one but why did Orlando say that? Who's lying? Elder… Freya… Is this the reason why Freya didn't talk to me? Did she know all these? Is she guilty, that's why she's like that? sob… I can't stop crying… I trusted them… No, what if Orlando's lying, and that Elder and his family don't know about this? But why would he lie? I don't know anymore… I don't want to be here… I want to go home… Please… Let me go home… I slept while crying, when I woke up, I'm still inside this box and I could still feel that we're moving. How long did I sleep? I move my body, it's aching because I still can't move it freely, not to mention that my body's bumping with this box when it moves. I'm just lying because I can't sit. Where are we? I can't see anything outside, is it morning already? Where are they taking me? Will they sell me to one of those monsters? My body trembles at what I thought. It's not impossible… Heavens… I cried silently, will this be the end of my life? I don't want to die yet, I still have a lot of dreams. I still want to go back to my family and friends, I still want to see them and I still want to talk to them. Why is this happening to me? First, I was transported to this world where humans don't exist, and now the one whom I trusted is going to sell me to someone whom I don't know? They even call me crazy for telling the truth! I thought everything's going well… I thought I was finally going back home but why did I trust them in the first place? I am so stupid, because of my desperation, I trusted a stranger and even sleep in their house without knowing who they really are. I am so weak that I couldn't even protect myself, but how could I protect myself in this world? Should I really be thinking about it now that I am going to die? Maybe it's not right now but sooner or later, I will die because I will be sold off as a slave… Do slaves live long? I am not sure… I didn't imagine that my life would end like this. I didn't imagine that despite all the things that I've encountered so far I will end up dying. I don't want this but what can I do right now? I am slowly losing hope wouldn't there be someone who will save me, isn't that what was supposed to be? In this kind of situation there would be someone who will save someone like me. Just what am I thinking? This isn't some kind of fairy tale, this is the reality that I am facing… I tried to loosen the rope that's tying me. It's so tight that I can feel my wrist burning because of friction. I did it slowly, in hope that I'll set myself free. While doing it, I can hear Orlando talking to someone outside. I think we are near to where they are going to sell me because they are talking about the money. "How much do you think we will get?" It is Orlando's voice. "I am not sure but since she is pretty I think it would be higher than before." "That is right! I am kind of feeling bad right now…" Orlando said. Is his conscience eating him right now? "Why? We've been doing this for so long!" "Well, since she is beautiful, it's a waste to just send her off like that." There's a deafening silence after that. What is he saying? "You're right!" The one he's talking to said. "Should we use her first?" "Of course!" Both of them laugh. N-no! Are they thinking of doing what I'm thinking?! Are they insane!? Just a few seconds and I felt the box stopped moving. No,no! I move on the corner of the box, I tried my best to sit, even though it's hurting my body. My hand is getting faster than before, I am rubbing it on one another harder than before. Why isn't it working! Come on! Cooperate with me! When I'm almost sitting down, I heard the door opening. I move my hand faster. Faster, Faster! Move your hands faster! Araia! Suddenly, the door opened. "Hi, little slave!" I almost jumped when I saw Orlando's face. Despite the darkness outside, I can still see his smiling face. You monster! "Hmp!" I can't shout because of the cover on my mouth. "It's okay, we'll not hurt you…" Another man appears behind him. Don't come near me! I heard Orlando's laughter, he's still moving towards my direction. I am on the corner of this box, but I couldn't move my body that much because it's so cramped inside. Don't you dare come near me Orlando! Orlando sat in front of me. Don't… He reaches for me, I close my eyes in fear. Please, God, help me! Please…