The Little Wolf and Her Demon King

Chapter 2: Safe

"What's your name?" Zoella asked, taking another step forward. "You look like you could use some help."

"My name is Lyla. I'm Johanna's wolf." Lyla said confidently. "She's weak and needs rest."

"You've reached the Kobia Kingdom. King Nikos is my brother." She explained. She nodded in a different direction and a wolf stepped out. Lyla tensed until she noticed a bag hanging from it's mouth. He dropped the bag between them and stepped back. "There's some clothes in here. Where are you coming from?"

"The Ketish Pack. We've been on the run for weeks." Lyla told her as she pulled the clothes out and got dressed. "There's a small group of wolves from Ketish that's been hunting us."

"I'd like to help you but you have to tell me why you're on the run." Zoella responded, reaching down to pull a bottle of water out of the bag.

"Our mate rejected us. He did something terrible and then told us to run." Lyla said, taking a sip from the water bottle. "We found out that he sent a group to hunt us. We've managed to stay out of their grasp. Barely. I had this feeling that was guiding me so I followed it. To here."

So many questions ran through my mind. But the most important one is, why did Lyla feel the need to come here? At that moment, I felt the darkness taking over. I was too weak. This non stop running has driven my body and mind into the ground. Lyla being in control was the only thing keeping us standing upright.

"Then let's take you back then. I'll have one of our healers take a look at you." Zoella said, nodding again. More wolves stepped out of the woods around us. One of them stepped brushed up against Zoella and stopped to stand next to her.

"This is my mate, Luka. He'll escort us back to the castle." She said, running a hand down his back in a loving gesture. "When was the last time you came in contact with the group that's hunting you?"

"Just this morning. We ran by some falls and that's where they almost caught us." Lyla replied as they started walking.

"Have a few of the guys do a sweep." She said, turning her attention towards Luka. "Make sure that those mongrels didn't cross the border."

His eyes went hazy and a couple of the wolves took off in the opposite direction. We continued our walk back to the castle. Zoella asked a lot of questions about my life and Lyla answered every one of them, except the personal abuse. That was too sensitive to talk about right now. She told her about Jeremiah and Jeriah. Zoella thought it was cute that we had names that all started with the letter J. Lyla talked about pack life and how there were others there that had been mistreated. My heart hurt when she talked about Skylar. I missed my best friend and I was worried about her.

We didn't slow down until we came across a massive wall with a gate equal to it's size. Zoella said nothing as she looked up at the guardsmen. They nodded and opened the gate. What I saw inside was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. There were shops and tiny homes everywhere. People bustled around, laughing and talking with others. They smiled kindly as we walked by. Ketish was dreary and damp, but this place was so full of life and color.

"Welcome to Kobia." Zoella said as we walked. She greeted several people along the way. I could see the castle standing above it all. "When you're better, I can bring you down here. You're more than welcome to live here. I'm sure we can find something for you here."

"We'd really like that." Lyla replied. "Once we're better, Johanna can gain complete control again."

She smiled again and we continued towards the castle. I could feel my body wavering with every step. Lyla tried to focus as Zoella greeted more people. But after a few minutes, we couldn't do it any longer. The world started spinning and somewhere off in the distance, I could hear Zoella yelling my name. Then everything went black.