Nature in Hiding

56- A Budding Relationship

"Here I come bearing news!" Sameera announced in a sing-song voice as she landed back in the clearing. Her face lit up looking at the now awake Gyaan. However it soon turned into a frown when she noticed the tension between Ahana and him.

Ahana literally ran towards Sameera, relief coursing through her veins upon finding another person to turn her focus on. It was okay at first. But once Avan had gone to sleep, it had been painstakingly awkward for her to be around Gyaan.

Sameera raised her eyebrows at Ahana's actions. The girl who had been continuously fretting over his health when he was conscious, was now not even sparing a glance to him.

Sameera glanced at Gyaan, silently asking him with her eyes if everything was okay between them. Gyaan shook his head with a small bittersweet smile. He understood her hesitancy, but it would have been nice if they could talk upfront about what they were feeling.

"What about Neer?" Gyaan asked, diverting the topic to a more important one.

"Is he okay?" Ahana piped up, her eyes wide with worry. She internally hit herself. She should have asked that as soon as Sameera landed. But no, she was busy feeling awkward about Gyaan. There was also a small part of her that felt proud of Gyaan for remembering and questioning about Neer first.

"He is fine. A little bruised, but fine," Sameera answered.

"They hit him," Ahana whispered in pain.

Sameera nodded slowly, feeling bad as well. "Yeah, but the mood seemed light when I went there. It looked like they came to an understanding."

"I really hope that's the case," Gyaan sighed, before speculating, "He must be kept under observation, so that he cannot run away."

"Is he chained?" Ahana asked, remembering the days when they were kidnapped.

"Surprisingly no," Sameera replied, "Yara and Hritika are looking over him, but he is free to move."

Ahana breathed in relief. If they had him free even after all this fiasco then there was still hope.

"What about the two Alphas of the pack? Are they preparing for the war? Have they sent people to search for us?" Gyaan fired the questions that could help them strategize now that he knew Neer was safe.

"Nope."

"What do you mean by no?" Gyaan asked, bewildered by her answer, while trying to sit properly. Many parts of his body were still hurting, as it pained him to sit in one position for long.

"Are you okay?" Sameera asked with concern.

"Don't worry I am fine."

His own healing powers were slow, but the paste of the crushed herbs was working well. They were creating a soothing effect on his painful burns. He was looking rather comical with the green paste all over him, but they had really helped him. Moreover the fact that none of the elements had laughed looking at his comical sight made him relaxed, which helped rejuvenate his own healing powers.

"Give me some time. I will heal completely soon," Gyaan replied more to Ahana than Sameera, who had frozen with guilt. Even if Ahana didn't voice out, Gyaan could see her concern and guilt in her eyes.

"What about the war?" He asked again, bringing their attention back to the topic.

"They are sure that we are going to come back for Neer, so they aren't wasting their time in searching for us," Sameera informed the duo, who groaned at their on-point  assumption.

"The werewolf Alpha and Luna are busy restructuring the burned pack house. While the human Alpha is running his contacts in the human world to find out the information about us. And as I said before, the Beta and Gamma are keeping an eye on Neer."

"It would be easy to strike now. We just need to attack two people. Yara and Hritika. Everyone else is busy with other matters and won't expect us to retaliate so soon. We can catch them off-guard," Gyaan suggested.

"We can't harm them," Ahana said, surprising Gyaan and Sameera. It was always the other way round.

Ahana rolled her eyes looking at their expressions. "They helped us. They provided us with shelter and food. They were there for us when no one else was. And even when they misunderstood us after seeing the video, they didn't retort to break our trust even when they had the chance.

"They aren't bad people. They are just wary of what we could do. And anyone would think like that after seeing that dreaded video."

Gyaan sat there with his mouth hung-open, while Sameera moved to check Ahana's forehead to see if she had a fever.

"Who are you? And what have you done to our Ahana?" Sameera asked, once Ahana had shrugged her hand off from her forehead.

"She just spoke like Neer, didn't she?" Gyaan asked, raising his eyes at Sameera.

"She sure did," Sameera nodded.

"Don't overreact. The one who stabilizes my recklessness isn't here, so I have to do a double role," Ahana muttered with a pout, making the other two chuckle.

Finding her reactions cute, Gyaan ruffled her hair instinctively. Ahana's body turned rigid and even Gyaan's hand froze once he realized what he did.

Gyaan removed his hand at a bullet speed once he heard Sameera clearing her throat. He coughed to remove the awkwardness, while Ahana looked anywhere other than him.

Sameera smiled looking at their cute antics. Their budding relationship was the only good thing in their fallen world.