Who? | The Dhampir (Book Two)

IV

"Saufe! Miss George!"

"Saufe! Hope you like it here!"

"Saufe!"

The wolves who notice me greet me with warm smiles.

"Hi," I smile at them.

They wear casual human clothes. I'm surprised because I thought I would see them wearing fancy native clothes or something. I continue to admire the calming view while hearing lots of warm greetings.

"Wow," I speak breathlessly.

My gaze follows the man-made paths created by the citizens. Some houses are fixated beside the cliff. Houses beside the cliff are interconnected by a sturdy wooden bridge, like an LA overpass. I take some steps and walk to the wooden path. My hand touches the wooden staircase. I follow the wooden paths connected from the house beside the cliff to the tall forest woods.

"This is awesome," I whisper.

"It is," I hear a familiar masculine voice.

"Clark! How did you know I'm here?" I ask with a bright smile.

"I followed you, Miss. You're too busy looking around that you didn't feel my presence," he suddenly holds my waist and pulls me beside him. I am stunned by his small action.

"Wh-What–"

"Oh my gosh!" A group of teenagers walk past us and look at me with gleaming eyes. They look younger than me. They wear a fur cape that covers their metal shoulder pads. A brown leather armor vest protects their upper body. A metal tasset is dangling around their waist. They wear metal kneepads and elbow pads paired with leather combat boots. The kneepads are covering their black pants.  Around their waist is a sword belt with a sword case. Some of them hold a bow. Some of them hold other types of weapons. The females wear beautiful French braids while males with long hair have to wear a topknot.

Werewolf armies?

"Saufe!" They wave their hands and smile at me. They even squirm.

"It's her, right!?"

"Oh my gosh! I can't believe I could see her that close!"

"Me too!"

They walk away, buzzing like a group of bees.

Clarkson's hand remains on my waist. He pulls me closer for a hug. "You should get ready for your class today." He whispers and ruffles my hair.

"I'm not yet ready. You know that," I whisper through his broad chest.

"Liev! Saufe! Welcome back!" a group of males greets him.

"Saufe!" he greets them with a high-five.

He let go of me and continued walking. Everyone is warm to me as if they knew me before. It's like I finally found my family.

"Clarkson?" I speak while looking around. I look down below the bridge we're walking and see werewolves smiling at each other. Some even hug each other.

"Hmm?"

"What's Saufe?" I ask in curiosity. He holds my wrist when we reach the end of the bridge where a staircase is waiting.

"It's a Werewolf greeting. It's like Hello or Hi to humans," he says as we walk downstairs. "It doesn't directly mean 'Hi' or 'Hello' But more like 'It's safe here', 'You're safe here', or 'Be safe'."

"Oh," I nod. "That's a nice greeting, to be honest."

I am safe here.

As we reach the very last step, an open grass field greets my sight. This is the view from my window. The werewolves I saw a while ago are there too.  They are all gathering and forming a line. They wear matching outfits. Both of us are standing at the elevated part of the grassland.

"Your village is amazing!" I exclaim and smile at him.

He smiles back and says, "Glad you like it here."

"Welcome to our training camp," Clarkson whispers.

"Training camp? So those armors are your uniforms? I thought they were your soldiers."

"We are our soldiers, Georgina. A werewolf should know how to protect itself. You'll wear one of those too," he says.

"Right," I say while nodding.

"Let's go?"

"Stand straight!" our male instructor yells.

I am standing at the end of the first row. We created a huge military platoon-like formation.

"Chest out," Clarkson whispers from behind.

I follow him. I'm wearing the werewolf armor. It's actually hard to move. I don't know why they even choose to wear this.

"A wolf should be strong. Even if they're standing," he walks like a military commander.

He taps the students with his wooden stick. The stick hit the back of their knees, which made the legs bend lightly. I stand on my leg with full strength. Chin up. Chest out. Surprisingly, the instructor just walked past me. I heave a sigh and fix my right elbow pad.

Unfortunately, the stick hits the back of my leg and catches me off guard. My left leg bends lightly with the surprise attack.

"A werewolf should always be alert!" he yells. "Right, Liev?"

"Yes, Sir," Clarkson answers.

"Damn it," I whisper.

"Remember that a werewolf has heightened senses compared to a human! Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir!" they all shout.

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