Alpha's Hunt

20. The first lodge

“But you didn’t find him.” Luke says “Now what will you do?”

I pause for a moment, trying to think past the twang of emotions in my head. What will I do? Try to find him? If I do find him, will he accept me? With all the crazy things I’ve done and probably will keep doing in the future?

“I haven’t given it much thought, actually,” I say honestly “Maybe I’ll adopt a kid or two and leave all my money in their name.”

“For someone who acts like a lunatic almost all the time,” Luke says with such a straight face, its infuriating “You’re actually quite mature.”

“I’m not sure if you’re complementing me or insulting me.” I say

“I’m a multi-tasker.”

We keep walking, me keeping up conversation and Luke simply sticking to monosyllable answers. Noon bleeds into night and the urge to stop and sleep starts its toll on me.

“Luke,”

“No,”

“You didn’t even hear me out!”

“I know you’re going to say we should stop,” He says “But we can’t. We slept too much and now we have to compensate.”

“Well, if we sleep at midnight, we’ll wake up late again.” I say “Then this cycle will never end!”

“Then get used to your new sleep schedule.”

“You can not be serious.” I give him a look

“For once, Hazel.” Luke says “You’re right.”

I breathe a sigh of relief.

“We wont wake up late again, I’ll make sure of that.”

“You bloody bas—

“Language,” He cuts me off, a steely edge to his voice “There’s a spring a few meters from here. We’ll set camp near it. Now shut up and keep walking.”

At least I get one of the things I wanted to take the shorter path for; a good sleep. We keep on walking in silence. The moon rises up in the sky, illuminating the place with its silvery glow.

Everything looks so… pristine. Bigs trees with hanging vines, moss covered forest floor, the little wild flowers scattered everywhere.

“It’s so beautiful, isn’t it?” I say softly, looking up at the moon

But while I do that, I forget that I need my eyes on the ground. The consequences of my actions catch up to me fast and I trip forward. My eyes automatically close as I brace myself for the fall.

Something warm wraps around my arm and pulls me back and upright, my eyes snap open. The sudden tug causes me to stand on my toes against something hard and warm.

Luke looks back at me, his stormy blue eyes dark in the dim light.

“Don’t you know, Hazel?” he says “Pain finds beauty a reliable disguise.”

Pop! Pop! Pop!

I jump away from Luke, startled at the sudden sound and then at the things falling on us. Confetti?

“Congrats!” a man appears from behind a few trees

“What is this?” Luke asks, taking a step infront of me

Whoa, whoa, hold up. Who told him I’m a little girl he needs to protect?

With a huff, I step aside and stand beside him. The man in front of us smiles gently. Dressed in a neat suit, he appears to be in his forties.