Escaping Duty

Chapter 24

"First please tell me Phoebe is okay. She hit her head pretty hard and I'm worried about her," Valentina said expression worried and determined.

But her determination was nothing compared to Lara's.

"Your friend was there too?" she asked, and Valentina nodded. "I demand to know what happened out there"

"Not until you tell me how she's doing" Valentina repeated.

Annoyed Lara blew out a breath waving her hand, "I'll make sure your friend is okay now explain to me"

She listened attentively as her daughter recounted her day and would gesture when she didn't need unnecessary information. Watching Valentina she saw the way her daughter winced when moving her ankle and the way she pursed her lips while thinking over what to say next. She also noticed the way her daughter took more pauses and avoided her mother's glare.

"What happened when you couldn't find him in the woods?" she asked.

Yes, she wasn't happy her daughter lost sight of her brother in the woods. No less when she should've known about wolves but that wasn't her focus at the moment. Valentina opened and closed her mouth thinking and Lara sighed moving to sit on the bedside her daughter.

"Hija I'm not mad at you, you just don't understand how worried your father and I were to find out you both were at the hospital. Please tell me how this happened" she said softening her gaze and putting a hand on Valentina's. She noted how her daughter shook the slightest.

"I didn't want to assume they were all bad and I still don't but..." Valentina started. When she met her mother's gaze her eyes were watery, and her lip shook the slightest. "I was so scared Mamí, I couldn't find Mateo and Phoebe was injured and gone. I should've thought things through more, I should've known what they were capable of after what you've shown me" Valentina said voice cracking.

Anger burst in Lara's chest figuring out she was talking about the wolves. Moving a little closer she leaned Valentina's head on her chest and stroked her hair while her daughter tried regaining her composure. Valentina was naïve and didn't want to kill but she almost got killed tonight and it was something the wolves would pay for. No more careful planning they were going to deal with the wolves once and for all. But there was something nagging Lara's mind.

"How did you manage to get your brother and friend out the woods with that ankle?" she asked and noticed how Valentina grew quieter.

"I – I can barely remember. I just woke up and we were in the backyard again" she said.

Lara lifted Valentina's face and looked into her daughter's dark eyes seriously.

"Don't lie to me hija, if you're protecting them for some reason remember how they would've killed you tonight" she warned.

"I'm not lying," Valentina said firmly.

Persing her lips Lara didn't want to keep prying. For now, her daughter needed rest and she had things to handle. Rising from the bed without another word Lara moved towards the door, and only stopped when Valentina called out to her.

"What will you do now?" she asked tentatively.

"For now, you three will stay here until you're better and I'll make sure someone checks on how you all are doing. Your father and I; we'll handle the wolves once and for all now"

"All of them?"

Lara turned to look at Valentina and her daughter flinched when she saw the anger written all over her face. She meant death for those animals and that's what they were going to get.

"Everyone that has entered Maine. This was the last straw" she snapped slamming the door behind herself.

Valentina leaned back in the hospital bed gripping her fists. She couldn't stop shaking after the woods despite the burning pain in her leg. Whenever she closed her eyes she saw the wolves as they were about to kill her and then she saw Mason as he saved her.

Werewolves both bad and good and now her mother declared that she'd kill them all. Wolves like the ones in the woods deserved to be handled. After watching her friend get dragged away and her brother going through who knows what...Valentina had her own decisions now. Being more than worried about them fueled her thoughts.

She didn't want to be powerless in the face of wolves again and wanted more training than she did now. She wanted to be able to protect the people important to her so they wouldn't end up dead.

Even with that resolve, she didn't know what to think about Mason. He wasn't just some guy to her that's for sure but he was also one of the wolves. Has he killed anyone himself? Why did he save her...again? She didn't think he deserved to die that's why she lied to her mom, but she didn't know what to think about him. Frustrated Valentina didn't know what she should do next, but she was sure it had to be before her mom and dad did. Which was a lot sooner than she'd think.

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