George
"So this is the savior, huh?" a sassy female voice wakes me up from my sleep.
"Sshh. Shut up. She's from the mortals. She's tired. Don't wake her up," a man softly whispers.
I shift my weight and face their direction with my eyes still closed. Something crawls up to my chest. I nuzzle my nose on the furry creature. I feel a soft purr on my chest.
"Meow."
I smile when I hear Mr. Tuna's voice. My arms wrap around its soft body and bury its face on my chest.
"Hi, Tuna," I whisper in my sleepy morning voice.
"Okay, that's it, Princess!" I heard a loud clanging sound beaming in my room. "Wake up, Your Highness!" the sassy female voice commands. The loud clanging sound continues. I furrow my eyebrows and groan.
What? Who is this girl?
My eyes instantly open, realizing the stranger's voice inside my room. I immediately sit on the bed. My gaze roams around the rustic-designed room. On my left is an open window. An open field with youths holding weapons greets me. My view is elevated. That's why my gaze caught the picturesque view of the mountain range. I move my gaze and follow the patterns of rustic bricks on the walls of the small room until my eyes land on the teenagers standing at the entrance of the bedroom. I am taken aback, seeing the three strangers. I hold Mr. Tuna tight and cover myself with the brown cotton blanket.
"H-Hi. Good morning?" I awkwardly greet them.
"It's noon, Miss Alvarez," the sassy girl with long black silky straight hair says while rolling her eyes. She shakes her head, which makes her full bangs move. "You're absent in the morning class," she points the stainless pan in her hand at me. Her grip on the wooden spoon tightens.
"Sophia," the guy with light brown shaggy hair speaks. "Aren't you too harsh to her? She's part of our family." The freckles across his cheeks are evident in his light complexion.
"I don't care, Alexandreo. Rules are rules. The given slot for this human is wasted. Are you even sure that that trio didn't bring a fake one?" she scoffs.
Fake one?
"Excuse me?" I raise my eyebrow. "I didn't even want this responsibility." I angrily stomp my feet on the wooden floor as I stand up. "You think I want this? Huh? Sophia the first?" I walk towards her. She looks down at me due to her tall frame.
"Tiny," she smirks. "Fix yourself and be ready for the class after an hour. Show me what you got on the field, Tiny human."
Tiny!?
She turns her back and leaves the room. Alexandreo and the other quiet guy with army-cut hair follow. Alexandreo stops walking and faces me. He mouths 'Sorry' before he continues walking with the two. As soon as the three left, my eyes were greeted by the peaceful sight of woods and simple houses. That's when I realized that my room was not a bedroom but one of those tiny houses. I step outside and roam my gaze. My feet start to walk. I look up and see the tall forest trees.
"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.
* * *
:|