Chapter 53: Chapter 53

Belinda’s eyes slowly opened as she felt the hot sun rays hit her face. She moaned as her consciousness caused a throbbing pain around her neck.

“She’s awake! She’s awake!” The loud voice pierced her ears like they were going to destroy her eardrums.

“Argh.” She groaned, covering her ears tightly with her hands. She slowly opened her eyes, and with her blurry vision, she tried to recognize where she laid.

The last thing she remembered was somebody trying to strangle her to death on a rock, in the woods.

“Where am I?” The question came in her head as she reached for her neck, slowly running her fingers through it. But then she found out that something was tied round her neck too.

She creased her eyebrows, touching the bandage around her neck and finally looked up to see two women staring at her. One of them looked very young, while the other woman was pretty old.

“How are you, dear?” The elderly woman asked, and Belinda furrowed her brows. They didn’t seem familiar to her.

“Where am I?” She asked, pinning her hands to the bed as she tried to sit up. The younger woman hastily moved closer to her so as to help her sit up.

“How are you feeling now?” The elderly woman asked as soon as Belinda sat up properly.

“I… I can still feel pains around my neck.” Belinda muttered, looking around the room. She still didn’t recognize the place either.

“Yes. It will feel sore for some days, but it will get better.” She retorted, pulling a wooden chair closer to the bed and she sat on it.

“Are you from the palace?” Belinda asked, hoping to hear that they were sent to rescue her by Damon or Megan.

“Palace? No, we are not. We are travelers. Did you live in a palace before you got into the woods?” The elderly woman further asked, and Belinda nodded sadly.

“Yes, but I was chased out because…” She explained but stopped when she recalled that she knew nothing about these people yet, and the same fate could still happen if they knew the kind of wolf she was.

The elderly woman smiled and gave a slight nod as she spoke up. “My name is Agatha. And she is Clara.” Agatha uttered, pointing to the younger woman who identified as Clara.

“What’s your name?” She further inquired.

“My name is Belinda. Belinda Bartling.” Belinda answered, and Agatha nodded with a smile.

“I love your name, Belinda.” Clara spoke up, and Belinda turned to look at her, a faint smile forming around the corner of her lips.

“Thank you, Clara. You have a nice name too.” Belinda answered.

“We know you, Belinda. More than you think we do. And I want to tell you that you don’t have to be afraid. You can trust us, and we promise to take care of you.” Agatha uttered.

Belinda looked at Agatha again with so many questions on her mind.

‘How do they know me? Why do they want to take care of me? Why did they help me in the first place? Can they truly be trusted?’

“How do you know me?” Belinda asked the most pressing question in her mind. Agatha let out a smile and nodded.

“We are just like you, Belinda.” She answered, causing more confusion to Belinda.

“You’re just like me? What do you mean?” She further inquired, hoping to get a clear understanding of what was actually going on.

“We are Red-furred wolves too, Belinda. All of us right here have that blood running through our veins.” Agatha explained.

Belinda shook her head slowly, trying to comprehend what she had just heard. “I thought red-furred wolves were extinct, and I was the only one left.” She uttered, and they shook their heads.

“That is not true, Belinda. Of course, so many people believe we are extinct and that is because we made it so. We found out that keeping our identity secret has kept us safer than we can ever be. This is why we are travelers. We move from one kingdom to another, country to another and region to another just to make sure we aren’t figured out.” Agatha further enlightened her, but Belinda found it hard to believe.

She kept mute staring at both Agatha and Clara, and Agatha could sense doubt in her eyes as she stared at them.

Agatha raised her hand in the air and slowly, her hand changed to the paw of a werewolf. A red-furred werewolf.

Belinda’s eyes popped wide open and her jaw dropped in amusement. Clara lifted her hand and did the same thing. Not only did the truth surprise Belinda, but also the ability for them to change a part of their body so easily.

“How did you do it?” She asked in awe, and Agatha chuckled.

“It comes naturally, but you wouldn’t know if you aren’t told or haven’t seen it. You can do it too.” Agatha answered, and Belinda nodded slowly. She still had more questions.

“How did you find me? How did you know I was part of you? And you mentioned ‘all of us’ when you were explaining. How many of us are there?” She bombarded them with questions, but they didn’t seem bothered and they were very eager to answer all of her questions.

“We found you in the woods, we heard your groaning from afar and we rushed to help you. We found you under the arms of a cruel man, and we took you from him and captured him.” Agatha started to answer her questions one after the other, but her answers raised more questions.

“You captured Alpha Cephas?!” Belinda cut in in awe, and they both nodded.

“We don’t know his name, but if he’s the one who attacked you, then yes, we did, and he’s presently locked up in a cage.” Agatha answered, and Belinda nodded slowly and kept mute so that they could finish answering her questions.

Agatha looked at Clara, giving her a slight nod, and Clara responded with a smile.

“We knew you were one of us by the sound of your voice. Well, it’s pretty easy to identify ourselves, given that we are special beings. We could also recognize you from your smell when we got closer to you. We’re so glad we found you and we could help.” Clara also explained, and Belinda nodded, letting all of their explanations sink in.

“And for the third question…” Agatha uttered, standing up from the chair. “Would you love to see yourself??” She asked, stretching her hand to Belinda.

Belinda nodded and gave Agatha her hand as she helped her out of bed. They walked side by side to the door of the room and soon, they bursted into a short hallway, which had a door at the front.

Getting to the door in front, Clara opened the door and walked out. Behind her, Agatha and Belinda also walked out.

Upon seeing the outside of the house, Belinda’s jaw dropped once again. There were a few people walking and working around the house.

Some women were cooking, and some men were fetching firewood. The smoke from the fire rose up to the skies like the fire from a furnace.

It looked like a different world entirely.

“We were nine in number before we found you in the woods. Now, we are ten and we are complete.” Agatha uttered with a large smile.

“We are complete?” Belinda asked, and Clara nodded.

“You are the last of us we need to find. There are ten Red-furred wolves left and our mission was to find every one of us and reunite. This is why we are travelers and this is how we found you. We are your family.” Clara added with a smile.

“We have been here for three months now, and now we have found you, we have to find a permanent place to live. A place far from these evil people.” Agatha uttered, and Belinda clenched her jaw and looked at her.

“I… I can’t leave.” She uttered, and they both looked at her.

“Why?” They chorused.

“My mate is here, and…” She gulped hard and lowered her head. “I am carrying his baby. I can’t just leave. He’ll look for me and I need him to find me.” She explained, and they both raised their eyebrows, their gazes falling to Belinda’s belly.

“Who is he and where is he?” Agatha asked, and Belinda smiled faintly.

“His name is Prince Damon, and he is in the palace. When I was sent out, he wasn’t there, but I believe he’s looking for me as we speak. I just need to wait for him.” She answered with a grin.

“Are you sure he’ll come for you, Belinda?” Clara asked with a sad expression, and she nodded firmly.

“Yes. Yes, he will.” I responded confidently, hoping and praying silently that I was right.