Page 147 of Enchanted Kingdom
He took the other, then looked back at me as if saying,Come along.
So I did. I was still running, but at this point my legs burned and everything hurt. I had scratches from when I fell, dirt on my dress and face and everywhere else. But I only needed to hide.
We came to an area with a lot of crawling plants weaving up over a looming rock. There was barely any light this deep into the forest, and it was getting cold enough that I wondered if we had also climbed upward on our run.
Rafe put out his nose toward the hanging plant, which looked like some sort of leafy ivy.
“What do you wish for me to do, Rafe?” I whispered.
I had lost my mind. I was now asking the wolf for advice. But he had seemed to help me out of a bind back there. So it was what it was.
The wolf stuck his nose through the ivy, and I saw that the rock wasn’t just a rock. A small dark opening was hidden by the ivy.
The wolf disappeared through the clearing.
Was I supposed to follow?
I took a tender step forward, crouching down, though I would have been tall enough to just walk in.
At the entrance to what was definitely a cave, I stilled.
There was not just one wolf left in the forest. There was a whole pack. And I had just waltzed into their den.
I didn’t know if I should step in any further, but I heard something far off behind us, and just to finish hiding myself, I took a giant step forward, into the cave and out of sight.
I took some heaving breaths and slid down the wall nearest to me to sit down.
Had I just replaced one danger for another? I had been feeding Rafe and possibly some of the others, but were they going to make me their next meal?
I heard running water and peeked around the corner to see a small waterfall trickling down from the top of the cave that extended upwards at least thirty feet. The water was clear. Not black. That was how the wolves had survived. How the ivy outside the cave was still alive. A clean water source.
Rafe approached me, his large paws padding across the stone floor of the cave.
I remembered what Krew said about him being the alpha and shrunk myself to be as small and unimposing as possible, which was silly, because I had definitely just imposed on their den.
Reaching me, he sat down a foot from me and watched the opening of the cave, as if he too were looking for the people after me.
“Thank you,” I whispered. “Thank you for helping me back there.”
His one ear twitching slightly was the only thing that let me know he’d heard me.
So there we sat. Waiting. Watching. Hoping that Owen was alive and would somehow figure out a way to find me.
* * *
The time drug on.Minutes turned into what had to be hours and still I sat. Rafe was laying at my feet. Every now and then he would hear something I wouldn’t and pick his head up, just to place it back down again.
It had to be night by now. And I was freezing. But I was also alive, I reminded myself as I rubbed my arms and clenched my teeth. I was cold, but I had gotten away.
What had those men planned to do with me, anyway? Who had sent them? The king? If that was the case, Owen was in a lot of trouble.
Finally, what had to be an hour more, Rafe stood. He seemed to look me in the eyes and then headed out the vines and into the night.
I took that as my sign and followed suit.
Three of the larger wolves followed behind me.
So there I stood, with not one wolf, but four. They were letting me out, but I had no idea which way to go. It did get cold at night, and I had no idea if I would even survive the night on my own should I get lost. More lost than I already was.
