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“You can’t keep walking on it like that,” I hear Willow’s voice from somewhere behind me. “It’ll get infected.”
I attempt to brush it off, masking the pain with a tight-lipped smile. “It’s nothing. Just a scratch.”
Her gaze, however, pierces through my attempt to hide it. “Let me help you,” she insists, her voice firm yet gentle.
I agree, taking a seat on a nearby stump, as Willow kneels down. She has managed to grab a loose, oversized t-shirt, so she isn’t naked, but I am. Still, that doesn’t affect her in any way. In fact, none of us are affected by each other’s nakedness. Weknow that is a natural result of shifting, and we’ve accepted it as something normal. Our clothes are mostly worn for practical purposes. In other words, we wear clothes to protect our skin from the sun and the heat, and to warm ourselves when it’s cold. We don’t wear clothes to hide our bodies.
That is why I don’t try to hide my manhood, as she assesses the injury to my right leg. I look around, as the village starts to hum with the muted sounds of recovery. There is no one else lying on the ground, and that makes me happy. Hopefully, we have no losses. But… where are Cal and Elena? I still can’t find them in this mess.
Worry starts to gnaw on me, so I turn to Willow. “Are you done?”
She lifts her gaze at me, frowning. “You got anywhere else to be?”
She is one of the rare ones who isn’t afraid to speak her mind, even when others might find it offensive. That is also what makes her opinion valid and true.
She doesn’t wait for me to reply. Instead, she skillfully continues to examine my wound, her touch both gentle and purposeful. She reaches for a small bag by her side and gets out a bottle and some bandages.
“This might sting a little,” she says. “Actually… a lot.”
I nod, gritting my teeth. At least, I’m prepared. She pours the see-through liquid from the bottle, and I feel like razor sharp teeth cling to my leg, refusing to let go. I hiss heavily, waiting for this new onslaught of pain to subside. When it finally does, I inhale then exhale deeply, letting go of the pain.
“It’s finished,” she tells me, as she bandages the injury, pulling away to take a closer look at her handiwork.
“You’re lucky it’s not more serious,” she remarks. “But you should try to rest.”
“Rest?” I frown. “This is no time for rest.”
She presses her lips together, turning them into one slit. “Yeah, I know. But the doctor in me can’t help but advise patients on what they should do, even when the situation requires exactly the opposite.”
I smile. “Thank you.”
She smiles back at me. “It is me who should be thanking that human girl of yours.”
“Elena?” I gasp. “Where is she? Have you seen her?”
“I have seen her,” she nods. “And… even more than that. She saved me.”
My mind explodes upon hearing this. Not in a million years was I expecting to hear a human saved a bear shifter from another bear shifter. It works the other way around, but not like that. And yet, Willow would never exaggerate or tell lies for no reason.
“What are you talking about?”
“Elena saved me, Rock,” she reveals simply, as if it’s nothing important, but I know that’s just who she is, not making a big deal even when it is. “She attacked that bear shifter head on, shoving that board with nails into its back. She bought me the time I needed to shift. If it weren’t for her, things could have ended badly for me.”
Listening to Willow’s words, a swell of pride and concern intertwine inside of me. Despite the fear she must have been feeling at that moment, she had helped Willow, risking her own life in the process. I was hoping that something monumental would happen, something that would prove to everyone in the village that she deserved a place among us, but I could never have imagined that she would dare to show so much strength in the face of adversity.
Elena… my Elena…
“But… where is she?” I ask, looking around. “I haven’t seen her or Cal.”
Willow starts looking about. “Me neither. Come, I’ll help you search for them.”
We start asking around if anyone has seen them, searching through the village, seeking any trace of them.
“Cal!” I shout after a while, my voice cutting through the hushed ambiance. The flickering lanterns cast long shadows as we move through the quiet paths, the village gradually returning to a semblance of normalcy. Yet, the unease lingers as we comb through familiar spaces that have just been attacked.
Willow’s eyes mirror my own worry as we exchange glances. “They must be out here somewhere,” she tries to reassure me. “We’ll find them, Rock.”
Our footsteps echo through the village clearing as we continue our quest. Each moment without Cal and Elena is making me feel more anxious, heightening the tension. The silence is occasionally broken by the distant rustle of leaves or the soft murmurs of villagers tending to each other in the aftermath of our defense.
