24

ALINA’S VIEW

"Do you really think this is necessary?" Grinning, I looked over my shoulder to see Bienchen aka Benjamin close behind me. "Absolutely," he affirmed. "You have a huge target on your back." He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm just making sure that nobody gets too close to her." I shook my head at this boy's stubbornness.

After staying with Damian and his other wolves for a long time - and thoroughly enjoying my time with them - I finally decided that I had to visit Mr. Tally again. The old man continued to be very reclusive and I felt an urgent need to keep him company. Damian had taken note of my plan with relative resilience.

He only asked once if I wouldn't want to take someone with me to protect me. He responded to my raised eyebrow with a "message arrived". After that he didn't ask anymore, which surprised me a lot, but I thought it was pretty good, so I didn't pursue it further. A short time later, after I had started, I felt the familiar tingling in my neck again and after a bit of waiting Benjamin appeared.

Immediately I was no longer surprised why Damian had given in so quickly. Although the boy insisted that he had set off completely on his own, I didn't believe it. "How is your sister?" I asked him to at least start some conversation. Immediately his mouth twisted.

"Well so-and-so. Celine has been upset about Damian replacing her with you for quite some time. But she hasn't said anything about it lately. She even seems to be quite happy." Thoughtfully, he looked briefly into the distance.

"I think she's meeting someone." That was good. I was happy that Celine had found someone for herself. Although I thought so too "That this person had to be very patient. Celine had - at least in my current experience with her - a somewhat special character, not to say exhausting.

"And what about you?", I asked him while lying under a branch leaned over and kept walking straight ahead, "I'm enjoying my life. I train and I go to school, that's it." With a twinkle in his eyes, he ran a little faster, to walk beside me "Recently Damian praised me because I'm a very good fighter for my age." A proud smile crept into the corners of his mouth. We spent the rest of the way in silence.

Benjamin occasionally glanced back or turned frantically when he heard an unexpected noise. Otherwise he walked beside me with a relaxed smile on his face and seemed perfectly content to be able to walk with me. Thinking back to my conversation with Amelia, I automatically had to suppress a giggle at the look on her stunned expression as I recounted in some detail what had happened the day before.

I had also asked her about Niklas, but Amelia had made it clear to me that that she didn't want to talk about him. Not wanting to rush them, I dropped the subject and responded to their questions about my tag. At the house in front of Mr. Tally we stopped and I turned to Bee. He looked at me expectantly. "Yes?" "You can't come in with me." "What?" he asked indignantly. "But why not? I have to take care of you- er... I mean, I'm your companion." I raised an eyebrow at his slip of the tongue and replied, "I can never have a casual and casual conversation with the principal while you're around. You can just wait here in the woods for a moment. It won't take long either. Of course you could go home and wait for me there." "No way. That's out of the question." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'll wait for you here." I nodded and then walked towards the front door when Benjamin called after me again: "But if you stay away too long, I'll come look for you." I rolled my eyes, but answered with a short yes. The next moment I heard soft footsteps and took a deep breath before I rang the doorbell. Much heavier footsteps ran hastily to the front door, but then stopped abruptly.

"Who is it?" Mr. Tally asked through the door. "It's Alina. I wanted to know how you are." There was a click and then I saw Mr. Tally's face, who looked at me happily and waved in. "Hello Alina, nice to have you here." He closed the door behind me and ushered me into a small living area furnished with a brown leather couch which I sat down on. He himself sat down on an orange armchair.

"Excuse my precautions, but ever since there was a dead body in my hallway, I've been more wary of strangers." I looked over to where the man had been lying. Nothing was to be seen of his existence. "You know that you could also live in the village," I said. "You wouldn't have to have such concerns there." Mr. Tally just sighed and I had the feeling I knew exactly what he was going to say.

"Of course, but I just don't fit in there. Besides, I care a lot about this house and I won't just leave it behind." He nodded several times as if to convince himself that he was right. "But what about you? Can you handle being surrounded by werewolves?" I smiled. "No problems at all. Most of them are very kind and helpful. You've probably heard about the fact that more wolves and packs are coming to us. I think what's ahead will bind the werewolves together and make them forget their old quarrels It's a relief for everyone." Mr. Tally swallowed hard, as if I had reminded him of everything that had happened here lately, in this place that used to be comparatively quiet. "Right, those... red people. Yes, I haven't forgotten them. Maybe a little out of my mind because I didn't want to think about them anymore."

"Do you have", I searched for the right word, which sounded as gentle as possible, "Have you already made any preparations? After all, we have to be prepared for anything." He frowned. "The students will all be sent on early vacation starting next week. None of them have complained, only the teachers have asked. I've told them everything I know. I hope that won't cause you any difficulties."

"No no. It's better if everyone somehow prepare-" My sentence was interrupted by a high-pitched scream that made me look in horror towards the front door. The students will all be sent on early vacation starting next week. None of them complained about it, only the teachers asked. I've told them everything I know. I hope that doesn't cause you any trouble.

I wasn't concentrating on my surroundings or checking if Mr. Tally was behind me. The only thought swirling around in my head was what that scream meant and who it had come from. I kept running, occasionally glancing sideways to catch anything important, but I couldn't find where the scream started.

Finally I got to the forest. To the place where Bee wanted to wait for me. Fear shot through me. I hurried on, taking in the trail of blood on the floor. I tripped over a branch on the ground, got caught in a bush, but it didn't matter. None of that mattered when I saw a body lying on the forest floor. My eyes widened in panic.

I ran towards it. A silent scream escaped me and I slapped my hand over my mouth. Although it was completely unnecessary, I checked the boy's pulse. But what did I expect? Someone whose body looked so tense and whose mouth was open and eyes wide was no longer alive. Even if the person was Benjamin. The Benjamin who recently told me how proud he was when he received praise from his alpha.

Benjamin, whose sister had finally found someone for herself. All of that had suddenly faded. For Benjamin was dead. ||| As if intoxicated, people ran past me. I didn't notice it, but they were there. I was a little away from Benjamin, sat on the floor and kept staring at the spot where he had been lying until recently. Eventually Damian showed up with several of his people. I thought I called him, but I wasn't sure. Celine had come running out of the woods and thrown herself at her brother with a sharp scream.

She had tucked his head in her lap and was rocking him back and forth, screaming. Mikael eventually joined us and carefully removed Benjamin from his sister. He closed the boy's eyes and gave Celine a sympathetic look. She watched helplessly as her dead brother was taken away. He was carefully carried away by several pack warriors. It was the wolves who had trained him. had praised and challenged him. And now they paid him their last respects and carried him all the way home.

If Benjamin were here, he would burst with pride. Celine knelt on the floor and looked after the men. Another sob escaped her mouth. Finally, Connor knelt down next to her and took her in his arms. She didn't lean further into his embrace, but she didn't push him back either. Jack squatted beside the blood-soaked forest floor and reached out for a pile of leaves. He let his gaze wander over the entire area.

"There were definitely several attacking him." Damian nodded in agreement. His face was expressionless the entire time. The grief over the death of Benjamin played in him, but he only revealed the cool mask of the alpha who had to find out what had happened. Then he glanced at Celine and a sympathetic expression crossed his face. " He fought a lot. It took many to subdue him. Your brother didn't die dishonorably."

"That doesn't matter anymore. He's dead anyway." Celine bit out the words. Damian looked at me. I hadn't moved. He took a few steps towards me. "What happened?" I looked up. "I gave him told to wait outside. Then I heard a scream and I found him like that." "So he died because of you?" Celine asked me, her mouth set in a tight line. "If he hadn't stayed here, none of this would have happened."

"It was It's not Alina's fault," Jack filled in for me. "She had no way of knowing someone would be here. It wasn't her intention." The most important thing for you was that this director is doing well. That's the only reason my brother didn't come in. Because you put his well-being before that of the human."

"She couldn't know, Celine. Alina didn't even know that Benjamin would accompany her." "I don't care!" she screamed and broke free from Connor's arms. She came towards me, eyes sparkling with anger. "It's your fault that he's dead . You're in charge." "Celine, this isn't-" "Don't," I interrupted Damian quietly. His head snapped around to look at me.

“Where's Mr. Tally? I had to at least know if he was okay.

“He is at his house. I have two of my warriors on his doorstep for security.” I nodded to show that I understood. I slowly got up and looked at Celine. "I never wanted that to happen." Celine just snorted and bowed her head. I walked past Damian and into the forest.

Nobody stopped me, but I felt Damian's presence next to me. So I turned to him and looked into his eyes. He wouldn't expect me to talk. He just wanted me not to be alone. But Damian shouldn't care. He had to be there for his people now.

"Please leave me alone for a moment." "Alina, I don't think-" I looked up at him, tears in my eyes and he stopped. "I need this time to myself." He gave me a long look before nodding and walking back to Jack and the others. But I ran further into the forest. the worry getting lost was so irrelevant that I shook my head to get her out of my mind. I didn't perceive anything around me. Nothing but the fact that the light was fading and it was getting darker around me. Celine was right. At least somehow.

I had some complicity in Benjamin's death. I had never wanted that to happen, but Benjamin had been in the woods because of me. He had wanted to protect me and had also accepted my wish to go to Mr. Tally alone. But that wasn't the biggest thing that bothered me. The fact that I could never again make fun of Benjamin wanting to take care of me was much worse. Or that I would never be able to call him bee again. Not even in my mind anymore.

The pain would be too strong. Even now he weighed far too much. I didn't know him well, but I still fell in love with him immediately. Thinking back to the first time we met where he seriously pretended he liked me, I almost laughed. But only almost. I was so preoccupied that I didn't notice the animals making loud noises around me.

So in my thoughts that I didn't realize how people were gathering around me. I didn't realize all of this until I heard a voice say with amusement, "The bunny fell into our trap." The next moment a cloth was pressed over my nose and mouth and a sour smell hit my nostrils. Then everything went black.