Heirs, 9

(POV: Renata)

Three days! Three long and hard days of walking, and I finally reached my destination: the territory of those cursed wolves who destroyed my mother's family. Her revenge is near; they will regret everything they made her endure.

Right now, I'm deep within the forest, at the boundaries of the pack. I sit on a tree stump to rest for a moment and muster the courage for the cuts I have to make on my body to simulate an attack.

I place my backpack on the ground, open it, and pull out a sharp dagger with a wooden handle-a beautiful specimen, I must say. It's a pity I have to discard it afterward. I begin cutting my legs and arms into three thin strips to make them look like claws. The most painful part is on my face, where I make three superficial cuts on my cheek. I lie on the ground and start rolling in the dirt, tearing my clothes in various places.

After I sense presentable for the occasion, I hide my backpack under the roots of a tree, marking the spot with the knife. I notice a waterfall further ahead, which will serve as a reference point.

I run a few more meters and start shouting.

"Help, someone please help me!" I do my best to sound desperate.

I start running to get tired and stumble over a rock covered in mud, falling face-first onto the ground. I sense a strong impact on my forehead, and soon the burning sensation comes as I sense blood trickling down. I try to get up but slip and fall again, letting out a cry of pain as I land awkward on my left arm. What a mess. I'm real clumsy; if I had known I would fall in such an embarrassing way and hurt myself, I wouldn't have wasted time cutting my body.

"Did you hear that?" I hear someone's voice, and it must be close. My moment has come.

"Help, please, someone help me!" I shout as loud as I can.

"Yes, I heard it now!" another voice says. "It sounds like a girl's voice," the voice confirms. "Did you catch the direction it came from?"

"No," the other voice responds in frustration. "Ma'am, please shout again so we can find you," he shouts.

"I'm here," I shout back. "I'm hurt."

Then I begin to hear fast footsteps coming in my direction, and moments later, two men appear in front of me. Quite handsome, I'd say, not as much as the handsome wizard, but they're cute too. Considering I've never seen a man before, I'm doing quite well since leaving home.

"Damn!" one of them says, and both come toward me.

"Ma'am, are you okay?" the second one asks. I notice how similar they look, but this one is a bit slimmer and has blue eyes.

"Yes, I'm so okay that I screamed for help!" I groan in pain; the cut on my forehead is throbbing.

"It's Lucca, what a question! Only look at her condition!" the muscular one with green eyes, very like mine, says. Lucca gives him a deadly look.

"Are you going to argue, or are you going to help me?" I ask impatient.

"Help you!" they say in unison, and the one whose name I don't know picks me up.

"You're quite agitated, girl," Lucca remarks, but I decide to ignore it.

"Where are you taking me?" I ask after a while.

"For now, to our home," I try to get down from his arms, but he stops me. "Calm down, we won't hurt you. Our mother will help you," he reassures me.

I nod my head and hear the other one whisper very quiet.

"Before or after she kills us?"

"We didn't do anything, little brother, relax," the other one says calm.

"Your forehead is also injured, Lucca, right?" I ask.

"I fell," he says so quick it sounds rehearsed.

"We're both clumsy then," we laugh. "Where is your house?"

"We live in the New Moon pack," the green-eyed one answers.

"You guys are wolves?" I inquire, and they both make disgusted faces.

"We haven't shifted yet," he says sad. "Your face is scratched. Were you attacked by a wolf?"

"Yes, it was horrible," I feign a trembling voice. I'm quite the actress.

"Don't be afraid of us; you'll be safe in our house," Lucca says. "But it's strange to have an attack so close to our pack," he points out. "Dad will be angry. What did this wolf look like?"

"It was horrible," I repeat tearful, what an observant boy. "I'm weak; I don't want to remember."

"Relax, miss, we're almost there," the muscular one reassures me and shoots a reprimanding look at his brother.

"Sorry, miss, I was only trying to understand, Rapha," he shrugs, and now I know the muscular one's name is Rapha.