Elena's POV
I was awakened some hours later by the voice of a crying baby. Once I woke up, the first thing that came to mind was my baby. Without hesitating, I carried her from the floor where she was lying and cuddled her in my arms, and immediately he stopped crying. I was still admiring how beautiful the baby was before realizing that he was wrapped in a baby wrapper and that he had also been cleaned up, including me. There was no single stain of blood in the place, and beside my luggage was a basket containing some baby foods and clothing, as well as some food that I could eat.
As I was inspecting everything before me, I pinched myself in order to know if I was dreaming, but fortunately I wasn't. The last person I remembered talking to before passing out was the moon goddess; possibly she was the one who provided all these things for me in order to show me that she exists.
After some minutes of hesitation, I drew the basket near me and brought out the food that was inside. I ate to my satisfaction; to be sincere, after all that I went through while giving birth, I was really starving to death. After eating, I looked at my baby, who was sleeping peacefully in my bosom, and immediately a warm smile brightened my face. I knew that I couldn't raise my baby in a forest; after all, I wasn't planning for him to be a jungle boy. I would have to find another pack where I could start a new life, even though it meant living as a refugee.
As these thoughts were running through my mind, I immediately remembered the main reason why I had left Alpha Ciara's pack. I knew that I had to leave the cave now that it's still a little dark; if not, I might end up being caught by the people who are looking for me, and the reason why they are looking for me still remains unknown to me. One thing that is sure is that those people weren't sent by Alpha Darian, because Alpha Darian isn't fond of assigning this kind of missions to his guards. If he really wanted me back, he would have actually come looking for me by himself.
With this thought running through my mind, I came out of the cave and realized that everywhere was still dark, exactly what I needed.
Without hesitating, I returned to the cave and tied my baby to my back before arranging my whole belongings that were in the cave into my luggage, including those of the baby that I had miraculously acquired. Afterwards, I arranged everything on top of the horse before mounting it and exiting the cave.
I was riding the horse speedily through the thick forest because I didn't want to remain in the forest till daybreak, but suddenly I started sensing that someone was following, and with that, I concentrated on my wolf senses to see if I could catch a scent or hear a sound. Just as I expected, I could hear the footsteps of some werewolves running behind me, and I could also catch the scent of rogues. Without hesitating, I increased my riding speed, but it didn't seem as if I was doing anything because the more I increased the speed, the faster they too became.
After some minutes, they overtook five of them and stood some distance away from me, awaiting for the horse to come closer so that they could show why they are werewolves.
Once I saw them, I immediately stopped the horse because it could get closer to them.
Once I got down, I brought out my sword that I had kept behind the horse. Due to the pains I had gone through while giving birth, I knew that I couldn't shift in the meantime, but that doesn't mean I was going to give myself to them without a fight. If they want to take me, they have to fight against me first.
Darian's POV
Throughout the whole night, just as usual, I couldn't get a night's sleep. After struggling for many hours, I finally dozed off, but I was awakened some hours later after having a terrible nightmare, a nightmare in which I saw Elena being pursued by some rogues while backing a baby who was possibly my son. It didn't take long before they caught up with her. They were about to kill her when I jerked back to reality while panting heavily. Without hesitating, I went to where my soldiers were lying and woke them up, and happily, their wounds had already healed.
"We need to move; I don't think that waiting until daybreak is going to be a good idea," I said to them, and immediately they nodded in agreement before standing up.
Once they stood, they wore their clothes and took their weapons, and immediately we started heading towards the exit.
"I can see that you are really determined to find her at all costs." Ciara's voice sounded from behind as we were heading out.
"You are right, Ciara, and to be sincere, I'm running out of patience; I can't wait till daybreak," I said to her.
"No problem, Darian; my two sons will join you; it hasn't been long since she left; they can trace her scent," she said to me, and immediately I nodded positively.
"Thank you for your help, Ciara," I said to her before walking out, and immediately her two sons and my soldiers followed me from behind.
After leaving the pack, we wandered around the forest for almost two hours without finding any trace of her. I was about to tell the two sons of Ciara to return when one of my soldiers alerted us to come over and say that he had found something. I was still some distance away from the second when the scent of Elena filled my nostrils. Even though it has been a long time since I've seen her, I could still recognize her scent.
Without hesitating, I traced the scent, but it led me to the front of a cave. Once I arrived in front of the cave, I could feel my heartbeat raising faster because I was sure that she was inside the cave due to how strong the scent was.
Calling out to her, I ran inside the cave, but to my greatest disappointment, she wasn't inside; all I could find was a scarf she forgot in the cave while leaving.