[FLASHBACK: 15 YEARS AGO]
Zordan’s POV:
Not only she was pretty, but her low, intimidating voice sounded amazingly sweet in my ears. She looked genuinely scared and finding someone approaching her in the middle of the woods made her face even grow paler.
However, I found her question a bit disappointing. Almost everyone from the royal castle is aware about me of being the Crown Prince and future Alpha of Shadow Pack. But what’s wrong with this clueless girl? Is she an outsider? But if so, how could she enter inside the royal castle?
With my contemplated thoughts as I gazed at her with a frown, she seemed to grow more nervous as a heavy silence persisted between us. For a brief moment, I stood at a measurable distance from her, and slowly approached ahead.
“I should be asking you this question, young lady. Who are you and what are you doing here?” I asked in a cold, stiff voice.
But my general inquiry seemed to scare her even more as she started whimpering again, clenching the hem of her laced red frock. She was pouting her lips and in a broken shaky voice, she mumbled, “Do you want to bully me? I…I may look weak…and I can’t even transform into a wolf properly, but my teeth are sharp. I will bite you if you try to hit me…”
Huh?
My feet halted as I stayed baffled at her answer for a brief moment. Her assumption about me as a bully which piqued a strange curiosity in my mind about her. Isn’t she really clueless? Why is she saying to a stranger that she can’t shift properly into a wolf? And also, does she get bullied here?
But more than anything, as I gazed deeply into her tearful ocean eyes while thinking inside, my heart unknowingly pounded a bit fast.
“Hey, I didn’t come here with any malicious intention.” Putting an aloof face, I huffed a disappointed sigh as I clarified my response, “I was just taking a stroll in this woods and that’s how, I heard your whimpering noise which made me come here.”
But the little girl blinked her long lashes at me confusedly a few times and soon enough, she started sobbing hard again. This time, she wasn’t suppressing her voice and cried aloud, leaving me baffled.
“H-Hey? Why are you crying again? W-What did I do wrong?” I mumbled rushing a few quick steps near her. I was badly panicked inside even though my face was aloof. Since it was the first time, I was alone with a crying girl and I didn’t have any idea how to comfort her.
“Will you stop crying? At least tell me what happened—”
“Help me…Uwaahhh…”
Before I could ask her again, she interrupted my words with a faint plea for help while sobbing. She was rubbing her big almost shaped eyes with her tiny palms as she sniffled, “I lost my way here inside and I don’t know how to get back into the castle…My knee hurts and I can’t stand properly…Please…help me…”
Hearing her complete explanation, this time I peeked a glance at her scraped knee and exhaled a deep sigh. Instead of crying here for hours if this clueless girl would have tried to figure her way outside, it would have been hassle-free for her.
But the first question that came to my mind was, how did she got lost here in the first place?
I quietly looked at her with a pitiful gaze since I was feeling a little bad to watch her cry like this. Even though I could have walked away and minded my own business, but…I just…couldn’t leave her alone.
GRUMBLE!!
At that moment, both of us flinched hard with the loud rumble of clouds along with a lightning flash of thunder. I understood that it would begin raining soon enough but she even grew more petrified with the sudden loud noise and started whimpering again.
Judging her actions, I also realized that she was afraid of thunders.
“Okay, stop crying like this. I will help you get out of this forest.” I ruffled my hair bangs over my forehead and gallantly reached her close, keeping my stiff gaze focused on her.
“B-But…how? I…I can’t walk…my leg hurts…uwahh…” But that little girl showed no sign of stopping her cries as if my answer didn’t comfort her even a bit. It was the first time I willingly wanted to help a naive girl but her clueless actions irked me a bit.
“Did I tell you to walk out of here?” I frowned my brows and sat down on the ground before her. Taking a deep sigh, I exclaimed, “Stop panicking and climb up on my shoulder. I will carry you out of this forest before it starts raining heavily.”
“Huh?” Suddenly, my answer paused her whimper as she rolled her shiny blue eyes in awe. Keeping a confused gaze at me, she murmured, “Y-You w-will carry me? But…even you are a child too! You look skinny too…”
“Hey, are you underestimating my strength?” This time I whined at her with my pouty face as I wanted to stand up. “If you don’t want my help then fine…stay here and cry alone.”
“No, wait!” Immediately she grabbed my hand and sniffled in her teary low voice, peering at me. “P-Please d-don’t leave…I hate to be all alone… P-Please…help…”
BA-DUMP!
As I gazed deeply at her tearful eyes, all of a sudden my heart thumped aloud for the first time which made my chest tight inside. While her sweet enchanting scent tickled my senses, no matter how grumpy her words made me, I just couldn’t leave her alone.
But why? Just who is this strange girl? And why is she making me do such things which I never did for anyone before?
I exhaled another heavy sigh and turned my back towards her. Keeping a flushed look on my face, I ordered her, “Come on, climb up and hold me tight. I don’t like to repeat my words.”
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