Louisa’s POV
I poured the compote into a bamboo bowl and handed it to Darren.
"I’m so sorry to hear that." I said.
"Sorry, Lisa." Darren said, "I shouldn’t have mentioned this to you. I have never told this to anyone."
"It’s OK. You know, in the past, my stepbrother used to beat me. I felt so wronged and unfair, but I couldn’t fight him, because I’m weak. Sometimes I cried so hard at night that I just couldn’t go to sleep. At that time, Uma would come to me and encourage me to talk about what happened. I found that a problem shared is a problem halved. Sometimes, we just have to let things out instead of disgusting them by ourselves."
"I’m sorry for pretending to be Uma. Master wants me to make you happy. He caught a White Walker soldier and asked him to describe Uma to me. I tried my best to become her, but I guess I’m just too useless…"
"Don’t say that. You’ve done a great job. I really wish she could be still alive, even if it’s just an illusion. That’s why I didn’t want to bring it up. Thank you for doing that. It’s very kind of you." I said.
"I know what you mean. I sometimes change into my brother and look at the reflection in the river. But when I want to touch him, his face just breaks into thousands of shatters at my fingertips. "
As Darren said this, my heart sank.
He was so different from all the men I have ever met in my life.
He was so sentimental and fragile, so easy to be distracted.
Even when he looked at me, I felt that he wasn’t there.
"Darren, do you like the compote?" I asked.
"Yes. It’s sweet." he said.
"Can I take a look at your wounds now?" I asked.
He looked at me and eventually removed his clothes.
I thought underneath the clothes, his body should be lean or even skinny.
But to my surprise, even though he wasn’t as muscular as other werewolves, he was still a well-built young man.
When I got closer to him, I felt that he was much taller than I was.
But the most striking thing was that his chest and back were full of ugly scars and cuts.
Some of them were fresh, some were old.
They overlapped and zigzagged across his torso.
I frowned and took out some turmeric powder and wiped it on his chest.
His muscle twitched. He bit his lips.
"I’m sorry. Does it hurt?" I looked up at him and asked.
He didn’t say anything.
"Turmeric will stop the inflammation, but it won’t cure the wound. We’ll get more potentilla later in the woods. I’m running out of it." I said.
"Is that true that some of the werewolves can heal themselves?" He lowered his head and asked.
"Yeah. Only some of us. Alpha Lucas used to hurt me, but now the wounds are gone." I smiled at him.
"If the wounds are gone, does that mean that you’ve never been hurt?" he asked.
I looked at him and I was speechless.
"Sorry, Lisa." he apologized, "Sometimes I’m disoriented and I don’t know what I’m talking about."
"Darren, what you’ve said is right. I guess I’m the perfect victim of his violence." I said.
After a brief silence, I started to get emotional.
"Why do they have to treat us in this way? Just because we were born to be underprivileged, so we have to be abused and punished by the strong and powerful? I don’t believe that’s our fate. I want to be stronger, mentally and physically. One day, I will become a strong and powerful she-wolf and I will never be bullied by others."
"You have a heart of gold, Lisa. You will be exactly what you want to be." he said.
I look at him and asked, "Will you follow me and help me?"
He looked a bit hesitant.
"I really want to, Lisa, I really do. But the thing is, I have been imprinted by Master Finn. If he doesn’t transfer the imprint to you, I can’t possibly follow you everywhere you go."
"I’ll talk to him." I said.
"Really? Will you do that?" Sparkles appeared in his eyes.
"Yes, I will. Since he’s asked you to serve me, I should have your imprint." I replied.
"Thank you, Lisa!" He lifted me up in the air and gave me a twirl.
I was so overwhelmed by his sudden expression of happiness.
Nobody had ever given me a twirl before.
I just couldn’t stop giggling.
He gave me another three rounds of twirls and I started to feel a bit dizzy.
After he put me back on the ground, I couldn’t stand straight, so I fell into his arms.
Then, I felt that his body was suddenly frigid.
I looked back and saw Finn standing behind us.
Darren quickly helped me sit down on the ground and put on his clothes.
"Sorry, Master." he said, "Lisa was just trying to help me treat the wounds."
Finn walked next to me and sniffed my neck.
Then, he started to lick me all over.
I held his neck and kissed him.
"I know, I know, big paw." I smiled and asked, "I’ve missed you already. Have some compote. It’s made of honey and mixed berries."
I handed him a bowl.
He started to lick the compote inside the bowl.
He looked very happy.
Darren said, "Master Finn said he had found a small cottage in the woods for us to stay."
"Why is there a small cottage in the woods?" I frowned, "Is there someone living around this area?"
Darren looked at me and said in a low voice, "There used to be. But now there isn’t."
I stared at Finn and asked, "Finn, did you just…? You can’t just kill people and take away their house…"
Finn licked his snout and grunted.
Darren explained, "They are some hunters. Master Finn drove them away. That’s all. Nobody has been killed."
I nodded with doubts.
Somehow, I got a bad feeling about the place we were heading for.