Caleb takes a few slow seconds to pick his jaw off the floor before he springs back to action, "Wait!" His loud call echoes in the hallways he leaves behind to chase after her.
Marisol, however, only moves with more speed, fueled by determination. She finally makes it outside and heads towards the forest. Her wolf was feeling a very violent mix of emotions, and the last thing it needed was to remain trapped behind those walls stained with the suffocating stench of their deceit. It needed space.
"Marisol, please, wait! Where is all this coming from!? What happened!?" Caleb's confused voice continued to ring in her ears as he got closer and closer, unrelenting in his chase.
The mere sound of his voice grates against her nerves. If she'd listened to her very ugly thoughts against him at the moment, his entire face would have been smashed against a wall.
She stops, scowling as she turns to glare at him. "You must really have a death wish," She growls.
"You can lash out at me and call me whatever names you'd like, but I will not let you take my sacrifices for granted and not hear my side!" Caleb returned with a growl of his own, his earlier calm and placating tone melting away.
Marisol could only scoff in disbelief at his audacious words. Oh, so now he wanted to tell his side of the story, and what sacrifices did he speak of that could be enough to cancel out the fact that he was going to make her food for that unforgiving beast?
"What happened?" He repeats, softer this time, "Sophia tells me that you had gone to the hidden castle just a few moments ago. Did something happen there? Is that what this is about?"
With another scoff, Marisol's tone took on a more sarcastic edge, "You're asking me what this is about? Well, I'll tell you.... The fact that you'd been hiding it away from me this whole time that you brought me here to, what? Tame that soulless beast you let roam around in there!? I'm supposed to be deceived by his human form until he decides he's had enough and tears me apart like the beast that he is?"
"Wait.... W- what!?"
At Caden's dumbstruck expression, Marisol grows even more irked, her teeth bared in annoyance as she barks out, "What do you mean 'what'? Are you going to pretend you're not aware of everything I just said, that beast -"
"I'm sorry, did you just say h- his human form? Cedric was human when you saw him?" He stutters out, cutting her off this time, and Marisol pauses, her frown deepening.
"You think I'm lying? Why don't you go check for yourself then? Aren't you supposed to be the big bad Alpha of this pack?" She mocks, but her words do not look to have the expected effect on Caleb, who looks even more stupefied, his chest heaving as he breathes out slowly.
"Wow." He mutters, suddenly out of breath, "That's just... I can't believe this!" His expression suddenly morphs into one of relief before he was snorting out relieved laughter, coming out in short gasps of breath. "I can't believe this!" He howls loudly, elated. This causes Marisol's brows to hit her hairline, now more confused than angry.
"You're insane." She snaps, and that draws his attention back to her. With wide, excited eyes, he regarded her brightly.
"No, Marisol, you.... You don't know what you've done, do you!?"
With an irritated scowl, Marisol glares him down, "Go be a lunatic elsewhere and leave me alone."
"You don't understand," Caleb exclaims, delirious. "Cedric, he...... he's never turned human since Guinevere's curse. It was you, Marisol! Whatever happened between both of you yesterday changed something and made him return to his human form! You're telling me he's finally in human form after all these months!"
For some reason, Marisol felt her heart break a little at his words. Cedric was cursed? Why? What did he do?
But before she could get a word out, the madman in front of her suddenly spins around and hightails it back to the pack house.
Caleb's words had roused her curiosity, and knowing how the people of Redwood behaved around the topic, she knew no one else was going to tell her what she needed to know. Caleb had disappeared somewhere into the packhouse too. This left her with only one option, and she hated the idea of it.
So, instead of going for her intended run, she finds her way back into the packhouse. Navigating the hidden tunnels until she finds the castle again. Surprisingly, there was no beast, and Cedric was still in the exact same regal position she'd left him a while ago. He remains still, but his eyes rake over the expanse of her body, curious and interested as she approaches cautiously, causing tremors to run down her spine. His eyes follow her every move, and at that point, she realizes that he most definitely is just as aware of their bond as she was.
He was so relaxed in his position, almost like he'd been waiting, like he was sure she'd be back, and the fact was proven by a small smirk that tugged a corner of his lips upwards.