Chapter 4 Intriguing Encounters

They found themselves in front of a little, orderly village after the trees abruptly cleared.

In front of them, a central house with numerous cottages on either side stood proudly. They were joined by a parallel route that vanished far into the forest. The road was split in half, with one side gravel and the other hard-packed dirt with white pebbles laid out in straight lines.

As Lopus made his way to an ancient concrete building behind the main house, Ashina softly swayed in his powerful arms. Since they crossed the tree line, she had not seen another person. The question "Where is Everyone?"

"I told them to stay away until I was confident in your loyalty,"

Ashina made a humph. At least he is truthful.

An elderly woman was standing at the entrance when the door to the concrete structure opened. She smiled warmly and had nice eyes.

As he lowered the Fae to the ground, Lopus pleaded with the cleaner, "Clean her up, please." She followed the woman, leaving Lopus standing in the doorway, despite the blood on her foot having dried and the fresh scabs complaining. Until she reached the end of the hallway, Ashina fought the impulse to look back at him; when she did, he was already gone.

Kora here. the group's healer. Sit down here.

When Ashina eventually forced a grin from her worn-out lips, she looked away from the vacant doorway to find Kora still pointing to a hospital bed. Ashina moved across the room as directed, sitting across from the Healer. She moved back, making the clean sheets crumple.

Other than your feet, are you hurt? Kora shifted forward in her seat and put on some rubber gloves.

The answer is "No, Ma'am." Ashina was hanging over the linoleum floors as her legs lightly kicked back and forth. She gulped deeply as her eyes fixed on a syringe resting on a nearby bench, her brow prickling with perspiration.

"May I look at that?" Gently regaining her focus, Kora reached out to her while holding off till the younger woman could close the distance. As Ashina lifted her foot into Kora's waiting hands, she was grateful for the delay.

The Healer hummed as her brows wrinkled. "Hmm. They appear to be already healing. What kind of being are you?

"Fae?" Ashina's brows creased in unison with the woman seated across from her.

"Fae typically have an affinity for the elements, not for healing."

As Kora used some swabs to apply a topical treatment, Ashina shrugged. Her nostrils were assaulted by the wafting disinfectant smell, and she pulled her sweatshirt over her face to stop herself from gagging.

If it's okay, I'd like to get some blood work done. I want to examine your lHonils and check you for any infections, but it will take me a few days to come back to us."

Ashina made an expression. "I don't have a disease,"

"Alpha told me you've forgotten things. Is that accurate? On a pad she pulled out of her pocket, Kora scribbled some notes.

How in the world did he tell you that? He only spoke three words, exactly!

"Yes. That's accurate. Are all of you psychics or something?

The older woman grabbed the samples with a tiny tug at her lips. "Or something like. You'll discover more about our species soon enough, I'm sure.

Before getting from the cot, Ashina hummed and grinned tightly at the woman. Do you know where I can take a shower? Do you also have extra clothing?

I said, "Come with me." As Kora left the room, she lowered her head a little. Down a short corridor, a shower and a bag of clothes were waiting. "These ought to work. Let me know if you run into any issues. After that, you can wait in the room where I conducted your examination.

Ashina quickly nodded and sprinted into the shower, turning the nozzle all the way down. She exhaled contentedly as she scrubbed a week's worth of grime from her skin as the water scalded her. For ages, the water was stained dark and red.

Ashina grabbed a large shampoo bottle off the floor and poured half of it directly onto her head, nearly muttering with pleasure as she covered her scalp in it. The conditioner came next. It barely took twenty minutes to tear apart the nest that had developed after applying another hefty dollop and combing it through her hair. She was horrified to notice that her hair mostly had a pure white tint and reached her breasts. She saw blue and indigo tones, which gave her hair a holographic appearance, but only upon closer study. Neat.

She dried herself with a large, fluffy towel that had a strong cinnamon scent. "Mmm," she sighed, burying her face in the soft material.

Black cycling shorts, a white t-shirt and an oversized pullover dripping with Lopus's odor made up the outfit. She believed that she would faint if it were his. Instead, she gave a headshake. Most likely, it's just the detergent.

Before looking for Kora, she put on some fluffy blue socks and plimsolls. "Hello? I'm done at this point.

The structure was deserted. Ashina was confident about it. Kora advised her to wait, but she was unable to resist the need any longer. She put it off long enough. "Let's meet some people now,"

She heard voices as soon as she swung open the doors. Some of them were squealing, others were shouting and laughing.

"What in the hell?"

The two wolves she saw fighting in one of the white pebble squares as she rounded the main house were surrounded by a large group of people.

One was a rich shade of cocoa and umber, while the other was obsidian. She recognized Lopus immediately because of the midnight blue flecks on his coat.

Ashina moved through the crowd softly without pausing to consider what she was doing while she stared in awe. She caught the obsidian wolf's attention right away, and he huffed before turning to face his foe, grabbing his foreleg in his mouth, and dragging him to the ground. A snarl ripped from his chest as he stood over his body. Both animals appeared to be playing rough; neither appeared to be hurt. A portion of the audience cheered while conversing in silence.

This certainly wasn't what I anticipated.

From the opposite side of the square, Kora caught her attention and winked at her, making Ashina blush. It was unsettling that the elder woman knew something that she did not.

The brown wolf effortlessly transformed back into a human after submitting and tapping his paw on the ground. Ashina was taken aback to see that they had lost their clothing because she hadn't seen it yet. Honi threw some shorts from the sidelines, and he squatted down on all fours and caught them.

"Hmm." Ashina tried to push the memory of Jed's nudity from her mind as she turned to face the other creature with a small scowl.

She held the look when she noticed that his eyes were already fixed on her. Well, go ahead, she slyly thought. Her brows furrowed in anticipation of his transformation, and she overheard the beast emitting a low rumbling. He turned and sauntered into the woods, quickly blending into the darkness.

As Ashina pushed through the mob and hurried towards the wolf, she was seized by an odd giddiness. She paused at the tree line and experienced a moment of clarity. What do you have to say? Escape the area. But oddly, the voice didn't feel like her own, so she quickly disregarded it and continued on, crossing the threshold into the woodland.

She couldn't help but be drawn to him; the circumstances were overwhelming. Where are you, Lopus? A massive, shirtless figure circled a tree and slammed into her as she continued to follow his smell deeper into the woods.