Chapter 3

RISSA'S POV

The morning sunlight peeked it's brightness on the far edge of the forest horizon. It was still a little dark, but it's the best time to hunt for food and check traps.

My tummy rumbled for lack of proper food in the last two days. I haven't caught anything reasonable these past few days. The only things my traps caught lately were rats and lizards that strayed carelessly into my traps. Although they're not the best of diets, I eat them still. At least so I wouldn't starve to death.

Living out hear in the wild isn't really a joy ride, but I had to survive no matter what.

I stretched my body along the full length of the bed, twisting and turning to loosen my stuff joints. I lay on the bed for a few more minutes, musing and reviewing my plans for the day.

Since my dad died in the city years ago, my mum and I have had to live in the forest together ever since. Until three years ago when I fell severely ill and my mum had to cross the borders to go into werewolf territory to try and find medicine for me. She went and she never came back since then.

I've had many reasons to conclude that she's dead, but somehow, I strongly believe that she was captured and put in prison to suffer. Rogues are not allowed to go into pack territory according to the rule that was put in place five years ago by the new Alpha.

Because of this rule, a lot of rogue werewolves has been forced to go hungry and sick because they were not allowed to access the resources inside the packs. If they crossed the borders, they risk being captured and sent to prison where they'll be subjected to torture and hard labour.

I know my mum is in their prison right now. I just know it! And I will stop at nothing to find her and rescue her. But for now, I have to find food and keep surviving first, and then come up with a plan to save her as soon as I find out where she is. 

There isn't much happening out here in the wastelands. Most of the trees out here are inedible and highly toxic to be eaten. Thankfully, I've been out here for a long enough time to be able to identify some of the edible fruits from the inedible ones.

My mum showed me some of them when she was around, but I learned the rest myself by feeding them to some racoons or squirrels and waiting to see if it has any effects on them before classifying it as edible or not. That research is mostly what saved me from starving out here in the wild.

Sometimes when hunting becomes unproductive, I resort to eating fruits I picked from the forest. I have been eating fruits for the past four days now, and my tongue yearned to have a taste of meat again. So I woke up this morning morning with hopes of a big catch.

I got out bed and had my bath. I put my hair in ponytail, and dashed out of my shack early in the morning wearing my worn out leather boots and gloves to prevent from the cold. I also took out my squirrel gun and hung it around my shoulder before heading out. So I could shoot down any easy target game I came across. But most importantly, to protect myself from predators or any other form of threat that may want to attack me.

I'm not a werewolf. Or at least I think I'm not—

I'm a product of an interspecies relationship. My dad was a normal human while my mum was the werewolf in the family. Although I've never shifted into a wolf before, or have any wolf qualities, my mom still insisted and believed that I'm a werewolf, and that I was going to wolf-out soon enough. 

It was a weird taboo relationship that my parents were engaged in. My dad's family didn't want him to get married to my mum, Dorothy, because they considered her not a 'modern' woman.

My mum's werewolf family didn't agree with them being together too, because it was a taboo for a werewolf to get married to a human. If they did, the werewolf would be banished and declared a rogue.

Their family's were repulsed by their choice of spouse, but my parents choose love. They were completely rejected and so they isolated themselves and lived alone, together before they had me.

I had watched my mum shift into a werewolf a thousand times already, but when I tried doing it, it never worked. My mum said it's a 50/50 percent chance for the offsprings of a human being and a werewolf to be a werewolf. So in summary, I didn't know if I was a werewolf or not so I had to carry the gun for extra protection from predators.

I had set a lot of traps in the forest. I checked the first two, but they were empty. No catch!

So when I moved over to check the next one. When I got to the site where I had placed the third one, I looked down and I was shocked by what I saw.

It was a MAN! 

I was startled at first, but when I noticed that he was unconscious, I regained composure. I stooped down to examine the meat—

Just kidding, I mean 'man'.

I'm not a cannibal, and although his legs were caught in my trap, and I'm hungry as fuck, I can't eat a man. Especially not one as handsome as this. I ran my fingers along his chiseled jawline and stared at his face to find any resemblance with anyone I know.

Who am I kidding? I don't know anyone. I've been living in the forest for over five years now. So it was impossible for this face or any face for that matter to ring a bell.

His clothes were torn. It looked like he had been in a fight, because there was a lot of bloody bruises all over his body. His breathing pattern was so irregular, it was like he was under stress or trauma. 

I dislodged the iron pressing tightly around his legs and put my arms under his body to try and lift him, but he was too muscular for me to carry. So, I grabbed him under his arms and pulled him towards my shack, with his legs scraping the floor and leaving a trail. 

I pulled him to my shack, and we staggered the whole way there for lack of strength to properly lift him up.

We eventually got to the shack and I managed to lift him and place him on my bed. I got a damp towel and used some alcohol to use as disinfectant and I cleaned his wounds thoroughly then I left him there and went back to hunt.

Luckily, I had a catch on one of my other traps, so I returned home with my meat and found him still lying unconsciously on my bed. He must have been through a lot. Although at this moment I didn't know if he was just asleep or dead.

I didn't think he was a rogue, because although his clothes were all torn up, they were old. So there's a possibility that he's lost or something.

Somehow, this scene looked so familiar. It felt like Deja Vu. Some years ago I was in his shoes. I was lost, tired, and hungry. I had no where to go, so I had to learn how to survive on my own in the wild from a young age after my mum got missing.

Some of the rogues that were banished from the pack territory eventually defected to the big cities to live as humans. Although it was dangerous, some wolves still did it anyway.

Well, my mum and I couldn't do that because it was dangerous for a werewolf to go a long time without shifting. Which would be inevitable in the human cities. According to her explanation, when their wolves don't come out once in a while, they could become wild and dangerous.

After returning from my hunt, I went to prepare what I had caught for lunch, while a stranger laid on my bed. I kept checking on him regularly to know if he'd woken up.

I finished eating, so I sat on the stool next to him and watched him as he lay there unconscious. Actually, I was admiring his hot muscular physique.

I know it was creepy, but I couldn't help but stare at him.

Suddenly, his fingers twitched and it seemed like he was waking up. His eyes opened gradually as he tried to make sense of his surrounding. He looked at me for a long while and then as if a wave of realization struck him, he opened his eyes wide staring at me in shock. Then he jolted up and crawled backward to the wall like he has just seen a ghost. 

There was fear written all over his face, and then I couldn't help wondering what this man must have gone through for him to shiver in fear like this at the sight of another person. 

"You're in danger." I heard him mutter right before he jumped away speedily and made it through the windows and into the forest.

"Wait!!!" I yelled, trying to stop him from going into the dangerous forest and getting himself killed.

I went after him following his trail. Suddenly I heard a loud scream in the forest. I followed the sound and saw the handsome man caught in another one of my traps.

I really should start putting up signs next to my traps to avoid killing innocent people. 

Well, I guess he's attracted to traps. Could he get any unluckier?

I stepped closer to him. He flinched backwards as I moved slowly came closer. "Hold still." I said as I grabbed the piece of iron wrapped around his legs.

I stooped low and slowly removed the trap that had caught around his 'right' leg this time.

"Come on..." I beckoned on him. "Let's go back to my shack. I have some food that you can eat."

Although I invited him, I had doubts about inviting him—a complete stranger— into my house. I didn't know if I was doing the right thing by letting him into my home just like that.

I mean, I don't know him from anywhere at all. It was a different ball game when he was wounded and unconscious. Now he was awake and could do terrible things to me if he wanted to. I mean come on. Look at how big he is. I wouldn't even stand a chance.

"Where are you from?" I asked, trying to engage him in small talk, so I could maybe know where he came from. Also, if he said something, I would have had something to judge his decency with.

He lowered his face to the ground as though he was afraid of something.

He didn't say anything still. I guess I tried my best.

"Well, if you're interested in the food, you can just come with me." I said with a hint of uncertainty, and then I started walking back to my shack.

After walking a distance, I heard some noise behind me. I turned around and found out that the stranger was following me.

I guess he was hungry after all. Or did he want to kill me. A thousand thoughts flooded my mind as we walked. A feeling of fear suddenly gripped me. 

We got to the shack, and I went to my tiny kitchen and I served him some of the food I made earlier.

He collected the plate and ate everything.

"Do you want more?" I asked. He nodded, somewhat hesitantly. I knew he was still hungry so I got him more food and still he devoured it like it in the twinkle of an eye. 

I didn't have more, else I would have given it to him. He was just lucky I caught something before he woke up. The both of us would have starved.

By the time he finished eating, it was dark and my mind was left with the battle of offering him to stay the night or kick him out and tell him he has over stayed his welcome.

What if I kick him out and he turns around and kills me? On the other hand, what if I let him stay and he kills me still.

I guess I should have thought about all these before letting a stranger in for dinner.

"Would you like to stay the night? I can make an emergency bed for you..." I blurted out, after what I believe was 'a terrible and illogical' idea.

He shook his head and muttered, " I don't want to kill you." Then he stood up and went outside.

I sat there on my bed, wondering what just happened. "He doesn't want to kill me?" What the hell does that mean?! Should I be scared? Should I be grateful? I had a lot of questions that mind my simply couldn't provide answers to. I kept on pondering until I dozed off.