Chapter 7 That Lost Wolf

I look around the forest, trying to decipher Atticus’s words. I got confused for a brief moment and began looking around to see if I really had strayed from the path that I was following. 

I haven’t. I was sure of it.

“Um,” I hesitated and try wracking my brain to look for words that won’t sound so rude. “I don’t think so?” My voice cracks. “I recognize these parts because I usually take this detour on the way home.” 

Atticus seems more confuse. “What?” His brows furrow further into confusion, and he begins to sniff the air to confirm his location. Then his eyes starts to roam around as if he were studying the surroundings. “How can this be? I was sure that I was in our yard earlier. I must have run farther than I thought,” he says before his attention returns to me. “Aren’t you supposed to be in school?”

It was still school hours at this time, so I want to ask him about the same thing. But instead of responding to his question, I point to my right, hoping that I can change the topic. “This path leads to the village roads if you’re unfamiliar in this area,” I say while avoiding his gaze. 

Atticus’s gaze follows to where I am pointing and grins before looking back at me. “Is that so? Thank you.” He says gratefully and continues to jog to the path where I told him to go. 

I continued my way home once he left. My thoughts turned to Atticus, and I wonder how a guy like him can regard this region as their yard when it was clearly five kilometers away from their property.

Maybe he just went on a blind run and ended up here. I heard rumors that he was a fast runner, so there was no doubt that he would also be in the men’s team for the obstacle race.

Or maybe he was just a wolf with a terrible sense of direction. The last thought was a little absurd, which made me giggle a little as I continued to walk.

“Huh?”

When I hear a voice, I turn to my left side. And lo and behold, the man I had been thinking about reappeared in front of me from the bushes to my right. 

This time, I cocked my head to the side. “Yes? Do you need or forgot something?” 

Why was he back? And what's up with the bewildered expression on his face?

“What do you mean? How did you get here so fast?” He asks me.

Now, it was my turn to get confuse. “I’m walking home?” I wasn’t sure if that was the correct answer, but I only responded on instinct. “What are you doing here?” I felt a sense of deja vu as I asked him the same question I had asked him previously.

“I’m heading to the village just like you instructed.” 

“You just need to head straight, and you should be in there by now.”

“I am heading straight.” He rubs his chin as if he were thinking things through. Then he looks at me blandly. “Are you lost by any chance?”

My mind spins as I think of his words and force myself not to yell. “No,” I answer and give him the sweetest smile that I can muster. I am wary of him, but I still have my pride in my sense of direction. “Are you the one that’s lost by any chance?” 

It was hard to believe that werewolves could get lost.

There was a long pause before Atticus let out a laugh as if he were covering something and turned back. “Nope.” He answers me before heading in the same direction that he came from. And because the direction where he was heading still leads to the village, I just let him walk away.

It didn’t even last for five minutes until Atticus appeared in front of him, looking more confused than ever. He begins to scratch his head helplessly until his eyes lands in my direction. “Do you need something, Lunaris?” He asks. “You keep following me.”

The first time, I ignored it. 

The second encounter, I was already having my suspicion. 

But the third time just proves it. 

I stormed towards him. My eyes are looking at him as I speak. “Forgive me in advance if this may seem rude, but is it possible that you are lost? Be honest.”

Atticus seems troubled and keeps avoiding my gaze for a few minutes before he finally resigns. “Is it too late to say that I’m just strolling the area?” His ears turn red with embarrassment.

No way. 

This is definitely the first time that I encountered a wolf with a low sense of direction.

“Fascinating.” I blurt out and scratch my chin while looking at him. 

“What’s fascinating?” Atticus looks at me.

“The fact that you’re lost,” I say. “I mean, can’t you use your nose to figure out your location?” I suggested. It’s what I do when I am a panther whose sense of smell is weaker than the wolves.

“Hmm,” Atticus wonders out and crosses his arms over his chest while averting his gaze. “I haven’t really tried that out. I didn’t think that it would be effective. I mean, what would that do?”

“Give you the scent to head to the nearest village?” I respond with a deadpan tone.

Our eyes lock for a brief moment before he averts them again. I notice how he is rubbing his left ring finger unconsciously. “Yeah,” he says lifelessly while his gaze continues to fall. “That’s how it works, after all.”

I’m not so sure what is happening, but something isn’t right. Could it be that he is a wolf who can hardly catch a scent? It was a rare case but it was possible. I wanted to ask him, but I don’t want to pry into his personal matters. After all, everyone has a secret to keep.

“If you don’t mind, I could walk you to the village.” I offer. “There’s a minimart that I want to stop by to buy some snacks for tonight.” Atticus looks at me with a blank expression. “Consider it as a returned favor for helping me out earlier,” I added when he didn’t give me a response for a while. 

I was half afraid that he took it the wrong way, but seeing his expression soften into a smile, I began to relax. 

“That would be...nice.” He says. That small gesture from him made my heart lurch because no one has ever smiled at me like that for a long time. Someone other than my mother and Sylphy, that is. 

I lower my gaze to the ground to hide my expression. Instead, I focus my attention on heading to town. My ears pick up the soft rustle of the ground that indicates that Atticus was following closely behind me and is picking up his pace. In a matter of seconds, he is walking right beside me. 

“Do you live around here?” He asks me out of the blue. He is probably becoming uncomfortable with the silence as we walk. 

I am not much of a talker, but it would be better to just humour him.

“Not really,” I answer truthfully. “I just like taking this route from time to time.” I jump and leap over a gap created by thick roots and look back to see if Atticus follows me. As soon as he lands beside me, he smiles. “You’re pretty quick on your feet.” he observes. Then he must have realized what he said because he hastily tried to correct it, “I mean, for a girl. Wait, no. I’m sorry that’s wrong. I meant that-”

“For someone who can’t turn into a wolf?” I ask with a rais of my brow. “You can say it, you know. I don’t mind.” I walk over some large roots and continue my path. I look behind me to see that Atticus simply bounces over them without a problem. His footsteps barely making any noises amidst stepping on dried leaves. “It’s true that I can’t morph into a wolf, but at least I still have some abilities.”

“I can see that.” Atticus smiles once again. As soon as he settles beside me, he looks ahead of us. “I think I have seen you running in the school track before. You’re very fast. I can see why Alexa felt threatened by you.”

“Thank you,” I bashfully responded. This small talk that he has going on felt foreign to me. It was the longest conversation that I had had with someone for a long time. I don’t exactly hate it, but it was making me nervous for some reason.

Maybe it is because he openly complimented me—something that I am not used to.

“You probably think that it is weird, right?” He suddenly says.

“What’s weird?”

“For a wolf such as myself to get lost in the forest.” He chuckles, making me question if he was some sort of moron for making fun of himself.

“Not really.” I shrug. It was a lie. I’m curious about that reason as well. But if my hunch was right, there was something wrong with his sense of smell. And if that was the case, then I don’t think that the rest of the pack will be thrilled when they find out that the future Alpha isn’t as perfect as they thought he’d be. 

“You’re probably guessing that I lack the ability to smell, right?” I pause to turn to him. I try to keep my face straight in order not to reveal the guilt that I was feeling. But looking at his face, he already knew.

“Doesn’t matter. I’m not going to butt into your business. There’s nothing for me to gain.”

“You’re amusing.” He laughs joyfully. “But whether you are interested or not, I would like to tell you the reason, if I may?”

I cast him a side glance. “Sure, suit yourself.”

“I can’t use my nose to help me out of the forest. It's not that I can’t smell, but it’s actually the opposite. I am too sensitive to scents that it’s hard for me to focus on one. Let’s just say that, unlike a wolf who can smell five scents at the same time, my nose picks up about twice of that amount.”

My eyes widen when I finally look at him at a full scale. I’m a panther, and I could pick up three scents at the same time. And that amount alone, my head would already spin when one of the scents became too strong. I can’t imagine how that must be difficult for him.

“How can you still walk?” I whisper the comment to myself, but I forgot that Atticus is a wolf who has sensitive hearing and smell.

Atticus laughs at my statement. “Well, I used to have this item that helps to limit my sense of smell by half. It’s a golden ring with a wolf engraved at the center. The witch Sylphy made it for me. It took about a month for her to finish it.”

I pause and for a brief second, it feels like I have forgotten to breathe. I suddenly remembered picking something from last night when I was a panther. I believe that I even played and nibbled with it. I remember how my feline tongue grazed over the pattern at the center and considered it an odd design. 

Could it be?

I wrack my brain to the moment when I placed the ring in my desk drawer, slightly remembering that continuous line drawing of a wolf. 

Oh, shit. I have Atticus’s ring!

“Come to think of it. I guess that it was good that I didn’t have that ring earlier. Because I wouldn’t have found you. After all, you were displaying some weird scent earlier.” 

My scream caught at the back of my throat as I realized what a close call it had been. Atticus suddenly lowers his nose and sniffs the top of my head. “Though I don’t think that you’re emitting that strange scent anymore. I wonder what it was. Perhaps puberty?” He mumbles.

“What are you doing!?” I panick and push him away without even thinking about it. My body shook with fright at my devilish luck that Atticus had to lose his ring when my pendant was weakening. But thankfully, judging from his reaction, he has no clue what the scent meant.

“I’m sorry!” A look of guilt crosses his face. “I was just trying to—” He shakes his head. “Never mind. I’m sorry if I frightened you.”

I avert my gaze and focus on changing the topic. “We’re here.” I declare and gesture at the minimart in front of us. “This is where we part ways.” I say flatly.

He nods, a sullen look registering on his face. “Yeah, I’m really sorry about scaring you. Thanks again for your help, Lunaris.” He gives me a tiny smile before he finally walks away and heads for the path towards their mansion.

He looks so lonely. I have to admit that I feel bad about suddenly being cold, but it was for a good reason.

I fear that the longer we stayed together, the more that he might figure out that I am not a normal reject.

I shake my head, clearing my head from the oncoming thoughts of what would have happened if he figured out my identity. 

Overthinking can wait. Right now, I have more important things to do.