Kira looked down at the two boys from the hill she had stationed herself on. So far, everything had gone as planned. They woke up, wondered were the three others went, looked around for track, but without finding any, and now they were packing up their stuff and getting ready to leave. All she had to do was make sure they went the right way.

A smile played across her lips as she saw them saddle up their horses and doing the last adjustments. In a few minutes, she could safely return to the den.

This was almost too easy; she thought as she stood up and got ready to leave.

She watched them take their horses and walk away from the camp. Her eyes watched them carefully for a few seconds, following their every steps until they widened in realization.

They’re going the wrong way!

Kira rushed down the hill as fast as she could. She had to stop them before they got too far and found the tracks the three others had left behind.

The boys had been good at covering they’re tracks from the camp to where they transformed, but if the two boys just walked far enough, they would find the wolf tracks, and that would be bad. They would without doubt follow them. The tracks would lead them to the den; there they would find you and the rest of the pack. No matter how anyone tried to explain the situation, it was bound to go bad. She couldn’t let that happen.

She hid in some of the bushes and watched them carefully before she made her move. She didn’t want to hurt them unless she had to. After all, they hadn’t done anything to harm her. At least not yet.

She slowly stood up and walked out of the bushes behind them. She could easily sneak up on them unnoticed if she wanted to, but she made sure to step on a dry branch to signal her arrival.

Both Tao and Luhans head turned towards the sound of the snapping branch. They knew the forest was full of wild animals, and not just wolves. They both tensed their muscles, readying themselves for what was behind them. However, they both relaxed at the sight of the girl stepping out of the bushes behind them.

She had her long silky hair braided on the side of her head, and the braid hung over her shoulder. She was wearing a simple dress that reached down to her knees. She was barefoot, and had a beautiful smile on her cherry red lips.

“Did I startle you?” She asked with a sweet and innocent voice. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to sneak up on you. My name is Kira.”

Tao quickly looked over at Luhan, who nodded slightly, before they turned their gazes towards the girl again.

“I’m Tao. And this is Luhan.” Luhan nodded at the mentioning of his name. “What are you doing here? Are you alone?”

Kira smiled a little and shook her head. She didn’t like to play innocent, even though she was good at it. “My friends sent me. They grew worried about Avry, so they left earlier to bring her the antidote.” She took a few steps closer to them as she spoke. “I came to give their apologies and thank you both for your help.”

Tao nodded shortly, while Luhan watched carefully. Something about the girl seemed off. Why would she be walking around in the middle of the forest like that alone? Why hadn’t just one of the boys gone with the antidote, or at least accompanied Kira? It didn’t make sense.

“Why don’t you lead us to your friends? I’m sure there is something we can do to help. After all, one of our best friends went through it last summer. We have some experience.” Luhan said and put on a friendly smile. The boys shared a short gaze when they saw a reaction in Kiras eyes. It was short; barely a second, but they saw it. She was hiding something, and they both got determined to find out what.

Kira cursed herself for letting herself show a reaction. She hoped they would not notice, but the gaze they shared told her everything. She would have to find a way to get rid of their suspicions. She shrugged it off with another friendly and innocent smile.

“Thank you, but I’m sure we’ll manage it from here. Some of us are very good with medical herbs and medicines. I’m sure it’ll be fine.” She said and pulled forward a small package. It was not big. “I brought you some food for your travel home. It’s not much, but it’s a sign of our gratitude.”

Luhan accepted the package, with a smile, and Tao gave her a smile of his own before he spoke. “I understand that you don’t want to trouble us, but it’s really okay. We came to help and we intend to do so. We insist.”

Kira almost let out a sigh. It was harder than she thought to make them leave. She had even given them her own food. Not that she needed it. She could easily go three days without food if she needed to. “Thank you again. It’s very kind and sweet of you, but we don’t need-”

Kira froze as a familiar smell reached her nose. Barely a second after she noticed it, some of the bushes rustled behind her and a person stepped out as he called for her.

“Kira! There you are. I’ve been looking for you.” Kira forced herself to act normally as the person approached them and stopped beside her. She slowly turned her head and met a pair of cold dark eyes that starred back into her own. “You can’t just wander off like that. I thought I lost you.”

“X-Xiumin.” She stammered as she starred at him, hoping that her fear wasn’t showing. “W-What are you doing here?”

“I came to look for you silly.” Xiumin said with a smile as he ruffled her hair. “You shouldn’t just walk off on your own like that.”

Kira didn’t answer. Her thoughts were in a mess. What the hell did he do here? How did he even know about them being here? What was he up to? She knew that no matter what it was he was up to, it wouldn’t be good.

“Is there a problem?” Tao asked with a raised eyebrow as he looked at the two of them. It was obvious that Kira didn’t feel too comfortable.

“N-No, it’s nothing.” Kira said and forced a smile.

“Oh! You must be Tao and Luhan.” Xiumin said with a bright smile as he turned his gaze towards them. The two boys nodded. Even though the guys’ smile was friendly, his eyes wasn’t. “I’m Xiumin. And I see that you’ve already met Kira. I was supposed to follow her here to make sure nothing happened to her, but she ran off. She has always been a free spirit. Never liked to have people telling her what to do or being overprotective. Right, Kira?” Xiumin said and looked back at her. She gave off a short nod.

“Good you found her then.” Luhan said and took a firmer hold on his horses’ reins. Something was making the horses nervous. “She shouldn’t be walking alone in the forest. We’ve already lost one of our own to a beast that lives somewhere in this forest. It would be sad if someone else got taken.”

“Taken? I’m sorry to ask, but what do you mean by taken? What took your friend?” Xiumin asked with a fake interest. Of course, he knew everything about your disappearance. Little happened that he didn’t get to know of.

“My sister.” Tao said, his voice emptied of emotions. “She was taken from us by a monstrous wolf. We didn’t believe her at first, but then it showed up on after my older sister wedding. Not long after she disappeared. Later we found out that the wolf had come back and taken her while we weren’t watching.”

Xiumin nodded slowly. He already knew the story; he just wanted more details on it. Kira on the other hand, swallowed a lump of feelings that stuck in . She knew they missed you back in the village, of course, they had to. Taos voice hadn’t showed much hint of emotion, but his eyes told everything. They told about all the pain and anger he had felt. All the hopelessness and the loneliness.

She glanced over at Luhan. His eyes held the same emotions. Some as not as strong as Taos, some even stronger. She had never really cared about you or anything involving you, but now she started to feel bad about it.

“I’m really sorry about your sister, Tao.” She said with a genuine smile. “I hope she comes back one day.”

Tao nodded and gave her a weak smile.

“However, you should go back to your families. I’m sure they’re worried about you.” Kira continued. This could be her chance to convince them to go back.

“Kira! You shouldn’t say that. They just want to help us you know.” Xiumin said and placed his hand on her back.

“But Chanyeol told me to-” Kira stopped when she felt the cold blade against her back. She was careful not to move or make any visible reactions to it. It would just seem weird if she did. To Tao and Luhan, Xiumins hand on her back just seemed like a friendly gesture, half-hug, but what they couldn’t see was the short knife he held pressed against her skin.

“Don’t worry about that. Chanyeol was just worried for Avry.” Xiumin said as if it was something he talked about daily. Kira cleared in an attempt to keep calm. She couldn’t afford do or say anything ridiculous now.

“But he seemed very serious when he said it.” She said calmly. “And you know how he is when he gets angry. He gets scary, and I don’t want him to get angry on me just because you misunderstood something.” She tried her best to reason. With a knife to her back and a determined Xiumin there wasn’t much she could do.

“He’ll have to get mad at someone else then. You did what you were told, but if you hadn’t run of so soon, you would have heard the new plans.” Xiumin replied with a smirk forming on his lips.

“What change of plans?” Kira asked confused and turned her head to him. She had almost forgotten about the two boys who starred confused at them. Tao and Luhan really had no idea what they were talking about.

“Kris wants to meet them.”

Kiras eyes widened at the mentioning of Kris. She swallowed hard to maintain her focus and looked nervously at the two boys with the horses for a brief second before her gaze shifted back to Xiumin.

“H-He does? Kris said he wanted to meet them?”

Xiumin nodded, his smile not leaving his lips for a single second. “He did. He wants to thank them for helping our dear Avry.”

“Are you sure he said that?” Kira asked nervously. Xiumin nodded.

“Sorry to interrupt your conversation, but would any of you mind telling us who this Kris is?”

“He is our leader.” Xiumin said with a smile as his fished out an empty water bottle with his available hand. “You’ll see when you meet him. Just follow me and I’ll take you to him.”

The two boys looked at each other and nodded before they turned their heads back to Xiumin. “Lead the way.”

Xiumin gave them a smile and nodded. He lifted his hand that held the water bottle and held it up before Kira. “Why don’t you fill this up for me while I lead them back to the rest of our friends?”

“But-” Kira stopped as Xiumin added pressure on the knife. She almost winced in pain as she felt a single drop of warm blood trail down her back.

“You’ll catch up to us. We won’t be walking too fast.” Xiumin pressed the bottle into one of her hands and retrieved his hand from her back. He looked back at Tao and Luhan and gave them a smile. “Just follow me.”

The two of them nodded. Xiumin turned around and started to walk; before he walked off, he gave Kira a triumphant smile that he made sure, only she could see. Tao and Luhan both gave her a friendly smile before they followed Xiumin and left her with the empty water bottle.

“What am I going to do?” Kira whispered to herself as she saw the three of them disappear between the trees

* * * * *

Here is a short update. I haven't had much time for writing lately, and I won't have in the upcoming week either. I'm going on a class trip to London from Monday to Wednesday, and then I have to work with school work when I get home, but I'll try my best to update when I can :)

Xiumin entered the story! Now Kris is the only one missing. I'll introduce him to you soon, but not yet. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. And don't be afraid to leave a comment or subscribe or vote, or do all of them if you want to. Heheh

Love you all, and thank you so much for staying with me ~