2. Missing body...

[Freya's POV]

It was Mitchell's loud wail that brought me back to reality; then I realized what my wolf had done to our manager.

At that very instant, I lost track of time and felt as though I was about to die. 'What in the world have I done?' In my wolf form, I stood there, staring blankly at the body that was lying on the ground.

Because of the bite I gave him, blood was gushing out of his neck, and I could see how miserable he is. As he attempts to alleviate the intense pain he is in by covering the injured region with his hand, he groans in anguish.

Because of the excruciating suffering he is going through, he was making an effort to communicate with someone, but he was unable to form any words in his mouth. As soon as I had a firm grasp on my wolf, I swung around to face the opposite direction and started running as quickly as I could to get away from them.

The act has already been done, and there is nothing that I can do to make amends for it. The consequences of what I did are completely unknown to me at this point. On the other hand, my earnest wish is that the manager will be OK.

For the first time, I was able to keep my wolf under control and from biting him deeply. So, the wound wasn't nearly as severe as it could have been. I hope that Mitchell can pull herself together fast and that she makes a call for assistance before it is too late.

I spent the entire night wandering about in the forest, hoping that the sun would rise soon so that I could change out of this beast shape and into a human. Yes, this is a beast form that I have never even entertained the possibility of possessing in the first place in any of my wildest dreams.

I am unable to explain how I turned into a werewolf. I just started morphing when I was fifteen years old, and to this day, I still don't have any explanations as to why I am like this. Since my grandmother is not a werewolf, I often find myself wondering how it was that I came to be one. And I have never heard of anyone being a werewolf in our lineage. 

I hastened over to the location where my clothing was kept as soon as the clouds began to part, and the morning was beginning to break. Immediately I arrived, the morning began to break into a brilliant light, and I changed back into a human.

When I transformed back into a normal being, I didn't experience nearly as much discomfort as I did when I was going to become that hairy beast called a wolf! I was completely naked when I turned around to pick up my clothes and was taken aback by what I saw. 

I can't find my clothing anywhere! I exclaimed while my mouth dropped open in shock at what I had just witnessed. My entire body froze, and I was completely unable to move in any way. I was startled and instinctively covered my breast with my right hand while simultaneously covering my lower private area with my other hand.

I searched the area in the hopes of finding the clothes, but I came up empty-handed. "I simply cannot believe that this is happening to me! Is it possible that this is some sort of divine retribution for what I did the last night?" My mind was racing with numerous inquiries, but I couldn't pinpoint any specific solutions to any of them.

"This is wholly ridiculous! I can't go home completely naked! If Nana saw me in this state, I am certain that she would order my execution."

I stood there for a couple of minutes while going through a variety of scenarios in my head about how my garments could have gone missing. "Wait! Is it possible that someone was following closely behind me and witnessed everything that took place?" As the thought unexpectedly occurred to me, I gave a short, quick exhale.

"That can't possibly be the case, can it? No, it's not possible! I have to start looking for the garments as quickly as I can so I can go home before the sun rises." I said to myself, and then I started looking about for my clothes in the surrounding area.

I was standing about a meter away from the tree under which I had stashed the clothes from the previous night when I noticed, to my surprise, a brand-new pair of black jeans pants and a white blouse lying on the ground. In addition to that, there was a black ankle booth that was positioned on top of the ensembles.

As I raised my head to see whether anyone else was there, I gulped down some salivae before looking around. But despite my best efforts, I couldn't find anyone in the area. There was no sign of life around, and it seemed as though I was the only one in the woods. I did not squander much time and immediately grabbed up the garments and put them on.

This is not the time to be behaving like you're going through the motions! I have to make haste to go home so Nana wouldn't notice that I didn't spend the night at the house. Therefore, I shouldn't have any trouble wearing these bizarre outfits that I recently discovered.

*click click click* 

As soon as I heard the clicking sound of a camera's shutter, I whirled around quickly in that direction, but I didn't see anyone there. "Have I started to make stuff up on my own?" I stood still and questioned myself while my brow furrowed before I eventually proceeds back to the house.

After a strenuous journey lasting close to an hour, I arrived at my destination. I felt like collapsing on my bed to get some restful sleep because I was worn out. But because of what my wolf did the night before, I'm still filled with regret, and I couldn't even consider going to sleep anymore.

Fortunately for me, when I got to the entrance of our house, I discovered that the door was unlocked, which means Nana did not know if I was at home or not. This kept the secret that I was hiding from her. I instantly crept into the house on my hands and knees, trying not to make a sound out of dread of being discovered.

My grandmother is the last person on earth I want to see right now, since her presence would just make me lament my existence more. I made a stealthy approach to my room and slipped inside to take a relaxing shower.

Even now, the scent of our manager's blood lingers on my skin, and the fact that it's there, drives me crazy. I didn't want to admit it, but a part of me was praying fervently that the manager would be all right. If something were to happen to him, I would blame myself for the rest of my life and I would never forgive myself for making such a mistake.

I dashed in for a quick soak in the hot tub, and when I emerged from the restroom a few minutes later, I was squeaky clean. 

"Who could have taken my clothes? And who is the owner of the clothes that I wore home? Was there anybody out there in the woods who was staring at me the whole time?" These questions sent me into a state of bewilderment.

When I went to dry my wet hair with the blow dryer, I noticed that water was leaking into the floor below me and a little stain of blood was on my right arm. I swiftly went back into the bathroom and cleaned it up. 

I gave some attention to getting ready as quickly as possible so that I could go to the restaurant, and find out the most recent information regarding Mitchell, and the manager.

I had just finished putting on another dress when all of a sudden, there was a loud bang on the door, which took me by surprise. "Who could it possibly be at this hour?" As I made my way toward the house entrance, thoughts raced through my head. The more I looked at what I saw, the more astonished I became when I got there and opened the door.

"Mitchell?!" I could not take my eyes off her as I uttered an exclamation of disbelief. My chest felt as though it was about to explode from the force of my heartbeat, and I experienced a growing sense of unease. "W-what the heck are you doing in this place?" As I asked the question, I stuttered.

Mitchell's eye bags were puffy and she appeared to be in a state of complete despair. As a result of her appearance, I was able to deduce that she had gone the entire previous night without batting an eyelid. She was still putting on the same clothing that she had worn the previous night, even though she was covered in mud, including on her face.

She didn't answer my inquiry directly, but instead gently raised her palm above her head and pointed a finger in my direction, saying, "That's her!" She uttered those words as her eyes began to fill with tears. If she were to make the mistake of blinking her eyes just once, it seems as though tears would start streaming down her cheeks.

When I had finished listening to what she had to say, I looked to the side and noticed three law enforcement officers dressed in their uniforms. Because I was taken aback by the sight of Mitchell, I did not even know that she was accompanied by police officers.

"Are you miss Freya?" The question was posed by one of the law enforcement personnel as he produced his identification card for me to inspect. "Greetings, I'm Inspector Andrew from Inspection Division A!" He quickly held up his identification card to my eyes and then quickly removed it once I took a look at it.

"Y-yes, I a-am..." I stuttered while desperately attempting to avoid meeting his gaze. My nervousness was making the pounding in my chest increasingly difficult to bear, and it felt as though it may burst at any moment. Nevertheless, I make an effort to maintain my composure while maintaining a consistent demeanour to avoid appearing in any way suspicious.

"What the hell is going on around here?" When I heard my Nana's voice suddenly coming from behind me, I hurriedly made my way from the door so that she may walk outside. She turned her head and was astounded by the number of unfamiliar faces she saw.

Mitchell does not speak a word and looks at each of us in complete bewilderment, which shows she is still in a state of shock. "Freya, what is going on with these policemen being in my house?" As my grandmother asked me the question, she fixed me with a menacing stare.

"We are here to ask your granddaughter a few questions concerning the incident that took place last night." The fast response from Inspector Andrew caused my entire body to freeze.

The way he glared at me only made the way I was already feeling on the inside even worse. Because I took some precautions the night before to avoid getting caught, I was merely curious to know what exactly he is referring to when he says those statements.

"Last night?" As she turned around to face the officer again, Nana sounded surprised. "What exactly took place last night? Her inquiry was made in a very serious manner.

"A young man was bitten by a wolf!"

"What?!" The expression of wonder and awe spread across Nana's face as she let out a startled scream. "A wolf?" She mumbled, and all I could do in response to her was keep choking on my spit out of nervousness. I always make sure to put on a surprised expression so that I can go with the flow.

"Yes, it is a wolf! This young lady standing beside me was a witness to all that took place." The Inspector stated as he pointed towards Mitchell, who appeared to be completely unaware of what was still going on. "This morning, she made her way to the police station to file a report about what had occurred. However, when we arrived at the scene, we were taken aback by what we saw there." He halted in his speech all of a sudden.

I focused my attention on every single one of his words as he was speaking. I couldn't wait to find out what they had discovered, which is what sent them to my house to ask me about it. At the same time that I was paying such great attention to the inspector, for the very first time, Nana was doing the same thing as well.

"The crime scene was covered in blood, and we even found a paw print that appeared to have been made by a wolf. However, the body of their manager could not be found!"

"Huh?!" 

I had no idea when I suddenly let out a startled sigh in response to the information that had just been told, and all eyes landed on me...