CHAPTER 003

"Have you seen her?"

"No. Its like she disappeared...."

Lucia crouched in a corner, her back pressed against a rotting wodden wall as she tried to mask her scent. She had learnt this trying to hide from Matteo, but he'd eventually found her and out her in a bare room with chains so she couldn't hide away.

Now, it had come to use.

Two days. 

She had hidden here for two days, barely daring to breathe.

Her so called ‘family’ were quite eager to find her. The Roselli guards had searched the area desperately trying to find her, as if she was some thief who had stolen a treasure. And the treasure, was her own blood.

It was amusing how she had thought his care and protection had been because he loved her as a daughter. She knew now, the only reason he adopted her was to keep her blood for himself and profit from her.

But that wasn't going to happen anymore.

Soon, the area became quiet.

She waited for the scents of the guards to fully disperse before standing up, her joints creaking like abandoned machinery.

They were gone. Finally.

She stepped outside, the cold night air making her flinch slightly. She was lucky. These werewolves relied on their scents a lot to find people and wouldn't really both rummaging everywhere. If they actually tried searching, they'd have found her.

Now... what to do?

She walked down the road that seemed to go on endlessly. It was jagged, rough and uneven and the hunger she felt did nothing to dispel the exhaustion exhaustion felt.

She hadn't eaten in over a day and it was starting to tell on her.

‘Groan’

She looked down at her belly. Well, there was no way she could get food now in the middle of nowhere. She had to find some sort of place with people so she could get something to eat.

Soon, she reached a small town nearby. She had a bit of money with her from the savings seventeen-year-old her had hidden away.

So she decides to get some biscuits from a store while also asking about her destination.

"Corciano?" The lady she asked looked up at her. "It's not that far from here. A couple days trek. You wanna go there?"

Lucia nodded gently. She had to.

She'd heard of Dante speak about living in Corciano. The town was a couple towns away from the town her orphanage was located so it was her first choice.

Although he should already be working at the Roselli Mansion, she remembered him taking about the town being quite friendly. So it wasn't a bad choice.

"Well, I'm not sure anyone's heading that way in a couple of days. You wanna stay here till you can find someone to give you a lift?"

Her answer, well no. She couldn't slow down. Who knew if the Roselli family actually gave up on finding her? She had to be somewhere safe before relaxing. In this state, she had no ability to protect herself. She needed help.

"Well then...."

The woman pulled out a map from somewhere and threw it to her carelessly. "You can find your way bambina."

And so... she headed out. 

Her progress was slow, the long walk wasn't taking any pity on her body. Her wolf was fragile and weak compared to others and was hardly of any help.

If it was the former her, she might have given up. But this wasn't the Lucia who would cower. She HAD to get her revenge. It didn't matter how much it woukd take. She would get her revenge one day.

After a long hours walking, a town came into view. Corciano. She was finally here.

Now... she just had to figure out how to settle down here.

Like Dante had said, the town was quiet, with narrow streets and a couple modest little homes. People moved about their business calmly and seemed quite nice. But as soon as hey caught sight of her, they turned wary.

It was expected.

She knew what she looked like right now. Dirty, disheveled and reeking of sweat. It wasn't a good look.

And looking like thus, there was no way anyone was allowing her to stay the night. So she didn't bother to put herself in such a humiliating situation and instead, headed towards the edge of town.

She found a secluded place near the forest close to the town and dropped her bag loudly with a thud.  She lay down next to it. The ground was cold and hard but she really needed to rest.

When she woke up, it was dark.

The moon shone right above her almost as if mocking her situation. She wondered if there was a god up there, casually watching her suffering. It didn't matter anyway, she'd save herself.

She stood up, rested but still hungry.

‘There muat be some fruits around here.’ she whispered to herself as she started walking.

But then, she heard a deep growl. She froze, her eyes lookikg around quickly, trying to look for the source.

A pair of glowing eyes appeared in the darkness, a green light cutting through the shadows. The creature stepped forward, it was massive with tangled fur and bare teeth in a threathening snarl.

Lucia held her breath but clearly, it already had it eyes on her. She tried to retreat slowly so as not to alert it.

But then she kicked a rock and fell to the floor. Before she could attempt to stand up, the creature pounced.

Here it was. Her death, again.

It was quite pathetic. She barely got the chance to do anything.

She closed her eyes already surrendering to her fate. But then, she heard a voice.

“Stop.”

She paused, her eyes snapping open immediately. And there he was, his broad shoulders shining with the soft glow of the moon and familiar amber eyes fixed on her.

“Dante,”