12 YEARS AGO.

The fire soon caught up with trees nearby and went berserk, burning every living thing in it to the ground.

Since we could control the fire, it wasn’t harmful.

We quickly escaped and put our enemies in it.

However, I didn’t give a damn and everyone rejoiced at the victory.

I won the war this time, and that’s all that matters.

I’m in no mood to please anyone as long as I get what I want and achieve my goal.

No matter what anyone says behind my back or tries to plan against me.

They wouldn’t dare come to me and say it to my face, for I am a warrior, but a pathetic one, of course.

And they didn’t have to know that but myself.

The fire burnt every living thing in it, not a stone in sight.

It was as hot as hades.

It was what was also called perfecto.

Which means perfection, hell as it was.

It turned into a blast in front of me as I smiled evilly and walked away from the scene, walked back to my horse and climbed it.

I guess Alpha Hawk wouldn’t have anything to say about this.

I just hope he will feel impressed and I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he sees how I have survived in battle once again.

My father and my stepmother want me dead.

I wasn’t making it easy for them.

“I have captured the alpha, my lady,” someone yelled behind me.

I smiled with satisfaction, and without looking back, I yelled back. ‘Tie him up in chains. Cling the chains to the horse, and let him walk barefoot. Flog him mercilessly if he doesn’t walk fast. Make sure he doesn’t escape.’ I strictly ordered.

“Yes, my Lady.” He replied.

“Yhaaa,” I yank the rope, making the horse move.

Finally, we’ve won the battle again.

The thought of it was putting me in a good mood.

Capturing the leader of the pack was delightful, just five steps away before we took over the entire clan.

The wind blew as fast as an arrow, as we all rode our horses.

Suddenly I smelled a strong musty scent coupled with citrus and cedar wood as it floated through my nose.

Then a sweet smell of jasmine followed.

That struck me.

“STOP,” I shouted, as I turned back with shock.

Panic and dread running down my spine as my eyes widened.

I motionlessly jumped down from my horse.

Unconsciously, I walked past the rest of the warriors, towards the chained man, covered in deep bruises.

He coughed with difficulty as the scent continued to smell around him and I felt his pheromones.

My shaken legs almost fell to the ground.

Mate.

Was he the alpha I’ve been searching for, for the past 12 years?

He smells so much like him.

𝑰 𝒓𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅.

𝑷𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒚, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚.

𝑴𝒚 𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒕 𝒔𝒐 𝒃𝒂𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝑰 𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒑𝒔𝒆𝒅.

𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘. 𝑰𝒇 𝑰 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒆.

𝑰 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒎𝒆. 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒂 𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏.

𝑴𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒈𝒐𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆!

𝑰 𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒚 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒅.

𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒅𝒐 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆.

“𝑬𝑽𝑬𝑹𝒀𝑶𝑵𝑬 𝑴𝑼𝑺𝑻 𝑪𝑨𝑻𝑪𝑯 𝑯𝑬𝑹 𝑻𝑶𝑵𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻.” 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔. “𝑶𝑹 𝑬𝑳𝑺𝑬, 𝑻𝑯𝑬𝒀 𝑾𝑰𝑳𝑳 𝑩𝑬 𝑵𝑶 𝑫𝑰𝑵𝑵𝑬𝑹 𝑭𝑶𝑹 𝑨𝑵𝒀 𝑶𝑭 𝒀𝑶𝑼. 𝑪𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑼𝑹𝑬 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑶𝑴𝑬𝑮𝑨 𝑹𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻 𝑵𝑶𝑾. 𝑸𝑼𝑰𝑪𝑲𝑳𝒀.” 𝑯𝒆 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒍𝒇 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒌𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉.

𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒅.

𝑴𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈. 𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆. 𝑰 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒖𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌, 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒃𝒖𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒅.

𝑰 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒛𝒆.

𝑴𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒌.

𝑫𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒓𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒆.

𝑫𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅.

𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒙 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔.

𝑫𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒖𝒑 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒔𝒕.

𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕.

“𝑯𝒆𝒚, 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆.”

𝑰 𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌, 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌, 𝒂𝒔 𝑰 𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒚 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒘 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒘𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆.

𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈, 𝒅𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒅, 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆.

𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒌, 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒅𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒕𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒎.

“𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆? 𝑰𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕?” 𝒉𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒚𝒎𝒃𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒄 𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒔.

𝑾𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒓?

𝑰 𝒔𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒑𝒉𝒂.

𝑴𝒚 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒑, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒇 𝒘𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝑨𝒍𝒑𝒉𝒂 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒆?

𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒖𝒆 𝒎𝒆. 𝑰’𝒎 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑨𝒍𝒑𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈.

“𝑰𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖? 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆?”

𝑰 𝒓𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒎𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒏𝒐𝒅.

“𝑷𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆. 𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒎𝒆.”

“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒔?” 𝑯𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅, 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒇𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆. “𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒔 𝒂 𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒐?”

“𝑵𝒐! 𝑵𝒐!” 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒅, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒔.

“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒔? 𝑨 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒊𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒔 𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆…”

“𝑴𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅.” 𝑰 𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂 𝒉𝒖𝒈𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒆.

𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆.

𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅. “𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅. 𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅? 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖?”

“𝑰’𝒎…” 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒚. “𝑰’𝒎…8…”

“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 8 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒍𝒅?” 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒅 𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒖𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒔.

“𝑷𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆, 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒊𝒎. 𝑯𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅…”

“𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒐𝒌𝒂𝒚.” 𝑯𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒖𝒃𝒃𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒎 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒚. 𝑯𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒃𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆. “𝑰’𝒎 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆. 𝑫𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒆?”

“𝒀𝑬𝑺.” 𝑰 𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒐 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒖𝒔.

“𝑳𝒆𝒕’𝒔 𝒈𝒐. 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝑹𝑼𝑵.” 𝑯𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒃𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒓𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝑰 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒆.