Following Her To A Tree

 “Nothing to do with it?” the younger woman cut in, laughing bitterly. “Your family hunted us. Killed our alpha. And now we’re supposed to just accept you? Never.”

  The others muttered in agreement, their gazes like daggers slicing into her.

  Seraphina’s heart pounded, but she forced herself to stand tall. “Your people retaliated,” she shot back, her voice sharper now. “You killed my family. Doesn’t that make you just as guilty?”

  The older woman’s jaw tightened, but her glare didn’t waver.

  “You’re lucky we haven’t done worse,” she said coldly. “You don’t belong here, Hunter’s daughter.”

  Seraphina felt the words like a blow to her chest, but she refused to let them see her pain. She lifted her chin, her eyes blazing.

  “I didn’t choose to be here,” she said. “And if you think I want anything to do with any of you, you’re wrong. I was abducted and kept here against my will”

  “We still wonder why,” the snided.

  She turned sharply, her sandals crunching against the gravel as she walked away. She’d picked them in Adolphus house, she wondered when he took them.

  The women didn’t stop her, but their muttered insults followed her like shadows.

  “Human trash.”

  “She’ll never be one of us.”

  Seraphina’s throat tightened, but she kept walking, her steps measured and deliberate. 

  Nobody wanted to be one of them!

  Her chin wobbled, and her vision blurred, but she blinked back the tears stubbornly. 

  No. They don’t get to see me cry. Not them.

  She inhaled shakily, her thoughts a whirlwind of anger and bitterness. If they were so hateful, so consumed by blame, it was because they were hurting too. And for a fleeting, cruel moment, she took solace in that.

  Good, she thought, her jaw clenching. They should hurt. They should know what it feels like to lose everything.

  But as she stepped deeper into the forest, the weight in her chest only grew heavier. Their pain didn’t lessen hers—it mirrored it. 

  And no matter how much she wanted to hate them, she couldn’t help but feel the sharp sting of shared grief, a burden neither side could seem to escape.

  She walked aimlessly with her head down.

  “Stop following me,” Seraphina snapped, her voice cutting through the quiet of the forest. 

  She hadn’t looked back, but the weight of his presence behind her was impossible to ignore.

  Adolphus stepped lightly, his movements so fluid that only her sharpened instincts could detect him. “You have a keen sense for a human,” he remarked, the faintest hint of amusement in his tone.

  “I’m a hunter,” she shot back, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

  Adolphus chuckled softly, a deep, rumbling sound that sent an involuntary shiver down her spine. “Of course,” he said, his voice laced with mock acknowledgment.

  “Where are you going?” he asked, moving effortlessly to walk beside her. 

  He was wearing a simple white tee that stretched across his broad chest, the fabric clinging in all the right places. 

  The sunlight filtering through the trees caught the angles of his sharp jawline and the tousled strands of his dark hair.

  She didn’t respond, keeping her eyes fixed ahead. She wasn’t in the mood to entertain his curiosity.

  Adolphus, however, wasn’t one to be ignored. “Is there a reason you’re marching through the woods like this? Looking for something?”

  “A tree,” she said abruptly, as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

  “A tree?” He raised a brow, his expression caught somewhere between confusion and amusement.

  “A climbing tree,” she clarified, her voice firm.

  Adolphus tilted his head, studying her as though she were an enigma he couldn’t quite unravel. “Why do you want to climb a tree?”

  “Why not?” she retorted.

  He smirked. “Are you a monkey?”

  She stopped walking, turning to face him with an incredulous look. “Have you ever seen a monkey?”

  “No,” he admitted, shrugging.

  “Well, I have, and I can assure you I’m not one,” she said, rolling her eyes dramatically.

  Adolphus grinned, clearly entertained. “Smart,” he said, the word dripping with sarcasm.

  “Where’s the tree?” she demanded, brushing past him.

  “We don’t climb trees here,” he said casually, as though that would be the end of the discussion.

  She whirled on him, her hands on her hips. “I don’t care what you do or don’t do here. Where’s the tree?”

  Adolphus quirked a brow, clearly amused by her stubbornness. “Fine,” he said, gesturing ahead. “Follow me.”

  They walked in silence for a while, the sound of their footsteps mingling with the rustling leaves. 

  The air was crisp and cool, with the faint scent of pine lingering in the breeze.

  “Here it is,” he said, finally stopping and gesturing upward.

  Seraphina’s breath caught as she looked at the massive tree before her. Its trunk was thick and gnarled, rising high into the sky like a natural skyscraper. 

  The branches were sprawling, twisting in all directions, with one particularly large branch that extended outward, forming a broad, 

  flat surface perfect for sitting or lying down. 

  It wasn’t heavily adorned with leaves, allowing the sunlight to stream through and cast intricate shadows on the ground below.

  Her eyes widened in delight. This was it. This was what she needed.

  Adolphus leaned casually against a smaller tree nearby, pretending to be uninterested, though she caught him sneaking a glance her way. 

  He kicked at a loose stone with the toe of his boot, feigning distraction.

  “Seriously?” she muttered, rolling her eyes. “You’re just going to stand there?”

  “Whatever,” she added under her breath, brushing him off entirely.

  She approached the tree, rubbing her hands together as if preparing for battle. 

  The bark was rough under her fingers, but the sheer size of the tree didn’t deter her—it excited her. 

  She adjusted her footing and glanced down at her borrowed outfit, thankful she wasn’t wearing anything restrictive.

  “Need a boost?” Adolphus called lazily, his smirk audible even without looking at him.

  “No,” she snapped, determined to do this herself.

  With that, she grabbed hold of the lowest branch and hoisted herself up, her muscles burning slightly as she climbed higher and higher.