Curse of the Weretroll (rewrite)

Chapter 82

Creek wasn't a dumb troll... he was selfish... and arrogant... and just all around a terrible person... but he wasn't stupid... even he would know that a big wild and dangerous wolf wouldn't have been able to just 'get into' the most secure area in the village...

Branch's bunker was impenetrable... he was sure to figure out something was weird when he heard that the wolf had somehow gotten in there...

Would... would he connect the pieces of the puzzle and figure out that Branch was the wolf...?

No... he wasn't that smart...

     Was he...? 😨

Gulping, Branch turned back to Poppy, immediately noticing her wide eyes and pale face...

     She was just as scared as he was... he could tell...

"Poppy...?" he finally managed to murmur in concern, quickly catching his girlfriend's attention as she looked away from her group of friends and back to him. "You ok...?"

Shaking her head to snap herself out of her daze, Poppy immediately began to panic...

"You need to run..."

     "Wait... what...?" Branch questioned, confused by Poppy's panicked statement as he raised an eyebrow in concern. "What happened to not leaving each other...?"

     "This is different, Branch," the young princess stated firmly as she looked back over to her group of friends in panicked worry to make sure they hadn't yet noticed them, Branch's head instinctively turning in the same direction. "You need to run... transform into the wolf and go to the pond where I first became friends with Squishy... none of the Trolls know about that place... I'll hold off our friends and then come to see you when it's safe..."

     Hearing the word 'wolf' instantly sent a shiver down Branch's spine, his heart sinking as he suddenly jerked his head back around to look quickly to the love of his life in disbelief...

"Wha-what...?" His voice was visibly trembling as he shook his head, taking a small step back from his girlfriend. "W-why would I need to... I mean... I'm normal now... why can't our friends see me...?"

It didn't matter if Creek was suspicious about the beast somehow just 'getting into' the bunker or not... Branch would honestly rather take his chances with talking to that jerk troll and risking everything than to willingly let the wolf back out...

"Yeah... about that..." Poppy began hesitantly, nervously rubbing the back of her head as she anxiously turned her sights away from the clearly worried Weretroll. "The Snack Pack... kinda sorta... think you're dead... 😬"
"They WHAT!?"

Gasping sharply at the sudden loud shout of her boyfriend, Poppy was quick to pull him back down into the secret entrance of his bunker just as the Snack Pack turned towards where they were currently hidden, their gazes cautiously scanning the area for the source of the sound they could have sworn they just heard...

Not seeing anything sus, the group quickly went back to frantically explaining the situation to Creek, Poppy peeking back out of the hatch to make sure the two of them hadn't been spotted...

Sighing in relief at the realization they hadn't yet been caught, Poppy finally turned back to Branch, the young princess knowing she had to explain to him what had happened earlier that night...

"Branch..." she began softly, hesitating for a moment as she saw how anxious her best friend currently looked. "They think you were eaten by the wolf..."