Lycans Of The Woods

Chapter 28

"Olivia!"

My peace was disrupted by the screech of a familiar and young voice.

I slowly opened my eyes, silently admiring the beautiful evening sky before turning my attention to the panting and quickly approaching Alec.

Behind him, holding his hand and practically being dragged along, was the man who I suspected to be his father.

"Alec." I said softly, voice hoarse after not speaking for so long, and because I was thirsty. Alec smiled brightly up at me, his cheeks rosy with glee and he released his father's hand, stumbling forward through the snow until he and I stood only a couple inches apart.

"I wanted to find you yesterday," Alec said. "After I came here. But my pa said that you were probably tired."

I looked to the man behind him, the hat which he'd adorned on his head now gone, and was being twisted in his hands. I could feel his gaze linger on the scar on my cheek, but then his eyes averted away, first to my eyes, but then settled on my shoulder.

I frowned at that; it almost appeared as if he was either shy, or extremely frightened. I smiled humorlessly as I took in the tall, broad shouldered man. It was definitely most likely to be the former.

"I want to thank you for saving my boy." The man finally spoke, and my head lifted in surprise at his soft and quiet voice. "Alec told me that you allowed him to stay in your home at Corozal and protected him."

The man's eyes suddenly seemed to shine, and I quickly came to realize that it was because of tears. He looked away, coughing as he attempted to hide this from Alec and myself.

It was completely obvious that this man was still struggling with the death of his partner, and the thought of losing his son was devastating to him.

"What is your name?" I asked, keeping my voice gentle. The man cleared his throat, blinking rapidly as he fought back tears. His son moved closer to him, but his father gave him a disgruntled look that made him pause; he evidently did not want to be comforted.

"It's Victor." The man said, voice still low and I frowned as he continued to not make eye-contact with me.

I glanced at Alec, noticing the increasing worry on his young face as he continued to stare at his father, but he averted gaze to me when I offered,

"Victor, if you'd like, I can seek out someone you can talk to if you're struggling to-"

"It's fine." Victor dismissed my words, twisting his hat once more and lifting it to place it back on his head, hiding his dark brown hair.

He took hold of Alec's arm firmly and finally met my eyes, his smile sad despite his efforts for it not to be. "I just wanted to say my thanks for what you did. I'll see you around."

Alec's eyebrows puckered, and any protests he had died on his lips when he looked behind me. My body stiffened immediately as I watched the males walk away hurriedly, and I turned as heavy footsteps sounded from behind me.

I easily saw a handful of lycans, each carrying sacks which dripped with dark blood, leaving a trail behind them as they walked towards me.

I noticed the lack of clothing on both males and females; the males were shirtless, and some chests were recently and deeply scratched but before my eyes, the skin was slowly stitching back together, healing effortlessly.