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FOUR

-Indy POV-

I felt uneasy, and I carefully look around me. This is bad, right? We are supposed to hide for a few weeks, mostly close to a month, without seeing anyone. And Fiona is saying that the place she had in mind is probably in use with somebody else? What should we do now?

What now, Fi? What are we supposed to do now?

Fiona is biting her thumb, she always does when she is nervous, and she looks back at me, fear in her eyes. She’s not saying anything, and right now it feels like I’m the mother here. Fiona looks very frigid, and tiny.

We can’t stay here, Fiona. We need to go further. It’s been an hour or so, and you can’t smell him now, can ya?

I look at Fiona’s face, and I see she’s doubting. I know it must be hard on her, she feels like I’m her child and she’s always been very protective about me. It must have felt like she was failing, when she forgot to spray herself and couldn’t sense his scent before it was almost too late. I frown my forehead, thinking about that. What was that? Fiona’s senses are the most developed compared to any werewolf I know! Why was it so difficult for her to sense this one?

I’m sorry, Indy. But I’m afraid to rely on my senses from now on. But I agree: we should walk further. I’m not sure who that was, but we can’t stay here. I’m certain he picked up my smell but got confused because of the spray and your body covering my scent. But he’s coming back.

I nod. Agreed. I carefully pick up my backpacks again and help Fiona stand up. I have to trust her, there’s not much I can do. I nod at her, making sure she understands I’m ready. So we start walking again. We’re used to walking carefully, so that’s a plus. I notice Fiona is not walking in a straight line anymore, I bet she’s trying to spread out our scents to confuse the other person.

After an hour or so, we stop in front of a big, massive wall of rocks. And I’m confused.

A dead end? Seriously, Fiona? I ask her, irritated.

Fiona looks back at me and I can see she isn’t liking my mood.

Carefully, Indy. I’m still your ‘mother’. I don’t like it when you talk to me like that, you know that.

I bow my head, she’s right. This is nothing for me, either. Usually I’m very shy and quiet. I blame it on the adventure we’re in right now.

Follow me.

A bit curious, I watch her walk towards the big wall. And suddenly she disappears. Wait, what?

Fiona? I mindlink her, confused.

She appears again, her head around the corner. Well, I assume there is one, otherwise it’s a bit weird to see only her face. I rush to her, to find out there’s a small gap behind the wall. And Fiona squeezed herself through it. Great, how am I supposed to enter that tiny gap? I look down to my body and I see the differences between us, clearly.

It’s gonna be fine, Indy. Trust me. Give me your backpacks..

I grit my teeth, knowing there’s nothing else that I can do. I give her my backpacks and put down my leather jacket, trying to get as small as possible. I get down through my knees and bend over a bit. I squeeze in my head and left shoulder first, and softly push through the rest of my body. I feel how Fiona is pulling on my arm, trying to help me. After a big pull from her, I fall down on my knees, on the other side of the wall!

“I made it!” I whisper, relieved.

Fiona chuckles, softly. “Off course, darling. I told you so.”

I stand up and wipe the dirt off of my pants. I start to look around and I’m amazed by the view. “It’s gorgeous here, Fiona!”

I thought I was going to see only a cave, but I was wrong. Yes, I see beautiful rocks around me, like a cave. But I’m mesmerized by the sight in front of me! After 20 or 30 metres, I see an opening and daylight is shining through. I walk towards it, carefully. Fiona is following me.

I have to cover my eyes for a moment, when I enter the ‘outside’. But when my eyes are used to it, I open them. And it’s even more beautiful than I saw a few seconds ago, from the cave. I see a big garden, an untouched piece of woods. I can feel the temperature is better over here, than on the other side of the wall. The grass, trees and flowers are already growing, if it’s spring already.

I look at Fiona, confused. “How did you find this? What is this?”

I see Fiona start walking through the garden, touching the brand new leaves, softly. Her eyes are glowing, she’s completely in her element over here, as a biologist. “Do you remember the trip I did, last month?” she asks me.

I nod, I remember. After the holidays, she needed a few days for herself. And that’s OK, I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself for a couple of days. So she went hiking and camping in the woods.

“Well, I walked for three days and slept in different places. But one day, I was cold and hungry. Because of the winter, it was more difficult to find food. I was prepared for that, but I lost my firestones to prepare my food. So I decided to fully use my senses, and I shifted. The nose of my wolf found the scent of fresh berries, but I hit this wall. Confused, like you were a few minutes ago. After 20 minutes of searching, I found this hole behind the rocks. It hasn't changed since then. It’s like it’s always spring in here. I ate and slept here until I was ready to leave the other day. I decided then and there, that I wanted to come back here when it was mating season. So, here we are.” She shrugs her shoulders.

“Sooo.. nothing changed? That’s weird.” I say, frowning my brows. “But I don’t care, to be honest. I’m glad you found this place. I can easily live here for a few weeks.”

Fiona smiles. “Make yourself at home, I’m going to grab the backpacks. I left them at the entrance.” and she started walking back.

I sit down on the ground, open my boots and let out my hurted feet. I start massaging them again, trying to get the blood back into my feet. Darn, how is it that Fiona is hiking that easily? I probably should exercise more to give my stamina a boost.

But before I could think anything else, I heard a shocked scream behind me. I jump up and run towards Fiona, barefeet. I couldn’t care less. “Fiona!” I yell at her.

I look into a shocked face of hers. “My bag! My backpack is gone!”

Confused, I look down to her feet and indeed: I only see three bags. Her personal bag is missing.

What the hell?

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