Chapter 2 : Him, Who Licked Me

He actually licked it.

I quickly withdrew my hand, stopping what he was doing, "Why did you lick my hand?"

I saw that he looked surprised. Another thing that surprised me was seeing him sweep his lips with his tongue, as if he had just tasted something very delicious and didn't want to leave any on the corners of his lips.

"I only intended to stop the blood. You know, that's the way my mother used to do it. It seems to have become a habit. " , he explained.

The quiver in his eyes when he saw me made me doubt. Even though it had become a habit, would he lick every wound he saw? Before I could ask, he had already come out to reappear, a second later a huge roar startled me, pulling me deeper into the alcove.

I saw the man disappear from my sight. Instead of staying hidden, he ran towards the source of the sound. Not wanting to be left behind, I followed behind him. His movements were very fast. It felt like less than three seconds before I still saw him standing in front of me, now I couldn't see him anywhere.

I looked out, following him from behind. I could hear the sounds of moans and roars of rage. Did they really manage to catch it? Just by running? Wow. Fantastic.

I saw that from the other direction, the troops began to walk over while pointing their long-barreled guns, on standby. Unlike the man in front of me who approached the origin of the sound without any protection, as if he was about to approach a forest rabbit.

The roar that had initially sounded brutal now began to subside. My chest was pounding when I saw a large net hanging two meters above the ground. If it really was the wolf I saw that time and the one that killed my family, then this was the time. I never thought revenge could be this easy.

But then doubts began to creep up on me as I stood right in front of the net. It didn't sound like a wolf's voice at all. And, I didn't see any white fur behind the net.

"Is that the wolf? A werewolf?" I asked innocently.

The man who had helped me immediately replied, "No. It's just a tiger."

"What?!" , as if I couldn't believe what he was saying, I stepped closer until I was less than an arm's length away from the net.

He was right. My expectations were too high. It was just a big tiger trapped inside a huge net that left it dangling two meters above the ground. My shoulders dropped with a disappointed sigh.

"Put the tiger down. Let's bring it to the camp." , he ordered, which was immediately greeted with cheers from the others.

He stepped away first, leaving the rest to be taken care of by the other troops. What a bossy guy. How great was he that the others just bowed down to him?

As great as he is, I'm sure he's never come face to face with a werewolf. Ha! That means I'm better than him. Because I have more experience with werewolves than him. No, it doesn't. I'd rather call myself lucky.

"What are you doing there? Hurry up and come here. You need to go back to your home!"

The shout made those of us who were still close to the tiger equally startled. I looked back, trying to figure out who he was talking to. But what I found was that they all turned to me.

One with a thin face and big lips smiled broadly at me, revealing his big teeth. I could have sworn his eyeballs and teeth must have been the same size!

"Aren't you leaving, little girl? Or do you want to see how to tie a wild tiger?"

Just the sight of his smile and that pitiful look in his eyes was enough to make me step back and want to get the hell out of here. With nothing more to say and just a shake of my head, I walked backwards slowly before finally turning around and running after the bossy guy.

"What are you going to do with that tiger? Why did you bring it?" I asked, unable to contain my curiosity.

I wasn't sure if it was because of his tall and bulky posture or his big footsteps, but in order to keep up with him, I had to take two steps. Not to mention that I had to keep up with his speed, I was getting overwhelmed and looked more like I was running than walking.

"The tiger is a good tool to encourage the troops to run faster."

I, who immediately envisioned how The Vigilante Union's troops ran around all day chased by a rampaging tiger, didn't notice the twig in front of me.

Second wound for today.

I stopped and winced while holding my temple that was scratched by a sharp wooden branch. I could feel the blood oozing out of my skin. When I opened my eyes, he was already in front of me trying to see the wound I had covered with my hand.

"You really suck, huh?" , she sneered, "Let me see your wound."

Instead of letting him look at my wound, I stepped back and dismissed his hand.

"Are you going to lick it again?", I asked.

He blinked a few times, "Lick you?"

"Uh hum. Like you did before."

He seemed confused and paused for a moment while gyrating his waist, "Oh yeah, right. I licked you earlier. But not this time. I just wanted to see if the wound was big enough to bleed a lot and lure a tiger out of hiding."

My eyes widened at that. I immediately retracted my hand and left the wound exposed to the free air. I closed my right eye to prevent blood from flowing into my eye.

As I expected, he didn't just stay still like he said. He came closer and moved his hand to sweep the blood around my wound, making me grimace with pain. What surprised me was when she licked her finger with my blood on it.

"It's just a scratch. It's nothing." , he said and walked away leaving me still with my shock.

We moved on. I know this road. It's the way out of the forest to the settlement. I could see it from the ground we were on, it had already formed a path because it was often passed.

"How do you become a Vigilante Union soldier?", I asked, trying to break the awkwardness between us.

"Why? Are you interested in it?"

I nodded vigorously, "Of course! It would be my honor!"

"Then you must prove yourself."

I turned to him, "Prove what?"

"Your abilities. You should at least be able to run faster than a tiger, your movements faster than a cheetah, and your courage greater than a lion."

I furrowed my brow in surprise, "If you all already have all that, why did you hide at the first sign of danger?"

His footsteps stopped and he turned to me, "I forgot. There is one thing that is a major requirement," he said and tapped my forehead lightly with his forefinger, "Intellect."

I took a step back, feeling offended by his words. I'm sure he underestimated me. Seeing me as just another breadcrumb on the table. But I wasn't discouraged and was instead heartened. If he knew that I had come face to face with a wolf, he would have immediately bowed down.

"Why are you smiling so oddly? Were you stung by a poisonous bee?", he shakes my body violently.

"I'll join in." , I said, managing to stop his action.

"What?"

"The Vigilante Union."

The corner of his lips pulled up, revealing his front row of teeth. He chuckled.

"Go ahead. We just happen to need some help with the dishes." he replies with a smile.

I squinted my eyes, annoyed by all his words that were never pleasant to my ears, "What's your name?"

"Gerard."

"All right, Gerard. I'll remember your name."

"Go ahead. Don't forget to get me in your dreams." , he said before turning to leave.

I smirked. Then threw the dagger in my hand at him. My aim was precise. My dagger stopped right beside his feet and managed to stop him in his steps. I'm sure he must have been surprised. I saw him pull out my silver dagger that was stuck in the ground and turned to look at me. The distance between us must have been more than 10 meters.

" Keep it, captain Gerard! I'll get it back someday!", I shouted and ran away from there with a burning passion.

Father, Mother... I found hope.