5
A man emerged from the darkness behind a massive pine tree. His presence commanded attention, drawing eyes to his striking form. Tall and regal, the man exuded an aura of power. His complexion was as pale as alabaster.
Cascading ebony locks framed his sculpted face, falling in waves that brushed against the regal attire he wore. A finely tailored coat draped over his broad shoulders with a touch of gothic charms.
The man's lips formed a sinister smile. A deep growl escaped from my throat instinctively.
"Why don't we have a face-to-face conversation? Can you return to your true form?" the man asked, his eyes shining with malice.
Although the man's words sounded glib and poetic, I could already sense that he had ill intentions. However, in order to inquire about the old man, I needed to transform into my human form.
Yet, I doubted that the man wouldn't cause me harm if I shifted. Pushing aside my doubts, I reluctantly changed back into my human form.
"I was not mistaken, after all. You are indeed quite beautiful," the man remarked, biting the end of his black glove and removing it.
Under different circumstances, I might have found that particular gesture attractive. However, it only deepened my frown.
"What have you done to the person living in that cottage? Was it you who harmed him?" I asked, my anger burning within me. The menacing undertone did not escape the man's notice.
"It seems like you want to tear my throat apart," the man said calmly as his eyes grew darker. "I have some questions for you, though. Why does a rogue wolf have a creature like that by her side?"
After the man finished asking his question, the pet monster that had been following me as a loyal puppy emerged from the darkness, sensing the impending danger. It lunged at the man, but he remained unaffected and struck the monster with his bare hand.
The monster pup flew towards me and landed at my feet, crying out in pain. I noticed that the area where the man's hand had touched the creature's belly was freezing as if it was turning into ice.
Swiftly turning towards the man, I assumed a defensive stance. I couldn't bear to see the monster pup perish while trying to protect me.
"Who is this man? And what kind of strange power does he wield?" I wondered.
"Don't worry. It won't die immediately. I barely touched it," the man reassured me. "However, it would be in your best interest to cooperate. If you don't want things to escalate beyond a mere touch, don't waste my time," he added, tilting his head.
His penetrating gaze sent a chill down my spine. It wasn't just the fear of survival, but a deeper fear that made me realize the vast difference in our abilities.
The last time I felt this way was when I first encountered the demon lord. "What is it about this place? Why do all these monsters choose to reside here?" My mind started to race with thoughts.
"What do you want from me?" I demanded, masking my fear with a scowl. "Where is the old man?"
"Are you the granddaughter the old man was talking about?" the man questioned again. "I came here to investigate some rumors that have been spreading like wildfire. It's unfortunate that you wolves got in my way while I was dealing with all the trash. Have your kind turned rogue of late? Didn't the elders caution against settling in one place for too long?"
The man's words triggered something in my mind. I remembered hearing them from the old man before. The rogues had nowhere to go outside of the woods because neither the wolf territory nor any other species would accept us.
However, the woods were not safe either. The vampires would often come to the woods to hunt down the rogues. They referred to it as "woods cleaning."
They treated the rogue wolves like pests in a crop field, or even worse. As a result, the rogues couldn't stay in one place for long to avoid encountering the vampires. Unfortunately, some of them would always end up falling victim to the vampires.
The old man's wolf had died a long time ago, so he settled down in a cottage, assuming the vampires wouldn't harm him because he was just a frail old human. "How mistaken he was!" I bit my lip in anger.
"When I found him, he was already hallucinating. It seemed like he was suffering from the shock of not eating for a long time. It was repulsive. The man was eating his own waste," the man scornfully said.
My clenched fist relaxed as his next words barely registered in my ears. Tears streamed down my cheeks without my knowledge. I had promised the old man that I would bring him food. Perhaps he was waiting for me to provide him with sustenance. How difficult it must have been for him!
"How repulsive! Are all of you as filthy and savage as that? Although you appear somewhat more civilized than that creature. I never fathomed the repulsive old man wasn't deluded about his supposedly alluring granddaughter," the man continued to ramble.
"And what have you done to my grandfather?" I inquired calmly, my tone colder than the freezing forest. It was the first time I referred to the old man as my grandfather.
Upon arriving at this forest, having been expelled from the wolf territory as a rogue, I had little chance of survival. If it weren't for the old man who took me in, I would have perished from freezing and starvation.
The old man sacrificed his meager provisions, which he struggled to obtain before the winter, in order to nurse me back to health. He showed no concern for his own well-being, knowing that he would have to find a way to sustain himself until spring when he could resume fishing in the lake or hunting small animals. I could still feel the love and warmth he had shown me when my own family abandoned me.
"What do you expect from a man of my noble status when insects like you are destroying the beauty of this forest?" before I could delve further into my thoughts, the man before me, retorted, his countenance hardening like stone.
"How could I abandon that creature to decay there, further ruining the beauty of the forest? Do you want to see what I did to it?" the man asked, a sinister smile forming on his lips.
The man lifted his bare hand, his gaze shifting to the injured body of the monster pup lying behind me. Understanding the man's intentions, my body reacted instinctively, shielding the pup's body as I witnessed a bright light flash past me in an instant.
I remained sprawled over the pup's body, coughing up blood, and feeling a sharp pain near my side. The man's speed was as swift as lightning. The spot he touched began to freeze, mirroring the state of the barely alive pup in my arms.
The man stood behind me, clicking his tongue as he observed my struggling form. "Why would you go to such lengths for this gruesome creature?" the man inquired. "I didn't intend to turn you into ice, shattering such a beautiful body like that deluded old man. But now that I think about it, don't these creatures belong to the demon lord's domain and remain confined there? They aren't meant to roam freely in the woods. So why is this pup following you as if you were its master?"
I continued coughing up blood, refusing to answer any of the man's questions. I despised myself. I despised myself for failing to protect one thing I was supposed to.
"So, were those rumors true? Did the demon lord truly take a wolf under his wing?" the man persisted, his eyes gleaming with excitement even without me looking at his face.
If he had truly needed an answer from me, he should have considered the consequences before harming the old man and attacking the pup and me. The man knelt beside me, holding my face and forcing me to look into his eyes.
"How is this possible? Even if the demon lord cared little, that sneaky butler would never allow creatures like you near him. So, how did you manage to infiltrate that territory and bring one of the demon lord's pets with you? If this is the face, it's enough to bewitch me. However, I doubt it would have any effect on that sly butler. So how?" the man questioned, tightening his grip on my cheeks.
"If you're curious about my possessions, why don't you remove your filthy hands from them first?" a deep voice interrupted, breaking the silence of the frozen forest.