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7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvDrUlYohvu
Fifteen days had passed since the landslide.
Leah couldn't take it anymore.
The wolf inside whined from lack of movement, from the need to be constantly in human skin. Too much work. Too many people around. No chance to go far into the forest.
Every cell demanded transformation. To run. To hunt. To be herself.
"Grandpa Wei," she said after dinner, trying to sound calm, "I'm going for a walk in the mountains. Might stay overnight. Don't worry if I'm not back by nightfall."
The old man nodded wisely, asking no unnecessary questions.
"Be careful, daughter. The mountains are dangerous at night."
Leah promised. She took her backpack, stuffed in spare clothes, some food, a water flask. Said goodbye to Grandpa Wei's family, left the house.
The village was sinking into evening quiet. Smoke rose from chimneys. Somewhere children laughed, playing out their last minutes before bed. A dog barked in the distance.
Leah quickly passed the houses, turned onto the trail leading up the slope.
The moment the forest closed its embrace, swallowing her just ten minutes' walk from the village, she stopped.
Looked around. Listened.
No one.
Finally.
Leah dropped her backpack, pulled off her clothes, folded them neatly. Exhaled.
And let go.
The transformation came in a wave. Bones shifted. Muscles restructured. Gray fur broke through skin. The world exploded with scents, sounds.
The gray wolf shook herself, rejoicing in freedom.
Yes. This is it.
Leah ran.
For several hours she simply raced through the forests, up slopes, leaping over streams, climbing rocks. Released pent-up energy. Wind in her fur. Earth under her paws. The smells of forest, beasts, night.
Freedom.
But there was a second purpose.
Find where Ai Lin lives.
Leah knew the direction higher up the slope, on the outskirts, the villagers had said. She sniffed, trying to catch the familiar sensation through the imprint.
The connection was somewhere there. Weak, muffled by magic, but palpable, pulling upward.
Leah followed it, circling through the forest.
Climbed higher and higher...
And suddenly froze.
A scent.
Human. Old human. Woman.
Leah cautiously moved toward the scent, sliding silently between trees.
In a small clearing, at the edge of the trail, sat an old woman.
Tiny, hunched, in traditional clothing. Gray hair gathered in a bun. A face full of wrinkles. She sat on a stone, just sitting. Staring into nothing. Lost.
Leah watched for a minute from behind the trees.
What's she doing here alone? Lost?
The old woman sighed, tried to stand and swayed, grabbing a tree.
She's not well.
Leah quickly ran back behind the trees, transformed. Her hands trembled from exhaustion after the long run. She pulled on clothes from her backpack, smoothed her hair.
Then, pretending to walk along the trail, she emerged into the clearing.
"Oh!"
The old woman raised her head. Her face lit up.
"Lin Lin! Is that you!"
Leah stopped, confused.
Lin Lin? Who's that?
"No, I'm sorry," she said gently in broken Chinese. "My name is Leah. I... live in Shuiyuan village. With Grandpa Wei."
The old woman squinted, peering closer.
"Shuiyuan? But you're not from the village. I know everyone."
"No, I'm visiting. Two weeks ago there was a landslide in the village. I was nearby, helped. Grandpa Wei asked me to stay."
The old woman nodded slowly, understanding.
"Ah... I heard about the landslide. Terrible tragedy."
She tried to stand again and groaned, clutching her lower back.
"Oh, old bones..."
"Are you unwell?"
Leah quickly came closer, extended her hand.
"Are you looking for something?"
"I came to gather firewood," the old woman smiled guiltily. "Foolish old me. Forgot my legs aren't what they used to be. Now... I don't know how to get home. Lin Lin went down to the village to treat a patient, left me alone. And I decided to help, bring some wood..."
Something warm stirred in Leah's chest.
"Where do you live?"
"Higher up the slope. There's my house I live with my granddaughter."
Granddaughter.
The imprint in her chest twitched.
Is this... Ai Lin's grandmother?
"I'll help you," Leah knelt beside the old woman. "I'll carry the firewood. And I'll walk you home."
"Oh, sweet girl," the old woman stroked her cheek with a dry, warm palm. "Thank you. What's your name?"
"Leah."
"Leah," the old woman repeated, smiling. "Beautiful name. Unusual. Are you from far away?"
"Yes. Very far away."
Leah helped her up. The old woman was light as a bird, almost weightless. Leah picked up the bundle of firewood she'd managed to gather, slung her backpack over her shoulders.
They slowly headed up the trail.
They walked for a long time. The old woman moved slowly, stopped to catch her breath. Leah didn't rush her, supported her elbow, helped her step over roots.
They talked. The old woman, called Grandma Mei, told stories about the village, how there used to be more people, young people had moved to cities.
"Only my granddaughter and I remain," she sighed. "Lin Lin is a good girl. Smart. Heals people. But lonely. Doesn't let anyone close."
Leah listened, nodded along, feeling her heart beat faster.
Her grandmother. This is definitely her grandmother.
Twilight thickened. The sky turned deep blue. Stars began to appear one by one.
Finally a house appeared in the distance.
A small house of dark wood, embedded in the slope at one corner. Single-story, with a low, sloping roof overgrown with moss. It stood at the edge of a clearing, facing a wall of pines, as if hiding in their shadow. Light burned in the window an oil lamp, soft and warm.
The house looked... cozy, quiet.
This is where Ai Lin lives.
Her breathing quickened. The imprint reached toward the house but met the familiar barrier. Magic held firm.
"Here's my home," Grandma Mei smiled. "Thank you, daughter. Come in, I'll treat you to dinner. It's already late, dangerous to go down in the dark."
Leah wanted to refuse. Didn't want to impose. But the old woman insisted, took her hand, pulled her to the door.
They entered the house.
Inside it was warm, clean, smelled of herbs and hearth smoke. Simple furnishings: a table, several chairs, shelves with dishes. Dried herbs hung from the ceiling in bundles. In the corner stood a bed, neatly made.
Grandma Mei sat Leah at the table, asked her to light the fire in the hearth.
Leah obediently did so. Thankfully, years of surviving in forests had taught her to build fires in any conditions.
Then, under the old woman's direction, she prepared a simple dinner: rice, vegetables, a little dried fish.
Set the table. They sat, ate. Delicious, filling, homey. Grandma Mei told stories from village life, Leah listened, smiled.
Almost like home.
Leah cleared the dishes, started washing them in a wooden basin, when the door flew open.
Cold wind rushed in.
And her.
Ai Lin stood in the doorway, breathing heavily. Hair disheveled. Face pale. In her hands a woven bag of herbs.
Her gaze swept the room, stopped on Leah.
She froze.
Something flickered in her eyes. Shock. Recognition. Fear.
A second of silence.
"What are you doing here?"
Her voice was quiet but strained to the limit.
Leah held her breath. The bowl slipped from her hands, fell into the basin of water. Splashes scattered.
"I..."
"Ai Lin!"
Grandma Mei rose from her chair, indignant.
"What manners! The girl helped me! I got lost in the forest, she walked me home!"
Ai Lin didn't take her eyes off Leah. Her breathing was rapid and uneven.
"Grandma, you don't understand..."
"What don't I understand?! That you're being rude to a kind person?!"
"She's a stranger! You shouldn't have..."
"Stranger or not, she helped!"
Grandma approached her granddaughter, grabbed her hand.
"And you will thank her! Right now!"
They began to argue. Faster, louder, in dialect. Leah could only make out fragments: "dangerous," "don't understand," "kind girl," "will leave."
Leah quietly, quickly finished washing the dishes, trying not to draw attention. Dried her hands. Stood awkwardly, not knowing what to do.
Leave? Stay?
The argument ended as suddenly as it began.
Ai Lin whirled toward Leah.
"You can stay. Only because you helped my grandmother."
Her voice was even but cold as ice.
"But don't think I'll take my eyes off you."
Her gaze was sharp, wary.
***
The evening passed in tense silence.
Grandma Mei went to bed early. Tired after her walk. Leah helped her get to bed, tucked her in with a blanket, adjusted the pillow.
The old woman fell asleep almost instantly, snoring quietly.
Leah returned to the common room. Ai Lin sat at the table, sorting herbs. Fingers moved quickly, confidently.
Didn't raise her head.
Leah stood awkwardly. Leave? Stay?
"Let's go outside."
Ai Lin finally looked up.
"We'll talk. So we don't wake grandmother."
Her tone was stern.
They left the house. Walked a short distance, to the edge of the clearing.
The night was quiet. Cool. The moon hung over the mountains, almost full. A few more days and it would be the full moon.
Ai Lin stopped, looked at Leah.
"I don't know what you're looking for. But stay away from this village. From my family."
A tremor ran through her voice. From anger? From fear?
"I'm not looking for anything," Leah tried to object. "I'm just..."
"Thank you for your help with the landslide. Really. You saved lives. Thank you for helping my grandmother today. But now leave. Please."
The last word sounded almost like a plea.
"Why?"
Leah's words tumbled out on their own.
"Why are you... why do you hate me so much?"
Ai Lin looked at her for a long time. Her fingers clenched into fists, white from tension. Something flickered in those dark pupils. Pain? Regret?
"I don't hate you."
Quiet. Almost a whisper, her voice breaking.
"Then why?!"
"You... I..."
She cut herself off. Pressed her lips together as if trying to hold words inside. Turned away.
"Doesn't matter. Just leave. Leave the village. It's dangerous."
"Dangerous? For whom?"
"You don't understand," Ai Lin turned sharply. Something desperate flashed in her gaze. "There are things... there are people who... if they find out that you..."
She fell silent. Words stuck.
"That I what?"
"Leave!"
"I don't want to leave! I feel... at home here. For the first time in years. And you... you..."
Leah broke off, not knowing how to explain. How to say about the imprint, about the connection, about searching for her for a year.
Ai Lin closed her eyes. Exhaled slowly, painfully. She held out Leah's backpack.
"You have to go."
She turned and walked back to the house. Quickly. Without looking back.
Leah stood there, feeling a lump rise in her throat.
Why?
She'd felt at home these past weeks. With Grandpa Wei, with the villagers of Shuiyuan. For the first time in years of wandering, since leaving La Push.
And now. No home again.
Leave.
Leah roughly wiped her eyes, turned and walked into the forest.
Away. From the house. From the village. From her.
She didn't want to return to Grandpa Wei. Not now. Not with this weight inside.
Leah walked and walked, not choosing a path, not counting time. Just wandered through the night forest, letting her feet carry her anywhere.
In her chest pulsed an aching knot, and without meaning to, she sent into the night a quiet, animal signal of despair. It reached Ai Lin instantly, not as sound but as a tremor in her bones.
Tears dried. Only emptiness remained.
Why do I always have to leave? Why is there no place for me anywhere?
She didn't know how much time had passed. An hour? Two? The moon had shifted, shadows lengthened.
And suddenly all her instincts howled.
DANGER.
Leah froze.
Wolf senses, even in human form, peered into the darkness.
Forest all around. Silence. Too complete a silence.
No cicadas. No rustling. No breathing of night beasts. Nothing.
Only a smell.
Barely perceptible. Strange. Something chemical, unnatural. Metal. Sweat. Blood.
Humans.
Leah took a cautious step back.
Too late.
They emerged from the shadows. From all sides. Surrounded her in a tight ring.
Eight men. Men in dark clothing, faces hidden by scarves. In their hands weapons: knives, clubs. One had a crossbow.
Hunters.
Her pulse hammered in her temples.
"Don't move."
One of them, older, stepped forward.
Leah didn't move. Assessed the situation.
Eight against one. Armed and surrounded her professionally.
But I'm not an ordinary girl, she smiled mentally.
They attacked simultaneously.
Leah dodged the first blow, delivered a counter-strike to the jaw. Bone crunched. The man fell, clutching his face.
The second jumped from behind. Leah drove her elbow into his solar plexus. Air left with a wheeze.
The third swung a club. Leah grabbed his wrist, twisted. A breaking crunch. A scream.
Werewolf strength. They didn't expect it.
But there were too many.
A blow to her back. Leah staggered. Another blow to her side. Ribs flared with fire.
She spun, fought, struck back.
Knocked down another. Hit the throat, the knee, the groin.
And suddenly something wrapped around her neck.
A chain.
Cold, metallic. Tightening.
Leah jerked. The chain didn't press hard, didn't choke. Just... hung there.
Magic?
She waited for burning, weakening, like in stories about magical bonds.
Nothing.
Doesn't work on me.
And then she caught the scent. The same one from a year ago, when she'd found the bound dragon in restraints. Ancient power. A trap.
This chain wasn't for her.
For someone else.
For a dragon.
Leah understood instantly. The imprint inside howled with recognition.
They're hunting the dragon. Ai Lin.
Fury flared white-hot.
She grabbed the chain, yanked. Metal stretched, clanked. The man holding the other end flew forward. Leah met him with a kick to the chest. He collapsed unconscious.
The chain fell to the ground.
Six remained.
They exchanged glances, stepped back.
"Who are you?" the man asked hoarsely, stepping from shadow.
The ninth, whom Leah hadn't noticed before.
Older than the rest. Face open, without a scarf, weathered by sun and wind, with a scar across his cheek. He limped, favoring his left leg heavily.
An old wound.
He approached, shone a flashlight in Leah's face.
Bright light blinded her. Leah squinted, turned away.
"It's not her," the man said slowly, appraisingly. "This is... who are you?"
That voice.
Leah recognized him.
The same man whose leg she'd grabbed a year ago, dragged through the forest, left behind.
Who had hunted the dragon then.
They came back.
"Who are you?" the man repeated. "Where is the dragon?"
Leah blinked, pretending not to understand. Her face empty, confused.
The man narrowed his eyes. Rubbed the scar on his cheek. A nervous gesture.
"Her birthday is soon," he muttered, as if to himself. "The boss has waited more than twenty years. Can't wait anymore."
Birthday. Thirtieth. That's why they came back now.
"You're protecting her."
He addressed Leah again. Not a question, a statement.
"You know where she is? Speak."
Leah was silent.
And suddenly her instincts howled again.
Not about herself. About her.
Ai Lin. They'll go to the house. To grandmother.
Fury and fear mixed.
Leah concentrated. Every cell tensed. She didn't know if it would work. Didn't know if it was even possible.
But she tried.
Through the imprint. Through the invisible thread that had bound them a year ago.
Not words. There were no words.
Only pain. Sharp, deadly, piercing.
And despair. Pure, nameless, primal.
Something jerked in her chest. The imprint responded. Weakly. Uncertainly.
The connection stretched, trembled.
Hunters. Ai Lin, hunters are here.
She'll feel it. She has to feel it. This thought beat in her skull, full of fear and hope.
The man looked at her strangely. Then turned to the others.
"She knows too much. Get rid of her."
Cold ran down her spine.
The remaining six moved forward. Knives glinted in their hands.
No. Not like this. Not now.
Leah bolted.
Didn't transform. No time. Just fought.
With werewolf strength, with speed. With the fury of a cornered beast.
Hit the first in the throat. He wheezed, grabbed his neck, fell to his knees.
Dodged the second's knife, grabbed his arm, twisted. The knife fell. Leah caught it mid-flight, slashed the third's leg.
Blood spurted. A scream.
They attacked again, together. Leah deflected, struck back.
Darkness helped. They saw poorly, stumbled, missed.
Leah was faster. Stronger.
But not invulnerable.
A knife entered her left shoulder. A hot flash of pain. Leah jerked, pulled out the blade. The wound gushed blood, but almost immediately the flow became sluggish, the edges of flesh began to pull together, devouring her strength. Her head spun from weakness.
A club blow to her back. Her spine flared. Another blow to her ribs.
Leah fell to her knees, coughed. Blood on her lips. Her body ached, bones knitting wrong, taking the last reserves.
Get up. Get up. GET UP.
She rose, swaying.
Jumped on the nearest one, knocked him down. Smashed his head against stone. He went still.
The remaining three backed away.
"Damn," one breathed. "She's not human."
The scarred man watched from shadow.
"Retreat. Follow me."
They ran. Dissolved into the forest darkness.
Leah stood there, breathing heavily.
Blood flowed from her shoulder, from cuts on her arms, from her split lip. Ribs burned. Each breath agony. Wounds itched, closing, but with each minute a leaden, all-consuming exhaustion gripped her. Her body demanded rest for recovery that wasn't there.
Ai Lin. Have to warn her. Have to...
Leah walked. Staggering. Through the forest. Back to the house.
Have to get there. Tell her. They'll come back. They...
Strength left her. The world swam before her eyes.
She'd wandered far. Now the way back seemed endless.
She stumbled. Fell. Got up. Walked on.
Pre-dawn haze painted the sky gray. Trees became distinguishable.
And through the fog Leah saw her.
Ai Lin.
She was running along the trail. Quickly, lightly, as if weightless. Hair streaming. Face pale, frightened. She was heading straight for that tangle of pain and fear that had been beating in her own chest from the moment Leah left.
Their gazes met.
Leah wanted to scream: "Run! Get away! Danger!"
But she had no strength.
Seeing Ai Lin, seeing her here, alive, unharmed, Leah seemed to lose the last support holding her upright.
Her knees buckled.
"They..." Leah breathed out, falling. "They're looking for... you... hunters... chain... for a dragon..."
Ai Lin caught her before she hit the stones.
"Leah! Leah, hold on!"
Her voice was frightened, desperate. Not cold at all.
Leah tried to focus her gaze. Couldn't. Ai Lin's face blurred.
"They... mistook... thought... I... but they were wrong... they're looking for... you... birthday... full moon... run..."
"Quiet."
Ai Lin pressed Leah to her chest. Her hands trembled.
"Hush. Don't speak. Now... now I..."
But Leah no longer heard.
Darkness consumed her completely.
The last thing she felt: Ai Lin's warmth. The smell of rain and ozone.
And a desperate whisper:
"Don't die. Please. Don't you dare die.”7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvMLULU5rsN
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