Chapter 16
FIRE DAWN PACK
Scott's parents, Beta Richard and Beta Lily, had to remain in their house according to the order of the Alpha. They had wanted to go in search of their son as soon as the day broke, but the Alpha had instructed them to wait because he had sent out warrior guards in search of their son and he wanted them to remain in the pack until the warriors got back with news of his possible whereabouts.
“Remain in the pack until the warriors get back with news of your son’s whereabouts.” Alpha Marcus had ordered, and although Beta Richard wasn't completely in support of sitting back and letting other people do the work, especially now that his son was involved, he had no choice but to obey his Alpha.
“But until when, Alpha Marcus?” He had asked, trying to work his way into the search party to look for his missing son. “I can go with them, Alpha. It will make the search more effective.”
“No, Richard, you'll remain in the pack, at least until the warriors get back with news on his whereabouts.”
Beta Lily kept walking back and forth impatiently as she thought of how they could bring back their son. She soon picked up the TV remote from the table and turned it on, hoping to hear something about Scott on the news but as she kept switching channels, there was still no sign of hope at all. The only thing they could do was to wait for the search party.
“What if they can't find him?” She suddenly asked, as tears began to well up in her eyes. “What if he is hurt? What if he has been attacked by a wild animal?”
“Come on, Lily, don't say that. We have to be positive and remain optimistic. I believe he will be found as soon as possible. Scott is a smart boy.” Beta Richard said to her, trying to make light, the situation but his wife wasn't taking any of his words.
She suddenly gasped, “what if he has been taken by rogue wolves? Oh no!” She burst into tears as she dropped to the ground, feeling defeated.
“How could we have failed as parents once again, Richard? How? Why?” She cried out, uncontrollably.
She looked up, with tears still pouring from her eyes, “What exactly is my offense, moon goddess? Why have you permitted this to happen to me, to us?” She kept crying, even as her husband kept comforting her. It was as if the more he comforted her, the more she cried.
She suddenly wiped her tears and got up,
“Are you going somewhere?” Beta Richard asked her, standing up too.
“I'm going to find my son.” She said firmly.
“What?” Beta Richard was shocked.
“Yes, Richard, If you think I'm going to sit here and just keep waiting in vain for the warriors to come back with news when my baby is probably in trouble somewhere, then you must be joking. I'm going to find him myself!” She replied and was about to walk away when Beta Richard caught her by the arm.
“Let go of me!” She protested, as she tried to free herself from his grip but it was too tight.
“Listen to me, Lily. We need to-” He tried to stop her but she wasn't having any of that.
“No, Richard!” She yelled, cutting him off. “I'm not going to listen to you! I'm going to find my son myself, I don't care what you say!”
Deep down, he feared the worst but he had to be a man, he didn't want to show any form of cowardice. He just had to be strong at that moment for his wife who was totally broken.
“Listen to me!” He yelled at her, with his hands firmly grasping her upper arms. “Do you think I'm not devastated too? You think I'm not bothered that our only son is missing and might probably be in some big trouble out there? You think I'm not worried too? Well, if you do not know, I AM!” His deep voice, reverberating in the room.
“My head is completely messed up because of this whole situation and I don't even know what to think anymore.” He paused for a little bit to take a deep breath. He then loosened his grip on her and took a few steps away from her before he continued to speak.
“Do you know how I feel with every passing second? I feel like a failure, like a very useless father who is unable to keep his family safe.” From the way he spoke, Beta Lily knew that he had so much pain bottled up inside of him. “I mean, I couldn't even-”
“Richard, please.” She calmly interrupted him as she wiped her tears. “Don't say anything else, please. Don't punish yourself because of this, we both were together with him before he got missing, it is not your fault.”
Hearing his wife's calm words, he sat down. She also walked to him and sat down too.
“He will be found.” He said to her, not looking at her but staring at the ground instead.
He then looked at her,“Even If the warriors don't find him, I'll go in search of him myself and I won't stop until I find him. I will do whatever it takes.” Heassured her and she acknowledged by nodding gently.
***IN THE FOREST***
Veronica and Scott walked around the forest for about an hour as they kept searching for fruits to feed their hungry stomachs. Luckily, they got to a tree and were able to find some edible fruits. Veronica climbed it and tried to get as many as she could, while Scott waited down for her. As she plucked the fruit, she kept it in a little bag.
“Look Vee, I think this is edible too. I'm going to try it and see how it tastes.” Scott said as he snapped a fruit from its branch.
He was about to toss it into his mouth when Veronica looked down at him and suddenly screamed. And with one jump, she was down from the tall tree, standing on her feet.
Her scream shocked Scott and he shrieked in fear as he saw how she jumped down from such a tall tree and how her eyes lit up with what looked like fire, scaring him more.
She immediately snatched the pretty-looking fruit from him and tossed it far away from them. “You should be careful, don't just eat anything!” She exclaimed but Scott was too shocked to say anything he just stood there transfixed, staring at her.
Noticing what had happened, she quickly held him, “Scott, are you okay? You look like you've just seen a ghost. Are you alright?” She kept asking.
He finally found his voice and asked, “What just happened?”
“Look, I'm sorry for yelling but you were about to eat something poisonous and I got scared.” She explained calmly and apologized for scaring him with her scream.
“Really? It was poisonous?” He asked with widened eyes and mouth.
“Yes, Scott.” She reaffirmed. “If you had eaten that thing, you'd have been paralyzed immediately and in a few minutes, you'd be dead.” She explained further. “And not to scare you, but there was also a poisonous snake slithering towards you.” She added.
Hearing this, Scott almost jumped out of his skin, “What? Where is it?” He screamed.
“I think it 's gone now.” She replied, looking around. “That's strange.” She whispered to herself.
“Are you okay? Are you hurting anywhere?” He asked with so much concern in his voice.
“Yes, I am. Why do you ask?” She answered, confused as to why he was asking her if she was okay.
He looked up to the tall tree she jumped down from and looked right back at her.
“I was just wondering if you were fine, considering how tall the tree is and you jumped down in a flash.” He replied.
“Oh!” That was the only word Veronica could utter as she also looked at the height of the tree and began to wonder how it was possible for her to have jumped down without feeling any pain.
“Look, what happened to your shirt?” Veronica asked as she saw that it was torn and missing a part.
“Did you just notice? It got caught in some sharp thorns after I lost contact with my parents, so it tore off. I even got wounded but surprisingly, it has healed up now.” He explained.
“Oh, I didn't notice that before now.” She said. “I hope you don't feel any pain?” She asked, trying to check.
“No, I'm perfectly fine.” He answered.
She then looked around and frowned, “We should leave here, Scott. There are so many poisonous vines here too.” She said quickly as she noticed the environment was truly filled with a lot of poisonous and dangerous things.
“Thank you for saving me back there.” He thanked her as they walked away.
“You're welcome.” She replied with a big smile.
They had only walked about ten miles away from where they got the fruits when Scott suddenly, unknowingly, stumbled on a trap and fell into a very deep pit, hitting his head as he fell and he passed out.
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