Chapter 10: A Run

While the next day we make breakfast in the same spot, a question comes into my mind.

“How long do we have to stay here, Leomord?”

He spares me a glance, his expression remaining neutral. “Till the day Marcus’s family stop looking for us. Marcus was just a inhumane jerk, so I could tackle him. But I can't fight the whole family alone. And,” he points at my barely swollen stomach, “You're going to be a mother. I don't think you're going be in a safer place than this den.”

“What should I tell my child about their father's identity?” I slowly say.

Leomord goes quiet for a minute, not meeting for my stare. “Once all of this this ends, you'll meet a nice guy and marry him. Then your child can call him father.”

I give him a tight smile, the conversation topic is getting complex. So I choose not to drag it. What's more important is to live in the present.

I take a nice bath in the pond, closing my eyes while floating in the water, enjoying its beautiful torture.

It hasn't even been a week since we came here. And we have to stay here till my child is born, at least for another half year.

It's not bad at all, staying here. But we'll run out of supplies, of money. Although, I can start crocheting again, it's no big deal.

I wonder why people don't come here. A beautiful and dense forest like this, it should be packed with tourists. I haven't seen much animals here, let alone wild animals. I did make sure to chase some cute rabbits though, it's funny how they hop on their little legs. Leomord told me that there are some wild animals by the end of the forest. Who knows, maybe I'll go there someday, if I get suicidal urges.

I'm kidding. Even after everything happened, I didn't want to kill myself. To me, that's an invalid thought. I'll die when my time comes.

I rinse of the water from my body with a rag, then wear my dress. Maybe the best thing about being pregnant is that I don't have to worry about having periods and deal with dirty clothes. But nowadays I get cramps, if I keep standing up for too long. And I get hungry. I almost eat as much as Leomord now, and he's a big, muscular man.

I walk inside the den and keep myself busy with books, while Leomord stay outside, writing something in his diary. I understand if he wants some alone time, since I'm not the greatest companion.

I plunge myself in the books, because it's the greatest way to escape reality. While reading, I'm not sure when I doze off, and end up sleeping quite nicely. When I wake up, it's dark in the den, but still I see his green eyes staring back at mine.

“Leomord?” I say.

“Sorry, didn't mean to be creepy,” he gets up and turns on the lights.

“You're not,” I giggle.

He brings me a cup of steaming tea.

“Here, have some tea. It will warm you up.”

“Thanks,” I take the cup, grateful. It's quite cold in the night.

He sits beside me, leaning on the frame of the bed, watching me. I feel kind of awkward. Do I have something on my face? I only have a small mirror with me but I don't check my reflection often.

I take a long sip, and turn to him, “Do you have something to say?”

He runs a hand through his hair, looking away. “I felt like I should apologise to you for yesterday.”

“No, it was my fault, after all,” I look down, sighing. “I can't just blame the hormones. You shouldn't have to deal with it.”

“I didn't mind though,” he mumbles.

“What?”

“Uh, nothing,” he closes the topic and walks up to his suitcases, fidgeting with things.

What did he mean by that he didn't mind?

“Don't give me hope and leave me alone like that, Leomord.”

He becomes surprised and tilts his head to me. Then he steps ahead, seeming to be deep in thoughts, but says to me, “Do you want to run through the woods, Anastasia?”

I flinch. How did he know? Yes, I want to be free. But still, somehow, I'm chained up.

“Right now?” I ask, trying to analyse his expression to see if he's joking.

“Why not? Today's full moon,” he motions his hand, smirking. “We can be wild wolves. It will be exciting.”

“What if any wild animal chases us?” I try to act worried, even though my heart is pumping with thrill.

“I'll protect you.”

We're going to run through the woods. But as much as I understand, only one of us is going to run. And another one is going to chase, to hunt the other one down.

Leomord waits for me outside, after giving me a wild stare. What did it mean? Are we finally going to be together?

I look at my collection of my dresses, thinking if I should wear a revealing one. I choose a sleeveless red one, quite bold, since it's cold outside. But anyway, I don't care. Shit, I don't have any makeup stuff with me. I hope that it's alright.

Suddenly fear haunts me. Why am I going to trust a man again?

But Leomord is different, right? He would have done something to me, if he had any ill intentions. I guess, he wants me to give me experience and thrill.

Ugh, I need to stop overthinking. Maybe it's just a run after all.

“I'm ready,” I go outside after five minutes, in my bold, red dress. I don't know why I shiver, because of the chilly wind or because he's here standing just a feet away from me.

I don't miss the flicker in his eyes, how they look at me up and down in a split second, and how it lingers at my chest. It sends electric pulses all over my body.

“Let's get going then,” he offers me his hand, and I take it gladly.