Gina's POV.
Lord Tyler came as promised and I had to say that I was flooded both with happiness and relief to see him.
“It is good to see you, friend,” he said with his usual smile.
“I share the same sentiment,” came my response.
“You are ready to leave, I presume?”
“Very much so. I am anxious to leave and grateful for your company,” I said to Lord Tyler.
Once I had left this forest, my mind would be at ease because it meant I was no longer on the grounds of the Shadowclaw pack and I was even farther away from my father's pack, The Bloodmoon pack.
As we journeyed out of the forest, arrows began to rain towards our direction. Followed after this rain of arrows were two men who were covered in black clothes. I guessed at once that they were bandits. Tyler wasted no time as he met every sword clash while I hid behind a tree. As the fight between the three intensified, Tyler told me to run with Tristan. I hesitated because I did not want to leave my friend alone in a life-or-death situation but if I did not turn my back now there was a possibility they would kill me after finishing Tyler off.
So I ran for my dear life on Tristan while tears flowed from my eyes. I turned my head back once and I saw that Tyler was on his knees. From my view, he looked like he had dropped dead.
I cried until I reached the end of the forest and was now in the desert.
******#*******
It was amazing how a forest with trees and lush ground could stand side by side with a completely barren land. The desert was hot and dry and very windy too. It was not a long one as I could see the end of it but passing through it had to be the hardest thing I had ever had to do.
I met no one on this short ride and I was relieved when I had made it to the other side.
At long last, I had reached my mother's pack or at least I was a day away from her pack.
At the very end of the desert were rocks and tall mountains and when I reached the highest point I could see my mother's pack sprawled beautifully in the distance. I saw tall buildings although they looked small from where I stood and could see wide bodies of water. From where I stood, I could tell that the city was well-defined and was secured. I felt like I was finally home.
But what now? What would I do when I entered the pack? Who would I say I was?
That I was … daughter whom they had not seen in years? Were they even aware of my existence? Would I not appear a stranger to them?
Will they kill me upon arrival?
Camille had told me to return to my mother's pack but I had grown up without my mother. She had died while giving birth to me so I knew nothing about her except her name. And if she was a mere maid in Alpha George's pack did that not mean she held no power in her own pack? Would anyone even remember such a lowly person? And even as I saw the pack from where I stood I could not see its end. It was a very big place. When I arrived there, who shall I seek out? How will I know my mother's family?
When I had been in the Shadowclaw pack, I had been so fixated on escaping that I had not thought deeply about my destination. However, it was too late to turn my back now. The only way was to move forward.
I arrived at the pack during the early hours of the next day. When I reached the border I had no identification tag to show the guards at the border.
“You are clearly one of us but how do you have no tag?” one of the guards pulled me aside to question me.
It was refreshing though that they identified me as being one of them.
“This is my mother's city. She left a long time ago and had me in a foreign land,” I had wanted to say pack but changed it at the last second. The people here did not look like werewolves but humans. And I only guessed so because Raven had told me she could not see their inner wolves and if she could not identify a wolf in them it meant they had none. They did not strike me as vampires either as they were out in the morning and moving freely under the sun. The only plausible inference I could make was that they were humans. Could that be why I could not get myself to transform into Raven? Was that why I had met my wolf later than other werewolves? It would certainly explain a lot.
“Who is your mother?” the guard asked. I watched his mouth open so I could access his teeth. He had no fangs nor did his teeth appear sharp like those of werewolves that ate lots of meat.
“Marilyn Aurelius.”
The guard’s face held a surprised look. He looked at me curiously. At least I knew that my mother was known here. That had to be something right? The only problem was that I could not tell if she had been a good person or a bad person.
When he had recovered a little from his shock, he left me to tell another guard what I had just told him. The other guard looked at me strangely too.
They returned to me and said, “We will take you to the king.”
“I will ride my horse,” I insisted when they wanted to put me in a carriage. I could not leave Tristan behind.
“I am afraid you cannot ride your horse within the city. At least not until your identity has been confirmed.”