-Chapter 12-
(Catarina's POV)
"Shan...do you really think we'll be okay?"
"I don't know for sure but yeah, I think so."
"Thanks for saving my life."
"No problem. You've done a lot for me too. You didn't abandon me even when it meant risking your own life."
"I never even thought about it."
"I know. That just shows what a good person you are."
"Foolish," I correct him.
"Foolishly loyal and brave."
I smile. "I wish I had more clothes."
"Me too."
I shiver so he wraps his arms around me. I snuggle to him and the she-wolf lies down with us to provide warmth. We both drift asleep.
"Your bones will heal weird if you don't set them right."
"Okay," he nods. Some of his fingers are broken.
"How did that happen anyway?"
"I grabbed you and I was pulling you by your shirt. The current was too strong and my fingers snapped."
"You could have just let me go," I tell him.
"No I couldn't," he shakes his head.
I watch him wince as he moves the broken bones in his fingers into proper place. After I take his hand and wrap leaves around the fingers to hold them. Then I kiss his palm. He blushes when I look up at him, holding his hand in mine still. Then I lean forward and I kiss his lips. He is surprised. "Catarina..."
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. It's just... I care about you a lot and...I'm sorry," I try to leave tears starting to fall. He gets up and grabs me before I can go very far. He turns me to face him.
"I care about you very much too," and then he kisses my lips. I wrap my arms around him and kiss him back. His arms go around my waist.
The next few days pass without much excitement. Shan and I don't kiss again. We both just act like we always do, like it never happened.
Something goes horribly wrong though. Vampires. It is Mr. Crepsley, Arra, two others, and Kurda. Shan and I hide but listen to them talk. Kurda has a sword and he acts like he is very concerned about us. He says he doesn't know if we are still alive or not and doesn't know what happened to us. Arra and Mr. C are very worried. It is clear what would happen if they did find us. Kurda would slaughter us all. The evil bastard. I hate him.
After they leave we go back to the wolves. "We have to warn the others," Shan says and I nod. "I would ask you to stay here out of danger but I already know what you will say to that."
I nod.
He tells Rudi that he is leaving. Rudi gets an old female wolf to lead us there. She knows a secret way inside the mountain. Shan decides to call her Magda after his grandmother.
She leads us the whole way along with Streak and two younger males. Then she goes off to die in the woods because she is old and the journey was to much for her. We thank her before she leaves.