254\u2013The Victim In The Woods\u00a0<\/p>\n
Baxter:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did you not confront her?\u201d my wolf snapped.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I knew this would happen. The moment she started to explain herself, my wolf would be the first to want to believe her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I was not as emotional as he was. One of us had to be rational.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI noticed a few things,\u201d I commented, letting my wolf calm down before he pushed forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd what did you notice?\u201d he questioned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe spoke about her wolf exposing the truth. What if that is what happened in the past too?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As soon as I said that, my wolf went silent, likely considering my words.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore, when her wolf surfaced, Madeline used to have blackouts. She did not remember what she did during those times. What if her wolf had awakened long before she realized it? And what if all those things had been done by her wolf?\u201d I paused to take a deep breath. 1\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI stopped myself from arguing with her because of that,\u201d I added, making my thoughts clear to my wolf.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOh. I did not see it like that,\u201d my wolf replied.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut what does it mean?\u201d he questioned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means her gray wolf is not as loyal to her as she thinks. Her wolf exposed her secrets, something that made her look bad. Now, her wolf is acting friendly with her,\u201d I muttered, because I honestly had no clear answer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We had never spoken much about our wolves. Or maybe I had never asked her enough questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHere is a crazy thought. What if her wolf was the one who did not like us? And she did all this because she genuinely thought we were not good enough for her? What if her wolf is just a mean one? So she wanted to make sure we do not end up with Madeline? Or what if her wolf knows deep down what she wants?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My wolf started listing these scenarios and theories, which made me grunt and turn my face away, even though there was no one there.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you just stop talking?\u201d I told him, cutting him off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, you were looking for an excuse to forgive her,\u201d my wolf snapped, calling out my hypocrisy, even though he was being hypocritical himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He questioned why I did not confront her, as if he wanted excuses from her so he could forgive her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now he was accusing me of doing the same thing. But I was thinking rationally.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Both of us went silent for a few minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know,\u201d I started to speak again, but a loud scream tore through the air, pulling my attention away from the topic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another scream tore through the air. I froze, then started looking around again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Goosebumps spread across my skin because of how frightening the screams were. This time, even Madeline\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
254 The Vic tem ty The Worde\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
rushed out of the shelter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We exchanged a brief glance before looking away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was that?\u201d she questioned, and I shook my head without looking at her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My eyes scanned the woods, between the trees and as far as my vision would reach.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is coming from that way,\u201d I replied, pointing to my left.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou stay here. I will go check it out,\u201d I told her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I had only taken one step forward when I felt her fingers tighten around my forearm, stopping me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I paused and turned around, she quickly pulled her hand back, looking awkward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJust be careful,\u201d she whispered, and the anger I had toward her began to fade.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Every time I looked at her face, my heart softened. That was why I had been avoiding speaking to her and keeping my distance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With a nod, I rushed away.I pushed through the trees, branches scratching me as I struggled to see clearly in the dark.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I reached the place where the cries had come from, I stopped in my tracks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There were no more screams or calls for help, only the whimpering and crying of a distressed woman on the ground.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She tried to cover her legs, her dress torn several feet up. I turned my back to her, my heartbeat pounding in my chest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease do not hurt me, please,\u201d she whimpered, begging me not to touch her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That broke me instantly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not going to touch you. What happened to you?\u201d I replied.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I reached for her dress, grabbed it, and stepped backward toward her with my back turned, stretching my hand behind me so she could take it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I felt her weakly snatch the fabric from my hand, and her crying grew louder.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She did not say a word as she put her dress back on. Once she was finished, she finally spoke.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can look now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned toward her and saw her brown eyes fixed on me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There were bruises and bite marks on her arms, her neck, and even her face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDid an animal attack you?\u201d I asked, crouching to her level while keeping my distance because of how shaken she\u00a0<\/p>\n
was.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her short black hair was tangled as if someone had pulled at it hard enough to tear strands from her scalp.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish it was an animal,\u201d she whispered, her lips trembling as she hugged herself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I felt something was very wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
254\u2013The Victim in the Woods\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey raped me,\u201d she said quietly. 1\u00a0<\/p>\n
That was when I understood what had happened to her, and anger surged through me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
P\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
254\u2013The Victim In The Woods\u00a0 Baxter:\u00a0 \u201cWhy did you not confront her?\u201d my wolf snapped.\u00a0 I knew this would happen. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-no-daddy-novel-by-novelnozi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19455"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19623,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19455\/revisions\/19623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}