The Girl He Marked

Chapter 29

Book 1 Chapter 29

| sit up and leave Aria to it, I walk along the water‘s edge. I don‘t go very far; I just want to look around.

I take my phone out of my pocket and take some photos of the lake, I can‘t believe how beautiful it is.

I‘m so glad we came here.

I watch Aria from a distance as takes selfies of her in the water, a smile forms on my face as I think

about how I am so glad we did this, despite my reservations. I continue on my walk round, stepping

over moss–covered rocks and pushing overhanging branches out of my way. I glance up as a

movement catch es my eye.

About 500 yards away, something black moves behind some trees, hidden by the waist–high ferns. I

frown and take a few steps to the right, trying to get a clearer view. The shrubbery no longer blocks my

view, and my breath catches in my throat as I see a huge black wolf standing near the edge of the

water on the other side of the lake. Its eyes are trained on Aria, watching her pose. I freeze in fear, and

I feel like I can do nothing but watch the wolf watch Aria.

Alena! Come back let‘s get going!‘ She shouts, my eyes snap over to her as she waves and grins at

me. Thurriedly look back at the wolf to see its eyes are now on me. It stands, watching me for a

moment, whilst I remain motionless. I gasp as it turns on its heels and disappears into the trees.

Did I imagine it? No, I can‘t have.

Thurry back over to her and put my shoes back on, she is already dressed and waiting for me.

‘You won‘t believe this, I just saw a wolf, I tell her as I slide my bag onto my back. She looks at me with

wide eyes.

‘What? What was it like?‘ Aria asks, and I frown at her question.

‘It was huge, it was watching you, then it disappeared when you called me over, I explain to her, and

we head back into the cover of the trees with uncertainty.

‘Are you sure we should continue? Maybe we should go back, She suggests, and we consider it.

‘We‘ve come all this way, we should still camp out,‘ I tell her, and she looks at me with indecision.

“Let‘s camp somewhere far away from this lake, I don‘t want to be anywhere near it, Aria comments

and I nod in agreement.

I don‘t want to bump into any more of them, that‘s for sure, I mutter and take another look at the sur

rounding trees for any black shapes.

‘There, this is perfect!‘ Aria announces as the trees part in an oval shape, creating a sheltered, little

glade.

‘We have three hours till sunset, let‘s set up camp! She says and fist pumps the air.

We take off our heavy bags and begin clearing leaves and debris in certain areas so we can lay down

our groundsheets for the tents. I clear a large area and flatten down the earth so there are fewer

bumps, then spread out my sheet. It takes us half an hour to get my tent up with Aria‘s help, but to be

honest, I thought it would take much longer than that. Aria, who brought a pop–up tent, simply unclips

the straps and it literally pops up in front of our eyes. I‘m not going to lie; I am slightly envious.

I collect firewood whilst Aria decides to make the camp more ‘homely‘. I wasn‘t entirely sure what she meant by that, but when I return with arms full of a variety of dry logs, I am stunned by how lovely the

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looks. She has picked up any leaves or pinecones, so the glade contains only grass and flowers. She‘s

posi tioned fallen logs around a designated fire pit area to act as benches and large logs around the

perimeter as a makeshift fence. She has even hung bunting between our tents.

‘This looks like something off Tumblr, I love it, I compliment her, and I place my logs by the fire space.

‘Seriously, this is amazing, well done,‘ I tell her, and she has a smug look, obviously proud of her work.

We start the fire and begin to make our dinner, which consists of chicken fajitas, my favorite. Aria

serves up our food and the two of us huddle around the fire, wrapped up in our sleeping bags despite

the warm night air and burning flames in front of us. The full moon provides a beautiful silver glow that

mixes with the golden glow of the flames.

‘No wonder you saw a wolf, it‘s a full moon, they‘ve all come out to play, Aria teases and I roll my eyes

at her.

Thear leaves crunching in the trees behind me and I quickly snap my head round to see what is there.

The sunset a long time ago and I can‘t see anything in the inky black shadows of the trees. I frown and

turn back to my food. We‘re in the middle of the woods, there‘s bound to be wildlife, we‘re fine just as

long as that wildlife doesn‘t have black fur and huge teeth.

Around midnight, we decide to call it a night and we retire to our respective tents. I snuggle down into

my sleeping bag and get comfortable. Within five minutes, I‘ve unzipped the side and I have to stick my

leg out to try and cool down.

I‘m boiling

Tunzip the first layer of my tent opening, leaving just the mesh zipped up to keep bugs out. I survey the

trees again, but I can‘t see much due to the dying embers of the fire and the full moon providing the

only light sources. I slide off my leggings, so I‘m left in my thong and bra. I lay back down and sigh

happily as the cool breeze slips through the mesh and circulates around my tent, the temperature

drops enough to let me sleep.

What seems like only minutes, but could be hours later, I start to wake up. At first, I‘m semi–conscious

and confused as to what has awakened me. But I feel the soft fur on my fingertips, and I smile. s