Chapter 5-Death

Conall's eyes steadily move around the small inn room the girl had asked for them to put him in, the silence of the room was disturbed by the persistent tapping of his foot on the bed as he nervously waited. He didn't want to be given false hope and made-up beliefs but the girl was sweet and charming to him, even when he had attacked her, he had treated him so kindly, he couldn't have lied about giving him a job, although he wasn't able to feed his mother properly before he was taken, he thought it'll be worth it if the young miss will really give him a job, even if it as a servant in their Duchy, he would be able to properly feed his mother and get her expensive medicines, if he could just get a stable job even if as just an errand boy. Conall's heart thumped in his chest as his glint of hope had him anxiously praying for some kind of escape.

The girl was like an angel sent to put an end to his suffering and if she managed to do that, he knew he will be forever indebted to her. Conall sighed and leaned back to the bed, his strong hands dipping into the bed as he shifted his weight, ever since the girl gave him a room to rest until her brother comes back home, he hasn't seen her and that made Conall restless, what if she's lying to me? What if she wouldn't give me a job…what if she goes back on her word? Why would she help me anyway? I'm not even a fox, Conall couldn't stop speculating, his mind laden with doubts, Conall rose to his feet, staring absentmindedly into the night sky that had brightened the room with its moonlight that shone brighter than the candles lit in his room, Conall did not realise how much time had passed until that moment.

"Mom would be very worried, I should return," He thought out loud turning in the direction of the door but before he took a step closer, his door was flung open, and in front of him stood Rena, who had a brightened smile on her face, unlike when he first met her…her calm face had an excited gleam to it, and the way the moonlight falls on her emerald brooch which in turn brightened her slightly tanned face made Conall gulp, she was just a 13year old girl and yet she carried herself like an adult noblewoman would, though the way she flung his door open doesn't seem all that noble.

"Hello, my brother has been back for a while now. He said you can come along with us too" Conall though gladdened by the news was confused by Rena's excitement, why does she look so happy that he was coming with them? Conall kept wondering why she looked like she was getting a pet, is he a pet? The question stroke him, maybe she thought of him as a dog to play with, that made him frown.

Rena whose energy was already drained from trying to convince her brother to bring Conthat, all with them to Azeria gulped on seeing Conall's face turn gloomy.

"Do you not want to come with us?" She found herself asking after seeing the look on Conall's face, she could read it perfectly, it wasn't reluctance rather it was annoyance.

"Why do you want to help me, Miss Rena, you don't even know me?" Rena gulped after finally getting a perfect reading of Conall's expression, he was suspicious which was understandable, after all their coincidental meeting hasn't been long, it's not even been two days since they met. 'You killed me and my family in my last life so that's why I need to have you near me to keep my eye on you' I can say that can I? Rena thought to herself as she forced Conall a sheepish smile.

"Well let me see…honestly, I don't know. I still think I might regret this but I like your face so it doesn't matter" Conall froze at Rena's response, she liked his face? Conall gave her a wild look of disbelief, like did she just say to him?

"You should return home and prepare to depart tomorrow, you'll meet us here and you look like you could use a makeover" Rena grinned while Conall stood frozen in spot not knowing exactly how to reply to her.

"She like my face?"Conall kept repeating to himself as he head home walking down the lonely narrow path that lead into the woods. The cabin there was said to be haunted so it was sold off cheaply after all it was the only thing he and his mother could afford. "She like my face?" Conall paused to ponder wondering how someone will choose to help another person on a whim simply because they like their face, does that even make any sense? Conall thought heaving a loud sigh in exasperation.

"Wait…what's that?" Conall's icy blue eyes slowly reddened as he sniffed the air and picked the scent of blood. He felt fur rise to his body and his human ears slowly transitioned into wolf ears before he leapt onto the nearest tree, jumping so high to cover the glistening moon that cast his shadows as he kept leaping into the sky, while swiftly moving from tree to tree trying to get home as fast as he could but as he got closer, Conall's nose got keener and the scent got sharper.

The scent of blood was so thick he could hardly breathe, and despite it being mixed with the scent of herbs and berries from the thick forest that surrounds the gloomy cabin Conall could still distinguish it, it was definitely blood and not just any blood…it was that of his mother.

Conall stood in front of the cabin, his heart pounding painfully against his ribs as he trembled in fear of what awaited him once he rose to the porch which old wood creaked under his weight. "Mom" His voice trembled as he called out to his mother while he hesitated reaching for the doorknob. "Mom…I…I brought you some food" He swallowed the lump in his throat as he finally found the courage to push the door.

Conall's heart shattered at the scene that lay before him, he was clearly not expecting to return home to see his mother soaked in her own pool of blood. "Mom!" He yelled as he ran for his mother who lay sprawled in the middle of the cabin. Conall felt his whole world crumbling as his mother's cold body met his warm one.

"No, this can't be happening…mom, please, no" Conall trembled clinging to his mother's dead body, shaking it vigorously in the hope that she would at least open her eyes but she was still. Her lifeless form lay bare in his arms, blood still dripping from her slit wrists.

"Why? Mom why?" He screamed out in agony. Thunder rumbles ahead and the cloud darkens and looms over their little cabin, Conall wept bitterly over the limp body of his mother as the rain splatters over their detached roof. His eyes caught on the edge of his mother's white linen which she normally use to cover herself, Conall remember he had worked his ass off to buy the fabric for her, he had tried to mend it with some fur that way she could cover herself with it during the harsh cold of winter, it was now the same fabric that held his mother's last words.

"I don't want you to steal anymore for me Conall, I'm sure you will live properly without me in your life. Conall you're better than this, by the time you're released from prison I'll probably be dead…I just wish to put an end to this agony a lot sooner, I hope you know that I always love and care for you…I wish things did not turn out this way son, I love you Conall" Conall didn't realise he was crying and sniffling again until his wet tears stained the fabric which his mother had left her last words.

"It's all my fault…it's all my fault" He cried silently realising his mother had misunderstood the earlier situation, maybe she was sick but she was still a wolf, it was normal that she managed to overhear the conversation earlier, Conall knew his mother had misunderstood those knights as Connla's enforcers, she probably thought they came to arrest him for stealing those deserts when he had truly been gifted, if only he hadn't met Rena, if only he hadn't taken those deserts, if only he was home a little sooner, Conall cried, his wails travelling the nail and into the night.

Unable to hold in his pain, he let out a heart wrecking howl embodying it with his pain and grief as he continues to weep.

"What am I supposed to do without you now mother…you were the only one I have left" He sobbed silently.

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