NOVEL NEXT Chapter 321: Unreal
Samantha reached out to Renato's arm and helped him stand. He didn't struggle, so she could drag him up.
She passed his arm on her shoulders and hugged him by the waist.
«Let's go,» she said. «One step at a time. You need help.»
«Is this all a dream?» he wondered. «Or my mind is making you up to have a reason to move? I've seen it in a human movie. The man would think someone was helping him but, once woken up, he realised that he had just imagined everything. He did it all alone, actually.»
«Mhm, interesting,» Samantha murmured while walking towards the residence.
That place was big. There would surely be a bed, clean towels, and maybe even some food. It seemed safer than turning the other way and looking for a wolf who wasn't fuming in anger nor despairing.
«So, are you a dream? Or a hallucination? Am I going to die?»
«You would have died if I didn't come here,» she said. «Why in the world did you send everyone away?» Find new worlds at m-vl-em-py-r
«Because I wanted to be alone.»
«Alone? Shall I send you back to your place? Dying at the gate like a watchdog. How stupid.»
«I am stupid. I haven't been a smart person, ever. Lately, it's getting worse.»
«I see. Then I'll overlook it for once.»
«Thank you. If even a hallucination left me, I would be done for. My mate doesn't want to see me, and my pack is disbanding. I think I'll stay alone with you forever.»
«Oh, well. We'll talk about this later.»
«Yes? Even you want to leave me.»
«Just shut up and walk.»
«Are you guiding me to hell?»
«You would deserve it!»
«I would follow you, my little devil. I don't care where, as long as you're with me.»
«You're gone,» she realised. «Your brain is totally fried. What the heck are you talking about?»
«I'm training. I need to learn how to flirt to conquer my mate back. She's so, so mad. And I feel like telling her to get revenge won't be enough.»
«What kind of revenge?»
«I don't care. Whatever she wants, as long as I can look at her again. I don't even need to be her mate. Just feeling her close will be enough for me.»
«You're a lost cause.»
«I know, but do you think she'll accept it if I look pitiful?»
«Look pitiful? At this very moment, you don't look. You are.»
«Oh, awesome! Will it work?»
«I don't know... Wait for her to come here and check.»
«Mhm... Will she come?»
Talking nonsense, they crossed the door and walked in the hallways.
«The closest bed,» she said.
«Oh, you're just as impatient as my mate,» he said, crooking his lips in what he imagined was a grin.
«Where?» she repeated.
«There's one in that room there. No one sleeps there, so it should be empty.»
«This whole place is empty.»
«Good. We can...»
«Lie down,» she ordered, making him sit on the mattress. «I'll be right back, okay? Don't lose consciousness now. I need you awake.»
«Oh, yes. Awake is better,» he agreed.
A set of light steps reached the room, and Samantha turned to see a trembling Lucretia.
«Oh,» she moaned. «Your brother abandoned you here.»
She made sure Renato wouldn't roll off the bed before talking to the girl.
«Bring some clean towels and warm, clean water.»
Since the girl didn't move, she walked to her. She clenched her arms and made eye contact before repeating her words.
Lucretia snapped out of her trance and saw Samantha for the first time. She nodded and ran away, only to come later with everything she had been asked for. When she walked back into the room, she noticed how Samantha was helping Renato undress.
She whelped at the wounds on him. Why weren't they healing?
Since he couldn't move too much, Samantha moved his shirt up and observed the six... oh, seven wounds on his chest. She could feel another couple on his legs, but those on the chest and torso seemed worse.
«You like doing this, don't you?» he said, seeing only her.
«Shut up,» Samantha said before starting to clean him.
Once the blood was removed, she could see that his wounds were just as severe as they looked. He wasn't faking it: he really must have been in confusion. His temperature was high, and his will to live was too wavering to help him heal.
He smiled, closing his eyes when she wiped his chest clean from the blood.
When Samantha noticed how he was relaxing, she panicked.
«Renato?» she called him. «Hey, hey... Renato!»
«Oh, you're not real,» he sighed. «I was starting to hope.»
«Don't scare me like this! Keep your eyes open!»
«Mine wouldn't ever call me by name. First of all, she doesn't know it. And, second, she hates names. She would call me differently.»
«That's right,» she murmured. «Continue talking, okay?»
«Okay. I'd prefer listening to you, though. Talking takes energy.»
She remembered that Lucretia was still in the room, looking at them, as confused as Renato.
«Oh, right,» Samantha realised, feeling suddenly shy. «There are other people who need help.»
She turned to Lucretia again and tried smiling reassuringly.
«Everything will be all right, eventually. Take clean towels, water, and medicines if you have any. Your pack needs you, Lucretia.»
The girl nodded and left, her mind too shocked to actually feel anything. She delivered some of the medicines to Samantha before walking out of that place for the first time since everything had started.
Her brother couldn't bring her with him because she was too slow.
She didn't find wounded people on the streets. They had gone back home. She looked around, the medicines and towels in her arms. What could she do at that point? The battle was over, and no one needed her help anymore. She had been weak.
She walked for a long time until reaching the only place where she felt safe. She knocked at Amanda's door, and her parents opened it.