CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE (WAXING CRESCENT)Chapter Twenty-Three: Hours Before the Full Moon“Say, Mallory,” Leofric asked while they were walking back to the pack.“Hmm?” Mallory briefly lifted her head to look at his back before looking back down. They were walking on uneven ground, if she was distracted even for a bit, she’d slip and throw all the fish away to the ground. And embarrass herself.“Are you free tomorrow?” He stopped to wait for her.“Tomorrow?” Mallory met his eyes, also stopping to continue the conversation. It was still early; the sun would go down two hours from then.“It’s the full moon,” he grinned. “I want to meet with you at the moon square in the evening. Let’s watch the Blessing Ceremony together.”“Ah—”Unconsciously, her eyes wid
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR (WAXING CRESCENT)Chapter Twenty-Four: Ravings“Are you sure you’re going to be okay by yourself?” Oddny stopped right before the door to look at her.Mallory leaned on the wall, looking straight at her. She nodded. “I will be.”Oddny stared, looking at her face as if she was trying to figure out what was going on inside her mind. Mallory kept her smiling face, making sure to not let anything out.Oddny in the end just sighed in defeat. She held the door knob. “I don’t know what will happen, but everything will be alright.”“Thank you. I believe so too.”“Then, I’ll go first.” Oddny pulled the door open.“Wait!” Mallory stopped her. Oddny looked back over her shoulder. “Tell them good luck and congratulate them for me.”Oddny nodded before
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE (WAXING CRESCENT)Chapter 25: ForagingMallory looked behind him discreetly. So, it was his team. Mallory nodded her head in her mind then looked back at him.He looked at her with great expectation twinkling in his eyes. It was hard to disagree. After some hesitation, she ended up agreeing and just found herself in front of an officer and listed her name on the list. She was given a basket and she went out of the hall with her mind still floating.“Let me do it,” Leofric took the red ribbon from her hand.“Sorry?” Mallory didn’t know what happened. She watched Leofric tie the ribbon on her wrist and saw his satisfied smile after.“There,” Leofric turned to his team who were looking over and nodded his head. “Let’s move out!”No one dared to say against his words. Everyone filed into a single li
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX (WAXING CRESCENT)Chapter 26: An unexpected turn of EventsA whole week passed.During that week, as promised, Mallory joined him two times. It was fun, but she must admit that their time beside the river was the most enjoyable one. She doesn’t need to catch other people looking their way whenever they’re close. Having eyes on them was awkward, so she mostly avoided being with him if there were other people in the vicinity.He seems to understand it as sometimes he willingly creates distance between them, but whenever she’s alone, he just pops out of nowhere and accompanies her then disappears again to tend to the others.It was funny to watch, but she couldn’t help but notice the little tickle in her heart while watching him like that.For the remaining five days, she spent her time either helping on a farm inside the walls or simply fis
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN (WAXING CRESCENT)Chapter 27: Questioning“But Hazen invited me before,” Mallory said slowly. “Why would they if I can’t get in in the first place?”Oddny looked at her intently. “The thing is; the inviter will give the invitee proof—I don’t know what it is, that they were invited. Do you have one?”Oh, that’s probably why he still needs to see me… Mallory felt bitterness creeping in her tongue. “… No.”Oddny nodded her head. She saw her face easing for a moment before changing back to her stoic face. “Anyway, I got to go. See you later.”Clack.The door closed, leaving Mallory alone in that house.Mallory weakly sat back on her seat, looking at where Oddny had just gone out.“I was too late, wasn’t I?&rdquo
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT (WAXING CRESCENT)Chapter 28: A RiftIt was exactly twilight when Oddny went back home.Mallory was preparing for dinner when she got back home. Her skin almost jumped out of her body when someone suddenly pushed the door open. She looked at the door in alarm, only to discover Oddny almost puffing and huffing. She was flushed from her ears to the neck as if her face was dipped in blood-red makeup.Mallory opened her mouth to ask what was happening, but Oddny beat her to it.“He accepted my gift.” She started. Mallory closed her mouth again and stayed silent. Without asking who it was, she knew that it was the Alpha’s son she was talking about.Oddny went in, slamming the door behind her, hard. She took large strides across the room, reaching to pour herself a cup of water. She gulped it down in one go.“Bless the Goddess, Mallory
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE (WAXING CRESCENT) Chapter 29: Conflict A sense of disappointment with a mixture of irritation washed over her. It took a lot of dedication to control her expression, but somehow, Hazen noticed it this time. “Something wrong?” She asked innocently. “Was yesterday’s catch unsatisfactory?” “I did not fish yesterday,” Mallory stated plainly. “Why are you here?” She looked at Hazen. She didn’t change much since she last time saw her. Did she even undergo the Blessing Ceremony? Now that she thinks of it, it has been so long since she last saw her. Two weeks ago? She can’t exactly remember the date. Hazen pouted. "Why do you sound like I did something terrible? Anyway, I’m here because I want to invite you out!” “Invite?” Oddny asked, emerging out of nowhere. “To where?” “Hi there, little Oddny.” She grinned. “To eat out, of cou
CHAPTER THIRTY (WAXING CRESCENT)Chapter Thirty: AftermathHazen and Harper’s parents… Are dead?Mallory and Oddny looked at Hazen’s back with wide eyes. She saw her flinch and slumped her shoulders before she regained her strength to straighten them again. She stared at Muller really, really hard. Not a second did she break contact with the man.Muller started to break out into sweat. Instinctively, he stepped back. His eyes are still on her, appearing that he doesn’t want to break eye contact. But that’s not because of that. It’s because he can’t escape from her eyes.Muller stuttered. “W-what are you staring at me like that for?!”“Muller, you know that you constantly get on everybody’s nerves, don’t you?” Hazen coldly said. Mallory looked at her back, not recognizing her for a second.Muller couldn’t utter a single word