Thea - II

"Don't you want to shop for snacks at the convenience store?" Hugo reminded.

True. I want to go to the convenience store. It's a good reason to escape from Esme. I hurried to leave the elevator, trying to ignore the intangible call. Unfortunately, when I left the elevator, I constantly needed to hear him call me. So before the elevator door closed again, I rushed in a while, pointing to my hearing. Find the source of the sound.

Who would have thought the call turned out to be from the mobile phone of a teenager watching live streaming? I put my ears closer to the mobile phone in the hands of the teenage boy in the green shirt. Ignoring his reprimand for having brazenly approached, interrupting the show watching him.

I heard that voice from there. That voice called me, even asking me to come. I thought long enough to ask, even begging Hugo to be delivered to Cafe Near & Far Joint, one of my favorite places. Hugo knows that.

Hugo was willing to take me there after looking at him with a begging look and a voice that I softened when forced to meet him.

I didn't find anyone around the café. However, I spontaneously blended into the crowd when someone passing in front of us said that many people were crowding at the crash site of a foreign object they suspected to be a meteor. I ignored all sorts of warnings Hugo gave me, and he even seemed overwhelmed to compensate for my steps in the crowd.

We witnessed three light brown furry wolves swarming, the only grey wolf with a line of white feathers wrapped behind the head to the tip of the tail. I don't understand why they see each other as if they are about to attack each other. But it seems to understand. He's an Alpha. He dispersed the crowd and three wolves that I suspect belonged to his flock.

As Hugo approached, the rare furry wolf bent down, slowly transforming into a sturdy human body, quite muscular, with dark hair, turquoise eyes, and a wolf head tattoo similar to his engraved on his left chest.

The man did not hesitate to get close to Hugo, who had completely returned to his human form, and I did the same. Approaching the two men, Hugo unfortunately swiftly hid my petite body behind his tall body.

"Are you holding this territory?" The foreign man spontaneously asked Hugo.

His pair of bluish-green eyes swept across every corner of the city park and the surrounding skyscrapers. Astonished, confused, and unfamiliar could not hide how the man stared. I can see and feel it. I spontaneously shuddered at the mixed feelings emanating from the look in the foreign man's eyes.

This voice. Just as I heard in my dream, exactly as it guided me to bother coming here, the man who is now dealing with Hugo managed to get me to get rid of Hugo's big hand holding my arm.

I also approached, looking at the burly body of the man in front of me, then I slowly dared to look straight into the bluish-green iris with my head raised when dealing with the man whose appearance was unfamiliar, but his voice felt so familiar.

I spontaneously raised my head and muttered. "You... Your voice... it often appears in my dreams."

The man's pair of bluish-green eyes rounded when I made a sound. I did not feel familiar with his voice, but he was too. Spontaneously the man stretched out his left hand, strangling my neck, and did not hesitate to lift my body high in line with his height even as the people around him screamed hysterically watching the incident.

"Let her go if you still want to be well accepted in this city!"

I heard Hugo threaten him. But the man ignored Hugo's request.

Regardless of me, who was almost out of breath in his grip, he stared intently into my eyes, then said, "Why did you do that?"

His voice sounded firm but desperate, although his gaze felt so fierce.

I, with great difficulty, answered. "W... what... what... did… I do?"

"You called me," the man replied bluntly. "You freed me from the curse—"

"C- curse?" my forehead frowned at his words.

What curse did he mean?

I asked again, wanting to confirm what he meant. But before that man said everything he wanted to tell me, Hugo hit his nape with his bare hands until his tall body fell to the ground. Hugo swiftly lifted him while pulling my hand when I heard various kinds of rushed steps in the distance that were getting nearer and closer.

"What's the matter?" I was puzzled. Hugo suddenly cursed and even rounded his eyes on something that came far behind me.

Hugo swiftly closed the headgear on the hoodie I was wearing, clutching my hand and staring intently into my eyes. Hugo said, "Come with me, or stay here and let yourself be caught again by Benedict Braun's men?"

I hadn't had time to answer. Hugo suddenly picked me up and placed my body on his left shoulder, along with the body of the foreign man he hit on his right shoulder. Hugo's body wasn't big enough, but he was enough to lift two people at once without difficulty carrying us to a parking lot far enough away from the city park.

"Close your eyes as if you are fainting," Hugo said firmly.

I obeyed his orders. Until the moment I felt my body already sitting in the back seat of Hugo's car along with the foreign man he hit, I dared to open my eyes and ask.

"What are you planning, Hugo?" I asked spontaneously.

Hugo squeaked long. "I'll take you home and then take this man to our elder's house."

"For what?" I asked curiously.

Exhaling his heavy breath, Hugo replied, "To secure the alpha, the prince who lost the war, whom you have free from the curse."

"The alpha? The prince? You mean - him?" I looked at Hugo and the unconscious man on my right side with my eyes widening in shock and a gaping mouth.

Hugo gave me a nod.

"He's Marc Sterling Gray," he said. "Believe me."