Chapter 31: Puppy

Selina was a well-behaved sleeper, especially around other people. So, it was quite a scare when she woke up to a face 2 centimeters away from her. Reinhart's facial features were amplified seeing her from such a close distance. Her usual heroic looking eyebrows were relaxed and slightly curved. Her soft breathing tickled Selina's ears causing her to roll back. Selina didn't dare to take a longer and more in depth look; no way her heart could take it. 

That was odd, maybe she was cold and needed a heater, yeah, that sounds reasonable. Regardless, Selina got up and did a few stretches. She opened up the tent and saw that it was still early morning. She was alone with no other people awake. Since Selina couldn't head back to sleep, she decided to walk around. 

The place where they rested was barren, only the faint rusting of bushes could be heard. The trees were dead, no animals could be found nor heard, and the ground was course and rough. There weren't really any interesting sights to see, but whatever, walking was fun. It gave Selina the opportunity to be by herself. Normally, she would've taken the rare time to herself to reflect, but her mind wasn't running properly this early. 

As Selina walked, she could hear vague babbling of a river and a pained…howl? Selina stupidly went near the noise, but the howling eventually ceased. Selina kept walking and did in fact come across a river, how fortunate. She also came across a small, brown puppy near the river with a pool of dried blood underneath. She noticed a large gash along the puppy's belly and a part of it's ear and tail ripped.

"What the fuck" Selina immediately picked up the little fella, who would do such a thing?! Its eyes were closed and only the occasional grunt could be heard. 

"I got you little guy." She first cleaned up the dog using the river water very gently and cooled it off using wind. Then, she carefully picked it up and ran towards the camp to patch it up. The camp was still empty, the snoring very prevalent in some of the tents. Selina realized one fatal mistake; she had no idea where the fuck the medical supplies were. She rushed into her tent, put down the dog delicately, and quickly woke up Reinhart. 

"Reinhart! Wake up!" She aggressively shook the knight only to get swatted off.

"Amelia, what the hell" Reinhart was pissed off, but kept her voice quiet after noticing the fear in Selina's eyes.

"Ineedhelp! Wherearethemedicalsupplies?!" Selina spat out, the worry in her voice evident.

"What happened? Slow down and speak calmly" Reinhart spoke softly, her hand resting on Selina's shoulder.

Selina picked up the injured dog and showed it to her.

All traces of sleep vanishing as she took the small, wounded pup from Selina's arms. Her brows furrowed as she examined its injuries, a deep gash, missing bits of ear and tail, and the dried blood caked into its fur.

"Explain. Now."

Selina nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. "I found it by the river. It wasn't moving at first, but it was still breathing."

Reinhart's jaw tightened as she gently placed the puppy on a folded blanket.

"The medical supplies are in that big pack in the back, grab it." Selina bolted towards the back of the tent and grabbed the heavy bag then sprinted back towards Reinhart. 

When she got back, Reinhart was already cradling the puppy, whispering something to it—so soft that Selina couldn't quite catch it.

"I got it," Selina announced, placing the supplies down.

Reinhart nodded and took the alcohol. "Hold it still."

Selina hesitated but did as told, gently keeping the small body in place. The puppy let out a weak whimper when Reinhart dabbed the alcohol-soaked cloth over the wound.

"Shh, it's okay," Selina murmured, lightly stroking its fur. She wasn't sure if the dog could even hear her, but it felt like the right thing to do.

Reinhart worked fast, cleaning the wound with precise, practiced movements. She tore off a clean strip of cloth and pressed it against the gash to stop any residual bleeding before wrapping it carefully with bandages.

After a few minutes, the worst of it was patched up. Reinhart exhaled and leaned back slightly. "That should hold for now. But it's weak. It'll need rest and food."

"What are we going to do with it?" Selina cautiously asks.

Reinhart sighed. "I don't know. We can't exactly take it with us. We'll be traveling nonstop, and it won't survive in this condition."

"Not to mention a certain loser hates animals." Selina grumbled. Of course she was talking about beast-hater Troye. He especially hated dogs of any kind because of Allister, the werewolf prince. 

Selina bit her lip, her nails digging into her skin. She looked down at the little pup, its tiny body curled up, trusting, vulnerable. Her hands curled into fists.

Reinhart watched her carefully before sighing again. "…You want to keep it, don't you?"

"Absolutely!"

"Then…you have to convince him first. The mutt won't survive on horseback obviously, so it'll need to stay in the carriage with his royal highness and his grace."

"Orrr, I can stay in the carriage with Noah and Troye can hitch a ride on the horse."

"...That's not something I can decide." Reinhart looks out the tent.

"The others are awake, let's go."