Beauty And Her Beast

Chapter 4

I quickly hiked my way up the incline, the venison being held around my shoulder and against my back.

I was meaning for my trip home to be a steady, and relaxing one, but apparently my legs had a completely different idea.

And I didn't even realize my quick pace until a moment ago.

I turned my head up, being able to see my destination from here.

My next breath came out trembling and my heart seemed to skip a beat before it picked up the pace.

I audibly groaned as I took my next steps.

This again? Already? I couldn't even see the wolf from here?!

Maybe I was just getting sick or something. That made more sense to me than anything else I could think of.

I could try to sleep for a bit after I get home. I'm sure my father can handle what he needs to on his own.

Or just hold off for a few hours.

I yawned at the very thought of it, the wind so graciously blowing a couple pieces of my stray hair into my mouth.

I slouched.

What a great day this had been.

"Lydia!"

My head picked up at the sound of my father, spotting him as he walked out from the small shack on the side of our house.

The shack that went down into the basement where the wolf was being held.

He walked towards me so that we met in the middle before we walked the rest of the way up with me.

"I take it you found some interesting stuff?"

He nodded eagerly.

"He's a historical discovery!" he began, lifting a sheet of paper from his pocket and unfolding it.

I looked over it as he tried to show it to me, but it was very difficult.

His handwriting became nearly illegible to anyone who wasn't him when he was passionate about something like this.

"Even by just assessing the physical side of him, is obvious from a long shot that he's one of the most powerful specimens I've ever seen. I'm almost confident enough to say he's the most powerful canine discovered to date."

"In the whole country?" I asked.

At this point, we had reached our yard and just stood.

"I'm willing to bet on it. In fact, I already sent a messenger pigeon to my partner in the West and told him to gather the rest of us up."

'The rest of us' meaning the others in a group that he became part of before I was born.

A group of ecologists all nearly as enthusiastic as him who gather together usually 2-3 times a year when one of them makes a discovery big enough to engage in before they research all that they can about it, then release the findings to the public.

The thing is, those trips took a number of weeks before he returned.

"I take it that means you're leaving soon?"

He paused for a moment before his expression slowly changed into something close to guilt.

He set his hand on my shoulder.

"Lydia, I'm sorry this is so sudden. I know we had big plans this spring but I-"

I waved it off.