***THREE DAYS LATER***
Miranda had arranged a meeting with the circle the previous day. The men that Damian had sent them where plenty and would be sufficient to defend their lands, but there were still lots of helpless wolves to protect, Miranda’s heart still feared for them, the majority of which were the children and the disabled.
During the meeting, one of the elders then proposed an evacuation for those helpless wolves, an idea she wished had come up earlier, but there was still time to make it happen. If they hurried up, they could still make it happen.
That morning, she got up early to survey the terrain borders, to ensure that the coast was clear and that the Lotus wolves would not encounter any difficulty as they all travelled to the safety of the silver walls. Miranda had already made plans with her husband prior to this morning regarding that.
She went to the mountains with two silver soldiers, and one of her friends, Audrey, where they would get a better view of the neighboring lands from the high peak view the mountain offered.
It was a struggle to get to the top, but when they reached, they got to work immediately.
“What do you see?” Audrey asked one of the guards who was holding a stethoscope, looking through it.
“The coast is clear. We haven’t gotten any intruders so far. I think that Rakur will keep to what he said by coming in the promised seven days’ time instead of a surprise attack.”
“I don’t know about that,” Miranda said with uncertainty. “I feel that there’s something else he planned not written on that letter. He’s been too quiet, and surely, his moves can’t be that predictable?”
“I don’t know too. It seems fishy that he would just give us the upper hand by letting us know the war date, and giving us enough time to prepare to defeat him. I don’t think any reasonable opponent meaning business would do that.”
“It doesn’t seem as if…”
“There! I’ve spotted something…. An intruder!” Her voice was cut off by the guard shouting, as he’d spotted a small figure trespassing on Lotus territory.”
“Let me see!” Miranda asked before being handed a small stethoscope.
“Do we order the men at the tower to shoot?”
“No!” She yelled.
“What is it?” Audrey asked with surprise. Why would the queen want to protect a possible threat to Lotus safety especially at this time?
“Do not tell them to shoot!” Miranda ordered again.
“What? What is it?” Audrey asked her… for the second time.
Miranda didn’t answer her question, only shifted into her wolf form.
“Let’s go,” Lily howled, before starting to run, all the way back down from where they came.
Audrey had no idea what was going on, but decided to follow suit, shifting to her wolf to catch up with Miranda, and leaving the two guards to continue the survey.
After almost an hour of running, Lily and Chika had reached the destination they’d spotted from the mountain; the place where they’d seen the intruder. Why did she come all the way down here?
Lily shifted back to her human state, and so did her friend, before Miranda continued the search for what had caught her attention earlier. Audrey then started to get impatient.
“Alpha Miranda… can you please, at least… tell me what is going on? Why did you come all the way down here? What did you see…?”
Miranda then cut off her question, “Shhhhh…. Listen…”
Audrey kept silent then, and paid more attention to the surroundings, then she began to hear what it was that made Miranda go haywire… the cries of a small child.
**********
They located the voice coming from underneath a tree nearby… there they saw a small cub, sitting on the ground. It was a she-cub, barefooted, her hair was scattered, her entire body and clothes were stained in dirt, and she had a long scar on her arm; a battle scar.
Miranda nearly cried seeing the poor state of the frightened child; poor cub must have been through so much.
She took slow steps towards her, but Audrey was not comfortable about this.
“Alpha Miranda… I really don’t think you should be doing that… I don’t think you should be going close to her…”
Miranda then stopped, “why do you say that?”
“Think of it… An unidentifiable cub shows up from the middle of nowhere… right before a battle, how are we sure it’s not a trap?”
“Audrey… how could you say such a thing?”
“I know… I’m sorry, my queen, I just think we should be more alert during these times and be ready to accept anything.”
“Yes, we should be, and that’s why we will accept this cub as one us…. I don’t think she’s sent by the enemy… I think she’s just lost and scared…” Miranda then resumed walking to her.
“What’s your name, little one?””
The girl then rose her head from where she was crying into her lap, meeting the friendly gaze of Miranda, who held out her hand to her…
“It’s okay, there’s no need to be scared… you are safe now, dear… I promise that you are safe.”
She looked into Miranda’s eyes, as if wanting to see the truth in her words. It took more than a minute for her to get comfortable, before standing up from the ground to enter into Miranda’s arms.
The embrace for Miranda felt warm, the feeling of hugging a child, is one she never knew she’d want this much.
“What is your name, dear?” Miranda asked her again as soon as they broke contact.
The little girl stared with war blue eyes between her and Audrey. She looked back towards the more welcoming face, before giving her the answer she asked in a little stutter.
“M-m… my name… is Camila.”
Aww… such a beautiful name, she thought… but who could have hurt this girl so badly that she’s now scared to death, even of her own kind?
Miranda made a vow to herself then.
“Well Camila, there’s no need to be scared or frightened anymore, there’s no need for that… because I will protect you and keep you safe. I will take care of you and help you return home.”