CHAPTER 5 #2
The resort is quiet at this hour. I start walking without any real destination in mind, following the winding stone pathway. Lanterns glow softly along the trail, and somewhere in the distance, a buggy hums faintly before fading into the silence of the valley.
I keep walking, barely paying attention to where my feet are taking me, my fingers absently unwrapping another square of chocolate.
I take a slow bite, letting the sweetness melt on my tongue.
It’s ridiculous that something as small as chocolate has become my comfort tonight, but right now, I’ll take anything that keeps my mind from my upcoming marriage in a month.
After Samarjeet’s call, I had even spoken to Mom. She listened patiently and tried to calm me down, but I know that even she cannot undo my brother’s decisions. In our world, when the eldest son speaks, everyone else simply rearranges their lives accordingly.
Urgh!
I take another bite and continue walking, absently pushing open a small gate in the metal fence. I hardly notice when the neatly laid stone pathway gives way to a narrower trail. The lanterns fade with every step, their glow diminishing as I move farther from the main resort area.
I’m still lost in my thoughts when I hear footsteps behind me. My body goes still for a fraction of a second.
Someone is behind me.
I don’t turn immediately. Instead, my gaze slowly moves across the landscape ahead, and that’s when it hits me. This doesn’t look like the resort path anymore. The ground ahead is uneven, darker, and crowded with tall trees and dense shrubs. How far have I come? Where am I?
Then, a thought slips into my mind. Forest?
I recall the resort manager specifically warning me about the dense forest beyond the barricaded boundary, meant to keep wild animals away from the estate after dark. The small gate I had absent-mindedly walked through was probably the very boundary I was warned about.
Just then the bushes ahead of me rustle, not from the wind…
but from something moving inside them. Someone is lurking in those shadows.
I have faced armed men before. But wild animals…
that’s an entirely different game. The rustling sound comes again, a little closer this time. My pulse begins to pound in my ears.
Before I can spin around to run or even fully react, a rough palm clamps firmly over my mouth, cutting off the scream that rises in my throat. My body is yanked against a hard chest, and for a split second, pure panic surges through me.
I struggle instinctively, trying to wrench his hand away from my mouth, but his grip only tightens. In the next instant, his other arm locks across my upper body, pinning me against him so effectively that I can’t twist free.
My back is pressed against him, my heart hammering wildly against my ribs, when his low voice brushes against my ear. “Stay quiet.”
The sound freezes me instantly. Raghav.
Relief washes over me. At least the man holding me is not an unknown predator lurking in the forest. But that doesn’t mean I appreciate being manhandled like this.
I try again to pull his hand away from my mouth, ready to snap at him and stop this ridiculous method of communication.
But before I can do that, the bushes ahead rustle again.
This time louder. My gaze slowly shifts towards the dark patch of shrubs ahead, where two faint dots of light flicker in the shadows.
A pair of eyes. They glow dimly in the moonlight, watching us from behind the bushes. My entire body goes still as the animal finally steps out, and the sight of it makes my throat go dry. It is a feral wolf, staring at us without blinking, making one thing painfully clear: it is hungry.
Raghav slowly removes his hand from my mouth, though he still holds me close for a second longer, as if to ensure I won’t panic and do something reckless. Then, he gently but firmly shifts me to the side, positioning himself directly between me and the animal. Like a wall.
I swallow in guilt. If I hadn’t wandered out here tonight, none of this would be happening.
I barely have time to breathe before the wolf lunges.
It all happens in a blur. One moment, the animal is crouched low against the ground, the next it is flying through the air with a guttural snarl, tearing through the silence of the forest.
Before I can even gasp, Raghav shoves me back.
The force of his push sends me stumbling several steps behind, just as the wolf crashes into him.
Its weight slams into his chest, and both of them stagger, but Raghav doesn’t fall.
His arms lock around the animal’s body as he twists sharply to throw its momentum sideways.
The wolf hits the ground with a furious snarl and lunges again, its claws scraping against the soil.
I have seen men fight. But this, watching someone take on a wild predator using nothing but raw strength, is something else entirely.
The wolf snaps its jaws dangerously close to Raghav’s shoulder as it attacks again.
But he catches its neck with one arm and drives his knee hard into its side, forcing the creature back for a brief second before it retaliates.
“RK!” I scream in worry, but he doesn’t look back.
His attention remains locked on the animal now circling him with low, furious growls.
Right then, Haider bursts through the trees, running straight towards us, his gun already drawn as he takes in the scene unfolding in front of him.
Relief floods through me. But the second Haider raises his gun and takes aim, the wolf senses him.
With a savage snarl, it abandons Raghav and leaps towards Haider instead.
The force of the impact sends both of them crashing violently to the ground.
The gun slips from Haider’s hand and skids across the dirt before stopping just a few feet away from Raghav.
My eyes lock onto it instantly.
“RK!” I shout desperately. “The gun! Pick it up!”
The weapon is right there, just within reach.
One shot… and the wolf would be dead.
For a fraction of a moment, Raghav’s gaze flicks towards the gun, and something strange crosses his face. It is so quick and subtle that I almost think I imagined it.
Hesitation…?
The wolf is still thrashing against Haider, its claws tearing into his jacket as it snaps viciously near his shoulder.
“Shoot it!” I scream again.
But Raghav doesn’t move towards the gun. Instead, his hand moves to his ankle, as he removes a knife hidden there. Before I can even process it, Raghav grabs the wolf from behind and wrenches it away from Haider with sheer force. And then… Raghav drives the knife deep into the wolf’s throat.
A harsh, choking sound erupts from the wolf as its body jerks violently. But Raghav doesn’t stop. He continues until the wolf collapses heavily against the ground and the forest falls silent once again.
For a few seconds, none of us move.
Raghav pulls the knife free and steps back, his chest rising and falling in controlled breaths.
Haider pushes himself up as well, brushing dirt and leaves off his clothes before giving Raghav a quick nod.
But I barely notice him as my attention is fixed on Raghav.
On the way his shirt is slightly torn where the wolf’s claws scraped across him.
And then… on the gun lying forgotten on the ground only a few feet away.