41“I am tired of you, Emilia.” “I am tired of you, Emilia.” “I am tired of you, Emilia.” These words keep ringing in Emilia’s head.“Why not let me go, huh?” Emilia asks him. “You do not want me here, right? Why not let me go, huh?”“Why are you yelling, Emilia?” Milan asks. “We were just having a conversation, and you started yelling! Do you now see why I need you to be cultured? Do you now see why you need those classes badly?”Emilia’s face falls immediately. “Fuck you!” She yells.“What did you just say to me?” Milan turns to look at her. “What the hell did you just say?”“You heard me right.” Emilia says. “Fuck you!” She repeats. “All you have done since we met is badger me, control me and make me feel like I am less of myself. I am tired of you controlling me, Milan! What do you take me for, huh? What do you think of me?” She asks with tears in her eyes.Milan walks closer to her and speaks to her in a low tone. “Emilia, I have never wanted you to feel less of yourself. It’

43“Emilia!” Penelope yells. “Come back here right now!” Come back this instant!” She yells at Emilia.Emilai does not say a word, she just keeps walking away. She is not in the mood for any trouble. All she wants to do is to go back to her room and rest.“Emilia, are you deaf?” Penelope yells.Emilia turns sharply, bumping into Milan’s mother.“Did you just hit me?” Penelope asks with a high-pitched voice. It is obvious that she wants to draw attention to them-she definitely wants to cause a scene.“What? I did not hit you, ma’am. You only bumped into me.” Emilia says.“Oh, so you have the nerve to talk back at me, huh?” Penelope asks.“Look, ma’am, I do not want to disrespect you. I only wanted to talk to Milan, and seeing that he is not available, I want to be in my room.” Emilia says. “I will talk to him when he gets back.” She adds.“Yeah, right.” Penelope scoffs. “What makes you think that he wants to talk to you?” She rolls her eyes.“I…I don’t understand.” Emilia says. Even th

45Emilia keeps walking in the woods. She is glad that she was able to put all the things that she would need in her duffel bag.As she keeps walking, she remembers her past. She remembers all that she has experienced in Milan’s pack. She had really tried to soften, to like him for at least something, so that the two of them would get along civilly. She was already at that point when everything started to crumble.What the hell?Milan must really hate her, for him to have left, just like that; for him to have left her at the mercy of his mother.“That bitch.” She murmurs to herself. Milan definitely knew that his mother did not like her, so why was he so pissed that he left her?Why did he leave her? He could have waited and spoken to her, he could have waited and let them iron out their differences.Well, fuck him. She does not need him anymore. She is the only one that she has; she cannot do this with anybody.She’s got herself, and herself alone.*****Milan is in the woods with hi

46Emilia walks towards the men as stealthily as possible, careful not to startle them or piss them o. She does not want to start a war or fight. The elk is at the back of one of the large trees afar off; she does not want to draw more attention to herself by bringing it along with her to the cave.The men are sitting on the floor, and it looks like they are merrying. There are drinks on the floor, and she can also see plates of meat on the floor. It looks like they also went hunting.“Hello….” Emilia waves her hands.The three of them turn to look at her.“Who are you?” One of them asks with a menacing look on his face. “What do you want here?” He asks.“I…do you guys live here?” She asks them.“Why are you asking?” Another man asks. Emilia can see that he is sweeping her entire body with his eyes.“Look what we have here,” the third man says, licking his lips.Emilia is beginning to think that this whole thing is a bad idea.“Look, I just wanted to know if you lived here.” She point

48Emilia sees sense in what Milan is saying, but she still does not want to agree with him. A part of her is telling her that he would not be risking his own life, in the woods, searching for her, if he did not care about her. Milan can be very annoying, but he really cares about her; at least, that is what she thinks.“What do you want from me?” She asks him with furrowed eyebrows.“I want you to go back to the pack with me.” Milan says.“And if I don’t?” Emilia asks with a smirk on her face.“I would have no choice but to throw you over my shoulder and race towards my pack.” Milan says.Emilia scoffs. “You want to kidnap me? What makes you think you are gon succeed?” She asks.“You wanna dare me?” Milan asks.“I am not in the mood for your shenanigans.” Emilia says and packs her things. “I will meet you outside when I am done.”“Okay.” Milan says and steps out of the cave.After Milan leaves, Emilia sits on her makeshift bed, and she starts to think the whole thing through. Even th