Chapter 11

Heather's POV:
"Mom, we're having an art festival at school next week, will you and Dad come? I have a very important competition." I looked at my foster mother who was wiping down the seats.
Even though I've been disappointed in them, I still hope to get their support and there will be many parents there to watch their children's games that day.
"Heather, don't you forget that our doors sent you to school to find a rich man, not to enjoy campus life. If you still can't find a rich man, I'll have to sell you to Principal Smith." My foster mother slammed the rag in her hand right into the bucket of water in front of me, splashing the dirty gray and black water in my face.
I was so frightened that I sat down on the floor, and my foster mother looked down at me without changing her expression: "You'd better not think of lying to us, or you'll have a good time!"
"No, I will not lie to you. I entered this contest because the winner gets a prize, and I just want to ease the burden for you and my father." I scrambled to explain to my foster mother, my body shuddering uncontrollably at the thought of that disgusting old man.
"That's enough, Heather, stop dreaming! What kind of school do you think this is, and can those awful songs of yours compare to the others? Those kids have been professionally trained since they were kids, don't you go thinking about surpassing others, hooking up with a rich man as soon as possible is much more useful than that."
"I know, Mom, I'll do it as soon as I can." I bit my lip hard, it was too humiliating to say such words, I looked like a salesman eager to sell his merchandise, and the merchandise was myself.
Looking at the cold, dirty sewage in the bucket, I felt like my heart was soaking in it too.
"Well, don't be an eyesore here, always such a procrastinator at work!" My foster mother looked at me impatiently, "Go bring your father dinner, he's helping someone else unload at the port."
"Okay, Mom." I hung my head and walked away quickly.
I felt some regret, maybe I shouldn't have come back, but I had no other place to go. The girls in the dorm all knew about my theft, and no matter how much I explained, they still looked at me with contempt and disgust in their eyes.
On my way to deliver my father's dinner, my mind wandered to some recent events. When I go to the harbor, I pass by a coast without street lights, where many people come to feed the seagulls and take pictures during the day, but at night there is no one here.
The sea churned and crashed under the creaking planks, and there were unreadable birds of prey chirping around.
Somehow, I felt a pang of fear and always felt that something in the dark was staring at me.
I quickened my pace, and the pavement, which I could only see with the help of moonlight, became less and less clear. I did not dare to stop, I wanted to run, but I was afraid of alerting something that was staring at me in the dark.
Distracted, I didn't see the steps in front of me and my body fell forward uncontrollably. Oh my God, don't dump my father's dinner! With this in mind, I clutched the basket in my hand.
My father's dinner did not suffer any damage, but my body hit the board heavily because it was not cushioned in any way.
The fracture-like pain immediately spread throughout my body, and my entire body was soaked in cold sweat.
That wasn't the worst of it. As I tried to stand up, I seemed to shake a pair of big yellow eyes.
Those eyes stared at me like two large light bulbs, the light inside sharp and dangerous.
After just one look, I withdrew my eyes and buried my head behind the basket. I didn't dare to confirm or run away, my body was sore and stiff, like a lamb to the slaughter.
No, I can't just wait to die, I have to do something.
I kept encouraging myself in my mind: Heather, get up and get out of this hellhole!
Lying curled up on the ground for a while, the darkness never moved, and I couldn't help but guess that the eyes I just saw might just be my hallucination.
With that thought, I regained some strength and was about to slowly stand up. My hand seemed to be really fractured and I rolled over with difficulty as a fishy hot breeze hit me in the face.
By the time I got a good look at the scene in front of me, my eyes were glazed over.
A big wolf was standing on my head, and at that moment he opened his bloody mouth to me.
I even stopped breathing when I met its gaze, and I seemed to see a hint of contempt in there.
It swept its long scarlet tongue around the tip of its teeth, its mouth grew a little more, and its big, horrible head pressed up against me.
I subconsciously closed my eyes, thinking my head would be gone soon, tears rolled down from my eyes indisputably.
Suddenly, an ear-splitting roar rang out above my head, and the imagined pain did not come.
When I opened my eyes again, the big wolf pressing on top of my head was gone. There were two big wolves tangled up next to me, one of them was the same wolf that tried to bite me just now.
The other ......
If I remember correctly, the other one should be the big black wolf in the fir forest. I suddenly realized that he was the one who saved me in a critical situation just now.
I wanted to leave immediately, but I couldn't seem to move my body, so I sat rigidly in place.
The big black wolf of the cedar forest was much more powerful than the beast, and the defeated wolf soon fled. The big black wolf wanted to go after it, but he took a few steps and then hesitantly turned his head to look at me.
I also stared at him blankly, wondering why, I wasn't afraid of him at all.
He walked slowly towards me, with a walk more noble than a cat. I knew he wouldn't hurt me, and despite some nervousness, I stood my ground and waited for him to come to me.
He stood a few paces in front of me and howled at me, and I seemed to be able to guess that he was warning me, "Heather, hurry up and go home!"
But I've just seen him at his most vicious, and now this howling has no warning effect at all.
"My arms and legs are hurt, but I have to rush to the port to bring food to my father, can you help me?" I deliberately pretended to look at him with pity.
In fact, I could walk slowly and the pain was not unbearable. But wolves are pack animals, and I was worried that the big black wolf would be in danger when I went after that wolf, so I wanted to delay him for a while longer.
The big wolf blinked, and even though I couldn't see where his eyebrows were, I could imagine him frowning right now. I bet he thinks I'm a pain in the ass for a human.
I didn't flinch at being stared at by his eyes, which were as thick and black as night, reflecting fine points of light in the moonlight.
To be honest, it was a beautiful pair of eyes. After a short stalemate, the big wolf suddenly took a few more steps forward, then dropped its forelimbs and bent down in front of me.
I looked at him in surprise and hesitantly said, "Do you ...... want me to lie on top of you?"
The big wolf blinked lazily and moved his eyes away, as if he disliked me for being too nosy.
This is amazing!
I couldn't help but guess that he might be a lone wolf living in the cedar forest, because I had unintentionally intruded into this territory so that he wouldn't have to endure the invasion of loneliness.
He treated me like a friend before he gave me a dress, sent me gold, and even ran to keep me safe. An indescribable excitement rose up in me, along with pride.
I became friends with a wolf who may only have me as a friend.
So thinking, I showed a smile and carefully approached him. He may really be too slow for me to move, suddenly extending a huge claw, accurately flinging me onto his back.
Before I could react, I was on his back, and it was a good thing the basket in my hand didn't fall.
He was really big, with a large area on his back, and I'm sure I wouldn't even fall off if I rolled over on this. The big wolf stood up slowly and my view suddenly opened up, even the island on the other side of the river was visible, like flying in mid-air.
Perhaps it is worried that I will fall, the big wolf's speed does not dare to be too fast.
We were relaxed as if we were walking along the shore, the fur on his back so lush and silky that it swept over his face so comfortably that I felt like I was falling asleep.
I wish this coastline was a little longer, preferably until dawn when I reach the harbor, then I could still see the sunrise with this current perspective.
But imagination is always beautiful and false, I just closed my eyes for a short while, suddenly felt a bump. When I opened my eyes again, I was already lying on the plywood.
I eagerly looked behind me and saw the figure of the big wolf gradually fading away in the darkness. I wanted to go after him, but as soon as I took a step, there was a sharp pain in my ankle.
At the same time, my father's angry voice rang out behind me, "Heather, you little bitch, you want to starve me to death?!"
With one last lingering look at the darkness, I finally turned towards my father standing under the streetlight.