Chapter 1 — The boundary line, the marriage between a girl and a wolf. Part 24 (Chapter 1 END)
It was quite stiff so my teeth couldn"t even sink in, and the stench of the blood was too intense.
I let go for a moment, took a deep breath, and after steeling my resolve, tried again.
"Don"t force yourself." I could feel Shiro pushing me on my cheek with his leg.
"Please let go of me."
He did as I told him, but he was still against the idea.
"It"s impossible for you, since you have no fangs or claws."
"I do have them." It was just that they are too brittle for this kind of work.
With trembling hands, I took the knife out, but encountered trouble while trying to unfold the blade.
"I understand your feelings, and I"m glad that you are by my side—really—from the bottom of my heart."
As he said so, he buried his claws into the corpse.
He cut right through the skin, sliced through the muscles and ripped the bones aside, exposing the innards.
But his way of doing it was still very gentle.
"I"m not alone. I have you, after all."
He bit off something from the innards and placed it in my hands.
It was…the heart.
When I held it in my hands, I could sense my fingers almost melting due to its heat, feeling as though it was still beating this very moment.
I was holding onto the lump of flesh, about the size of a fist. Something that was beating, manifesting the vestiges of a life, and I---
---ate it.
My crimson lips touched it, and my white teeth tore the pink flesh apart.
It was like an apple made out of flesh, slowly descending into my stomach and heating up my whole body.
For some reason, tears started trickling down my face.
When I finished eating it, I couldn"t handle the tears any longer and collapsed on the ground.
My body was burning up, as if I had swallowed fire itself, and my heart started beating violently.
Exhaustion, so heavy that it wouldn"t allow me to move even a single finger, a.s.saulted me.
Watching me, Shiro murmured, "My older brother died a proper death. May he take on another body and visit us again."
It almost sounded like a prayer, but I was certain that it was anything but that.
When he was done, he howled.
And in answer, countless howls resounded, and several wolves appeared from amidst the trees.
Those old wolves with the ashen fur that had lost its shine, continued releasing moans filled with grief.
One of them looked very familiar.
It was the King of the Forest—Shiro"s, as well as the just pa.s.sed away Silent Steps", father.
"Did you kill him, Moon Eater?"
It was a sorrowful voice, with an inflection that indicated that he had already expected this outcome.
"Our kin doesn"t condone killing between ourselves. You are making the forest your enemy by this."
Shiro silently stood in front of me and took a step forward.
"Then, King of the Forest, I ask you this. Do you wish to fight me right here, right now?"
There was no hint of hesitation in his voice, and he glared at all the wolves as if something had already broken inside him.
"Go away." The King of the Forest shook his head and signaled us to leave the forest.
"We have to mourn Silent Steps."
Shiro nodded obediently and, using his front legs and mouth, skillfully mounted me on his back and ran away from the wolves.
I wanted to ask where we were headed to, but I didn"t even have the little strength required to do that.
~~~
After a while, Shiro stopped and stood still.
Truth be told, I found that even the slight shaking of riding on his back was unbearable, so luckily he stopped nearby.
It was just at the border between the city and the forest, beside the road where I met Shiro for the first time. I was still riding on his back when he started digging a hole at that spot.
Then, he let me down and lay me inside it.
As the soft, yet slightly wet soil enveloped me, it felt more pleasant than I expected.
"This is a wolf"s bed," he said half jokingly as he lay down beside me.
I remained silent and shifted my body closer to him.
Then I closed my eyes as the night, the scent of blood, dirt and my beloved wolf"s scent enveloped me.
If I were to die---
"If you were to die, I will eat your flesh. I will eat everything, even your bones, skin, and even your soul. I won"t leave anything behind."
And when that happens, the white wolf that strayed from the forest and the black girl that ran away from the city will truly stay together forever.
Even if our enemies were to surround us, the two of us will be together.
Forever, and ever.
If all this had happened ages ago, that"s probably how our story would have ended.
But nothing had ended yet.
It was only just starting. Finally.
def_nomad: Well well well, I normally don"t use this s.p.a.ce except for translator notes, but figured I"d say a few words since this marks the end of chapter 1. First of all, thank you very much for reading this far, and second, the next chapter is actually longer than this one, so once again, I"ll be splitting it into smaller chunks to be able to maintain a regular release schedule. As this chapter stated, the story is only barely starting now, but this much is probably enough to give an idea of what kind of story this is. Once again, thanks for reading!