<h4>Chapter 530: 530-A Monster In The Woods</h4>


    <strong>Mariana:</strong>


    When I saw Yorick I was in shock.


    The same disbelief I felt seeing him echoed in his tone. But perhaps for him, being here was not such a surprise. He was a Crusader after all.


    Seeing me here seemed to have unsettled him. His voice had lost its steadiness.


    "Yorick." I do not know what came over me at that moment, but the second I said his name, excitement rushed through me.


    It felt as if I had just seen someone from my own family. Even though I had never truly spoken to Yorick, I knew him in passing.


    I had always known, and admitted to myself, that he was strikingly handsome. Perhaps more than anyone I had ever seen. But we had never shared a real conversation.


    So seeing him here, standing so close, did not feel like facing a stranger. I was looking at the one face in this ce that felt more trustworthy than any other.


    "I can’t believe a father would do that to his own daughters," Yorickmented, agreeing with what I had told him.


    We were sitting together under the fence, next to the little clearing, on the log Haiden had previously set out for a pregnant woman. Actually, Yorick told me about this ce.


    He said it was in their first or second mission that Haiden had prepared this ce for one of the pregnant Crusaders. The stories he told me were heartbreaking.


    "Well, some parents are just evil," Imented.


    As soon as I spoke, I noticed his head snap up and turn toward his parents in the distance. They were inside the fence as well, sitting together and talking in whispers on the opposite side from us.


    I lifted my head and stared at them before looking back at him.


    "I understand that you ended up making mistakes, but you need to understand," I paused, shifting on the log to turn toward him. "That your parents yed a huge part in causing you tomit crimes that you did not want to."


    I noticed his hands clutch together and twitch. Yorick was disying a lot of anxiety.


    "It does not change the fact that I should have helped Clementine out sooner," Yorick spoke between heavy breaths. "She lost her baby, Mariana. She lost her child because of me," Yorick added.


    His eyes moved toward his parents, and his jaw clenched.


    "How could you have taken her out when your parents were actively taking control of matters? I know you’re guilty because of what happened to Oriana and what you were about to do to Leysa, but do not forget your parents were feeding you sedatives to numb your mind to make decisions," I said.


    I paused and let out a deep breath.


    "That is the scary thing about living with people like them. They know how to control and twist your reality," Imented, remembering my own father.


    He did not even have sedatives or medicines, yet he was able to control me and Fauna to the point that he turned us into bitter viins.


    "I just hope Clementine got the help that she needed, and I hope she’ll be able to forgive me," he continued before rubbing his face in his hands.


    "Well, in short, I’m a very bad person," hemented, his shoulders broadening as he turned toward me.


    He was trying to sound yful, but I knew he was hurting deep down.


    "Well, if that makes you a bad person, I’m a bad person too," I replied, giving him a shrug.


    "I have been a very bitter person. I used to be so full of myself," I continued.


    I paused, lowering my head and fixing my eyes on the lonely flower on the ground.


    "When Clementine spoke out about Messi trying to abduct her, I retaliated. I took his side," I admitted.


    I grunted and stretched my neck up to look at the sky, exhausted.


    "I was so naive and stupid," I finished with a sigh.


    "Oh, by the way, Haiden epted my sister."


    I straightened my neck and then turned to look at Yorick’s reaction.


    He had a visible frown on his forehead. Confusion was written all over his face.


    "That’s weird. I mean, I kind of knew he liked her because of the way he would always bring her up in one way or another just to belittle her," Yorick paused, then let out a small snort.


    "Actually, I noticed that. Haiden bullies the person he likes. I guess it is his attempt to control his emotions," Yorick added.


    He paused while looking at me.


    "Wrong, but that is how he works," he finished.


    I started to nod andugh, but my smile faded entirely.


    "What is it?" Yorick asked.


    His voice was soothing. I could listen to him all day.


    "I really wish Ian finds Clementine soon. I mean, of course Troy will take her straight to Ian. They will be so happy," Imented, feeling a little sadness wash over me.


    "You will find your mate soon too, don’t worry," Yorick said, giving me a very yful look.


    "Really? In the north, where only monsters exist?" Imented with an eye roll, getting up from the log and dusting off my clothes.


    "Well, there are normal people here too. You just need to look around for them," Yorick replied.


    Hisment made me turn my head toward him.


    "Did you love Messi?" he asked.


    His question came out of the blue, but I was d he asked.


    "Not really," I replied with a shrug, watching him pull his eyebrows together.


    "I just wanted to get away from my home, to marry some alpha quickly so that my father would be pleased."


    I was not lying. I honestly did not even like the way Messi did things.


    He truly was messy.


    There were moments when I wanted to tell him to his face that I was not interested in his yapping.


    Thankfully, I was here today and not married to him.


    "Well, I thought a beautiful she-wolf like you just wanted to get married, find someone powerful and fun, and settle down," hemented, hiding his meaning behind big words.


    I smiled to myself, biting my bottom lip.


    "Well, thanks for thepliment. As for the rest, that was my father’s wish." a sigh heaved across my lips at the mention of my father.


    It hurt me to think that I could not even trust my own father.


    And then there was my mother, who was probably still under his abusive roof, being tortured by him.


    Now that I was no longer at the mansion and Fauna was gone too, my father would direct all his anger toward my mother, who had been abused for as long as I could remember.


    "I never liked Messi or his mother," I added honestly, not pretending to be something I was not.


    I watched him look at me before he looked away, his eyesnding on the bags.


    "We need to secure these," hemented, pointing at the bags.


    "Secure them from the monsters?" I asked, reaching for one of the bags.


    He had already given me some biscuits and a bottle of juice when we first met. He had actually brought quite a lot with him.


    "No, from them," he mumbled, pointing with his finger while his eyes shifted toward his parents.


    I followed his gaze to his parents, then looked back at him.


    He had brought a lot of things, important ones too. There were fresh fruits as well.


    I wondered why he had thought to bring vegetables and fruits here and how long they would survive.


    "What about the vegetables and the fruits?" I asked,ughing a little as I grabbed an apple.


    "Well, I’m d you asked. We’re going to start farming here," he replied.


    The moment he said that, I turned to look at him, my frown deepening.


    "I want to make this ce feel like home again. I want to correct the wrongdoings of my parents and the others," Yorick said.


    His words shocked me, but honestly, I could not have been more proud of him.


    "At least I have someone who knows what to do. Otherwise, I would have been wandering around aimlessly, waiting for a monster to kill me," Imented, crossing the fence to start bringing in some bricks I had found lying around.


    "Try not to go too far. Just stay within my sight," he whispered softly.


    I smiled and gave him a very satisfying nod.


    "If I wander away,e look for me," I replied teasingly.


    There was a smile on his lips whenever he spoke to me, and it made my cheeks turn red.


    We were nning to popte the area, not in that sense, but by looking for any survivors here.


    He had told me he had some ns. However, I was only a few steps away when I felt something behind me.


    I shifted my weight and turned around to see a monster so strange and twisted standing behind me that my heart stopped for a second.


    It felt too real, too sudden, as the monster jumped at me, throwing me beneath him, his w rising to finish the job.