Chapter 3: The Search For Selma
Benson Walton’s POV:
I stuck my head out and looked at the bottom of the cliff. The cliff was high, and even I felt a little scared. The river flowing below sounded like blood rushing in the blood vessels.
A piece of white cloth was hanging on the branch, very conspicuous.
Rhode’s mother came over. Her lips trembled as she said, “That is what Selma wore today! She really jumped!”
She supported her head with her left hand and leaned against Rhode’s father.
She was right. The only thing that made me feel comfortable was on Selma. The scent of the little orchid had completely disappeared at the edge of the cliff. She had jumped. What a foolish human. She couldn’t even take such a minor blow. She was the weakest person in the world.
f𝗿𝙚e𝙬𝗲𝑏𝒏𝑜ѵ𝑒𝗹. 𝒄𝑜𝘮
Rhode couldn’t be bothered to comfort his grieving mother, who was on the verge of fainting. So instead, he found a way to the bottom of the cliff.
I followed him down but not to find Selma. I was afraid that she would leave behind some evidence that would point to me. I felt suffocated at the thought of it.
I was about to become the Alpha of my pack, and a person who forced his people to die was not a trait of a successor. My father would reprimand me and maybe even ask me to apologize to them in front of the whole pack.
We successfully reached the bottom of the cliff. There was nothing here. It was clean as if Selma had never been here. If not for the shredded cloth caught on the branch, we would not have found anything if we had been a day later.
She seemed to have suddenly melted into the water, just like the strange stories of fairies I had heard when I was young. She had become one with this place forever.
Rhode’s tears were already flowing down his cheeks.
I opened my mouth to comfort him. Perhaps Selma had a chance of surviving, but we both knew that at such a high altitude, even if there were water below, it would be unlikely for her to survive. It would be difficult for her to survive, even if she were a werewolf, let alone a human without a single muscle in her body working normally.
It was as if something was stuck in my throat. The scent had completely disappeared from the surface of the river. Her body might have already appeared a few miles away, or she might have become food to other beasts. Just a few hours ago, she accepted my rejection.
This strange feeling made me feel heavy. I patted Rhode’s shoulder, and we returned the way we came. His parents were waiting for us to bring some good news, but their last hope was shattered.
She covered her face and let out a cry of extreme grief after a long time. Her body kept twitching. A mother had lost her daughter.
I didn’t dare to look into her teary eyes. If she knew I was the main reason Selma jumped off the cliff, I would lose their kindness and love forever. At the same time, I would also lose my good friend, Rhode.
The best way was to cover up this matter. I need to go to Selma’s room to check it thoroughly so that she didn’t leave anything unfavorable to me behind.
We bowed our heads and returned to the banquet. Father asked Rhode what happened, showing deep concern. Taking care of everyone in the pack was his responsibility as an Alpha and mine. I hope that before I become an Alpha, he would not find out about this.
His father had gathered the entire pack to search for Selma. For the sake of such a useless human, the entire pack was forced to be wear the color of sadness on the night of the full moon. Her departure was indeed a wise decision. At least from today onward, the pack would not have such moments again.
“Hey, Father. I’ll go to Selma’s room to take a look. There might be some evidence.” I pretended to be relaxed and asked my father alone, but I didn’t dare to look him in the eye, fearing he would smell that something was wrong with me.
“Go, this is also your test before you officially become an Alpha.”
I easily entered Selma’s room. There was nothing inside other than the fleeting scent of the little orchid. She had very few things as if she was ready to leave this place at any time.
No matter what, I heaved a sigh of relief that there was no diary or a note.
I heard people shouting Selma’s name outside. This made me feel very irritated. She didn’t know how to pick the right time. It was likely that no one would be able to get a good night’s sleep tonight.
Just like I said, we were divided into several groups and searched along every possible path, but we found nothing.
Rhode and his parents stood in the middle of the crowd. From their ashen faces, it could be seen that they had accepted that they had lost Selma forever.
I could see Rhode’s mother’s tears and father’s sigh. They had treated that weak human as their blood-related relative.
I shook my head and tried to forget Selma’s face. I should not have such a strong sense of responsibility and mistakenly blame her weakness on myself. It was she who chose this path, all because of a single rejection.
I looked at the river’s last bend that disappeared around the corner. She would not have survived this.
I followed my father to their family to comfort the couple who had lost their family member.
