"Bowie, you should start collecting trees and straws."
I looked at the towering and intimidating bear sitting beside me. As usual, bears just nestled in their den with their cubs. Meanwhile, I sat under the same tree where Bowie would sit all the time.
'Lamb, you remembered.' He pointed out after staring at me for a long time. 'I had always thought something changed after that incident. Only this is the only conclusion I can come up with.'
"Does it matter?" I smiled, setting my eyes on the bears around us, watching Tito knit. There were some cubs clinging to his shoulder and head, but Tito didn't mind them. If not for this scene unfolding right in front of me, I would always feel scared around Tito.
"Whether I remember the past, nothing changed, Bowie. The past had already happened. We can never change that, nor can we go back to those days," I continued in the same soft tone. "You said whatever decision the lamb came up with, you will follow and respect it."
'And what is the Lamb's decision?'
"For now? I want to stay as Rinnie." I pressed my lips before smacking them. "Back then, I just watch everyone through the years. The lamb just watches from afar, content, and never meddled with humans. When the wolf came, everything changed. The lamb sought worldly desire, committing sins after sins.
But that is just how the Lamb finds the reason for her action; blame everything on the wolf. In a way, the Lamb couldn't accept that she, at one point, wanted to be a part of this world. Someone who is in it and not just someone who watches it from afar. The wolf was just her cover.
If not, this desire is not stronger than ever now, nor it won't be clear to me. Whether this is the lingering feeling the wolf left in my existence doesn't matter. I... want to be just Rinnie, the Luna of the Alpha of the Madwolf pack."
I let out a dry chuckle after my long sentiments, smiling. I never felt this decisive in my life, but this was my decision.
"Whenever I look at Hugo, the anger my heart remembers felt frivolous. Every time he calls me Rinrin, I forget about the lamb. Each time he embraced me firmly and securely, speak sweet nothings in my ear, looks at me... I am Rinnie." I turned my head and set my soft eyes to Bowie. "The powerless, helpless, and desperate girl whom he helped out of the goodness of his heart. He didn't love me knowing what I can do, but he devoted himself to me because I am Rinnie."
"I see... so that is the decision you made."
I nodded, peeling my eyes away from him. "The lamb is fair and not biased, but Rinnie is. Hugo is more important than my life. Rinnie will exist for as long as Hugo is alive. If something happened to him that is beyond my control, leading to his death... I won't forgive this world."
"The lamb will stay in her slumber," Bowie commented, putting my words in a more accurate term.
"Yes. The lamb will stay in her slumber."
"How about him? The wolf. I'm certain you had met him already and he must've known you already the second he laid his eyes on you."
"I'm not bothered." I smiled and cast Bowie a knowing look. "Hugo's purpose in this world is to become a bridge for the lamb and the wolf to meet in this lifetime. It will be the lamb and the wolf's decision if we want to cross that bridge or just stay on both ends and cling on to it."
"And if the bridge falls?"
"We both fall and die." I felt Bowie's gaze on my side, but there wasn't a hint of reluctance or fear in my voice. "The werewolves' instinct is his narcissist way to retaliate against me. And the werewolf mates are the curse I put on him and his entire race so that he would remain with me forever. The lamb and the wolf both sinned and corrupted each other that today's generation had to pay."
I paused and breathed out. This time, bitterness flickered across my eyes.
"That curse had also become my curse, for I will never be my Alpha's mate." My eyes lowered, addressing what terrified me over the past months. "This had scared me for the past months, but... that is also the price I must pay. For now, I want to bask in the afterglow of my reincarnation as Rinnie Everfell. I will only rest once he found his destined mate."
'Very well. This humble one respects your decision, Rinnie.' The side of my lips stretched, hearing Bowie call me by the name I was known.
"Thank you," I expressed, staring at him squarely. "I am deeply glad that my dearest Tarsa tribe persisted throughout these harsh years."
Slowly, I reached my hand out and ruffled the furs in his arms. "You had suffered, my dearest bears. Although you had always accepted death, it never came to you."
'We were waiting for the lamb's judgment, for she is our guardian.'
"Accepting death also means life, my proud bear." I smiled gently, waiting for him to look at me in the eye. "The lamb cannot be the lamb anymore and is now just a powerless human. But I pray for the restoration of my proud Tarsa Tribe."
'Your prayers had always been our tribe's honor.'
'Mama… Uncle said we should head back.'
I shifted my attention to Toby, and the side of my lips stretched. I extended my arms to him and he sauntered his way to me until I carried him in my arms.
"Bowie, the Tarsa tribe will enter a month-long slumber, correct?" I looked at Bowie and he nodded, as this was part of their existence. "Then I'll send clothing to you in a month."
'Rinnie, what are you…' He trailed off when my face brightened up, eyes dilating ever so slowly.
"I can't wait to see everyone." My grin stretched from ear to ear, gazing down at the clueless little black bear.. "Make sure to call him Papa, my child."