chapter three

For the next few weeks, Astra focused on preparing for winter. Since she was still somewhat human, she needed to get ready for the cold weather and potential food shortages. Typically, she would spend the winter with Grey, but he mentioned that he planned to start mating this season. As a result, Astra packed her belongings and moved to a cave deeper in the woods. The cave was smaller than she was used to, but taller, which suited her current height of about 5'9". She needed a cave that was approximately six feet tall. Astra was walking on her usual Berry trail when she saw him standing by the Berry bush. The sight of him confused her a little. He was in jeans and had an “I Love Rock” shirt on. He seemed to be waiting for something… wait, could he be waiting for her? Astra made her way to the bush through the shadows. “I thought you’d show up.” “What do you want?” Astra respond “To get to know you,” he said, trying to see her “Why?” Astra started to circle him “Why not?” he said, stepping towards her voice “Look, I just came here to get breakfast. You can go now.” He didn’t leave, and for some reason, she didn’t want him to either. Instead, he sat down and began picking berries. Astra was getting impatient; she had plans for the week. However, she didn’t trust the boy. “So are you coming to get breakfast?” he said. “I can’t, with you here,” she replied. She started to walk away. She needed to get away because he had already seen her, which was bad. “Wait up,” he hollered. But she ignored him and continued walking. What does he want? She picked up her pace so he couldn’t catch up. She suddenly was aware of how small her clothes were and how big her tail was. She stayed in the shadows, looking for a tree to climb. She found one and jumped to the nearest branch. She quickly scaled the tree until she knew he wouldn’t find her. She had a clear view of the trail beneath her. She spotted him running towards her with fear in his eyes. “Where did you go?” she heard him yell. Was that nervousness she detected in his voice? She sat calmly in the tree, enjoying watching the boy below. He seemed very determined to find her. She had done this once before when she was twelve. It had been five years since the murder of her parents, and she was gathering food with Edith, Gray’s mother. They were just finishing up gathering when a man came up to them. He tried to grab Astra, but Edith growled at him. She made a noise that to Astra’s ears it meant run. She climbed the nearest tree and watched the man look for her. When the man couldn’t find her, she laughed. Now four years later she was laughing at a boy. She looked down and didn’t see him and almost jumped down. That’s when she realized he was directly beneath her. She was getting annoyed especially since she hadn’t eaten breakfast.

Author's Note

Please tell me how to make this better