The Girl He Marked by Laila Callaway novel Chapter 1

Book 1 Chapter 29 

| sit up and leave Aria to it, I walk along the water‘s edge. I don‘t go very far; I just want to look around. I take my phone out of my pocket and take some photos of the lake, I can‘t believe how beautiful it is. 

• I‘m so glad we came here. 

I watch Aria from a distance as takes selfies of her in the water, a smile forms on my face as I think about how I am so glad we did this, despite my reservations. I continue on my walk round, stepping over moss–covered rocks and pushing overhanging branches out of my way. I glance up as a movement catch es my eye. 

About 500 yards away, something black moves behind some trees, hidden by the waist–high ferns. I frown and take a few steps to the right, trying to get a clearer view. The shrubbery no longer blocks my view, and my breath catches in my throat as I see a huge black wolf standing near the edge of the water on the other side of the lake. Its eyes are trained on Aria, watching her pose. I freeze in fear, and I feel like I can do nothing but watch the wolf watch Aria. 

Alena! Come back let‘s get going!‘ She shouts, my eyes snap over to her as she waves and grins at me. Thurriedly look back at the wolf to see its eyes are now on me. It stands, watching me for a moment, whilst I remain motionless. I gasp as it turns on its heels and disappears into the trees. 

Did I imagine it? No, I can‘t have. 

Thurry back over to her and put my shoes back on, she is already dressed and waiting for me. 

‘You won‘t believe this, I just saw a wolf, I tell her as I slide my bag onto my back. She looks at me with wide eyes. 

‘What? What was it like?‘ Aria asks, and I frown at her question. 

‘It was huge, it was watching you, then it disappeared when you called me over, I explain to her, and we head back into the cover of the trees with uncertainty. 

‘Are you sure we should continue? Maybe we should go back, She suggests, and we consider it. 

‘We‘ve come all this way, we should still camp out,‘ I tell her, and she looks at me with indecision. 

“Let‘s camp somewhere far away from this lake, I don‘t want to be anywhere near it, Aria comments and I nod in agreement. 

I don‘t want to bump into any more of them, that‘s for sure, I mutter and take another look at the sur rounding trees for any black shapes. 

‘There, this is perfect!‘ Aria announces as the trees part in an oval shape, creating a sheltered, little glade. 

We take off our heavy bags and begin clearing leaves and debris in certain areas so we can lay down our groundsheets for the tents. I clear a large area and flatten down the earth so there are fewer bumps, then spread out my sheet. It takes us half an hour to get my tent up with Aria‘s help, but to be honest, I thought it would take much longer than that. Aria, who brought a pop–up tent, simply unclips the straps and it literally pops up in front of our eyes. I‘m not going to lie; I am slightly envious. 

I collect firewood whilst Aria decides to make the camp more ‘homely‘. I wasn‘t entirely sure what she meant by that, but when I return with arms full of a variety of dry logs, I am stunned by how lovely the place