The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

7  Lost in the mountains (2)

What kind of animal was this? A fox? A wolf? She wondered as she looked back at the animal that looked like a dog but quite larger and had completely black fur with a little white at the tip of both ears.

'This isn't the time to be trying to guess what animal it is, Alicia.' She quickly whispered to herself. The specie of the animal wouldn't be of any importance to her if it succeeded in devouring her. It would simply be said that a wild animal had devoured her. Yes. That was what would be said. It would be called a wild animal. There was no way she would allow this wild animal to devour her.

Her eyes quickly darted around her as she searched for something she could use to defend and protect herself from the wild animal. As if sensing what she was thinking, the animal growled a warning and took a step forward... Not a step, it actually limped.

That was when she noticed that the animal was injured. Her eyes moved to the animal's forelegs, and she noticed an open wound that was bleeding profusely.

She could definitely outrun an injured wild animal, right? What was she going to do? Why hadn't she taken her time to watch Natgeo wild? At least if she had done that back then, she would have had a basic knowledge of what kind of animal this was, and she would probably have known how to approach it. Without moving her head, her eyes surveyed her environment. She knew she was at a disadvantage because the animal was likely more familiar with the mountainous terrain than she was.

The animal growled once again and took another step forward, making her raise her lantern defensively like a shield, "Don't you dare take another step forward, okay? I can be very crazy, and trust me, you really don't want to see me mad." She warned with false boldness, even though she was very scared and her body was shaking.

On hearing her threat, the animal advanced towards her now, as though wanting to know what she could do.

Alicia took another step backwards while holding out the lantern defensively. "I'm really warning you, don't come forward." She warned, kicking the ground in front of her, sending tiny rocks flying in the direction of the animal.

"I don't want to hurt you, but I won't hesitate to hurt you if you so much as think of coming close to me. I am Alicia Queen, and I won't allow myself or whoever this body belongs to, be devoured by a fucking wild animal, you hear me? I have a mission to accomplish, so if you know what is good for you, turn the fuck around and leave." Alicia hissed, jerking her head in the direction the animal had come from.

The animal tilted its head to the side as if confused about what she was saying. She was about to sigh in relief, but the animal took that moment to pounce on her, and Alicia let out a frightened wail as she hit the ground with the heavy animal on top of her and the lantern flying from her hand.

What sort of a cursed life was this? She had attempted suicide and then changed her mind at the last minute, yet she had fallen only to come to this goddamn place to be eaten by a wild animal? What sort of cruel joke was the universe playing on her? Or was this what really happened to people who attempted suicide? Were they usually given a death worse than what they had wanted?

Deciding that her fate would be different, she fought back with all her might. Pushing, and punching and pinching. She kicked when she could, panting hard as she tried to fight for her dear life.

"If you think I'm going to let you take a bite, then you thought wrong, bitch. I am Alicia Queen and I'm a fucking survivor!" Alicia yelled breathlessly when she remembered that she had seen a wound on the animal's leg. She reached for it with one hand and pressed on the injury before biting the animal on the other leg.

The animal made some sort of whimpering sound and scratched her arm with its sharp nails as it rolled off her. It tried to get up but staggered back on its feet, making Alicia look at it with a concerned frown even though she was still frightened. The whimpering sound reminded her of her dog, Ruby.

She quickly rolled to her feet but kept her wary eyes on the animal. She didn't bother to glance at her arm, which was stinging, to see the extent of the injury on it. Not when the animal was watching her intensely.

She noticed that the animal looked exhausted and weak as it watched her. The animal let out a soft sigh as it lay on the ground weakly but didn't take its eyes off her, as though scared that she may try something funny.

It was only now that Alicia realized that while the animal was on topof her earlier, he hadn't tried to attack or bite her. He had only been sniffing her.

She thought about running away, but she was scared. She didn't know where to run to and her lantern was dying out. Besides, those people were still at the top of the mountain. What if they killed her?

"Do you... need h-elp?" She asked in a crooked voice as she tried to catch her breath. She reasoned that if the animal had really wanted to kill her, it would probably have done so already.

 "If you... need my help... sit on your... haunches." Alicia stuttered as though she suspected it could understand her.

After looking at her suspiciously for a moment, the animal sat on its haunches, surprising Alicia.