Because of her noise, a few wolves turned their eyes toward me as well. More and more of them began jumping at the trees. The branch I was sitting on was thin and shaking. I grabbed a higher one, barely thicker than my arm, praying that help would come soon.
Just then, I heard the sound of hooves pounding against the ground. A horse galloped toward us and its rider’s figure became clear. It was Fabio.
Serena saw him too and cried out, “Fabio! Save me! I’m scared!”
I shouted his name as well, but Fabio’s eyes were fixed only on Serena. Without hesitation, he rode straight to her tree, lifted her into his arms and rode away without even glancing at me.
I stared, stunned, as Serena looked back. Her expression was full of triumph and mockery. Meanwhile, my arms trembled as my strength slowly gave out. In the end, I fell from the tree straight into the wolves below.
When I opened my eyes again, Monica, our neighbor, was sitting beside me. I hadn’t expected her to be there and I gave her a weak smile. Her eyes were red and swollen.
“Still smiling? Do you even realize how close you were to dying? If my brother hadn’t thrown a detonator at the wolves, you’d already be gone.”