Evelyn had actually seen some signs for a while now, but it was their private affair, so she hadn’t said anything.
They were both just teenagers. It was perfectly normal for them to develop feelings for each other.
But the situation was critical now. Evelyn had warned everyone multiple times that they couldn’t act alone when outside, couldn’t go far, and had to run back to the cave immediately if anything seemed wrong.
Clearly, these two hadn’t taken her words to heart.
Paul Pence and Patrick Pence stared at each other, both of them stunned.
"That’s impossible."
Evelyn looked at Claire Moss.
"Claire, you live with Penelope. Did you know?"
Claire didn’t dare to look at Evelyn, but she admitted it anyway. "They are dating."
Evelyn sneered. "Leaving the group without permission for a rendezvous, ignoring the task I assigned... Should we even bother going to find them?"
Patrick Pence’s face flushed red. "But there are wolves outside. My sister is in danger."
"I heard everything just now! You said you had water in your room and told Uncle Quincy to go get some to wash his eyes. You clearly had water, so why did you make us all come out and risk our lives for ice? If we hadn’t come out, my sister wouldn’t have left with Raymond Shepherd!"
"Patrick, shut up!" Paul, terrified, scrambled to cover his son’s mouth.
The others standing by were stunned by Patrick’s outburst. Officer Graham’s face fell. He gave Patrick a long, hard look but said nothing.
Patrick struggled, still trying to speak, but Ian Yates suddenly lunged like a leopard, pinning him to the ground and landing two punches.
"I’ll teach you to yell at Evelyn! I’m going to beat you to death!"
Seeing his son get hit, Paul tried to pull Ian away, and the scene instantly descended into chaos.
Evelyn watched them all with a cold gaze. The howling of wolves continued outside the cave. In the end, Ronan Kendrick, Ethan Dawson, and Miles Vaughn grabbed their weapons and went out.
Half an hour later, they returned with the injured Raymond Shepherd and Penelope Parker, dragging three wolves behind them.
Raymond Shepherd was severely injured, with bite and claw marks on his arms, thighs, calves, back, and waist. Penelope Parker was in better shape, with only an injury to her calf. If they hadn’t been wearing such thick clothing, which left the wolves no place to sink their teeth, they probably would have been torn to shreds.
Raymond Shepherd was still spitting up blood, his consciousness fading. Penelope Parker was crying hysterically, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe. Evelyn gave Wyatt Vaughn a look. He walked over, clamped a hand over Penelope’s mouth, and forced her to be quiet in the crudest way possible.
"Put Raymond Shepherd on the heated platform and take off his clothes. I’m going to get the first-aid kit to treat his wounds first."
"Evelyn, my sister’s leg won’t stop bleeding! Can’t you bandage her up first?"
Evelyn ignored Patrick and went back to the wooden cabin to get her first-aid kit. She and Quincy worked together, spending nearly two hours treating all of Raymond Shepherd’s injuries.
But he had fallen into a coma and developed a high fever, making his situation even worse.
After treating Raymond’s injuries, Evelyn went over to Penelope to examine her wound.
"Evelyn, is Raymond going to be okay? Is he awake?"
Evelyn glanced at her but didn’t say a word.
She then began to clean the wound. There was no anesthetic for the stitches, so Penelope had to endure the excruciating pain.
After she was done, Evelyn washed her hands, took the first-aid kit, and went back to the wooden cabin.
Two hours later, Quincy came to find Evelyn. Raymond Shepherd’s wounds were infected, his high fever wouldn’t break, and he was in danger of dying at any moment.
Hearing that he could die, Penelope became frantic and scared. She was about to cry out when Paul covered her mouth, silencing her.
"I’ll go take a look."
Anyone could see that Evelyn was in a foul mood. The more timid people didn’t even dare approach, afraid they’d be the next target of her anger.
When she reached the large communal sleeping platform, Evelyn examined Raymond’s condition. ’Logically, his wounds were cleaned and stitched, and I gave him medicine,’ she thought. ’There shouldn’t be any major problems.’
"Could the wolves have been carrying some kind of bacteria? Is that why his wounds became so badly infected?"
"It’s possible." Evelyn gave him a few more anti-inflammatory pills.
Coming out of the communal sleeping area, Evelyn saw the three wolf carcasses on the floor and told Ethan Dawson and the others to deal with them quickly.
"Raymond’s going to be okay, isn’t he?"
Evelyn shook her head. "He’s not out of the woods yet."
"Penelope, why did the two of you leave the group?" Officer Graham suddenly asked.
Penelope glanced timidly at the others, then lowered her head and said nothing.
"Sis, hurry up and explain! You and Raymond aren’t dating, tell everyone!"
Penelope fiddled with the hem of her shirt, fat tears rolling down her cheeks.
"We are dating. We were scared everyone would find out, so we decided to go a little farther to get the ice. We thought we’d be right back, but we never expected to encounter wolves. Raymond was bitten trying to protect me. If he dies, I don’t want to live anymore either."
Everyone...
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
Paul Pence’s expression soured. He wanted his daughter to shut up, but thinking of Raymond’s injuries, Penelope only cried louder.
"Quiet."
Evelyn raised a hand, making a gesture to pause.
"Dating is your own choice. No one would have objected. But you two left the group in the middle of an assigned task. Penelope, what do you think the consequences for that should be?"
"I... I..."
Patrick was about to jump in and plead for his sister, but Paul held him back.
In truth, Evelyn couldn’t be bothered to punish them. After all, she had already decided to part ways with these people as soon as the cold front passed.
"And as for what Patrick said earlier—that none of this would have happened if I hadn’t made everyone go out for ice. Was the ice we brought back for me alone? And the water in my room, am I obligated to give it to you?"
The faces of Paul Pence and his two children went from flushed red to deathly pale.
"And one last thing. When people who don’t listen get into trouble, are we obligated to rescue them? The next time you try to guilt-trip me, you should first ask yourself just who you think you are."
Evelyn’s tone was calm, but her words were merciless.
"Evelyn, it’s my fault. I didn’t raise them right. Patrick was just worried sick about his sister, that’s why he was talking nonsense. He knows he’s wrong. He didn’t mean anything else by it; he was just frantic and spoke without thinking. Penelope was wrong too. She shouldn’t have left the group and brought trouble upon everyone."
Evelyn looked at Paul Pence, her expression unreadable. "From now on, everyone fends for themselves. We all live by our own means."
With that, she pulled Ronan Kendrick back to the wooden cabin.
’This is a good opportunity to split from these people.’ She washed her hands, her mood improving slightly.
The faint sounds of sobbing and talking drifted in from outside. Evelyn drank a cup of water and threw herself onto the bed.
"So annoying."
Ronan sat beside her, took her hand, and began massaging her palm.
"We’re not eating out there with them anymore. I already said, everyone by their own means. From now on, I’m going to cook our own meals, openly and without hiding."
Ronan nodded. "Okay."
The next morning, Raymond Shepherd woke up. He was one tough bastard. His body was covered in so many wounds that, besides his face, there was hardly an inch of unscathed flesh left. They all thought he was a goner, but he had managed to pull through.
Ignoring Paul’s protests, Penelope limped on her injured leg over to the communal sleeping platform to take care of Raymond.