*twelve hours prior—evening of the third day*
{THIRD PERSON POV}
A young-looking female dryad sits on a throne in a large room, empty aside from a giant wolf sitting on its haunches in front of her.

The dryad queen holds a cotton ball dipped in antiseptic using a pair of tweezers. She dabs it on the nose of the wolf, which was bloodied by the shoe of a human girl. The wolf whimpers, flinching away from the offending cotton ball.

The dryad queen grabs the wolf by the scruff and drags it back. "Oh, don't be such a baby."

"But it stings." The wolf replies smoothly.

"That means the medicine's working." The dryad queen insists, continuing to dab at the wolf's snout. She finishes her medical treatment by applying a giant white bandage, then looks over her handwork. Her face cracks into a broad smile. "My!"

"I look utterly ridiculous." The wolf paws at the bandage, irritated, but the tape holds firm. The dryad queen can't help it. She busts out laughing.

After a few minutes, the dryad queen reigns in her raucous laughter and composes herself. She wipes a tear from her eye. "You never elaborated on why you asked me not to reveal your true identity to Alexiane. I thought my guards would pass out from shock when I referred to you as a nameless male wolf."

"Human males are typically larger than their female counterparts. I thought she might assume the same about our species, even though it is opposite the truth. The poor girl was half-dead already from all the curveballs you threw at her. I feared we would be delivering her corpse at noon if she learned that she kicked the bane wolf queen in the snout."

"You're much kinder than I, despite your frightful appearance, Queen Nightshade."

"I prefer not to judge a pearl by its shell. However, you do not set the bar for being 'kinder than yourself' high, Queen Hydrangea."

Queen Hydrangea leaned back and smiled slyly, crossing her legs and resting her cheek upon her fist elegantly. "Did your pack have fun?"

"Quite so. Many are disappointed that we had to let her go. They have not had prey as skilled at running in nearly a decade."

They're interrupted by a knock on the throne room door, which then opens. Daisy the nanny walks in and bows, now fully recovered. Fern wiggles in her arms, trying to free himself.

Queen Hydrangea stands and approaches, collecting her son from Daisy's arms. Fern happily babbles to his mother, who bounces him gently on her hip for a bit before handing him back to his nanny.

"My queen, Lily told me to inform you of more intruders. Yet another group of thieves covets the golden Notch fruit." Daisy's upper lip curls in disdain. "Human greed is disgusting. They truly will do anything for the power of immortality."

The queen of the dryad sits back down on her throne, as she has for the past 420 years.

"Alexiane's obliviousness was a breath of fresh air." Queen Hydrangea sighs. "Queen Nightshade, go. Ensure that these humans truly are thieves. If you judge the trespassers guilty, have your pack's best hunters slaughter them all."

The bane wolf queen bows her head. "As you decree, Queen Hydrangea."
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Life goes on in the dryad forest. Sorry for the short chapter guys, but we're halfway done! What are your thoughts on the book so far? I love reading your comments/feedback!

Shoutout to Keedom and Roes_Sigma7 for being my proof-readers! 😊❤️