23. Scent of Danger
23
SCENT OF DANGER
*Kieran*
If I was smart, I’d rest during the day and run at night. But I guess I’m not that smart because the sun is hanging overhead, and Blanca and I have been running for hours. We hug the base of the mountains for shelter to exclude anyone coming up on that side. So far, despite the messages from the warriors in my range that my father is absolutely pissed, none of them have been able to find us. They still trust what I’m telling them and are fanning further away from us. No one is even questioning me.
It’s a good thing, too, because there’s no way in hell we’d be able to fight off a group of my father’s warriors. They are the best trained fighters in the world, and there are just two of us. Not even an entire flock of birds would help us with that.
Blanca is keeping pace with me through the narrow, rocky path that has her a few steps behind me and not right next to me. Earlier, we killed a rabbit and ate it in our wolf forms. I could tell by her eyes that it made her sad to do so, but then, her relationship with animals is obviously different than mine. My stomach rumbles, and I consider asking her to summon another rabbit so I can eat it, but I don’t think she’d like that idea.
For some reason, lately, I care a lot about what Blanca likes. It’s different. My entire life, I’ve been taught to hate and ignore her, and now, she’s the most important thing in the world to me. I tell myself that’s because I need her to help me figure out this riddle and put the pieces of the puzzle together with me to find out what my father’s trying to hide, but that’s not all of it.
The Moon Goddess chose the two of us to be together. Why would She do that?
And can I wrap my mind around the fact that we are not related long enough to even think about what that means for the rest of my life?
We begin to cross a meandering brook, and I look down to see several large fish swimming around my feet. Immediately, I lean down and plunk one from the water with my teeth. With a wiggly fish in my mouth, I turn to look at Blanca. Her dark eyes widen, but then she looks down at the water, takes a deep breath, and sticks her snout in. A few seconds later, she pulls out a fish almost the same size as the one I’m grasping. She shakes her head wildly, like she could hardly stand having her face in the creek, and little drops of water fling all over. I want to laugh, but I’m afraid I’ll drop my fish. I hook my head a few times and indicate she should follow me. Chomping on sushi, we continue to make our way toward Escuro.
We stop for a few minutes to rest now and then, but by nightfall, we’re both beginning to grow weary, and I know it’s time to find another place to sleep. I’ve purposely stuck close to the mountains not just for protection from enemies but also because there are networks of caves all through this range. I intend to find us a safe place to sleep when an odd smell hits my lungs.
Bracing myself, I stop and lift my nose. Blanca stops behind me, and I know she must smell it, too.
I can’t quite place the scent–but it’s feral. Wild, dirty, sweaty–it smells a bit like the dungeon. I turn to look at Blanca, and she shakes her head. She doesn’t know what it is either, but I hear the fluttering of wings in the sky and know that she’s being precautious and calling on her friends, just in case.
Turning toward the mountains at my right, I begin to look for any indication of a cave opening. Sometimes they are difficult to see, but I can usually smell the change in landscape when an opening is nearby because of the minerals that collect in moist caves that don’t cling to the mountains otherwise.
Putting my nose down, I sniff along, but I can’t make out anything because of that other smell. It’s getting stronger.
Blanca growls, and I lift my head. In the distance, I see the glowing whites of four pairs of eyes. A moment later, two more sets join them. The sliver of moon we’ve been using to light the way is covered mostly by clouds now, making it hard to see them, but I know what they are.
Rogues.
“Fuck,” I think to myself as I size them up. They are large, four males and two females, and by the looks of things, they are not from Dun’s Crossing. Their fur is brown and silver. My best guess is that they are from the kingdom on the other side of this mountain range, and they’ve crossed over into my father’s territory to do some hunting.
We’ll, they won’t be feasting on us.
Despite being outnumbered, I growl and howl, throwing myself in front of Blanca and hurtling toward the largest wolf. He seems to think it’s funny, judging by his expression. He comes at me, teeth bared, and we meet in a collision of power and fangs.
These rogues don’t intend to fight fair, obviously, as I feel a second set of teeth sink into my shoulder.
Blanca growls again, and then the force from the teeth ripping into the flesh of my left front haunch is relieved as the wolf goes flying backward. Damn, Blanca is a tough girl when she wants to be.
Still, we are outnumbered, and I see the other wolves headed toward Blanca as I continue to fight the largest one. I knock him onto his back with a little effort. Then, I use my front left paw, ignoring the pain in my shoulder, to wedge his head backward so I have access to the side of his neck.
A flurry of wings and feathers descends as I rip this fucker’s jugular out and turn my attention to the next wolf in line. The birds are attacking, aiming for the eyes of our enemies. The wolves aren’t sure how to react to that. A few of them pull away. Blanca has her claws dug into the face of one of the others. She seems to be holding her own despite her lack of training.
Somewhere deep in the woods to the west, I hear a low rumbling sound. All of us stop moving and lift our heads. It sounds again, and the ground beneath us begins to rumble.
That’s a fucking bear.
A big one.
Immediately, the remaining rogues take off, most of them limping a bit. A few of them are obviously running blind thanks to the birds. They run into one another, the larger rocks, even a tree trunk, as they try to get away from here.
As soon as they are out of sight, save the corpse behind me, the rumbling from the forest stops.
I turn to look at Blanca. Her sharp teeth are pink in the moonlight. I smile at her. She jumped right in there and saved my ass from that second wolf. I motion with my head, and she follows me.
It doesn’t take too long for me to find a cave. I walk inside first and have a look around. It’s smaller than the last one, but it’ll do.
My shoulder is killing me. I know it’s still bleeding, and it probably needs bandaged up.
I hear Blanca’s voice behind me. “Let me get dressed, and I’ll bandage that up for you.”
Knowing she’s naked, I make myself keep my eyes on the wall in front of me. She’s not my sister–we’ve all but proven that–and wolf shifters are used to being naked in front of other people, but the idea that I could catch sight of that amazing body I’d felt beneath me during the Haze has me afraid to look. I can’t let the emotions that raged through me that night take over.
“Okay.” I turn around at the sound of her voice, and she’s dressed and ripping what looks like a skirt into ribbons. “Shift, put on your pants, and let me take a look?”
I nod, and she turns around to give me the same privacy I’d given her.
My shoulder burns as I shift, but it actually helps repair it some. Nevertheless, as I sink down onto the cave floor, the ache continues, and I know then that it’s not in great shape. I put on my pants and tell her, “I’m ready.”
Blanca turns, and her eyes widen. “Holy fuck, Kieran. That looks awful.”
I glance down at the missing hunk from my shoulder, grin, and say, “I’ve had worse.”
She shakes her head and starts to bandage me up. I close my eyes and try to pretend that the gentle feel of her fingers on my skin does nothing to my body at all.
But then, I am a liar.