Chapter 23 #2
I shifted into my own skin, wasting no time.
“There’s blood in the cabin but it’s not my mate’s.
It belongs to the man who picked her up.
Whoever he was, he attacked her. I’m guessing she fought him off and stole his vehicle.
” They snarled, as furious as I was. “Siobhan, take Charlie and Sam and go after him. I want him found.”
“You want him alive or should we kill on sight?”
“Alive. He might know where she went, how much gas was in that truck, or if she’s hurt.” I turned to Jake and Jardis. “You two, with us. We’re going after her.”
“Alpha,” Siobhan paused for a moment before continuing, “the Luna knows me better than them. Maybe I should come with you.”
“No. She escaped from you once which means she knows how to take advantage of you.” She lifted her chin, her pride injured, but I didn’t care.
I should care though.
I gritted my teeth, frustrated with my warring thoughts. The battle between my maddening wolf and myself had morphed me into something I wasn’t. I’d been barely clinging onto sanity for years now.
“Find the human,” I told her.
“I won’t fail you again.”
“Oh, I know that.” The warning in my voice was clear. I wouldn’t tolerate another failure from anyone. Not even her, a female I cared about more than others approved of.
Jake, Jardis, and I shifted as one, pausing long enough for Charlie to tie a phone wrapped in a waterproof case to Jake’s leg. We split up. Nose in the air, I pounded the earth, moving like light through the treeline as I chased down my runaway female.
We ran for hours, following the tire tracks, constantly on the lookout for the Gulfs, but we heard no sign of them.
I could only hope we’d beaten them so savagely they had given up the fight for tonight.
Or they had doubled back to the pack lands and were ending my family at this very moment.
My stomach clenched at the thought, but there was nothing I could do about that and the helplessness clawed at me.
Helplessness.
Not something an Alpha should ever feel, but I had become all too familiar with it. She made me helpless. She clawed me open and held my beating heart in her hand, and everyday she squeezed it tighter, threatening to pop it altogether.
Eventually, the dawn broke and I caught sight of something that lit hope inside me. The truck was pulled over on the side of the road. She’d run out of gas.
I slowed, nodding at my warriors to fan out and surround the vehicle in case she made a run for it.
My heart sank as we approached and I realised she was gone. I sniffed the air, my warriors pacing, their noses to the ground.
I hated this. If our bond had been sealed I wouldn’t need to hunt down her scent, I would just follow the bond. Without it, I would have to rely purely on our tracking skills.
Konnor yipped at me and I followed. Her scent led into the treeline, running parallel with the road.
My brother pressed his shoulder to mine, comforting me.
I knew what he was trying to tell me. We had the advantage now.
She had a head start, but on foot, we would catch up easily.
Hope bloomed in my chest at the thought of having her safe again, then dread at having to drag her back.
She had hated me before. I didn’t want to know how much she would hate me after.
We followed her trail, panting hard, exertion at running all night starting to catch up with us, but it wouldn’t slow us down. We were gaining, gaining…She was maybe a mile ahead of us when I caught a scent that made my blood run cold.
Grizzly.
I stopped, using my nose to figure out where exactly it was…a few miles ahead of us, directly in her path. If she kept going she would run straight into it. If we hurried we might catch her but that would risk her running into the bear.
There was nothing for it. I howled, hoping alerting her to my presence would send her in another direction, away from the bear.
I stilled, scenting and listening, and after long moments her scent shifted due east. It had worked but it had sent her into the woods, away from the road.
If she went too far she would be well and truly lost. But that didn’t matter.
In a few minutes I would be with her again. She wouldn’t need the road anymore.
We set off, delighting as we realised she was heading for the cliffs. We had backed her into a corner. There was nothing behind her but rushing rapids.
Relief flooded me. I had found her safe, and in a few hours she would be home again.
We reached the base of the cliff and every one of my nerve endings lit up. She was there. My mate. Everything in me screamed to run to her, pin her, and claim her as my own. My lust was up, soaked in battle and blood and adrenaline.
Slowly, I approached, hoping not to spook her. I’d talk to her, calm her down. She had nowhere left to run now.
She turned, but instead of seeing defeat on her face I saw defiance. Her ice blue eyes zeroed in on me the way they always did. Even though she hated me, treated me with disdain and indifference, her body always turned towards mine, her gaze drifting in my direction without her meaning to let it.
She trembled as she took in my wolf. He was fierce, but I hated that she feared him. He should be her greatest protector, where she felt safest. Instead he had become the monster that threatened to tear us both apart.
“I’m not going back with you.” Her voice shook, despite the defiant glare in her eyes.
I studied her. She looked tired. Her pack looked heavy on her back. I’d been stupid to give it back to her. Stupid to listen to my mother who insisted she would feel better with familiar things.
The breeze caught her hair, lifting it enough to show me a bruise on the left side of her face, and I knew who was the culprit.
The human. Rage boiled in my gut, white hot.
I pressed my claws into the earth and breathed, focusing on her to calm me.
Not her eyes, they were too defiant to calm my wolf.
Not her mouth, those lips were too dangerous to be soothing.
I focused on the beat of her heart, the pulse of blood in her veins.
If I lost control, the beat and pulse might stop forever.
I let the rhythm of them calm me before letting go of my wolf, exchanging fur for skin.
Her gaze ran over my naked body and I let it. I wanted her to look at me, and my wolf preened with pride as her heart rate picked up. She liked what she saw. She wanted me, and without thinking, I took a step towards her. She flinched away.
“Don’t come any closer!” she warned and I stopped in my tracks, my hands raised. Was she really so afraid of me? Some foolish part of me had thought she’d be pleased to be found after having been attacked and lost in the woods.