Lost Lycan's Mate
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I held my breath as I walked the borders of pack territory with the other wolves. They were all in wolf form, apprentices included, using their heightened senses to track the rogue that Coda had spotted.
While they scented for intruders, I looked for signs like broken branches, pawprints, or tufts of fur that didn’t belong to my pack.
It had rained yesterday, making the ground mushy, which was excellent for leaving prints.
The other wolves were on edge, but so far we had not found any trace of the intruder.
“Coda!” I called out to the gray wolf, who stopped and twisted around. I gestured toward some ferns that had been trampled.
The beta trotted over to me while I moved the ferns aside to reveal a set of prints. Coda sniffed them and growled.
“Not one of ours?” I guessed. He ducked his head in a nod.
“There’s only one set of tracks, so it’s probably a lone wolf.”
Barking sounded from up ahead, and in a flash Coda whirled and dashed off in the other direction, leaving me alone as the other wolves followed him.
“Okay, I’ll be fine,” I called after them. “I’ll catch up to you. You go ahead.”
I sounded ridiculous talking to myself and sulking that they had left me behind while they confronted whatever or whoever was out there.
I crouched and traced the prints with my hand. Something was not right. I looked from the prints to the ones Coda had left.
The ones in front of me were much deeper, as if many paws had walked in them.
I cursed under my breath. There was more than one wolf. They had been following in the leader’s tracks to disguise their numbers.
For all I knew, there could be just two, but I had a gut feeling that this was a rogue pack looking for a fight.
My human nose caught a whiff of a musky scent. It must have been strong if even I was able to detect it.
Or was it because there were a lot of them and they were close by?
But that would mean that they were all right—
“Shit!” I exclaimed and jumped up from my position. I sprinted in the direction the other wolves had gone.
“Coda, there’s more of them!” I called. “It’s a trap! He’s leading you into an amb—”
The breath was knocked out of me by a large form tackling me to the ground.
Heat surrounded me as the wolf that attacked me opened its jaws to silence me with a bone-crushing bite.
I pushed against its neck to keep its fangs away just long enough to twist my throat out of its path, leaving the wolf biting at empty air. I grunted as I freed my arm and punched the wolf in the side of the head.
It howled and dug its claws into my shoulder. I cried out and reached for the silver dagger in my boot.
I plunged my weapon into its rib cage and immediately heard the sound of burning flesh from the silver in its body.
The rogue howled in pain, and I was able to push it off me to yank out the dagger and plant it in its skull. I was on my feet in an instant, ripping out the dagger again as I went.
I turned in time to see a sandy-brown wolf sailing through the air straight at me.
I dropped to the ground and pulled my legs to my chest, then pushed them out with all my might as the wolf made contact and sent it flying backward over me.
It landed on its back with a soft thud on the forest ground. It flailed around, getting to its feet, and I noticed straight away that it slightly favored its left paw.
It growled, raising its hackles, and jumped at me. I spun to the side but let my dagger hand remain outstretched so I could bury the knife in its neck.
The fur around its neck darkened with the sticky red blood that flowed from the open wound.
While the wolf was distracted by the pain, I slammed my weight into its left shoulder, throwing it off balance. I smashed the hilt of my dagger against its injured paw and it yelped.
I drove my dagger through the wolf’s fourth and fifth ribs, killing it instantly.
Two more wolves emerged from their cover in the foliage and began to circle me.
They planned to take me together, and I wasn’t going to survive if they did. I vowed to take at least one of them down with me, though.
They pounced at the same time. The tawny-pelted wolf aimed for my injured shoulder and I was sent crashing onto my side, where the other wolf was waiting.
I did my best to fend them off, but my body was getting tired and they were much larger and stronger than the other wolves.
As I was crushed to the ground and felt teeth clamp into my shoulder again, three different wolves came into view. They stood back in the trees a distance away.
Their muzzles were bloodied and their coats were speckled with blood like they had just been in a ferocious battle.
But these wolves weren’t normal wolves. In fact, they weren’t even werewolves. There was something serene about them.
The first wolf was a rusty brownish-red color, almost like a fox, a coloring I had never seen before on a wolf.
Beside it was a tawny-and-gray wolf with two different colored eyes, one brown, the other a milky blue.
The third wolf was a dusty white color, a little lighter than the tawny wolf. They were all watching me, and none of them moved to help. An even bigger wolf stepped forward from behind.
I thought his pelt looked black, but I wasn’t quite sure because his coat was giving off a dark blue sheen, almost midnight color.
I was so wrapped up in deciphering who these non-wolves were that I didn’t realize help was on its way.
A series of enraged howls sounded and paws stepped into my vision.
The wolf that had me pinned went flying off as my pack attacked, and the heavy weight on me was lifted. Then the stampede of paws rushed past me to take on the other wolves.
I didn’t move from my position but continued to look at the odd wolves, who were observing what was happening.
Rough hands shook me, but I was too entranced with the other wolves, the bluish-black one in particular.
“Cleo, Cleo!” The hands kept shaking me. “Goddammit, Cleo, respond!”
“Who are they?” I asked, and then I blacked out.
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