Only when the pain became unbearable did I decide to leave the safety of the water. I dragged myself to the bank, allowing myself just a moment to catch my breath and shake off as much of the icy water as I could, before plunging into the forest again.
As I ran, I sniffed the air, but my senses had become scrambled. I couldn't make out the animal tracks running across the forest floor, nor could I identify the fresh carrion scent of a recent predator kill. The colors grew brighter, more luminous. That could only mean one thing.
My front paws cracked and buckled, and I dove face first into the dirt. I tried to get up, but my knees buckled and I fell into the mud. My paws sought balance, and as I tried to grab the nearest tree, my claws shrank and my fingers grew, becoming hands once more. My fur receded back into my skin, and the wildness in my veins subsided, turning into a weak roar.
The full moon is over. I was no longer trapped as a wolf. Now I was a naked man in the middle of the woods, miles from my mate, with no weapon, map or compass, and at least two very angry wolves in my wake.
Excellent.
I looked up at the sky, looking for a peek of sunlight through the trees and thick clouds. I estimated the time based on her height and the amount of time since I left Allora's tent around 9:30 am. I walked over the map of this forest area in my head, locating the road I parked on in relation to the river. With a vague direction in mind, I changed back to my wolf form and broke into a trot.
Tiredness seeped through my veins. I'd barely slept in two days, and all the worry for Allora's safety had fried my brain.
I hit the road an hour later and ran through the trees, my eyes darting everywhere, imagining I saw a wolf lurking behind every trunk or nestling in the crook of every low-lying branch. After a few miles, I could just make out the outline of my Jeep, parked at the end of the dirt road. It was still there. I transformed back into my human form. My bare feet stung as they hit the icy mud. I looked forward to the clean clothes I packed in the suitcase. And for the chance to sit down.
I slowed down and circled around the edge of the clearing, sniffing every trunk for a sign of the wolves. I smelled the faint scent of red wolf, but the scent was either old or far away. I was safe, for now.
I left the trees and headed toward the vehicle. I had barely taken two steps when the scent hit me fully.
Werewolf.
My blood turned cold. One of them – the red wolf – was coming straight towards me through the trees. Branches snapped. Leaves rustled. The deep growls of a hungry, angry wolf rumbled through my body. I couldn't see him, but I could hear him, smell him. He would be with me in a moment. And I was out in the open, in my human form, unarmed, completely vulnerable.
In the split second I had to make a decision, I chose not to shift into my wolf form. I was exhausted after my confrontation with the black wolf and doubted I would win in a fight. Instead, I went to the crowbar I kept in my truck. I dove into the jeep's arch, my hands reaching for the keys I'd hidden underneath.
I grabbed the hook I'd hung them on, but she wasn't there.
"Looking for this?" a deep voice said.
I turned. A man stood at the edge of the clearing, holding my keys. Unlike me, he was already dressed, in dark jeans and a canvas work shirt, the buttons only halfway, revealing a muscular chest covered in tattoos. Long red hair hung over her piercing brown eyes. It was the red wolf for sure. He grinned at me and tossed my keys in the air, catching them in his fist.
"Go on," he said, still dangling the keys from his fingers. “I won't stop you.
I snarled, wondering if I should change back to my wolf form and attack him. It was extremely tempting, but I needed to find out more about him. And the only way to do that would be to get him talking, somehow. I braced myself, ready to change in an instant if he advanced on me.
- What you want?
He took a step forward, entering the clearing. He lifted his head and sniffed the air, nose wrinkling.
"Your mate was here," he said. “I can smell her all over these trees.
“She wasn't here,” I said. But when I inhaled, I could feel it too.
- Serious? - He smiled. "Didn't you take her here in that shitty truck of yours, a little adventure in the desert?"
Maybe it was her scent on my own body. But that should have been washed in the river. Did he do something to her? The black wolf's words echoed through me. More will die.
“If you did something to hurt Allora…
“Relax. He held up his hand in mock surrender. “I didn't touch her. Yet.
"Stay away from her," I warned. I kept my eyes glued to him, but crept along the side of the truck, inching toward the cab. I had a hunting knife in the driver's side door. If he pulled something, I could break the window and grab it.
“Unfortunately, I can't do that, Josh. She is an important part of my plan.
- What you want? How do you know my name?
“I've been watching you since you arrived. I know your first name, your shoe size and more about you than you know. And as for what I want, I already told you. These caves belong to my family. I'm here to reclaim the territory that's mine, and that includes the girl. If that means I have to fight you, so be it.
My blood boiled. Who did this guy think he was?
— My family has a right to this place. Then you can just take your wolf ass back to whatever backwater jungle you crawled out of and go back to petting monkeys or whatever it is you do with your time.
The wolf puffed out his chest, eyes flashing with rage.
— Be careful of words you cannot take back. My name is Caleb Lowe. I am the son of Amos Lowe. My father died protecting these caves. By right, they belong to me.
I looked at the man in disbelief.
"You mean to tell me we're cousins?"
- We are? ’ That cut him off.
I pointed to my chest.
— Josh Lowe, son of Walter Lowe. I thought I was the only surviving member of the Lowe pack.
- It makes no sense. The wolf rubbed his forehead, eyes narrowed. “I am the sole survivor of the Lowes.
“I'm as surprised as you are. I gestured to the car door. "Can I wear some pants?"
"So you can pull a gun on me?" It's not going to happen, Josh. What you need to do is explain how your father managed not to die and how you found the caves.
“I suppose you know what happened in the caves all those years ago, with the villagers…
— … and fire, brimstone, torches and pitchforks. Caleb made a thrusting motion with his fist. - I know. My mother told me the whole story.
What she didn't tell me was about you. - Your mother? But how…
“We're going to get to me. You first, little cousin.
I bristled at the insult, but decided it was best not to challenge Caleb while I was…attacking.
- Good. My… I mean, our grandmother saw the villagers coming. She was a powerful seer. At the time she had her vision, she was sleeping in the cave with my father. Our grandfather took the two oldest cubs hunting, but my father was not yet old enough to join them. When the vision came to her, Granny wrote a notice on the painting on the cave wall, in the hope that the others, who had not yet returned from their hunt, would be able to see her when they returned and join them in hiding. She then ran into the forest with my father, covered them in mud and leaves to mask their scent, and they hid in the trunk of a rotten oak tree. The villagers arrived, found the caves empty, and began to search the forest, creating all sorts of noises that attracted Grandpa. He couldn't feel his wife or child anywhere near. Assuming the villagers had already killed them, he attacked them with the eldest children, and their rage cost the three their lives before they overpowered the wolves.
“Shit,” Caleb cursed. "How do you know all this?"
- My father told me. He said the scene from that day was permanently etched in his mind. His mother saw it too and was distraught. She broke out of hiding and went to confront the crowd. They were shocked to see her, a human woman, risking her life to help her wolf husband, but their shock turned to fear and anger when they realized that she was complicit in this innocent child's death. In their rage, they killed her too. My father watched from his hiding place as they split her skull. But they didn't find him. He was the only survivor.
“I never knew he survived,” Caleb growled. “If I had known, I would have found you much sooner.
"So you could beat me up and steal all my toys?"
Caleb snorted.
“We're family. Together, we could have reestablished our pack.
— I'm not going to restore anything, I just want to know who you are and what your relationship is with me. And who is the black wolf with you? Is he also my relative? Why is he warning me that more people are going to die?
At the mention of the black wolf, Caleb's body went rigid.
“He's definitely not with me, and he's definitely dangerous. He attacked me once and I barely escaped with my life. He pointed to an angry gash on the side of the trunk. “If he says he killed… I believe him. The black wolf also wants to claim the caves. He has powers I didn't even know were possible. Somehow he can mask his scent over short distances. The other day, I followed him several miles through the woods, but he eluded me in the end. The track was a failure. I think he planted it to try and lure me in. And you too, since you followed me. Caleb frowned.
"So what's your story?" Are you some kind of immaculate conception?
“Nothing as dramatic as that, cousin. My mother was already pregnant when Robert Peyton led the villagers to the caves. Amos was preparing to leave the family pack to establish his own pack with my mother. If he could have done that, the Lowe name would have survived. But he never got that chance. When my mother, Maria, heard what happened in the woods, she took some food and warm clothes and fled to Scotland, where no one knew the name Lowe or the curse that followed us. I was born in Aberdeen, and my mother married the alpha there and had two more children. He never accepted me as his own, favoring his own children within the pack. I hated that place. I was sixteen when I left the gang and started living alone. Caleb looked around at the trees and my battered truck. “I see we have that in common, Ranger Josh.
- In fact. “I wanted to believe this guy. If what he said was true, it meant I had family, a cousin, an aunt. It was a tenuous connection to the past, to the kind of life my father had always wanted but could never hope to achieve. But every fiber in my body screamed danger. I couldn't trust Caleb, not with Allora in the middle.
“Maria made a point of telling me my story, my birthright. I'd visited these caves many times over the years, but I knew I needed a mate before I returned to establish my pack. Nobody else seemed to want DownMoor, so I left it alone. But when I saw the archeological dig in the paper, I came here as fast as I could. I intended to stop the team from digging up all this shit about our family again. And luckily, a perfectly useful companion was here. It couldn't be more perfect.
“We're cousins, Caleb. ’ I clenched my teeth. “We both have an equal right to this place. And Allora has already been claimed by me.
Caleb gave me a sad smile.
“It's a pleasure to meet you, Josh. It's good to know I still have a family in the world. But I'm still going to have to ask you to step aside. As the oldest brother's son, I'm the alpha here.
I laughed.
“You can't be serious.
“Oh, but I am. I want this territory. All my life I've wanted to establish a new band of Lowes, my own band, as a fitting legacy for my father. And it has to be here, to recover the lost territories. With few wolves left in England, I will surely dominate this region quickly, perhaps one day even challenge the Scottish pack. And with a strong companion like Allora by my side...
“Excuse me…” His words made my skin crawl. "Do you want my mate?" That's not how it works, and you know it. Allora is mine. You can't just take it.
“Of course I know how it works. Each of us has a partner who is ours alone, whose DNA is compatible and whose company completes us. But that doesn't mean she doesn't serve in my pack. Wolves have shared mates for many centuries, when pack needs demanded it. Allora is a powerful vessel and will make strong pups. I have searched the length of this country and have not found my own mate, nor another girl as suitable as her. Then I will have it. If you want to keep her too, you can join my crew as a beta. Together we will be stronger. But if you don't give it to me, I'll fight you for it. And I will win.
“Excuse me,” Allora's voice cut into our conversation. — It's rude to talk about people behind their backs.
I turned. Allora came out from behind a tree, stopping in the middle of the clearing, directly between me and Caleb. She looked at both of us defiantly.
— You're alive! My heart raced. I took a step towards her. She raised her hand.
- Of course I am.
— How did you get here? I demanded, taking another step. Allora shot me a furious look.
“Don't come any closer yet. I'm not sure I want any of you near me. As for how I got here, I followed Josh's tire tracks on the road. There are not many trails in this part of the forest. It was easy to find. Allora jabbed her thumb over her shoulder. “I'm parked a hundred yards from here on the road. You two are so busy pissing on each other, you didn't even hear me come in.
“You came all this way just to tell me you want me, princess. Caleb smiled. “I'm very flattered.
“Talk to Allora like that again, and I'll wipe that smile off your face,” I warned.