Pride's Run (11 page)

A movement from the corner of my eye catches
my attention and I spot a dark gray rabbit running through the
underbrush. My stomach grumbles loudly. Soon I’ll have to hunt and
feed my hunger. But first I need to run and put as much distance as
possible between me and the alpha before he wakes.

Just then a flock of noisy birds take to the
sky overhead, their wings stirring the cool morning air as they
search for food. I cringe and hope their high-pitched squeals
haven’t disturbed Logan.

Needing to flee, I scan the rough terrain and
look for the route that will lead me to civilization. I know I
can’t go back the way I came, which means I have to trek north, and
make my way across the wide expanse of park. As I think about
traveling north I’m once again reminded of Canada and the
compassionate packs of wolves who allegedly roam free.

Once I arrive at my destination, I’ll have to
find shelter and strategize my next move. Right now, however, I
need to concentrate on surviving in these woods and steering clear
of those brutal men who are hunting me.

I drop to the ground and moments before I’m
about to shift and run, I spot a hiker’s backpack near the tree. I
still, and scan the area. When my glance comes up empty my mind
settles on one logical conclusion. Sometime throughout the night,
either before or after he placed my naked body in his shelter,
Logan went hunting.

I steal a glance over my shoulder to ensure
he’s still asleep, then shuffle along the snow packed ground toward
the pack. Ignoring the icy crystals beneath me, freezing my naked
flesh, I crouch low, sniff the bag, and then with the utmost care
peel the zipper open. I peek inside and when I find a change of dry
clothes, panic invades my stomach. I slowly back away, not liking
the direction my mind is taking me. My nape begins to tingle and my
wolf tenses.

I have no idea who these supplies belong to
or how Logan came upon them, but it does beg the question—did he
kill someone in order to steal their provisions?

Deciding I’m not about to hang around to find
out the details I breathe deep and call on my wolf, but a fine
shiver moves through me to think how easily Logan could have killed
me while I slept.

As my wolf emerges from my body, I bite my
cheek to keep from crying out. Pain erupts inside me as my bones
shift and my skin slides into place.

A few moments later, with my transformation
complete, I immediately take to the woods, camouflaging myself in
the thick timber. Legs pumping hard and a cool breeze ruffling my
fur, I cut around the towering trees, distancing myself from the
alpha dog as much as possible before he begins his day.

Ribbons of early morning light filter in
through the thick canopy of leaves covering the forest and I
realize that night is long behind me. As sunlight glints on my fur,
I lecture myself for my carelessness. Exhaustion isn’t an excuse
for falling asleep and I know better than to run without the cover
of darkness to veil me.

As the forest comes to life around me, I push
forward long and hard until I come to an ice-capped summit. I
canter to the slippery edge and glance down at the valley below. My
stomach rumbles, reminding me of my hunger, and my dry mouth
thirsts for water as I take in the lake and the thin skim of ice
sparkling like a cluster of diamonds. The sight reminds me of my
mating dress and has me thinking of Stone.

Now that I’m gone, Stone is the master’s next
best tracker. I’m sure the master will send him out to hunt me. I
shudder at the thought of seeing the smug alpha again, but my wolf
growls at the chance to fight him.

I recall Stone’s distinctive scent and keep
it at the forefront of my brain, because I fully expect him to come
looking for me, to try to drag me back to the compound to be his
devoted mate.

A shiver moves through me and I push that
thought away. I turn my attention to the fog as it rises up from
the valley floor. It clings to the treetops and obscures my view as
I scan the rocky embankment and look for the best way down.

As I canter along the edge, my joints groan
like an injured animal but this time I realize it’s not from
yesterday’s hard run. I glance upward in time to see the moon
disappear from the sky. A shiver of unease pulses in my blood as I
count down the days until it’s full.

My jaw tightens as I feel the savage pull of
nature. Dark. Dangerous. Inescapable. I might be on the run, hiding
from both the PTF and my handlers but as baser instincts call out
to me, I realize I might have a more urgent problem at hand.

I know what my wolf can do. What she’s
capable of. And if I don’t find a safe place to hide before the
full moon I know what will happen to any unsuspecting backpackers
hiking through the trails. I’m used to being locked up on shift
night, the one and only night that I can’t control my wolf.

Can’t control her hunger.

I might kill for my master, but I don’t kill
for sport. It frightens me to think in a few short days, under the
power of the moon, my bloodlust will take over. When that happens
no one in this park will be safe, because no one will be able to
tame the beast inside. Not even me.

With renewed purpose, I’m ever determined to
find my way out of the forest, and seek shelter for my wolf. I take
off down the side of the mountain, and keep my eyes open for both
prey and predator. When I reach the valley below, I canter to the
lake and stare at my bedraggled reflection as I take a generous sip
of water.

As the sun rises higher, the layer of ice
melts and I can see fish below the surface. My stomach growls
louder and I take a tentative step into the water. I’ve never gone
fishing before, but my wolf is swift. A sparkled fish swims by and
I reach for it, but it proves too fast for me. I keep trying, again
and again, but as the minutes tick by, I realize this is much
harder than it looks.

Just as I’m about to give up and go find a
rabbit, I hear twigs crunch behind me. I whirl around, fully
expecting to find a hunter—or worse, Logan—but what I see instead
has my lips pealing back to expose my canines.

Good God, I’ve never come up against anything
so big before.

As my heart races in a mad cadence it
suddenly occurs to me that I’ve only ever hunted humans. I’ve never
gone up against an animal in the wild. I calm myself and try to
remember everything I’ve ever learned about black bears.

I let loose a warning howl, but it does
little to alarm the animal or send it scurrying back into the
woods. It continues to move toward me with purpose, its sharp claws
sinking into the ground.

When I snarl and spike my ruff the bear goes
up on its back legs, its beefy front paws slashing the air. Its
loud growl of distress lets me know I’ve invaded its hunting space,
and it’s far from happy.

I can smell its rage, its hunger and when I
catch sight of a young cub coming out from behind a tree, I realize
how much of a threat I pose to this mother bear, and how much
trouble I’m really in.

Growling low in my throat, I keep eye contact
and try not to provoke her into action. I take a small cautious
step into the water, to avoid a direct attack. The last thing I
want to do is hurt her. After all, she’s merely a mother protecting
her cub.

When the bear keeps coming I know I have two
choices, run or fight. Although with the river at my back it really
narrows it down to one choice. I crouch low and prepare to
pounce.

I steady my breathing and when she closes the
gap, I leap toward her, wanting to scare her, not kill her, but
what I don’t account for is her swinging paw, or the strength and
power behind it. She catches me across the ribs and sends me
hurtling backward.

I yelp as she delivers the bone crunching
blow and land with a resounding thud a few feet away. As my head
hits the ground, my sharp teeth gnash together and judging by the
pain radiating down my neck I’m pretty sure I just blew my jaw out.
Blood fills my mouth and my regenerative abilities kick in. My
cracked bones begin to mend, and the pain ebbs as my jaw shifts and
slides back into place.

I need a few more seconds for the healing
process to finish, but I know I don’t have them. I can hear her
coming and can almost feel her hot breath slithering along my neck.
Blinking fast I diligently try to settle my shaken brain, knowing I
have to clear the daze before she reaches me.

Pulse racing like mad, and self-preservation
impulses surging inside me, I work to pull myself together. With my
brain still wobbling, I try to climb to my shaky feet, to prepare a
fearsome retaliation, but when a ferocious howl echoes off the
mountains I almost sob with relief.

Logan.

I scent the air and catch a whiff of his fur
long before I see him. I give an animal cry to let him know where I
am and that I’m in danger.

Moving like a true predator he jumps from a
nearby ridge and positions his body between me and the bear. Angry
fire lights his pewter eyes as he gives a quick glance over his
shoulder to assess my damages.

“
You okay?”

After I give a quick nod Logan turns his
attention back to the bear, which is suddenly down on all fours and
dashing toward us. Like a fierce hunter, Logan begins to circle,
keeping a wide berth as he draws her away from me. As I watch him
and take in his calculating gaze and powerful body I shiver, fully
aware that he’s far more skilled than any wolf I’ve ever known.

Once Logan has her away from the water, his
wolf barks a warning to me, to run for cover, but I’m not about to
flee and let him face the threat alone.

Instead of running, I distract the bear by
slapping the water. When she tosses her head and turns toward me,
Logan uses that opportunity to go for her hind legs.

The bear growls and swipes at him, but Logan
proves too fast, too strong. Within seconds he’s airborne and with
predatory accuracy he drives straight for the bear’s throat. Sharp
canines clamp down on the animal’s neck and he quickly wrestles her
to the ground. The animal drops and Logan’s jaw tightens in a death
grip.

Fierce and ferocious, he tosses his head,
ripping into its flesh with primal hunger. The tangy scent of
animal blood reaches my nostrils. As it spills from the bear’s
throat and turns the thin skim of snow a striking shade of red, my
wolf growls. The delicious scent stirs my hunger and urges me to
join in the feast. I climb to my feet, but when I see the cub, it
snaps me back to reality.

“
Logan. Stop
,” I bark out.

He looks at me, stunned, then slowly backs
away from the writhing animal. The mother bear growls, climbs to
her feet and dashes off with her baby. As she leaves a bright trail
of crimson behind, I wince and pray that no permanent damage has
been done.

Dark splotches of blood stain Logan’s muzzle
as he comes toward me. His shrewd eyes look over my body and I know
what he’s going to say. I harden myself, prepare for the backlash,
prepare to be humiliated for my overconfident attitude, because the
truth is, out here in the wilderness I’m completely out of my
element. Surviving by myself in this foreign territory is much
harder than I anticipated.

Silence hangs heavy as he watches me, then
something in his expression changes. While his voice is light I can
still see the strain in his eyes when he says, “
What, you had to
hunt the biggest thing in the forest?”

I stare at him, and realize how close I was
to getting us both killed. Logan might be a powerful alpha but he’s
just a boy and doesn’t deserve to die because of me.

Not at all sure how to react I do the one
thing that comes natural to me.
“Just so you know I had
everything under control before you went all alpha on me,”
I
shoot back.

Judging by the knowing look on his face, he
isn’t buying my lie. His glance slides over me and he takes in my
features until I begin to fidget under his watchful gaze.

There is a note of softness in his voice when
he breaks the quiet and says,
“I know, Pride. I know.”

I gulp air. What I expected from him was
fury, but what I get instead is way more than I can handle right
now. The combination of his softness and the aftershock of the bear
attack have me trembling like a scared kitten. I begin to shake all
over. The truth is I never felt so scared, so out of control.

So completely and utterly out of my
league.

I work to push down the panic rising in my
throat and go down on my haunches, needing a minute to regroup. I
steal a glance at Logan and hope he can’t taste my fear as it
hovers around us like a dark rain cloud.

His eyes glint knowingly but he doesn’t say
anything, doesn’t try to comfort me. While I’m grateful for his
distance, I really hate how well he can read me. I also hate that I
spent my whole life building walls and with one simple look, one
simple heroic act that happened to save my hide, this boy is able
to puncture a hole in my armor.

As I take deep fueling breaths and work to
get myself under control Logan’s eyes zero in on my ribs, and the
blood trickling over my fur. He growls low and a tortured look
moves over his face.

His voice is hard and demanding when he says,
“
I need you to heal yourself, Pride. Right now.”

With that, he turns around and shifts into
his human form. He grabs the backpack from the rocky embankment and
slides the zipper open. My eyes never leave him as he pulls on a
pair of pants, t-shirt, jacket and boots. Once dressed he moves
toward me with a pile of clothes in his hands.

He drops them in front of me, but I don’t
shift back. Not right away. Not with his eyes still trained on me.
I realize that with all that’s going on back at the compound, and
with life and death hanging in the balance out here in the wild, my
nudity seems like such a foolish thing to worry about, but I can’t
seem to help myself. I’m a runt, one who is scarred and flawed and
completely self-conscious around this alpha.