Willow sprinted through the forest in whatever direction her feet took her. Her heart was pounding so hard she felt she could hear its loud beating. She glanced over her shoulder every time she had to turn. Although she saw no sign of her pursuer, she was sure he wasn't far behind.
With his aching legs and burning lungs, no one could blame her for taking a moment to catch her breath, but she had learned from bitter experience that carelessness would lead to getting caught. Luke taught her that she need to be alert at all times when out in the wild like this.
Her frantic escape eventually led her to a small river that suddenly appeared through the endless pine trees. Cutting right through the forest, the stream meandered downhill. Willow ran up a small incline, continuing towards a larger pool of water somewhere in the valley.
The river was about three meters wide. Willow considered which direction to take, heading up or down, to find a narrower spot to cross, but she didn't want to waste time with her pursuer not far behind. Better to get across as quickly as possible. So she charged into the current. It turned out that the river was shallow, at the deepest point her ankles were barely even submerged. But that only slowed her down. The rocks on the riverbed were slippery, so she had to be careful not to rush and end up losing her footing.
When she stepped out of the river on the other side, she quickened her pace again, but had barely traveled ten feet, her path was cut by a wolf that had been following her all this time. She came to an abrupt halt. Her heart sank and she froze.
The wolf growled. Its body was ready to lunge and its mouth opened, revealing sharp fangs. The amber eyes locked on Willow's brown ones. Clearly, Willow was losing. The wolf had predicted where she would flee to and then rushed ahead of her and intercepted her at the river.
Willow took a few steps back before her heels met the water again. There was really nowhere for her to retreat to. The river behind her and the wolf ahead. If she fled back to the river, she would be slowed down and it would easily ambush her. But she couldn't just stand by and hope that the wolf would leave her behind as well. It didn't even give it a chance to think about its next move. The animal began to advance.
It looked like Willow was running out of time. It was now or never for her to make a decision. Not liking the idea of returning to the icy stream because it made her bare feet feel frozen, she opted to run along the stream and try to escape the wolf that way. Although she wasn't too sure that it would work instead of going back through the stream, it was clear that she had to do something. It was a quick decision and hope that luck was on her side.
She could hear the wolf following. Four strong paws running behind it. It was getting closer and closer. The wolf was too fast. It wasn't long before she realized that her attempt to escape would prove futile. Just seconds after starting to run again, the wolf knocked her to the ground from behind. She stretched out her arms to cushion her fall and keep her face from hitting the ground. Then rolled onto her back, only to find the wolf looming over her, growling once more. It placed a paw on her chest to hold her in place.
She looked at the claw that was pressed right on one of her breasts. She frowned and looked at the wolf. "Getting a little bold with that paw, eh?"
The wolf stopped growling and then released the claws before it sat down beside her. In an instant, it transformed from a wolf into the handsome Luke. The only feature that carried over from his wolf form were his amber eyes.
"Sorry about that," he said as he looked down and rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess I got a little carried away."
Willow sat up and pulled the front of her dress a little higher. It was the same red dress that Fenella had given her for the wedding ceremony with Lowell. The dress really didn't suit her, it was too loose, as she had become much thinner now. It was also very impractical to wear for traveling in the wild, which was why she cut the bottom so that it ended just above her knees.
"It's okay." Willow leaned closer to Luke. "I don't really mind."
Luke looked up at her. His lips curved into a smile. "Oh yeah?"
"Yeah." She kept scooting closer. Placing her hands on his knees and bringing her lips just an inch away from Luke's. "Just like now. I know you don't mind one bit."
"Well, you're probably right."
Their lips were about to meet when suddenly Willow heard something move behind the bushes to her right. She turned and found herself looking at a familiar face.
"Alpha, I need to talk to you," Don said. One of the werewolves in the pack, his black hair was long and pulled into a ponytail at the back of his head. His scruffy beard completely covered the lower part of his face.
Although he was unsightly, he had actually proven to be very loyal, so Willow didn't mind too much the fact that his appearance resembled that of an escaped convict. She forced herself to move away from Luke reluctantly and straightened up, ending any chance of a kiss. She thought it was better to look like an alpha worthy of her followers' respect than to look like a girl in love. It was hard to imagine herself as the alpha of a werewolf pack, but so far she was succeeding, with plenty of advice and support from Luke.
"What do you need to talk to me about?" Willow asked Don.
"Our tracker just got back to camp," Don said. "He said he found something you need to see. It might be exactly what we're looking for."
Willow looked over her shoulder at Luke, who was interested in an instant and gave her a brief nod as if to tell her it was time for her to give the order.
She turned to Don. "Alright, we're going back now."
Don nodded before he turned around and walked back through the trees. The campsite wasn't far, so it didn't take long for them to get back.
Willow took Luke's hand before following the dark-haired werewolf. Her heart began to beat faster in her chest. She couldn't decide if it was just from the excitement of being with Luke or from the possibility of finally reaching their destination since first leaving her grandparents' house.
***
Once Willow and Luke arrived back at camp, she saw the tracker, another werewolf named Lou, sitting by the fire warming his hands. The other two pack members were nearby. It was still bitterly cold up here in the highlands, though at least it hadn't rained or snowed. But she imagined that the situation could change at any time, and that would really be a problem since they had no tents and sleeping bags.
At least this time they had some temporary shelter built from branches with tree bark and moss sheets for a roof. They may look rough, but they help create shelter from the torrential rain and biting cold air, which gets much worse after nightfall.
Brothers Mike and Joe, the other two werewolves in the pack, could quickly and easily set up a shelter in about an hour as long as there were enough resources, and considering they were in the forest, tree bark and branches were not hard to come by.
"What did you find, Lou?" Willow asked as she sat on a stump next to the fire. She liked the warmth of the campfire, especially after the fun game of chase with Luke, who had led her to the freezing river.
Lou looked up at her. His wild mane of blond hair framed a face covered in stubble and scars. From what little he had told her about his past, in his youth he had been a wild young man. Living on the streets of the city, on the move, where he would steal food and clothing to survive. He had no choice but to learn on his own to avoid beatings and bullying, then he realized that his small stature was to his advantage to sneak into places that didn't belong to him and pickpocket unsuspecting people.
"I found a trail," Lou said. "At the foot of the mountain. It seems to lead to the summit. There seems to be someone who frequently travels to the forest. Maybe to forage or hunt."
"So you think there seems to be someone living there?"
Lou nodded.
Willow looked over her shoulder at Luke, who stood with his arms folded. The cold never seemed to bother him. In fact, there didn't seem to be anything in this forest that could bother him.
"What do you think?" he asked. "Do you think it might have been done by my father?"
Luke shrugged. "It's possible."
"Do you think we should check it out?"
"You're the alpha. You should be the one to decide. Not me."
Willow frowned. She had expected Luke to say that. But he was right. It was her decision, and there was no reason to delay it. According to Luke, her father lived somewhere in the mountains, but she didn't know exactly where. She had never actually gone to her father's hideout before, so the best she could do at the moment, now that she had brought them to the right region, was to help look for any clues that might lead them to the location where her father lived, and this trail Lou had found was the only clue they had found for days, so it made no sense to ignore it.
"Alright." She met Lou's gaze. "We'll check it out. Can you take us back there?"
He nodded. "Of course."
"Good. How far is it?"
"No more than five miles."
Willow looked up at the sun, shielding her eyes with her hands to avoid looking at it directly, although with all the thick clouds, the sun wasn't that bright. After being in the wilderness for weeks, she was pretty good at determining the time just by the position of the sun. It wasn't a perfect estimation, but it was pretty good considering how difficult it was to determine the exact time here. Since there seemed to be plenty of sunlight left, they should be able to travel a few miles in no time in wolf form.
"Let's go right now," Willow said as she stood up. "Mike, make sure you and Joe put out the fire and spread the ashes. Oh, and dismantle this shelter too. Don, give them a hand."
Her pack rushed to do as she instructed. As she watched them work, Luke appeared behind her and placed his hand on her lower back. He looked over her shoulder.
"You don't have to worry so much about being followed," he whispered in her ear. "Lowell is dead, and you've got the rest of the pack under control."
"Not all of them."
"You mean Boris and Fenella? They are no threat to us."
"Are you sure?"
"You banished Boris. Do you really think that his loyalty to Lowell is so strong that he would try to avenge his death? I doubt that."
Willow disagreed with that, but it wasn't Boris that scared her the most. "What about Fenella? I wouldn't be surprised if she came after us."
"She left even before Lowell died."
"But what if she comes back? What if she finds Lowell's body? She must have assumed that it was me or you who killed him and wanted revenge. After all, she loved him."
"He can't hurt you, Willow." He took her hand and squeezed it.
"She's just one werewolf. You have a pack that will protect you from her. And more importantly, you have the power to stop her by yourself. You beat Lowell by yourself, so you can beat Fenella too if you need to."
Willow looked down at her feet. "I got lucky against Lowell."
"Luck plays a role in every fight. Don't get down on yourself. You should give yourself credit.
She shrugged. "I guess."
"Come on." He squeezed her hand again. "Stop worrying. It won't be long before we find your father. Do you really want to waste time and energy worrying about Fenella?
She shook her head. Luke was right as always. There was no reason to worry about what might happen while she focused on her goal of finding her father.
"Alright." She met his gaze again. "Thank you."
Luke smiled. "I told you I'm here to help you however I can, and I mean it."
As daunting as the task of leading the pack was, it felt much easier with Luke by her side. She tightened his grip on Luke's hand and thanked him silently.
****