had to do was figure out how to save her. Something both Aspen and Dex have told me is impossible.
But it's my fault my family was turned. My nails cut into my palms. She was just a pup. Barely ten.
Green eyes too large for her face bore into my mind. Whatever the cost to have her back, I will pay. I have to have her back, even if it means selling my soul.
The witch's tattoos on my flesh burn, sizzling like acid to remind me of my pack with the witches. They have promised me hope. A dangerous spell that can cure Nambi.
Only her out of all our pack, because of her age and innocence. She will die without me and be forever a lost one. The others are too far gone. She was the last one to turn. Coming out of her hiding place when she thought I had come home early.
Our tent ripped to shreds. Her blood was everywhere. The wolf with bright green eyes whimpered when she saw me before she ran into the woods after the lost ones.
How I chased after her all night until my legs gave way. Until I crawled to try and reach her. Until Aspen and Dex found me and I couldn't
a fucking finger to stop them from carrying me away.
Only wolves like Nambi could be cured by the witches' spell.
They promised me that Nambi was still alive because unlike the rest of our pack, she hadn't turned completely into a wolf yet, her age and innocence kept her safe from changing. The spell would save Nambi and bring back what I had lost.
And all I had to do was give the witches a girl with blue hair.
Jessica
"We don't have to do this," Aspen says in a hoarse voice.
I uncurl my hands, not taking my gaze from the sliver of yellow sky beyond the crack in the wood nailed over the window.
"You can't trust witches," he adds. "Doesn't matter." I turn from the window. "She wants tofind her mother and we need to save Nambi."
"Are you sure it's safe?" I ask as I meet Aspen, Dex, and Raven in the kitchen. "What if the lost ones come back?"
Raven gives me a pinched expression before shaking his head. "We'll reach the next encampment before nightfall."
His words don't fill me with relief. My gut tightens like I'm fixing to leap out of a high tree. But they saved me. So they have to be good guys, right?
"And if we don't reach it by dark?" I wrap my arms around myself. "We can't take the chance of sleeping outside again." Not with the lost ones hanging out at this cabin for so long like they were waiting on us to be served up as their dinner.
Strange. Last night I wanted to leave this shack of a house and today, I don't. Except I know we can't stay here forever. I have to find my mom and we don't have enough provisions either.
"We'll be fine. Just stick with us and if we say run, you do so." He glances over his shoulder at Aspen and Dex. "That goes for both of you as well."
"How far is it to the next camp?" I lean against the kitchen counter,
either.
"We'll be fine. Just stick with us and if we say run, you do so." He glances over his shoulder at Aspen and Dex. "That goes for both of you as well."
"How far is it to the next camp?" I lean against the kitchen counter, trying to calm my stomach that's twisting in knots the more I think about leaving this little cabin. "And how do we find my mother?"
I mean, I don't know her name or what she even looks like. I'm guessing on her having blue hair like me, but what if she doesn't? What if she refuses to help me?
Bitter acid coats the back of my tongue and I swallow hard, blinking back the sting of unshed tears.
"There's some witches that live on the outskirts of Salem. That's our best starting point," Raven answers and pulls open the back door. "We'll have to stop along the way but should get there by dusk in five or six days."
"Wait. We're walking all that way? That's got to be over a hundred miles or so."
"Got a problem with walking?"
Raven smirks at me from the doorway
"No. But I thought we'd travel by horse or something." Get there as soon as we can.
"We find a horse that hasn't been gutted by the lost ones, then sure," Dex says following Raven outside.
"Are you sure about this?" I bite my lip, turning to Aspen.
He hikes the backpack over his shoulder. "We're off to see witches in order to find your mom, hell no I'm not sure about this. But this is the best chance we have."
I nod, trying to swallow past the tightness in my throat.
"We better go," Aspen says and steps out of the house and I follow.
Dex already stands at the edge of the driveway, scanning the woods beyond. Aspen and I walk over to him and he glances at us.
"I don't think we should go that way," he says and points down the road. "The lost ones' tracks veer off to the side."
Ahead, Raven disappears into the trees.
I grab Aspen's arm. "What if we run out of time before we can get to the city?" And please don't let lost ones track us.
Aspen shakes his head. "Then we
run like hell."
I follow him and the others into the forest despite wanting to lock myself in the cabin.
The field around us is completely overgrown with weeds, bushes, and trees. Waist-high grass blows in the breeze. Mud puddles from the recent thunderstorm have turned into small lakes. The sky is full of rain clouds and I can almost forget we nearly died.
"How long have you and Dex been with Raven?" I ask.
Aspen stares straight ahead and for a moment, I wonder if I said something wrong.
"Six winters now."
"And all three of you are Alphas." I shake my head.
"Crazy, I know. Not many would do that."
He's right about that. Both Casey and his father would kill any rivals to their pack. "He was just a lone wolf then?"
"Not exactly." He kicks aside a stone that tumbles and strikes the trunk of an oak tree. "He was newly selected Alpha of his pack before we fucked it up for him."
I trip over my feet and Aspen