cower. It pours in, drenching us.
"What if we just go back to the cabin?" I wipe rainwater from my face and try to push the muddy water from my eyes.
He shakes his head. "We can't." Even though I know he's right, I can't help asking, "How do we know-"
"I know what I'm doing, Jessica" he snaps, his eyes glowing in the darkness. He's on the verge of shifting. As his wolf, he'll want to fight the others and I'll be left alone. Solitude used to be my favorite time, but now it has me fearing the worst.
Casey and the others outnumber us. And it's not like fighting the lost ones, we can't kill an Alpha's son, or his father will come after us and bring the entire pack with him... and possibly neighboring packs as well.
Once a rogue wolf hunted too close to our lands and Casey led a search party with three other wolf packs. They returned with the wolf's head and I'd seen the truth. It had been a young teen probably no older than fifteen.
"We are going to die out here," I say. If Casey and his goons don't get us, the lost ones will. "You have to
get us, the lost ones will. "You have to know that."
"I know that I need to protect you." He holds onto me.
"And if you can't?" I whisper as the wind blows past us, sending a chill through me.
"Here." He puts his arms around me, warming me. "Close your eyes."
My eyes flutter shut and I snuggle closer to him. It's not long before I'm soothed to sleep by his breathing and the steady beat of his heart against my ear.
In the distance, a ferocious snarl sounds, and my stomach clenches.
"Oh God, they found us." I push off Dex's chest. My head pounds as I blink against the late afternoon sun outside the tree. "They're going to rip us to pieces."
"No, they won't."
His deep voice is reassuring, but I can't help but feel the need to run. "You can't stop them. They'll kill you too."
"I'm not going to leave you."
"I can take care of myself." I
stand and brush the mud off my
clothes "I'm a worowolf I'll be fing"
clothes. "I'm a werewolf. I'll be fine."
"Jessica you're not a werewolf."
His words are a punch to my gut. "I am. I-I just need to find my mom."
Dex lets out a sigh and stands with me, grabbing my pack. "At least the rain has stopped. We'll have to take the long way around to camp and ensure no one's following us and hope to meet Aspen and Raven there."
"And if they don't make it?" My chest feels like it's wrapped in barbed wire.
"Let's cross that stream when we come to it." He holds out his hand and I take it, unable to keep the faith he has in Aspen and Raven. If it was just Casey against one of them, I wouldn't worry. But these aren't mindless lost ones they're facing, but sadistic killers. Wolves who take pleasure in causing pain in any way they can.
He pulls out a plastic vial with a wax seal over the lid from his backpack.
"What's that?"
"Skunk perfume." He breaks the seal and the smell of dead skunk wafts through the air, choking me. "Good huh? Paid a fortune for a witch to bottle this for me."
I hold my nose, trying not to gag.
"Why would you want something like that?"
He cocks his head to the side. "You grew up sheltered, Jessica. It's wolf-eats-wolf out here beyond the pack barriers. Smells don't affect lost ones like others and this wouldn't slow them down. But I've been at the end of wolf hunts too much not to have a backup plan. Some, like yours, hunt any rogues like us out here for sport."
"Okay," I play along, "but what's to keep them from knowing you've done this to throw them off the trail?"
He beams up at me and my breath hitches at the way his green eyes light up. "Smart. It's also got a spell tied to it. Anyone wishing me or the others harm will have a sudden urge to run back home before it wears off."
"How long will it last?" I wrap my arms around myself because I don't know how magic works. Never thought about it until recently when I found out I was half a witch. Could I do any spells?
Dex dumps the liquid into the tree we rested in before pouring it out behind us.
"Head southeast, I'll be right
behind you. Don't want them to catch onto our scent any time soon."
He finishes pouring the foul liquid after us and replaces the bottle into his pack.
"You're not keeping that are you?" I cough back bile. "It reeks."
"Walk faster and we'll be out of the stink zone sooner." Dex marches past me and I rush to catch up to him.
The sun fades low on the horizon and I don't see a cabin or shelter anywhere around.
"How much further to the camp?" I ask. "The lost ones will be waking any moment."
He stops so suddenly that I crash into his back. I'm knocked backward on my ass, but he doesn't move.
"What is it?" I push myself up, my skin breaking out in goosebumps.
"Climb," he commands and I balk at him.
"There's no time." He pushes me to a fat maple tree with thick branches stretching up to the sky.
When I slide down, the bark slicing open my palms, he growls.
"Use the grooves." He points to etchings on the tree leading all the way up.
Slowly, I make my way up to the closest branch, my arms shaking.
Dex climbs up past me to the branch above and lowers his hand for me. I take it and he pulls me up. We continue for several more feet before there's a platform of wood I didn't see from the ground beneath us.
"Welcome to our camp." He wipes the sweat off his brow and smiles.
"You all live here?" I turn in a circle. There's nothing here but this plank of wood nailed to the tree's inner branches.
"Nah." Dex smiles and sits down, unpacking a blanket and tossing it to me. "This is just one of our camps. Out here it helps to have lots of safe places to sleep if you know what I
mean." I nod and he hands me a bottle of
water.
My muscles are cramping and I chug the water down.
"Here." He tosses me the blanket. "It's going to get cold tonight."
"What about you?" I tilt my chin to him.
He gives me a lopsided grin that has my heart skipping a beat. "Don't worry about me. I'll snuggle up next to you if I get too cocold
"That so?" I huff 'cause I need to keep my wits about me. My wolf won't let me bond with anyone else, but Michael.
When he places his finger to his lips, I still.
A shadow creeps around the base of the tree.
"Is it the lost ones?" I mouth the words.
He shakes his head. "Wolves can't climb trees."
Dex doesn't move, but waits until a low whistle sounds, then he relaxes. "It's Raven and Aspen."
I'm so relieved that I unclench the blanket I'm holding.
Both of them are bloody and sweaty, but they're alive. I fight the urge to run to them and hug them both.
"We brought some food. Stole it off one of the wolves." Aspen hands me and Dex some jerky.
Raven watches me eat it; his gaze unwavering. I shift my legs underneath me remembering the heat of him when we were alone in the cabin when his body heat pinned me to the door before I could leave.
"This is your last chance" Raven
says, his eyes narrowing.
"Last chance?" I shake my head. "For what?"
"For you to tell us what's really going on." His lips pull into a snarl. "Tell us the truth, we can smell a lie a mile away."
"About what?" My heart pounds and I want to hide under the blanket.
"You're not telling us the truth about your wolf being." He grips my shoulders, shaking small tremors through me. "Why are the lost ones tracking you."
"What?" I shrug him off, but my gut tightens in knots. "I don't know what you're talking about."