Kara and I were in my room when Kai and Lucah walked in. Lucah stayed by the door, seemingly afraid to enter the room fully. Kai looked tired. Kara slid off the tall bed and went to Lucah.
"I'll talk to you later, Ren." She waved. I waved back and they left. Kai flopped on the bed, landing on his stomach.
"You look tired." I ran my fingers through his hair.
"Mmm." He nearly purred.
"What did you do today?" I questioned.
"Boss stuff." He grumbled. "Paperwork." I continued to run my fingers through his hair. He inhaled deeply and sat up. He sat with one leg bent on the bed in front of him.
"Lucah and I have to go to France in four weeks. Would you like to come with us?" He looked at me with his mismatched eyes.
"A chance to go to France? I'd love to go!" I smiled.
"You can bring Kara as well, " he informed me. You both can explore Paris with at least one security guard." Excitement flooded my veins. I had never traveled before. This would be so new. Winter Wilde relocated there, so maybe you will get the chance to meet your father." I felt my smile fade. Meet my father? Maybe it'll be good and not a disaster at all.
"Let's just start with going to Paris." I took his hand and pulled him to me. He wrapped me in his warm arms where we both laid down on the bed. I laid with my body as close to his as humanly possible.
"Ren…." A voice whispered so faintly that I almost missed it. I tried my hardest to ignore it. Should I tell Kai about the voice and the weird feeling I've been getting? I moved my head so that I could look up at him. His eyes were closed and I could tell that he was falling asleep. I'll wait to tell him.
~~~
"Ren?"
"Where are you?"
"Renley." My eyes fluttered open. The room was dark and as my eyes flicked around, I saw nothing. I felt afraid, though. My heart beat quickly in my chest as I laid next to Kai.
"Renley."
"Find me."
"Come find me, Renley." Just go back to sleep. I'm safe here. Just sleep.
~~~
I heard the mysterious voice every day for two weeks and nearly every time I went outside, I got the feeling that I was being watched. I was sitting at the island counter with Kara when I began to hear the voice again.
"Come find me, Renley." What the hell keeps calling me? Why won't it go away?
"You don't look like you've been sleeping well." Kara told me.
"I haven't." Thanks to the voice waking me up every few hours. I rubbed my face with my hands.
"How come?" She asked. I paused. Should I tell her?
"I… have just been uncomfortable." I replied. It wasn't entirely a lie. Kai and I have had sex nearly every day and that left me uncomfortable especially when I sat.
"Oh, I have something that might help." She stood up straight. "I'll be right back." She left the kitchen.
"Renley." The voice nearly sang. I tried to ignore it. After a few minutes, something in me changed. I wanted to find the voice. I couldn't stop myself as I stood and went to the door in the kitchen. I went outside, the asphalt hot against my bare feet. I walked across the yard and into the treeline. The treetops blocked out a lot of the sunlight, making it seem like late afternoon. I followed the mysterious voice that called my name, carefully making my way through the brush and branches.
I blinked, seeming to wake up from whatever trance had a hold over me. I looked around before looking up. The sun was setting. Where am I? I looked around again, looking for anything that would tell me where to go. I started walking, all of my senses on high alert. Something rustled behind me as I entered a circle of birch trees. Sunlight filtered into the small clearing and the ground was covered in lush, green moss that was soft against my feet. I looked behind myself before looking forward again. In front of me floated a see through, white being. It appeared as female, their loose clothes in an invisible breeze. They looked sacred.
"Renley." The mysterious voice said, louder than I was expecting. I jumped, startled. Say something! What if it tried to kill me? "Renley, daughter of Winter Wilde, step forward."
"Who are you?" I asked. They were majestic and beautiful. They looked at me with a slightly amused expression.
"Do you not recognize me, Rennie?" They smiled. The last person to call me 'Rennie' was….
"Mom?!" I almost shrieked. The smile she gave could've lit up the whole world. "What…." My mother died trying to protect me from the man that I believed was my father. It was a horrible way to die. I studied the ethereal being floating in front of me.
"I am a spirit." She informed me. "I've been watching you for years…. Calling out to you." I felt at a loss for words.
"How come I've only recently started hearing you?" My eyes danced over her.
"Your senses are finally strong enough to receive my calling." She answered. "Renley, I am so proud of you."
"I… haven't done anything to gain your pride." I shook my head slightly.
"You never gave up. You held on and now you're thriving."
"Thriving?"
"You are in love and you are loved. And that little pup growing inside of you will be very, very loved." She smiled. Pup? Inside of me? One of my hands touched my belly. I'm pregnant? "You didn't know…." I shook my head. I would have to take a test to be sure.
"I'm sorry." She said.
"It's alright." My mouth was dry. "I-is my father Winter Wilde?"
"Yes." She replied simply.
"Why was I left with…?"
"Because you're special and that put you in danger. Being with Drew masked your scent. No one would be able to smell who you were." She told me.
"Kai did…."
"Kai is also very special. Very strong."
"What makes me special?" I felt my face scrunch up slightly.
"You are the first female in generations with a transformation." She answered. I paused.
"What? I can't shape shift."
"You never tried. Drew forced you to submit everything that made you a wolf. He took your power." She informed me. "Being with Kai, you are learning how to use your wolf." I looked at the ground, thinking. It would make sense. I've felt weird recently. Different. More confident. More powerful. Rustling to my left took my attention. The hair on my arms stood on end, making me feel afraid.
"I will always be with you, but right now, you need to run." She sounded rushed. I looked at her. "RUN!" Without missing a beat, I turned right and took off running. I jumped over large branches and dodged trees , thorns and pieces of wood cutting into my bare feet. I realized that it was pitch black and I was relying on my wolf vision. I could hear snarls and footsteps behind me that pressed me to move faster. I ran for several minutes, branches slicing my face and arms as I ran by. My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. There was no chance in me hiding because they could just use my scent to find me. I went to jump over a fallen tree, but my foot hit it and I went flying to the ground. A bark had me rolling onto my back. A dark gray, nearly blue, wolf chomped down on my left forearm. A shriek squeezed out of my lungs and clawed its way up my throat and out of my mouth. I pulled my feet between us and kicked it as hard as possible. It released my arm and stumbled back. Another wolf bit down on my right shoulder, causing me to scream again. I kicked my legs into the air, rolling so that I had a leg on either side of its neck. These were dire wolves so they were very big. It released me, but I slipped my fingers between its teeth, grabbing the top and bottom parts of his mouth. I pushed hard on the bottom jaw and pulled on the top as it growled until I heard a snap. The wolf dropped to the ground and whimpered. The other wolf tackled me and I kicked it over my head. I got to my feet, dodging a third wolf.
"Climb." A voice said in my head. I looked up and ran to a tree, kicking off of it and grabbing onto a branch, climbing up. My arm and shoulder bled heavily and the pain made sure that I knew I was injured. I climbed as high as possible where I stopped and looked down. There were three wolves snarling and barking up at me. The fourth rolled on the ground, pawing at its broken jaw. I took a deep breath and took a moment to inspect my wounds. The flesh was torn where the teeth sunk into it. A vine hung on a nearby branch and I grabbed it, using it as a tourniquet on my left arm. I couldn't do much on my right shoulder. Why are these wolves attacking me?
"Renley Wolfhound!" A man called up from under me. I looked down. "Don't make me come up there!"
"What do you want?" I yelled back.
"Our boss wants you to answer for your crimes." He replied.
"What crimes?"
"The murders of our Alpha and pack members."
"They got what they deserved." I shifted on the branch. I was becoming light headed.
"We will wait as long as we need to." He growled. "You'll bleed out before we leave." Shit. I don't even know where I am. How did they find me? I looked around, seeing a pine tree next to the tree that I was in. It was close enough that I could grab the pinecones out of it easily. I thought of how I could signal for Kai from where I was. I couldn't fight these wolves alone.