As soon as Max and Beckett open the doors, they shift. Their wolves taking over. This time last year this reserve was under water from torrential rain and flooding. This year it has been dryer and now the place is flourishing.
The only problem with the dryer weather change is the worry of bushfires, as this Nature reserve isn’t far from the forest around the Pack. I hadn’t been out here in months, not usually leaving the pack unless called for, never had much reason to come out except on pack runs. Even those we usually stuck to the forest around the Pack, safer in numbers and not as far for me to run if the pack came under attack while out running.
The nature reserve was eerily quiet, I couldn’t even hear birds or insects, which is a good sign wolves have been around or still are around the area. That wasn’t also the only thing I noticed, it was the smell of blood and lots of it as the wind changed direction. Beckett, noticing it straight away drops his head and sniffs the ground before taking off into the bush. Max and I close on his tail.
We ran for about five minutes when I heard Beckett growl before lunging at something. Running into the small clearing, the first thing I notice is the campfire that had recently been extinguished, still smouldering. Bodies of my five pack members ripped to pieces strewn across the camp had me seeing red. Darian comes forward, taking over while I take the backseat in our head.
Hearing a noise, he follows it before we stumble across an injured rogue. His sandy blonde hair matted in blood and he was slowly bleeding out. His wrist hanging at the wrong angle, he must have shifted to see if he could heal faster.
The rogue was way too gone and would die from the injuries sustained; no wolf could heal that quickly. He looks up as Darian advances and I see Beckett go to lunge at him, fury taking over at the scene we just came across. They strung one scout up in a tree and had his heart ripped out. The idea of having to take his body back to his parents like that was eating at me, Peter was only seventeen and jumped at the chance to scout the area.
If I had known they would actually come across something out here, I would have sent him elsewhere, but this area is usually deserted. Only a few farms out here and the bush reserve and a little further up the wetlands. Nothing for Miles, so I considered it a safe place for the younger ones to get some training.
“Don’t kill him, he is already dying, and we need information” I mind link Beckett before shifting and crouching in front of him.
The rogue looked up, a smirk on his face as he tried to hide the fear I could see in his eyes. He knew he was dying so I doubt I would get any information from him, but I still needed to try.
“Where is Kade?” The rogue chuckles before spitting blood at me.
“Fuck you” He spits at me. He couldn’t have been older than eighteen. Such a shame to see a rogue so young. Most eighteen-year-olds had the safety of a pack, so it made me wonder what he did to become a rogue.
“You don’t have long left; do you want to spend those few minutes in more agony? Tell me and I will make it quick,”
He doesn’t answer, I raise my hand letting my claws extend and wriggling them, just before I plunge them in his stomach he flinches. “Wait,” He says, and I drop my hand.
“Where is Kade?” I ask again. Beckett and Max growling behind me.
“I’m surprised you left your pack. We knew your scouts were tracking us. I didn’t think you would fall for it, come all the way out here leaving your pack without its Alpha,”
“Stop spilling nonsense and tell me where he is” I growl at him. He smiles and I see his wolf come forward, his eyes turning black and a sadistic smile on his face going from ear to ear.
“Kade isn’t the one you should be worried about right now, he is watching. Waiting. Bidding his time” Beckett and Max’s eyes darting between the trees looking for any sign of him. My eyes not leaving his.
I plunge my hand into his stomach, and he screams in pain, blood dribbling from his mouth and down his chin before he regains himself and smiles again like a lunatic.
“If you’re here, who is protecting your precious Luna?” He says before laughing. My heart pounds in my chest at his words.
“Lily” I whisper. Her name got stuck in my throat. Spinning around, I look at Beckett and Max.
“Get to the pack it was a fucking trap” I scream to them, they look at me before taking off. Turning back to the rogue, he was nearly dead, his breathing shallow.
“What are they planning?” I tell him, shaking him trying to get him to answer. He chuckles and coughs on his blood.
“Estella said to tell you she said Hi” I plunged my hand in his chest and watched as he died before shifting and heading back to the car. I could feel eyes on me and knew Kade was close, but right now I needed to get to the pack. Getting back to Lily, driving at full speed I slow down and stop when I catch up to Beckett and Max they quickly jump in my car.
We had been driving for a few minutes when I saw something in the middle of the road. We were only a few minutes out with my driving from the Pack and so far, I couldn’t feel any distress indicating trouble with the Pack. More figures dart onto the road, but I have no intention of stopping as I plough through them, when suddenly I hear a loud popping noise and feel the car lose control and head into a ditch. It throws Max through the windscreen and Beckett slams into the dash. My head smashing into the steering wheel as the car crashes into a tree in the ditch.
Groaning, I look up and see wolves surrounding us.