The pack border was looming two inches in front of my nose. My next step would take me off our land and onto the land of our neighboring pack.
I blew out a deep breath and watched the fog form in front of my snout. The sharp scent cutting into my nostrils told me it would snow tonight. This was my last chance. Not unless I wanted to leave a treacherous trail of paws carved into a crunchy white layer.
Are you ready? I asked.
The three words contained the held-back enthusiasm that was flowing through my system. It had been too long.
We're going to make it, Edria, my wolf, said. I can feel it.
Then what are we waiting for?
She perked her wolf ears and waited for three heartbeats. Not a single sound was coming from the two-mile radius around us. This was our moment.
The muscles in her legs contracted, and in the next second we were past the border. Her paws barely scraped against the frozen dirt, but it was enough to leave a betraying trail of our scent. Then again, by the time someone would catch onto it, it would be too late.
Edria kept her eyes trained on the forest in front of us to make sure we didn't damage any of the trees. We were nothing but a blurry speck rushing through the forest. Even if a member of their border patrol saw us, they wouldn't stand a chance of ever catching up to us.
We're almost there.
Edria barred her sharp canines into a wide grin when the first dot of the wooden house appeared in the horizon. Just a little farther.
Twenty feet in front of the house she dug her claws into the frozen earth. We came into a screeching stop three feet away from the small house, right underneath a bare tree. Even before we stopped, she threw the reins back over to me and I shifted into my human form.
The dark brown fur was replaced with my softly tanned skin and shoulder-length locks of the same dark brown color as my fur. Without wasting another second I slipped my legs through the bottom of my aqua blue rompers, which had been strapped to my leg, and covered my bare chest with the elastic strapless top.
Then I turned my head to the lowest branch of the tree looming above me and jumped. The rough wood pierced through the skin on my hands as I wrapped my hands around the branch, but I barely noticed the sting. Instead, I pulled my body upwards and reached for an even higher branch. Only when I had my hands wrapped around that one did I finally swing my body in a wide arch and let go.
For a second I was flying through the air with nothing but the hard ground underneath me. Then I landed on a six-inch-wide window ledge. My heels peeked off the ledge, so I dug my nails into the window's frame to keep myself from tumbling down onto the ground.
Once my balance was back, I turned to the shut window in front of me and grabbed its bottom. Despite the window being shut from the inside, it was nothing compared to my werewolf strength. I pried it open with one swift yank and allowed the cold evening air to flood inside the dark room.
I ignored most of the shadow-covered room, while I soundlessly landed on the carpeted floor. All I needed was one small band; everything else was of no value to me.
The second a golden glint caught my eye, I was already lunging across the room. I wrapped my fingers around a simple ring, which was lying on top of a nightstand next to the king-sized bed.
We did it, Edria breathed out the words on the tip of my tongue.
"You're dead."
The familiar feminine voice had me freezing in my still halfway bend position over the nightstand.
"We all know what happens to uninvited guests sneaking onto my land." Her voice was coming from behind my back, which made me wonder when exactly she had entered the room. "And especially into my house."
I swallowed the curse on the tip of my tongue and straightened back up. From the side of my eye I saw her figure standing four steps behind me; exactly in the direction of the door leading out of the room. She was hidden in the shadows, but that didn't make a difference. I already knew what she looked like. Or more importantly, I knew what she was capable of.
We have only one option, Edria said.
We didn't need to waste a single second to make sure we were thinking the same thing. While I didn't stand a chance in a fight against the she-wolf, we both knew I held a different advantage.
I maneuvered the ring around my clenched fist, until it slipped onto my thumb. Then I tightened my muscles and lunged.
She moved two seconds after I did, but I was all I needed. I arched my body right past her, and then ran through the open door and down the familiar hallway. I could almost taste the freedom on my lips.
The moment I reached the top of the staircase, a massive force collided with my back. It sent me flying down the stairs with a speed too fast even for me to catch myself. I tried to soften the impact with my hands, but all it did, was shoot a burning pain through my wrist.
"Ah!"
My head spun from the rolling I had done down the stairs, but I still forced myself to rise into a sitting position.
Are you okay? Edria asked.
I'm fine, I said, while rotating my wrist. It's just a sprain.
Then I snapped my head up toward the red-haired she-wolf sprawled on the floor less than a step away from me.
"I already won." I shook my injured hand at her; the one where the golden ring was still wrapped around my thumb. "You see? I have the ring. So what in the name of the Moon Goddess are you doing, Ren?"
Instead, of at least opening her mouth for an explanation, the Red Moon Luna narrowed her eyes at me and jumped to her feet.
"Ren?" A different female voice called out the Luna's name, which was followed by the sound of two sets of rushing footsteps. "What's going on. We heardâ"
The woman's voice trailed off the moment she and a second woman rounded the corner and their eyes landed on Ren and me.
"Molly?" Ren's aqua blue eyes stared at me from a much older face and with a worried twinkle, I knew Ren would rather be caught dead than seen wearing.
"Hi, Felicia." I smiled at Ren's mother and then nodded at the little rounder and older woman standing right beside her. "Lavinia. It's been too long. How are you both doing?"
"What's going on?" Lavinia, Ren's mate's aunt, asked.
"Let me mind-link Victor." Felicia rushed over to me and helped me stand. "He needs to check yourâ"
"There's no need." I waved off her concern. "It's just a minor sprain and I've had much worse. This one will heal in no time."
"Are you sure? My mate wouldâ"
"She's fine." This time Ren was the one who cut her off. "She's after all trespassing on another pack's land. She deserves to suffer."
"Ren." Felicia glared at her daughter. "Are you forgettingâ"
"It's okay." I smiled Felicia and then nudged my head in Ren's direction. "She's just prickly because I won. We all know how much she hates to lose."
"As if." Ren barred her canines. "I caught you."
"It doesn't count. We agreed that because you're the Luna, you can't participate. So, all you did, was cause me an unnecessary injury."
All that left Ren's mouth was an impatient huff as she turned her face away from me. But I knew that she knew I had won. She was just too bull-headed to admit it.
"How's Blue Moon doing?" she asked after a moment of silence.
"Blue Moon?" Even without asking I knew what she was talking about. "You could find out for yourself, you know? All you need to do is take one of your long runs. She'd be over the moon to see you."
"Nah." Ren shook her head. "I'd rather keep the old Naia in my memory then see her as the thing she is now."
"Thing?" I almost chocked on my own saliva. "Did you just call her a thing? I know she changed a little, but she's still the same old Naia."
"What's going on?" Lavinia asked, glancing between the two of us.
"Is everything okay with the Blue Moon Luna?" Felicia joined in. "Is she sick? Should I ask Victor to help?"
"No, no." I waved off their concerns. "Naia's fine. Well, as fine as one can be in her state. I guess you haven't heard the news yet... Naia's with pup."
"Congratulations!" Lavinia's eyes shinned as she clapped her hands.
"Irene most be ecstatic," Felicia added. "It's been too long since we last visited her. And now we can also go over to congratulate the expecting parents."
"Congratulate? Ecstatic?" Ren's eyes snapped between the two older women. "What are you talking about? Have you seen her? She... She..."
One of the toughest she-wolves out there shuttered at the mere thought of someone close to her being with a pup.
"Just wait until you're with a pup." Felicia shook her head at her daughter. "You'll see what a wonderful thing it is."
"Over my dead body." Ren's tone lowered into a freezing chill that could freeze an entire lake, if not even part of the sea.
"Now, wait a second." Lavinia turned to her Luna with an expression that almost matched Ren's cold glare. "You are the Luna of Red Moon. As such it is your duty to make sureâ"
"Let's go." Ren motioned at me to follow her.
Without a second to spare she made her way toward the front door, while ignoring her mate's aunt who was still talking.
"Ren?" Felicia called after her, but the younger she-wolf didn't bother to turn around. "You can'tâ"
"I'll tell Naia and Jared your best wishes. And my mom that you'll soon visit. I'm sure my brother will agree that you're both welcome to come anytime." I waved at the two women and then skipped down the hallway to reach Ren's hurried footsteps.
Who would have thought that the Red she-devil had something she was afraid of? Or maybe it was just the prospect of the hormonal changes that happened while a woman was with a pup. After all, Ren had started to avoid Naia not since she had learned she was with pup, but since her hormonal balanced was disrupted.
You can't deny how... unstable Naia has become ever since she's with pup, Edria said.
"Don't think I'll let you forget that easily about our agreement." I reached Ren's side just as she exited the house. "I still won. The ring proves it."
"Give me back my thumb ring."
She reached for my hand, but I hid it behind my back before she could get a hold of it. This earned me a nasty glare from her, but she didn't try to take the ring again. Instead, she focused her eyes on the dark forest in front of us.
"You're going to your border patrol, aren't you?" I couldn't keep the wide grin off my face when I saw her lips pinch into a tight line. "You need to let them know that they failed their duty. Again. How many times is it now? Seventeen?"
"I breached onto your land twenty-three times," she snarled.
"But never when I was part of the border patrol." I knew I was walking on thin ice, poking fun at Ren like this, but I couldn't help myself. "You've yet to win while I'm the one watching our border. Which reminds me, have youâ"
"Ren?"
Both of us whirled around to find two figures walking through the dark forest toward us. Despite the darkness I instantly recognized Blake's deep masculine voice. The Red Moon Alpha was wearing one of his ever present unreadable expressions, while keeping his eyes solemnly on Ren's stiff figure.
The instant a sharp scent of lemon and honey burst into my nostrils, however, I forgot all about him.
Mate! He's our mate. Edria's words echoed inside my mind.
The scent was coming from the guy beside Blake. The dark forest made his chocolate skin look even darker, while his brown eyes pierced straight through my denim blue ones. He was a little taller than the Red Moon Alpha, but I doubted he was as tall as my brother.
What occupied most of my senses, however, was the strong aura he was radiating. Definitely not a minor pack member.
The guy with the wide shoulders and the sharp jaw was definitely an Alpha.
"Oh look, Bob's here," Ren snorted.
I, however, was too busy taking in his approaching figure.
"Mate." His whisper felt like the softest caress against my ears.
I opened my mouth to say the same when a massive force smashed into my side. It was the same force that had sent me flying down the stairs, however, this time it didn't come from Ren's direction.
It came from the opposite one as I was tackled to the ground by a light haired she-wolf I couldn't remember having ever met before.
***
Welcome to another one of my stories.
A lot of you guessed what its title would be, but now I'm interested to know if anyone saw it coming that Molly would be the female protagonist.
Please, remember to vote and comment if you like the chapter.
Much love
- E