All the color left his face, and he grabbed his chest as if his heart couldn’t handle what he was going through. If shifters could have a stroke, I would’ve been worried that’s what he was experiencing. I even had to hold him steady when his legs started to go weak. It was like he was in a daze and it took me a few minutes to snap him out of it.
Once his eyes lost the vacant glazed-over emptiness, he focused them on me and said, “Something’s wrong. Very, very, wrong. We need to get to them. Right fucking now.” With no further explanation, he shifted leaving behind a pile of shredded fabric. He left me behind as well, coughing in his cloud of dust. I had to shift without taking my clothes off, worried that the time it took would make it impossible to catch up to him. Thankfully, I wasn’t wearing anything of sentimental value.
We’ve been running at full speed ever since. I’ve no idea where Derrick’s finding his energy, but I’m in a constant state of strain trying to keep up with his pace. Which is the complete opposite of how things normally are. It feels like a muscle spasm on the verge of seizing up. And for me to respond this way is saying a lot about the pace Derrick is forcing us to maintain.
If I don’t keep my thoughts focused on a specific subject they wander to all the possibilities of what Derrick meant when he said something is wrong. What worries me the most is how abnormal that kind of reaction is from Derrick. He’s forever pulling pranks on all of us, and displays wild and daring behavior. He likes to keep everything upbeat, but I've never seen him more frightened or serious in all his life.
Shit! Here I go again, letting my thoughts wander. We must be getting close to the others. The sky is beginning to lighten with the sunrise approaching. I’m not sure how much longer my nerves can handle not having any answers. I keep my focus on Derrick’s dark auburn fur, watching the muscles in his haunches bunch and lengthen with each stride he takes.
Keeping my attention on his strides is what gives me the first hint he’s almost led us to the others. His muscles stagger for a split second as he makes a decision on whether or not to slow down yet. He chooses to slow our speed to a lope, which allows me to finally catch up and run alongside him.
There’s an oddness in the atmosphere of these woods. The debris normally littering the floor of the woods seems to be disturbed in an odd way. Almost as if hurricane winds came through and moved everything. But not quite like the chaotic force of a big storm, more like a force of wind pushing outward from a single location. Maybe an explosion is a better way to describe it.
Something catches my eye off to the left so I adjust the direction I’m running and head over to investigate. Derrick pulls up alongside me, I’m not sure if it’s because he saw it too and wants to investigate as well, or perhaps he knows it’s best not to split up. Hell, maybe it’s because Princess is in this direction and he would’ve taken us this direction anyways.
As we get closer, I gradually slow down in order to process what I’m seeing. I've been through many wars, and hundreds of battles, and yet the destruction lying before us seems like the group of men had one hundred percent certainty they were going to win and were then blindsided by death.
There are over a dozen bodies spread throughout the trees with gunshot wounds at the same level they would’ve held their rifles. An interesting observation but not one I want to spend any time pondering right now. I glance from face-to-face, making sure the people I care about aren’t mixed in with these mercenaries.
I can’t tell if I’m relieved I haven’t seen Princess, Klaus, or Alex yet, or if I should panic. I’m beginning to breathe easier and the tightness in my chest is easing, but at the same time a lump has formed in my throat making it hard to swallow. An internal war of emotions manifesting itself. I don’t like it.
Derrick makes a small yelp and I whip my head around to find out why. He starts running again, and I watch as he runs right past Alex and shifts back to his human form mid-slide to arrive at Princess’ side. He resembles a baseball player sliding into home. I catch a slight hint of fresh copper in the air from his skin getting scraped up from sliding on the rocks, roots, and sticks on the ground.
The smell of his blood is like taking a fresh breath of air, considering the smell of death imbued in the air around us. Clearly, whatever happened here occurred many hours ago. Probably around the time Derrick realized something horrible had happened.
As soon as his body stops sliding, he places his hands on either side of my girl’s head, running his thumbs over her cheeks. His hands are shaking, and I can’t be certain from this angle, but it looks like he’s stopped breathing. After a pause, he slides his hands from her head, over her throat to her shoulders, then continues down her arms. He tries to lift her sleeves up to check underneath for any injuries, but her sleeves won’t budge so instead he grasps her hands as his eyes travel down the rest of her body.
“Oh, thank the Fates!” I hear a sob escape his mouth as he bends over her. The sound jolts me out of the frozen state I didn’t even realize I was in. I rush forward, wanting to perform my own assessment of her safety.
I start to pass by Alex and pause. Derrick examined her and by his reaction she’s fine.I should check Alex first and give Derrick a moment. This way, I won’t be a dick twice over.Ordering my body to change forms, I kneel next to Alex once the transformation is complete. There isn’t any blood on him, although he has a sort of wet sheen on his face.
“Alex, you okay, man?” I gently shake his shoulder while asking, trying not to nudge him too hard in case he’s healing from an invisible injury. His eyes blink open at my touch but I can tell it takes him a moment to focus his vision.
It doesn’t surprise me when the first word out of his mouth is, “Princess?”
“She’s okay. How are you doing? What happened?” I inquire of him. It would be wrong to rush answers from him right now, but boy, is it tempting.
“If she’s okay, then why do I hear crying?” His words surprise me.
My eyes move over to Derrick only to see him wiping his face with one hand while the other holds the back of her hand against his forehead. “Derrick’s having a moment. I didn’t realize he was experiencing so much turmoil this whole time.” The last part I whispered, more to myself than in explanation to Alex.
“Is Klaus here?” Fuck, I swear all logical and analytical thinking ceases to exist whenever I’m around my mate. I've felt a bit clueless ever since we found her.
“I don’t see him. How long have you been out?” My words drip with shame at my lack of observation skills right now.
“No idea. We were attacked at twilight,” he groans, bringing a hand to the back of his head as he sits up. I can tell he’s grabbed Derrick’s attention as well. “Klaus called me and said there was a team heading in from the north. I bet he had no idea at the time we were pretty much entirely surrounded. We need to find him. He said he was coming right for us to help protect Princess, but he never showed up.”
I grab Alex’s arm to haul him up from the ground. We both glance at Derrick and Princess as soon as he has solid footing. Derrick’s already scooping up my heart and cradling her head to his chest. When he notices our gaze is upon him, he says, “I would feel a lot better if we aren’t separated right now.” I completely agree with him.
Derrick takes a calming breath and without having to say a word, we know he’ll track down Klaus. As a group, we trek through the woods. Every now and again, we step over a body lying in our path instead of taking the time to walk around it. We find Klaus’ wolf form laying in the dirt at the base of a tree, not too far from where we found Alex and Princess. He was so close to making it.
I stand with my arms crossed and legs spread out in a wide stance as Derrick leans against a tree cradling my girl in his arms. While internally I’m still sorting through many feelings, I find it odd that jealousy doesn’t come rushing up. Hmm, maybe I can share her with him too. Just as long as he always cares for her as fiercely as he just displayed.
Alex kneels on the ground next to Klaus and begins to shake his shoulder. “Klaus, wake up, man.” Klaus begins to stir right away. “Wakey, wakey. We already have a Sleeping Snow in the group, we don’t need two.”
I chuckle at Alex trying to make a joke in this moment. Nice to see one of us still being himself. A low whimper escapes from Klaus, one I know he’d be embarrassed about if he were fully conscious.
“Shift back, bud, it’ll help you clear your head,” Alex instructs. A moment later, he’s in his human form and Klaus groans, slowly reaching his hand up to hold the back of his head.
