“The note left for us mentioned a similar punishment if we didn’t complete our task properly.”
Daryl shook his head when Rachel looked curious. “Don’t ask.” He pointed at the note. “Smell it.”
He shrugged. “Might give some indication of who wrote it.”
Rachel rolled her eyes. “Fuck, I should’ve done that first.” She brought it close to her nose and inhaled, her face breaking out into a soft smile. “It’s faint,” she said. “Barely there, but I’d recognise it anywhere.” Daryl didn’t need to ask, he knew that look all too well. “Sara.” She pinned the paper back onto the tree. “It must have been written by Alpha Cornell. So I think it’s safe to assume she wants us to stay on the ground.” She pointed at the walkway above them. “So we’ll just follow where it goes.”
Jogging to the front, Rachel quietly led the way through the forest.
It wasn’t long before Daryl heard the faint sounds of running water. The group came to a stop and Rachel beckoned them close. “Tom, Daryl, go as far as you can keeping in the treeline and tell me what you see.”
Daryl nodded and crept forward, assuming Tom was following. The forest thinned without warning, trees giving way to smaller plants and a few large stones, and he dropped to a crouch behind the nearest bush. Hopefully no one had seen them. Sniffing the air, he caught the familiar scent of pack but struggled to identify individuals. They couldn’t be that close by then.
Chancing a glance, he peered around the side of the bush, Tom close behind him, too close for Daryl’s liking.
“What do you see?” Tom whispered. Warm breath brushed Daryl’s ear.
Fighting the instinct to shove him away, Daryl shuffled to the side under the pretence of getting a better look. “It’s a stream, maybe ten feet wide.” The trees were less dense on the other side of the stream, but the trees themselves were thick-trunked and tall. And wait. He squinted to make it out.
Was that a—Fuck me.That wasn’t on the map. He couldn’t see anyone on the ground over the other side, so he nudged Tom forward. “Take a look.”
Tom inched out enough to see. After a few seconds, he ducked back in, letting out a breath. “Is that a tree house as their base?”
Daryl grinned. “Yep.” He sneaked another look, and sure enough, a yellow sash of material hungover one side, taunting them. Cocky bastards.
“How’re we going to get up there if we can’t use the walkway?”
There was no way to tell from their vantage point. “We need to get closer.”
“Won’t they sense us?” Tom looked from Daryl to the forest around them. They both listened for signs of anyone approaching.
After a few seconds, Daryl nodded in the direction they’d come. “Let’s go back.”
Rachel and the others were sat on the ground waiting when Daryl and Tom returned.
“Well?” She stood and brushed off her trousers.
They filled her in on what they’d seen, her frown becoming more apparent.
“The walkway must cross the river somewhere further down. For fuck’s sake. With an aerial view, they’re gonna see us no matter where we approach from.”
“True. If we meet any of Jenn’s team, then everyone will know where we are.” He scratched his chin. “Assuming we can get past them, how the fuck are we supposed to get up to their base and get
the bloody sash?”
“Could you see the base of the tree? Was there any way to climb up?”
“Nah.” Daryl shook his head. “Trees were too thick.”
“So we need to get closer.”
“Yeah.”
They reached the stream without incident, even though to Daryl’s ears they were like a herd of elephants. Rachel crouched next to him as they looked out over the water. “I can’t smell anything other than us. Can’t hear anything either.”
“Same.” Daryl looked up and down the stream. “We might just have to go for it and hope for the best.” He grinned when Rachel snorted.
“No finesse then?”
