Cade and Bastian stood silently on either side of me. I could hear Ryker pacing in the meeting room, but he hadn’t come out to see the Fervis pack off.
“Rynn, about what you overheard . . .” Cade sighed.
The rage that had been stoking since learning they all believed I was a traitor erupted. If I didn’t get out of here, I was going to punch Cade in the face, or maybe cry. Probably both.
They didn’t get to see me lose it.
“I’m going for a run.” I started forward, only to be halted when Bastian wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me back.
“No,” he said simply. “You’re going to be a good girl and listen to what we have to say. It’s not like this should have been news to you. You’re smart. You understand how Velesian politics wor—fuck.” Bastian wheezed and released me, dropping to his knees and clutching his balls that had been introduced to my fist a second ago. The angle had been awkward, so it wasn’t as hard as it could have been.
“I understand perfectly.” I darted forward before Cade could grab me and spun to walk backwards towards the forest in a different direction than the Fervis pack had gone. “Never touch me again without permission, Bastian.” My gaze cut to Cade, who watched me carefully but made no moves to stop me. “That goes for you and everyone else as well.”
“It’s late.” Cade crossed his arms. “The rules haven’t changed.”
“I’ll be back before sunset.” With half a thought, I called on my magic. The shift raced through my body, and in a blink, I was sprinting towards the woods on four feet instead of two.
“Rynn!” Cade roared after me, but while he was far stronger than me, he was also slow as shit. A bear stood no chance of catching up to a wolf in the woods. Bastian could do it, but I suspected he’d be whining about his balls for at least another five minutes.
Bastian and Cade weren’t the problem though. They were pushy assholes, but they were usually willing to give me space. Ryker would not. He had no concept of personal boundaries, and if I ripped out his throat, he’d be back the moment he was healed, asking what the fuck was wrong with me. I didn’t know why he’d hung back in the meeting room, but it wouldn’t take him long to realize I’d run off into the woods, and then the persistent lycan would be hot on my trail.
Which meant I needed to put as much distance between us as possible because I had zero interest in seeing him right now.
Silently, I raced through the woods. It was difficult not to leave an obvious trail thanks to the snow, but I’d picked up a few tricks since moving here. Not only was the climate different this far north, but so were the trees. In the southern half of Lunaria, the trees grew thick trunks and their branches spread out all around them, sometimes twisting into the tree next to them to create a gnarled web. Every fall, their leaves changed color and we’d get treated to a fiery sea of red, orange, and yellow before they finally gave way to winter.
Up here, the trees grew impossibly tall but were far more narrow with needle-like leaves that stayed on them year-round. They also tended to have wide branches that jutted straight out from the trunks and were low enough that I could reach them in my wolf form.
No climbing required.
An enraged howl sounded two miles or so behind me.
Part of me wanted to answer. It was instinct to answer the call of your packmate.
It’s more than that and you know it, a voice whispered in my mind.
I ignored that voice just as I did Ryker’s howl. My claws dug for purchase in the compact snow, and I pushed myself to run faster, straight for a tree with just the low-hanging branch I needed.
Ten feet away, I slowed enough to gather myself before springing up. My feet hit the snow-covered branch and it bounced under my weight, but I was already leaping to the next one. I lacked Bastian’s grace, but all that mattered was I wasn’t leaving a visible trail or scent behind.
Another howl echoed through the forest. He was getting closer, but he’d lose my trail soon enough. For another half mile, I made my way through the trees, almost slipping a couple of times on branches that had more ice than snow but still making it far enough that I was confident Ryker wouldn’t be able to find me.
I finally jumped down from the trees and jogged another couple of miles before stopping at a ledge overlooking a frozen river. Plopping down on my stomach, I hung my paws just over the edge and rested my head on them. Even though I’d been moving fast and jumping for five or so miles, I wasn’t the least bit winded. The snow did feel nice though, and my white-fur coat blended in with it perfectly, which was funny because I’d stood out my entire life due to my bright coloration.
Most of the lycans I’d grown up with, including my family, had dark grey or brown coats with a few black wolves mixed in. I was the oddity with my snow-white coat. It had been a real pain in the ass trying to blend into the lush, vibrant green forests of my childhood.
I snorted, sending a puff of steam into the cool air. My coat was the only thing that fit in around here.
The sun broke through the clouds, sending a beam of light across the river. It’d been windy the past couple of days, so all the snow had blown off the ice. The result was a breathtaking view that helped snap me out of my shitty mood a little bit.
With the sunlight reflecting off it, the frozen river looked like a bright blue crystal winding its way through an untouched snowy forest. In the distance, the mountains rose up, towering over everything, their peaks disappearing into mist.
We didn’t even have a name for them. They were just the mountains. The rest of Lunaria was fairly flat with only slight increases in elevation here and there, so it wasn’t like we could be referring to anything else. If the Fae had called them something, we hadn’t stumbled across the name yet.
I let my mind go quiet and just enjoyed the view. This might be the only thing I would miss after I found a way to leave the Alpha pack, and I would find one. I just needed the right bargaining tool.
The minutes ticked by and the sun sank a little lower in the sky. Despite my frustration with Cade, I wouldn’t disobey his rule about staying out after dark. Having this time to myself had actually helped me calm down about everything.
I’d been trying to fit in here, with them.
