My body. Her body.
The clearing ahead. Smoke rising. Voices.
I slow down.
Naked. Blood-covered. Smelling like her arousal and mine—every wolf in that clearing is going to know before I take ten steps.
Nothing I can do about it. My clothes are wherever I dropped them before I shifted, somewhere in the trees near the flower field. Not going back for them.
The tree line ends.
I step into the open and every head turns at once.
A woman near the fire pit goes rigid. Young wolves scramble back. Someone's nostrils flare—I see it, can't not see it—and their face changes. Not just surprise at a naked alpha. Worse than that. Their nose working, eyes widening, gaze dropping to the blood and the scratches and the—
Whispers start before I've fully emerged.
"—fuck, that's blood—"
"—the human, you can smell—"
"—is he—"
My chest vibrates. Low. The whispers cut off.
The blood they'd understand—the other thing underneath, not that. Never that. My hands curl at my sides.
I keep walking. Across the clearing. Not toward my dwelling. Just through, heading for the trees on the far side.
"Keer."
Axan.
Shit.
Already moving to intercept. His eyes travel down, back up. The blood, the nakedness, the scratches on my arms and chest. He keeps his face neutral but his nostrils give him away.
"Not now."
"You need clothes."
"I need to not be here."
"What happened?"
"Humans. Two. Near the flower field." I keep walking. "They grabbed her. She fought. I shifted. They're dead."
"You shifted." His eyes move to the scratches. The ones on my arms—her fingernails, not the humans. Too precise. "And after?"
"After what?"
"Keer." He steps closer. Drops his voice. "You're walking through the middle of camp naked and covered in the human's—" He stops. Chooses differently. "Everyone here has a nose. What do you want me to do?"
"I want you tomove."
"Mel already came back. About an hour ago. Alone. Through this same clearing. Kestria's with her now."
Melori walking through this clearing while every wolf caught the scent I left.
