Page 8 of Starting a New Life

When had I ever hugged another mage?

Easy.

The answer was never.

Swallowing hard, I patted his back.

“Thank you. For everything.” I really hope you won’t hate me when you find out what I’ve been keeping from you.

“No big deal. If the roles were reversed, you’d do the same for me.”

I wanted him to be right, but the truth was, I wasn’t sure about that.

Chapter 2

Gray

Danger.

Intruders.

My paws hit the forest floor in an explosion of leaves and debris.

Who the fuck dared to intrude on our territory? Who dared to try to mess with us time and time again?

My body sang with fury, pumping the white-hot anger through my veins with each frantic beat of my heart. The feeling of dread was imminent in my head, the barrier’s alert of an intruder a visceral and, by now, awfully familiar feeling.

Icy wind whipped past me; I inhaled deeply, catching the faintest hint of wolf in the air. Two distinctive scents. One I recognized.

A snarl ripped out of my throat, answered by a deep growl next to me.

We’ll get them.

This time, we’ll get them.

Hunt! Protect! my wolf shouted, urging me to speed up. We whipped past trees, jumped over roots and branches, lunged down small ravines, never looking back, eyes firmly focused on the forest ahead, searching for a hint of grey.

My chest heaved, my muscles burned, and the icy cold stung like needles in my eyes. But I refused to slow down. I refused to give up.

This was my territory.

Mine to nurture.

Mine to protect.

I wouldn’t allow a couple of fucking intruders to make a damn fool out of me.

The snarl filling the air was followed by an eerie silence. No birds, no rustling in the underbrush, nothing but our laboured breathing and our paws hitting the forest floor.

Their scent was getting stronger, as was the sense of urgency. We were getting close.

We’ll get them.

A howl came from somewhere in front of me, another one a little farther to the right. If I could smile like this, I would. My pack was here with me to finally find out what the fuck was going on.

There was a steep decline right in front of me, but my wolf and I took it with ease. A little farther ahead, I finally caught a glimpse of grey fur.

My wolf preened, eyes firmly on the prize.