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Chapter 6
Dušan
The crisp scent of the wood fills my senses. Everything from the pines to the soil and even the decomposing dead rabbit somewhere to my right.
I sniff the air, searching for the sweet, slick scent of my mate.
But I pick up on not a damn thing, and the sinking sensation falls deeper through me.
I turn and head right because I’ve been tracking a dead trail for the past few hours. We left our compound just as night settled over the land, splitting up and running in three different directions. We’re in human form, but we still have the advantage of our wolves’ sharp senses, so we use our noses to try to catch Meira’s scent in the dark woods.
I’m hoping the new direction I’m going in brings me across a path Meira has traveled.
Time passes too fucking slow, searching and not finding a single clue. Back in the fortress, Mad is locked up, and my chief of the guards has stepped up and will work on implementing routine as soon as possible. Order helps people get back into their lives and deal with disaster.
I announced to my pack they are now safe, and I will be implementing further security measures to ensure a breach never happens again. And that comes in the form of deciding what I’ll do with my stepbrother. I can’t trust him any longer. That was my mistake before, and he may deny being responsible for letting in the undead, but everything points to him. And to be on the safe side, I locked up Mihai and Cassian, who both had dealings with Mad during the transport of the women to the X-Clan. Right now, I don’t have the luxury of time to interrogate them for the truth, so that will have to wait until I return. I can’t take any risks while I’m away from the pack.
Finding Meira comes first, and everything else must be placed on hold until I find her. I can’t lose her. A piercing fear pinches in my chest that I am too late. That I waited too long before I began the search.
A growl thunders in my chest out of pure frustration. My boots slap the ground with each step I take.
It isn’t long before I pick up the decrepit stench of the undead, the smell choking me. I gag, but I swing toward the scent and not away. Meira isn’t foolish, and she knows among the undead she is safer from other wolves. It would be my strategy as well.
My ears prick up at everything because I’m alone, and being cornered by those things would be my undoing. But for Meira, I’ll risk it all.
The air grows thicker with their decay, and I slow my pace now, making no sound.
I reach to my belt and draw a blade, my fingers curling tightly around the hilt.
There’s movement ahead… I count four shadows stumbling through the woods. Bile rushes up my throat, and I hold still. There are no other noises from around me, so is it just them?
A ferocious snarl cuts through the night, deep and guttural, full of menace and warning. I lift my chin and sniff the air, and the familiar musky, wet dog scent that belongs to Lucien hits me.Fuck, yeah!
I’m moving before I even make the decision to, darting around trees, keeping my eyes on the undead. Listening… listening… listening.
Footsteps from my right. I pivot and lunge in that direction, rushing past the filthy undead. Where there are a few, more linger. These things tend to move in herds most of the time.
My heart races as I sprint through the dark, slivers of moonlight lighting the way. I grip the knife in my hand tighter.
Another growl shatters the silence. I hurry, my wolf shoving against my insides, demanding release to tear these fuckers apart. To cover distance quicker. Except I need to know what I’m dealing with first.
A figure slams into a tree only a few feet from me.
I freeze and don’t make a sound.
Moans come from the creature slumped to the ground, but already it starts pushing back to its feet.
With my heart beating, I lunge in its direction, my knife raised, and I plunge the blade right into an eye, driving it into the brain. Quickest way to eliminate these things.
It drops back down, and I wrench my weapon free, the action making a squelching noise. I wipe the blood on the torn fabric that hangs off its shoulder as I scan the woods up ahead.
Four undead approach Lucien in a semi-circle, and there are more in the woods on their way here. I tense up. All it will take is one mistake, one slip, and they’ll be on him. Then more and more will come until it’ll be too late to escape.
I whistle low and sharp to catch Lucien’s attention. Moonlight glints off the two blades he grips.
He barks out a laugh. “Took you long enough to get here,” he teases. “You’re getting slow.” But I hear the shakiness in his voice. Being out here alone is never a good idea.
“Four more coming this way,” I say. “You take the two on your right. I’ll take these two.”
