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It's a long run. We settle into our pace, and I try not to imagine the worst.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Tess
The wolves ahead of us slow as we near our territory lines. I'm sure they can tell that there's something lurking. It's in the air, swirling around us with a taunt of what's to come but revealing nothing.
Dominic speaks to the wolves over mind link.In case it wasn't already clear by this point, Tess is your Luna. Her mark is official. If things go South, you make sure you protect her. And spread the word as soon as the rest of the pack can hear us. I don't want there to be any confusion whose side she's on or what risks we're willing to take with her.
I'll hold my own,I protest.
Dominic's wolf eyes soften.I know you will.
We approach over a river on the opposite side of the Anchorage Lake Pack territory from where we left. Based on the overgrowth, it doesn't seem like a normal passageway, which makes it the perfect way for us to return home without raising much attention. By going this way, we avoided passing any major roads or towns.
Unless the rogues from the Luna Sovereign's place have somehow communicated with whoever tried to set them up, anyone who might be lurking on our land won't know we're here. Except…
Dominic. My scent.
He pulls to a stop with a string of muttered curses. Shaking his head, he realizes the same thing I just did.Wait up. We're not going to be able to sneak up on anyone with Tess with us. They'll smell her from a mile away.Even if the wind moves the opposite direction, my scent has a tendency to carry at the most inappropriate times.
You need to go ahead without me, and then I can join you once you have a head start,I tell them. I give the direction to the whole pack, not just Dominic, because I already know he's not going to like this as a plan.
Absolutely not.
I won't put the pack in danger unnecessarily. Anyone looking to do any damage isn't going to be in an empty corner of the property. And in the unlikely event anyone does stumble upon me, you know I can outrun them.
Unless they know the land better than you,he points out. Considering that's how his pack got the upper hand to force me back the first couple of times I tried to run, I can’t argue the point.
I swing to face him head-on so I can nibble him next to his jawline. I know it’s an unexpected show of affection, but I need him to understand I’m not being brash or sneaky or stupid. I need him to keep trusting me the way he did when I said we needed to come back in the first place.
I might not know what I’m doing, but my instincts have proven to be pretty good with him thus far.
Take your pack and go. I’ll be right behind you. I promise I’m not going anywhere.I give him one last little nudge and back away. He looks torn, but the wolves around us are starting to slowly pick their way through the foliage to keep going. Technically, the Alpha is the highest ranking member of a pack, but they seem to be willing to hear me out. It only endears this pack to me more… and makes me more desperate to keep them safe.
Don’t let anyone—or anything—stop you.Dominic stares me in the eyes, looking for confirmation that I’m going to be okay.
I nod slightly, offering him that reassurance.
Maybe a couple of these guys should stay with you.He hesitates, looking at the wolves as if to decide who he would most trust with me.
No, I tell him resolutely.Leaving other wolves would only slow me down. Now go, Dominic, please.
I know this isn’t what he wants. If anything, it’s the exact opposite of the life of safety he’s tried to offer me. Out here, the only one I’m going to have to protect me is me. But if I’m going to successfully be his Luna, everyone in his pack—including Dominic himself—needs to know I’m strong enough to protect myself. Right now, come hell or high water, I’m prepared to prove it.
* * *
Dominic spends the next hour updating me as he slowly picks his way toward the most concentrated part of our territory. The bulk of our wolves live within a fairly close radius to the pack house. If someone really wanted to do damage, that’s exactly where they would strike first.
After that first hour, the mind link severs. They’ve finally made it far enough away that Dominic can’t force me to listen to every minute detail.
I stay where I am on the ground, half-hidden in some bushes. I’m still in wolf form—smart enough to know that if I were to be surprised, I’m better off wolf than human. I can’t follow the pack just yet, I know they haven’t quite made it far enough to get eyes on home base. I could still give them away too early if I were to follow now. They’re moving slowly, whereas I have every intention of sprinting once I get on the move.
I’m perfectly comfortable waiting for a while.
But then a branch snaps.
I shoot straight to my feet, leaping out of the bushes and turning a tight circle as I look for the source of the noise. I turn once, then twice before I see her stepping out from behind an oversized tree. It’s the hair I notice first. The unusual auburn shade that I recognize instantly.
