AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I won’t hurt you, Temperance.”
Her wolf cocks its head to the side, sniffs the air, and shakes its head.
“Nova, Right?” I ask her, trying to remember the name my mother gave me for her wolf. She backs up, jumping when she brushes against a log behind her, thinking something is coming up behind her.
“I’ll take you back to get your friend…. Shadow? But you need to come with me,” I tell her, but she growls, backing up, and I see Zyan across from me creeping closer as he comes up behind her.
“Do you know who I am to you?” I ask. Her wolf doesn’t give any sign she even understands what I’m saying. When I finally get close enough to really look at her as I reach the bottom, my eyes trail over her scrawny wolf.
Her wolf is snow white, but her eyes are the oddest I’ve ever seen, which is saying something since I have gold eyes but hers. She has one blue eye and the other reddish pink. Malachi urges me closer when Zyan snaps a twig, making her pivot, and the moment she does, she snarls and runs.
“Fuck!” I roar, chasing her and giving Malachi the reins. He takes them without hesitation, shifting and giving chase as she races up the wall of the gully. “You need to mark her!” I snap at him.
“What?” Malachi retorts, knowing it rarely works like that. Most consider it savage for the wolf to mark their mate, taboo, but it’s happened in my family, my mother being one who was marked by both the human and wolf counterparts. My twin was the same, so it is hardly taboo in my family. More like a damn ritual; we have the worst luck with mates.
“She won’t be escaping us again, fucking mark her. I’m done playing hide and seek!” I tell him. He growls, but knows I’m right. At least if she manages to escape us again, we’ll be able to feel her and find her quicker.
Zyan races to catch up to us when I lose her. Then, she comes to some lantana bushes, squeezing beneath them. Her fur catches on the thorny branches and Malachi growls, knowing if we try, we’ll come out looking like a plucked chicken or not come out at all. Her wolf is only tiny, but we certainly wouldn’t squeeze through the dense matted branches. Malachi races along it, trying to find where she’ll come out when we hear her getting tangled, and her wolf whimpers.
Zyan, catching up, moves to the side and follows along the top while we keep checking she doesn’t dart back and go back the way she came. Finding the end of the monstrous plant, I hear rustling and Malachi steps back, waiting for her to pop out. But then, I hear her go back the other way she came. I curse.
“She’s headed toward you?”I mindlink Casen. He darts back when she suddenly rushes straight out the side behind us. Malachi turns to chase her when he stops, seeing a blueish-gray wolf burst out of the lantana and runs off.
“Where did that wolf come from?” Casen says when Malachi sniffs the air before he darts after it.
“Malachi?”
“It’s her!” he snaps.
“What are you doing?” Casen yells at me.
“Malachi thinks it’s her!” I tell him, trying to take control of him. “Does he need fucking glasses? It’s the wrong color!”
“It’s her!” He snarls, gaining on the wolf. The wolf looks over its shoulder and I immediately notice the pink and blue eyes.What the fuck!Her momentum is thrown off by glancing back, and she stumbles over a broken branch and lunges forward, skidding across the dirt. Malachi wastes no time pouncing on her.
“Malachi, you can’t be sure!” I snarl at him when he sinks his teeth into the gray wolf’s neck. It whimpers and thrashes, turning savage and biting his chest. The wolf’s potent scent hits me and it is indeed her.
Malachi bites down harder, pinning her wolf and her thrashing slows, then he starts licking her, healing the gaping wound he created, and she is suddenly forced to shift back beneath us.
Malachi steps back, sniffing her and ensuring she is alright before allowing me to force him to shift back. Falling to my knees next to her, I stare at her when I hear Zyan come over; he shifts back and Casen is suddenly crouched next to me.
He looks at her and then at me, his mouth opening and closing. “She was white right, I wasn’t seeing things… then…” he shakes his head.
“She changed,” I whisper, sweeping her hair from her face that is slack from passing out.
“Now what?” Casen asks as I scoop her up into my arms. I tuck her closer, her head resting on my shoulder.
“We go back to her pack, although she is fucking coming this time!” I tell him, peering down at her. I wasn’t letting out of my sight until she was locked in my damn room and I could speak to her. Make her understand she’s safe with me.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Casen asks.
“Well, I’m not letting her out of my sight in case she runs, besides she’s unconscious. She’ll be out for a few hours,” I tell him, and he nods, knowing I’m right.
I glance at her neck and shoulder where Malachi bit her. It’s healed but definitely scarred, but she’ll get over it, eventually. Besides, hopefully, once I mark her myself, his savagery won’t be as noticeable.
Trudging back through the forest, we are now heaps closer to the pack. The moment we break through the trees, we can see them scattering when my voice booms across the clearing as we approach.
“Don’t move!” I order and they freeze what they’re doing. Men are everywhere in states of panic, some holding bags and getting ready to run.
