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I followed Megan through the trees, deeper into the woods. We left the tents behind and I realized if not for her guidance, I would be totally lost. Alec really had been on to something when he said I wasn’t going to make it to town. I had no way of knowing which direction I was headed. It all looked the same.
“What is that?” I stopped walking and pointed to a little cabin. “Are there humans out here?”
“Naw, that’s Alec’s place,” she said.
I stared at the little house and wondered if he was in there right now. What did he do all day as the non-alpha of this feral pack? And why the hell was his home so far away from the others?
“How come he’s in a cabin while everyone else lives in tents?” I asked.
“It’s the border. Nobody else wanted it,” she said. “Don’t go beyond the cabin. That’s when the bad things happen.”
“Wait, you have a border?” I asked. “With magic?”
“No, no magic allowed here. Past the cabin is where the High Key Pack lives. We don’t go on their side and they don’t go on ours,” she said.
“Got it.” I understood pack rivalry. At least that was something that seemed to be similar here. “Do you know where Wolf Creek is from here?” I probably should have asked that right away but I think part of me didn’t want to know.
“I’m not sure. I think it’s a few days walk,” she said.
I eased a little knowing there was some distance between us. I still wondered exactly how far I’d traveled in wolf form before the others found me. I might have spent days wandering in circles for all I knew.
“Wait, we’re not going into someone else’s territory to get to the swimming hole, are we?” I asked.
“No, of course not,” she said. “I might be a kid, but I’m not stupid.”
“You most definitely are not,” I confirmed. I was terrible at this whole distracting the kid thing.
We resumed our walk, away from the cabin. There was a part of me that was a little disappointed. I sort of wanted to go knock on his door. But that was ridiculous.
It didn’t take long before I could feel the air getting cooler and damper. The ground was a little softer, and the shrubs around us were greener. We were getting closer to water.
A few cheers and some yelling sent birds flying. I looked up and watched them fleeing the noise and caught a glimpse of the sun through the trees. It was closer to midday than I realized. I wondered how long we’d been walking.
I heard splashes, followed by more playful screams just as the lake came into view. It stopped me in my tracks.
This was not a swimming hole. This was a full on, huge lake. There was a little island in the center of it and it stretched for what had to be a mile across. I’d never seen a lake this size in real life.
“It’s beautiful,” I said.
“And freezing. Don’t let them fool you,” Megan said, lifting her chin toward the group of kids on the shore.
They were running around on the sandy beach, their pants rolled up to their knees. Two kids were kicking water on each other in some kind of splashing game and a few quieter kids were skipping rocks. They all looked like they were close in age to Megan.
“You want to go play with them?” I asked.
“Not really,” she said. “Can we go back and check on my dad?”
We’d been gone a while. With any luck, it was enough time for Greta to do something to help the poor man. “Sure.”
Our walk back to camp was silent and I felt like I’d failed at trying to keep the girl’s spirits up. It was tough when I didn’t know what was going on or how to comfort her.
When we arrived back to where her dad had been, Alec was waiting but the male and Greta were gone.
“Where is he?” Megan asked. “Is he alive?”
Alec walked toward her then knelt so he was closer to Megan’s height. “He’s in his bed, and Greta is still attending him. I think he’s going to be okay, but he’s got a long night of fighting. Do you understand?”
Megan swallowed and nodded.
