Zhuang shot the cubs a quick glance to make sure they were still hidden, then turned and headed for Xias and the man he was fighting. He was a little surprised the guy was still in human form. That didn’t make sense. They were shifters. They were stronger and quicker in their shifted forms. That wasn’t to say they were useless in human form, just not as deadly.
As soon as he reached the guy, Zhuang jumped him, taking him down to the hard rock floor. Five seconds later he was crawling off the man’s dead body and trying to get the taste of blood out of his mouth. That was one thing about being a shifter he didn’t like. Ripping out the man’s throat was justice for what he was doing, but the aftertaste was just nasty.
“Quickly, Xias,”Zhuang sent through their mate link. “Get the cubs moving. We need to get out of here and put as much space between your former alpha and us as we can.”
Xias raced to the far side of the room and began herding the three small cubs toward the mouth of the cave. Zhuang leaned down and got a good sniff of the dead man on the floor, then walked to the doorway and did the same to the other two men. They were all dead, but he still wanted their scents. If anyone who smelled like them came around, Zhuang would know.
“All right, let’s go,”Zhuang instructed. “We need to move fast, but quietly.”
Xias nodded and started nudging the cubs down the small outcropping of rocks. Zhuang jumped down the rocks to get ahead of them. He kept a close eye on their surroundings as he waited for his mate and cubs to join him.
He didn’t for a second believe Xias’s former alpha wasn’t coming after them. Not only was the man pissed off because he’d been beaten, he’d lost any chance he had at getting to Xias and the cubs. He’d be coming for revenge. Zhuang wanted to get his mate to his father, where he’d be safe, before that happened.
The snow had slowed to the occasional flake, but that didn’t make their trek through the woods any easier. What snow had fallen during the blizzard had created thick snowbanks that were almost impossible for the three small cubs to traverse.
Zhuang scouted ahead of Xias and the cubs, then moved back to make sure they weren’t being followed. The sky didn’t clear, but it did lighten, making it easier for them to see where they were headed, and all that was in front of them were more trees and snow.
“How far is the council?”Xias asked.
“About three days west of here.”
He could hear Xias gasp through their link. “The cubs will never make it.”
“It’s okay, Xias. There’s a ranger’s cabin a couple of hours ahead of us. We can rest there for the night.”
They could only stop for a few hours, but hopefully it would be enough for the cubs to feed and for everyone to get some rest. If they starved to death or dropped dead from exhaustion, their dangerous race through the forest would be for nothing.
Stopping any longer than a few hours, though, would give Xias’s former alpha time to catch up to them. Zhuang had no doubt that the second the man was healed, he’d be after them, and he’d be bringing an army with him.
Zhuang stilled when he heard something moving through the trees in front of them. The soft crackle of frozen snow breaking was unmistakable.
“Xias, stop.”
Zhuang lifted his nose and sniffed. The air was cold, which wasn’t a surprise. The aftermath of a blizzard always had a cold feel to it. It also had a crisp scent to it. Zhuang had tried to explain that to a human once. They didn’t get it. Shifters did.
When a deer darted out from the bushes and ran off to his left, Zhuang breathed a sigh of relief. While a deer wasn’t that much of a threat to a cat shifter, he needed to remember that there were more dangers in the woods than just Xias’s former alpha.
Zhuang glanced over his shoulder, meeting Xias’s worried eyes. “Come on, it was just a deer.”
Xias nudged the cubs with his nose and got them moving. Zhuang waited until they reached him before he started walking again. “How are they doing?” he asked as he stared down at the cubs.
“They’re tired,”Xias replied.
Zhuang could hear the worry in his mate’s voice. It gutted him. He shifted and lifted the three cubs up into his arms in one fluid movement. He knew he couldn’t do this for long. He was buck-ass naked, walking in the snow. All of his clothes were hidden at the ranger’s station. But he could do it for a few minutes, giving the cubs a little breather.
“Zhuang.”
“Hurry, baby. I can’t keep this up for very long.”The more ground he could cover, the less distance the cubs would have to walk.
He could already feel the cold seeping into his limbs, the wind biting at his skin. Pretty soon, he was shaking and struggling to take each next step. Zhuang held out as long as he could before setting the cubs down on the ground and shifting back to his furry form.
He jerked in surprise when he felt Xias cuddle up next to him, rubbing against him. If he could have smiled, he would have. His mate was trying to warm him. Zhuang licked at Xias’s muzzle, silently giving his thanks.
“Let’s get going.”
Xias gave a small nod, then started nudging the cubs again.
Zhuang checked their surroundings before following after his new family. They weren’t that much closer to the ranger’s station, but the cubs were moving a little faster, so that was something.
