Then the winds shift, carrying a scent that’s both familiar and offensive at the same time. I stop, nose turning up at it.
“What’s that smell?” Dominic asks from a distance, glancing around to make sure he isn’t the only one catching it.
It turns my stomach, but I shove it down and force myself to follow it. “Whatever it is, it can’t be good.”
“It’s coming from this way,” Zane shouts, waving us forward.
Holding back the urge to retch, we move towards the smell despite wanting to do the opposite, moving through the woods with deliberate steps.
Soon enough, I push through branches thick with needles, breaking into the clearing before stopping abruptly. My brows furrow.
“What the hell is this?”
The guys move in behind me, all pausing at the gruesome sight.
Laid out on the forest floor is a pile of animal carcasses stacked on one another, all at varying stages of decay. Flies buzz around them, landing on half-rotted hides while the summer heat has sped up the process.
Up close, the smell is even more pungent, making us cover our noses.
“Christ…” Luke mumbles, voice muffled by his arm. “What is this supposed to be?”
“Wolves were definitely here,” I murmur, taking a closer look at the deep gashes in the spoiled flesh.
“But why pile them like this?” Hunter questions, brows furrowed.
“Who knows,” I say, unable to shake the feeling of dread that creeps into my system. “But I have the feeling I know who did this.”
They all look at me, but they don’t need to ask.
Wraith Peak.
As we glance around, trying to come up with any kind of explanation, my muscles coil tight, and something else hits me hard. It’s immediate and sharp, like a streak of panic slicing through the bond.
Lila.
My pulse races in response, heart ramming against my ribs.
The connection has been strained over the last few days, and cold at best, but this is almost blinding in comparison. It crashes into me, then a moment later, it feels like static before it dims back to silence.
I stagger, using the nearest tree for support.
Lila?
The hopeful part of me expects her to answer, but there’s no echo of emotion. No sense at all. Just emptiness.
Someone grabs my arm. “Caleb?”
Blinking, I try to navigate that haze. Finally, I glance up to see Jack there, but it feels more like I’ve been shocked with a cattle prod.
“Lila… she’s—” Cutting myself off, that shock morphs into rage. “Something’s wrong.”
I don’t wait another moment.
Before saying anything, I’m running.
Branches whip past me, forest blurring while I push my legs as hard as they can go. My inner wolf snaps and snarls at the edges, prepared to come out at any moment, and I don’t suppress it.
The change overcomes me immediately, and soon enough, I’m running hard, seeing the woods around me through the eyes of a predator again.
