No surprise, given we were hunting a wolf, the rocky terrain sloped into a woodland area. That thick cover had given the drones trouble spotting movement from the air. Yet another reason our mission was vital. Until we had boots on the ground, we wouldn’t know for certain what lay in wait for us.
Shadows glossed over us as we crept under the canopy of pines, and Dane cut his eyes to check on me, waiting for me to confirm our direction or alter our course.
Blowing out a slow exhale, I shut my eyes, pictured my seat at the front of the room, and felt the hairs lift on my nape in anticipation. I blinked away the vision and pointed at a slight right angle. The others closed in on me, our formation tighter with more cover for enemies to hide within, and we picked our way deeper into the woods.
Every ten minutes, I would readjust, but Carmichael wasn’t moving.
On most days he spent hours holed up in his office on business, so his inactivity wouldn’t have come as a surprise if he were home, but out here? What could have held his attention for so long? Unless our fears were about to be proven right. That I wasn’t the only one hunting through the bond.
Right now, he might very well be directing his followers the same as I was guiding enforcers, using his fixed point as a fulcrum to determine my location and likely the route I would take to him.
“I don’t like this,” I whispered to Dane. “He’s too still.”
“They may have denned up somewhere.” He scanned the horizon. “Hidden Sartori to keep him safe.”
Shifters who spent more time as humans didn’t den as often as the ones more in touch with their animal sides. Carmichael enjoyed being a wolf, but he savored being a man. He enjoyed the specific type of power that came when standing on two legs. He craved things his wolf had no use for, such as money and influence, and he wouldn’t savor a reminder his true strength came from his inner beast.
“Maybe.” I couldn’t shake the sense of wrongness that prevailed when I pictured him on four legs, curled in a tunnel with other warm bodies, his back to a muddy wall. “I just know I don’t like it.”
Not the strongest argument, but I was at a loss as to how to put the feeling into words.
Rustling perked my ears, and I noticed Dane and Seamus had cocked their heads to listen too.
We waited a full minute before Seamus gestured us onward, but the false alarm had put us all on high alert. Enough that when the insects fell silent, and birds fled from the trees withfrantic calls to their flocks, we understood we weren’t the only ones stalking these woods any longer.
twelve
After tightening our ranks again,I checked on Carmichael and verified he remained stationary. Not that I would have expected him to come for me himself when I was so well guarded. We had no real idea how many of the pack had remained loyal to him versus using the split as an excuse to break ties and seek asylum with other, less volatile packs.
The enforcers exchanged glances, their meanings learned through years of experience, and then we started forward again.
A patrol would have returned to their base and warned Carmichael, since wolves can’t use cellphones, but we were being followed. Almost escorted. Maybe they worked in pairs and one peeled off to warn the rest while the other continued dogging our heels.
Whatever their strategy, Carmichael had yet to budge even an inch from where I sensed him. To the point I began to question if I had located him or something else—someoneelse. As the scale heated on my chest, I listened to my gut and made the call.
This wasn’t right. None of it. I had to stop us before we went any further. “We need to get out of here.”
“Okay.” Dane tucked in tight against my shoulder. “You heard her.”
With a nod from Seamus, the others pivoted until we faced the way we had come as a group.
The edge of the forest was in sight, moonlight beaming down ahead, when the first howl rose.
“We’ll have to make a run for it.” Seamus didn’t bother keeping his voice down now. There was no point with the call for a hunt echoing around us. “We can get a warning to the others if we reach the?—”
A blur of gray fur leapt over my shoulder, hitting Seamus in the center of his chest. Impact drove him to the ground, and Dane all but tucked me under his arm and sprinted for the wide-open space ahead.
“We can’t leave him.” I wriggled and fought, smoke ringing my nostrils. “We have to go back.”
“The others will get him out of there.” Dane ran harder. “You’re the priority.”
As much as I had lamented never being a priority, this wasn’t how I wanted to experience it.
“Call your dragon now, and this forest burns,” Dane warned as if he had plucked the thought straight from my head. “Including our allies.”
Defeat left me limp in his hold as my mind spun possibilities that allowed me to help, but I kept getting stuck on his phrasing. I got the overwhelming sense he knew exactly what type of power I carried within me to caution me, but maybe that was paranoia speaking. I did have a habit of waving around gouts of flames I couldn’t douse in public areas.
“Ana,” a familiar voice cut through the rush of blood in my ears.
