I scowled, thinking about the possibility that someone in Belrose was helping the hybrid. Anything was possible right now. After the shelter burned down and Nora told us a dog there had shifted into a man, we had no idea who to trust. There was certainly an imbalance in the pack, and everyone was on edge.
I followed the tracks into the woods, clicking my tongue four times. I got five in return.
The tracks led around the trees, seemingly without pattern.
They zigzagged and curved around boulders. They went up the hill and down. As I cleared the treeline and entered a big, open pasture, I spotted two bodies moving. They were bundled up for the weather, trekking through the snow. They had a couple of bags slung over their shoulders, and I narrowed my eyes, trying to think of who the hell could even be out here.
I was hurrying after them, needing to know who they were. Not only that, but they could be connected to the sighting.
I took off running, practically sprinting across the land. As I grew closer, I took in their voices, and my heart seized up.
“Hazel, you’ve got to pick up the pace.”
Gabriella looked over her shoulder at her sister, but her eyes quickly flicked to me. They widened as she spotted me, and her entire body froze up. Hazel looked over her shoulder and froze when she spotted me. I came to a stop just a few feet away from them, pissed.
I had tons of questions that were swirling around in my head, and my wolf was growling furiously. I took in their bags again and realized they were running.
“What the hell do you think you are doing?” I snapped.
Gabriella stood up a little taller. “It’s none of your concern.”
“How does your trying to slip away not become any of my concern?”
“Go back to the pack, Westley. You can act like you didn’t even see us.”
“I’m not doing that.”
Gabriella turned, continuing to walk. I moved around her and stepped into her path. “Turn your little ass around, Gabriella.”
“You are not my alpha, so you have no say in telling me what to do.”
“Do you have any idea how this looks?” I asked, waving my hands. “You running off like this?”
I looked at Hazel, and my body froze up in another way. Hazel looked like someone had hit her, tried beating the shit outof her, really. She had a busted lip and a large bruise that covered her left side. She wouldn’t look at me, which was a first.
“What happened?” I asked, looking between the two.
“It’s not your concern.”
“It is!” I snapped back, my hands curling into tight fists. “Why are you running for it!?”
“Because we don’t belong here!” Gabriella yelled back. “No one accepts us. Everyone thinks we are out to get them. No one wants us here, so we are leaving.”
A part of me wanted to yell, but I kept that to myself. I took a deep breath in. “And you think my finding you out here is going to prove them wrong?”
Gabriella shrugged. “It would matter because we won’t be here.”
“And what about your cat? What about your job?” I looked between them. “You’re telling me you want to just leave that behind? Leave your friends behind?” I knew that Jade and Nora had spent time with them. Surely that mattered.
Neither said anything back.
I heard three clicks and scowled. Shit. Asher.
“We don’t have time for this. Turn around and start heading back.”
“No,” Gabriella said. “We’re leaving. We are going somewhere we don’t have to look over our shoulder.”
No, they were going to find themselves in an even worse situation if I didn’t get their ass back to the town before the others found out.
