Page 4 of Hunted Ink

Unfortunately, it was like he saw something dangerous in my eyes that had him stepping back, his smile slipping. He averted his eyes to the floor and tilted his head, as if baring his neck, before a look of confusion flitted across his face. The confusion quickly shifted to anger. “Fuck off!” he shouted in my face, lip curled in a snarl, then he spun on his heel and stormed off without another word.

The adrenaline drained away, leaving me shaky and unsettled. It had been a long night. I just needed some sleep and tomorrow would be a new day.

Stepping into my cell brought no comfort, with its bare walls and narrow bed. Nudging the door closed with a foot, I opened my fists, staring down at the bloody marks where my nails had dug into my palms. “Shit…” I moved over to the basin of water I kept on the dresser and dunked my hands in. When I pulled my hands out to inspect them, the blood had washed clean away, but there were no wounds left behind.

My chest felt tight, my breathing too loud.

Listen, the voice said. See…

Chapter 3

Kedi

I pulled the borrowed sedan over along the shoulder of the rural road, an hour out of the city, no other cars in sight. There were no signs marking the area, but I knew. My soul would always know.

I cut the engine, and the crushing silence pressed down on me. I could usually ignore the constant roar of the city—the cars and music, so many voices all speaking at the same time, even the hum of electricity, not to mention the hiss and grind of tools we used in the garage where I worked. It was a constant barrage of noise for a shifter whose hearing was so sensitive. Out here, though, there was only the wind through the trees, a gentle rustle of animals through the undergrowth, the occasional chirp of insects… It soothed my frayed nerves in a way that was hard to ignore.

I needed to get out of the city more often.

Yes, my wolf said in agreement. But just because we felt at home here, that didn’t make it any easier to be back.

Bracing myself, I climbed out of the car and took a deep breath of clean air. It was cool enough that I was tempted to put on my jacket, but there was no point. Not when I was about to shift.

The road ran along the crest of a hill, and from where I stood, the valley was spread out before me, the trees bathed in silver moonlight. In a distant way, I could acknowledge that it was beautiful, but the longer I stared at it, the less I could see it. There were too many complicated emotions tied to this land, too many memories that overshadowed any appreciation I might’ve held.

These were the lands of the Red River wolf pack. Or at least they used to be, before… Well, before that night. Now, I didn’t know whose land it was. I’d spent my first six years here, but never once had I felt the soil beneath my paws because I’d been too young to shift. So was that why my wolf had insisted we return?

I honestly didn’t know why I was here. I hadn’t been back in almost 20 years, but no matter how much time had passed, the raid on our camp still haunted my nightmares. Maybe this was our chance to make peace. For my wolf to connect with the land and for me to say farewell to the past.

Sierra was currently leading a pack run out at Birds Hill with a few of the other local shifters. They’d obviously invited me, and I’d almost said yes. I always said yes, but this time, my wolf dug his claws in. He’d been hounding me to head back to our old pack land for ages.

Hounding? he said snidely. Not funny.

Oh, come on, you have to admit it’s a little funny.

I hadn’t told my pack where I was going tonight. This felt private. It was something we needed to do on our own, just me and my wolf.

A shadow rolled across the valley, and I looked up at the full moon and the bank of clouds swallowing the stars one by one as a stormfront moved in.

We’re going to get wet, I warned my wolf, but he gave me the equivalent of a shrug.

Well, if he didn’t care, then neither would I. At least the weather would suit my mood.

Peeling my tee over my head, I tossed it into the backseat of the sedan I’d borrowed from my boss, Trey. My own car, a sweet ’69 Camaro I’d been fixing up over the past five years, wasn’t something I would risk driving out here on the rutted dirt roads with its low suspension. I was liable to bottom out. For safekeeping, it sat behind Trey’s garage where I worked, waiting for me to have a few minutes between customers to tinker with her. The cool air raised goosebumps across my chest, nipples tightening. It only got worse when I shucked my pants, turning so my bare ass took the brunt of the wind. At least it would only be a minute before my wolf took his fur.

One second, gravel was digging into the bottoms of my feet, and the next, my wolf’s warmth enveloped me, and he bounded off the road and into the tree line, eager to run and stretch his legs.

I was more than happy to hand over control and let myself drift into the background. In the city, it wasn’t like I could just let my wolf have free rein whenever he needed a run. Small shifters had it so much easier. Cats and mice, birds, squirrels, nobody blinked an eye when they saw one of them. But a wolf, roaming through the park? Yeah, no. My poor beast spent so much of his time trapped inside me, he deserved this, and he was taking full advantage of the freedom to roam.

The way he moved, it wasn’t random. There was purpose in the direction he chose. It was almost like he was on a mission, following a path only he could see, and even when a rabbit darted from beneath the underbrush, my wolf didn’t give chase; he remained on task. Inside our mind, I could feel his excitement, true happiness at exploring what he still considered as our land. The air was filled with the earthy scent of loam and moss, ferns brushing against our fur, so familiar in a way that was impossible. Everything was green green green, and drifting as I was, I couldn’t help the memory it awakened inside me.

“Bet you can’t catch me!” I taunted Conroy, but it was just to make him chase me. I knew full well he could catch me if he wanted to. I was the smallest pup in the back, all scrawny and weak. But Conroy was an alpha, and that meant he was really fast, way bigger and stronger than I was. He’d be pack Alpha one day, that was what Papa said.

Conroy grinned, showing off his gap-toothed smile, his green eyes flashing. “Can too!” he replied, and just like that, the chase was on. He stayed right on my heels, but I knew he wasn’t trying very hard to catch me. I knew that because even when I slowed down, he did too. And when I ran as fast as I could, he had no trouble keeping up.

I aimed for the part of the forest where the trees were really close together and the gooseberry bushes grew. There was no path here, and I ran so fast that the leaves all blended into a green-and-brown blur. I was faster than the wind! I was going so fast that I didn’t see the root that jutted out of the ground until it was too late. My foot caught, and I fell forward, slamming down on my hands and knees, and a sharp pain stabbed into my hand. I cried out, tears instantly spilling down my cheeks.

Conroy was at my side in an instant, taking my hand and turning my arm over gently, exposing a needle-thin thorn sticking out of my palm. “Are you okay, Kedi?"