Chapter 3

I stiffened my muscles, locking them in place, as I waited to see what she was going to do. Please, don't attack, I begged in my mind. But if I was feeling the mate bond, so she was, right? It was an instinct, something we couldn't delete even in our human death. Our wolves knew we belonged together. At least physically. Evangeline was the only one in my heart; the only one I could and was willing to allow to touch me intimately. I just needed this wolf and believed she could be of some use.

When the she-wolf neared me and our gazes blended into one long stare, she let out a small cry of happiness and snuggled into my body. She glided to my side, sticking as close as possible, and then turned around to repeat the action. That's it. She recognized the bond.

But now she was flirting. What was I supposed to do? Shift back into human? I had heard the way Casey and Blake had gotten to know each other in the forest. How she made him come to our pack. But was I the same? Could I do it?

Lost in my thoughts, a shiver ran down my body when my mate brushed her head on my neck as a sign of affection. This sensation made me jump, startled, and she blinked in evident surprise. She lowered her head, and her ears bent low to her skull. Her wolf lips pulled back, her whites shining behind them. So she didn't like disrespect. This revelation finally made me notice her size. She was as big as me, and that for a she-wolf was huge. Did she have a high rank or something? My eyes quickly raked over her. Her body was gentle and strong at the same time, and the good condition of her fur, long sharp teeth, and an overall good shape of body gave me my answer. She did. She was either a Beta or... an Alpha. While it made sense that my mate would be in a similar position like me, it still made me wonder what I was getting into. Could I handle it? And her cry for backup... was her help coming this way?

My heart stumbled into my chest as it shot into overdrive. No, calm down. I could do this. I had been doing this for years. Without the support of my mate. Why wouldn't I survive in her pack now that I found her?

But could I escape when the time came?

I swallowed the thick saliva of fear that was trying to suffocate me and looked at my mate. Her face was still twisted into a snarl, but as we stared into each other's eyes, the pound of paws broke us out of our hold. She sniffed the air and, giving me what I thought was a contemptuous look, turned her head to look at the nearing wolves. There were at least a dozen of them, their mighty legs pulling them closer to us with every passing second. I gulped at the view of them. They all looked well-fed, strong, and young.

And now we were both waiting for them. Her pack. A sharp sting of dread ran through my body, urging me to bolt and hide. I had never been a part of a turned pack before. Even for a few days. But now I had to follow them, if they let me, and make sure they wouldn't smash my skull because of my origin. The turned always knew when a rational werewolf was in sight.

As the wolves reached us, they examined the black she-wolf next to me, making sure she was alright, and then turned their attention to me. Damn it. Hostility raked through them and made the air heavy as their bodies shifted to me, ready to attack. But when my mate stepped in front of me, shielding me from them, an eerie silence enveloped the space. I stood frozen, waiting. For what? Something. Anything. If Eve saw me now, she was going to kill me herself. I knew the turned had some magical way to communicate with each other—telepathy or something, but I had no idea how that worked. It had never been possible before. It had been unheard of. Even the witches had to be very powerful to manage a connection like that. Telepathy was something seen only in movies, even for our paranormal world.

My mate snorted viciously, lifting her tail in the air, and the wolves lowered their heads in submission. She twisted her head to me, giving me a long look, and her packmates surrounded me. My guts dropped at the feeling of desperation building at my every single nerve. This was the moment of truth—the one showing whether she wanted me by her side or she wanted me gone. Ripped to shreds. And these wolves were very well capable of doing that. It would also make it clear if there was any hope for her to somehow help me gain knowledge of the packs in the vicinity. But it was such a huge risk. Was it worth it losing my head?

No, I didn't think so.

Her black eyes stared at me for a long moment, something shifting in them. She kept them set on me like I was the only thing drawn in a white canvas that was the world. I stared back, afraid to rip my gaze off her. What was going on? What was she doing? Was... Was she trying to communicate with me?

My eyes raked her chest, legs, ears. Nothing moved at first glance. Only her eyes. There was something in her eyes that hadn't been there a minute ago. My mate growled and turned her back to me, starting to walk. The figures behind me also closed in on me, and I took the first step, hoping my instincts were right. They wanted me to follow her.

At first, for a few miles, we walked, dry leaves and branches crunching under our feet, but soon, our pace increased, and we were full-on sprinting. I tried to remember every possible detail I caught, but with the little time they left me to explore the surrounding nature, I wasn't doing a very good job. All I knew was the trees kept getting denser and denser. And the night kept getting colder and grimmer.

My backpack felt so heavy on me, and although I had tied it securely over my back, it still jumped with me and scratched my skin. It was getting irritating, and I wanted it off. But I knew I couldn't give my only source of civilization away. There were my money, clothes, phone.

Turning my gaze ahead, I saw the big black figure of my mate. I wanted to cock a brow. Her way of running had something so graceful in it. She felt just like a lady. Well, a lady wolf.

I glared around, wondering how much further we were going into the forest. We had been running for hours, and I wondered how much time we needed until morning came. But... if we needed so much time to just reach her pack, then... why hadn't her pack members that were around us now protected her from the wolves that almost killed her? My eyes narrowed as my brain racked possibilities. I smelled trouble. Something was wrong.

...

After some more time, when I was finally on the verge of panting, we slowed down. The trees around us were eerily quiet, but their colorful coat was beautiful. This deep into the mountain, everything felt different. Wild. Untouched by the human hands. And it was beautiful. As I examined the fallen leaves on the ground, I noticed the visible paw marks on them. There were so many of them that my fur stood on end. This was a regularly used route. Then a scent caught my nose. Turned. So many turned. We finally arrived.

My paws dug in the dirt as I contemplated over what to do. Our first meeting with my mate wasn't the shiniest of all. I had to admit, it could've been worse, but it also could've been better. Even though I rushed to her help, I still managed to make her angry, and she was the one with all the thump cards in her paw. She glanced back at me, and I stiffened. She was the one to decide my fate, so I had to be a bit more... gentle? Or said in my terms—submissive. I took a step to her and much to my surprise, her ear twitched. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and she puffed her chest. If she wanted to look authoritative, well, she was doing it pretty well. There was no doubt she was high-ranked.

A presence on my right approached us, and my mate swirled her head in that direction. A big, even bigger than us, wolf appeared, with a black, similar to hers, color with a few streaks of white on its chest. It immediately looked at her, its nostrils flaring for a second, and then turned his attention to me. If I wanted to give them a shot and work with them, I had to admit they were more than just brainwashed creatures. They were a whole new kind. And I was going to respect them.

The big black wolf growled. Some of the turned around me also made strange noises, utterly unfamiliar to me. Some of them felt like cackling, some sounded like howling, and some were either whining or just barking. But I knew one thing for sure. They were communicating. I held in my breath, eager to know what they were talking about. Come on, were they going to kill me or something? No, they had to let me stay.

My mate took a step to the black wolf, and he spun his head in her direction once more. There was a short stare-off between them, but as every second passed, I felt more and more on edge. They were deciding my fate, weren't they? I swallowed roughly when the she-wolf lowered her head and submitted to the other wolf. He turned to me, watching me carefully with those, so similar to hers, eyes, and I opened my mouth in realization. This was her father! It had to be. My mate didn't look like one to easily submit, but she'd done it after just a few minutes of communicating with him. The resemblance between them was uncanny. Unquestionable.

The she-wolf lifted her head to look at me and grunted. My eyes rolled to her and met her gaze for a short second. Everything was cut short when the wolves behind me shoved me forward and I barely managed not to hit the ground, nose-first. Mate growled at them, but with a sharp look from her probable father, she lowered her ears and remained quiet.

They led me to a small clearing between the trees, and I felt so many other presences gathering around us. My heart was pounding in my chest as I examined the space around me and caught the eyes of at least... fifty other turned?

When the bulky figure of the black wolf stood some distance from me, staring at me contemptuously, I shivered. Was this my death row? I jumped when a body brushed itself on me and gasped when I saw my mate again bombarding me with her affection. This time, however, she was a bit different. The way she glued her body to mine... it was more desperate, needier. She turned to me, gently licked my neck, and put some distance between us, standing among the crowd.

My imagination was starting to play tricks on me. Was I about to have a duel with that black beast? He was the only one in the clearing. Everybody else was among the trees, hiding between them and just watching. And yet, this huge monster in front of me looked ready to attack. He buried his paw in the soil and growled, his eyes blazing in certainty. I could see the morning sun in his endless irises, reminding me of an arson. Or a funeral. I just hoped it wouldn't be mine.

Before I could take another breath, he lunged.