Page 22 of Alan

“This is true. And a bit of a relief.” Tamhas sniffed the air. “I pick up nothing out of the ordinary.”

“Nor do I,” I agreed.

Only the animal odors, bear dens far in the distance, faintly carried to my nostrils thanks to a breeze coming from the west. The bears were no threat to us, as there was a sort of understanding between our species. Even they understood the need to keep a wide berth while dealing with us.

“Footprints!” a voice cried out, turning our attention to where a trio of our kin stood. “Here. Three, perhaps four people.”

Sure enough, in the soft earth were prints made by flat-soled shoes. While I’d reminded myself time and again to keep an open mind, the memory of the flat-soled leather boots frequently worn by the Blood Moon Priestesses asserted itself.

It was them. They have interfered once again.My dragon had no interest in keeping an open mind, or in anything but exacting justice on those he perceived as threats. I was in agreement with him, no question, but rushing foolishly ahead would help no one.

We followed the prints as best we could, losing the trail at times but picking it up again. Mixed in with the flat footprints were those of a pair of hiking boots. “Keira,” Tamhas breathed.

“She was quicker at this than we were,” I had to admit before calling the other two teams in.

We waited for them to join us, with Tamhas chomping at the bit all the while. I understood his anxiousness to move on, but I wouldn’t face whatever it was we were about to meet before having the entire clan together.

With all of us in one place, including my sister Ainsley, Leslie, and Bonnie, we continued to follow the tracks left by what we could only assume were Priestesses.

“How long do you think they might have been living out here?” Bonnie asked no one in particular. “So close to us all this time.”

“Perhaps they only recently returned to the area,” Tamhas suggested.

“Yes, but to what purpose?” I could not trust the Priestesses, not for a moment. Not when they had betrayed us.

Not when they felt as though we had betrayed them.

“Their motivation might not have been nefarious,” Ainsley whispered. “You always believe the worst.”

Because I was aware of that which she had no knowledge of. If it meant shielding her from the truth, I would allow her to think the worst of me. Though I could not imagine coming face-to-face with any of them without the truth coming out.

The tracks ended in a small clearing. They simply vanished.

“No, no!” Tamhas snarled, looking this way and that. “It’s not possible. They cannot have disappeared. Keira could not have. They must have gone somewhere.”

Klaus joined him, and the pair continued their quest to pick up the trail.

Ainsley drew a deep breath, hands on her hips. We exchanged a concerned glance. There was no way Tamhas would ever give up searching for his mate, which was to be expected. Yet if the Priestesses were involved, there was no telling what we might have been up against.

“Hang on.” Bonnie took a few careful steps toward what appeared to be a vine-covered rock face. The ground was quite rocky where we had come to a stop, with random boulders appearing from time to time.

“What is it?” I asked, following her.

“Look.” She leaned in, close to the overlapping vines and branches. “There is something behind this. A cave.”

I did as she suggested, pulling a flashlight from one of my pants pockets as I did. When I shone the beam on the rock face, it ceased to be solid rock. It had never been solid at all. The branches and vines merely concealed the entrance to a cave.

I whistled for Tamhas and Klaus to join us, then showed them what Bonnie had discovered. With a finger to my lips, I gestured for the clan to come together and follow me.

“It can only be the Priestesses,” I whispered. “Only they would take such pains to conceal themselves.” With that in mind, I braced myself for what might await us.

We separated the camouflage, revealing the wide, deep tunnel which led to we knew not what.

It was time to once more meet with the Priestesses.

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