Page 39 of Brutal Alpha Beast
Ever since we kissed, and I got a closer whiff, my senses have become so much more attuned to her. I know her smell more intimately; it’s intoxicating and distracting. But hey, at least if she gets lost out here, I know that I’d definitely be able to find her.
“I don’t recognize any scents,” I say. “If we get close enough to the pack, I’d be able to follow a trail of its scent—unfortunately, I can only pick it up within a certain range. Once we’re in that range, I’ll know where to go.”
Danielle nods.
“You have an idea?”
She smiles a little. “How can you tell?”
I think I know you better than you think.The thought comes from a place I neither recognize nor understand.
“I can cast a spell on you to widen that range, I think. I’m not sure what size radius your scenting ability will expand to, but it’ll definitely be more.”
I consider it.
“That’s pretty cool.”
Danielle blushes a little and looks away. “Yeah, I mean, we’ll see. Since it’s a spell on you, it’ll be more subtle. If we have any enemies looking for magic nearby, it’ll be harder to detect.”
We both stop, and I step closer toward her. That intuitive desire to touch her comes again. I can tell she’s feeling something similar, too.
“Let’s try it,” I say.
Danielle casts the spell, and at first, I feel nothing; then it hits me. It’s one of the most amazing sensations I’ve ever felt.
I feel my sensing capabilities expanding, and it’s not just my sense of smell but my vision and hearing, too.
I know the forest more clearly. It’s like the feeling you get after a cold once your sinuses have cleared—I’m so aware, so in touch.
I can hear her heart beating, the rise in her blood pressure. But I’m getting distracted. I direct my attention away from Danielle and focus on finding my pack’s scent.
“Got anything?” She asks, cautiously.
I nod. “I scent it,” I say. “We need to go East. Just this way.”
Danielle obliges, and I don’t tell her how amazing her spell feels. She must know.
“You think you can make this thing permanent?” I ask her after a little while.
She scoffs. “I think that’s a question for Penelope.”
It suddenly dawns on me that there are infinite potential benefits of us teaming up with the witches, ones that we’ve hardly even begun to explore. If we can just learn to communicate a little better, there’s nothing we can’t do.
As we navigate closer and closer to the scent, I notice something worrying.
Large patches of dead forest land. The patches are sporadic, spread out, but I’m noticing more and more along the path of our pack’s scent.
“You see that too?” I ask Danielle.
She bites her lip, her eyes flooded with the same panic I’m feeling. “Yes,” she says. “This is pretty bad.”
“Worse than I thought.”
***
Once we’re back in the pack, we’re greeted immediately by my men. I’m waiting for Aaron to say, 'See, this is why I told you to always bring your phone.' But he doesn’t. They’re all waiting for an explanation, and I’ve almost forgotten about the whole reason why we were stranded out in the forest in the first place.
The shadow monsters.
