Page 110 of Mortal Blood
“Y—Yeah. I just…fire.” She shook her head. “It freaks me out.”
“All the more reason to run fast from it,” Jax said, kicking off his pants and stuffing them into his bag.
“Yeah,” Alina agreed, tearing her eyes away from the approaching flames again with what looked like a lot of effort. I stripped off my clothes quickly and stashed them in my bag, then helped Alina do the same with hers. She hesitated with the necklace, then quickly tied it to the handle of her sack.
“Protect Alina’s bag at all costs,” Cole said, as he bundled his clothes into his own bag. “I’ll find us a path. Alina, stay on my flank, then Cali, and Jax, bring up the rear.”
We all nodded, and Cole held our eyes for a moment, then crouched and shifted into his wolf form.
I drew in a deep breath, crouched, and focused on my own wolf form. A scream burst from my lips and I clamped them together, trying to mute the sounds of my agony. A pained growl slipped from my maw as it reshaped itself, and my shouldersbusted and reformed. Seconds later, I was on four paws, shaking out my fur and shoving the memory of my pain aside. I ducked my head through the strap of my sack, and it slid down my neck, settling the bag in place just behind my shoulder. Thank you, Alina. At least I wouldn’t be finishing this trial naked. Now to make sure I actually finished it.
Cole took off at a steady, controlled lope, and the rest of us fell in behind him. Alina ran right on his flank, edging forward and then falling back, only her ingrained respect of pack hierarchy keeping her from breaking formation and darting into the fog, risking getting separated from the pack and worse. I guess we all had our fears. And in truth, I wasn’t so keen on the fire catching up with us, either. I could already smell the smoke, even though we were running into the wind, and I threw a glance back over my shoulder without breaking my stride.
Shit.
The fire was gaining on us, and fast. How the hell was it moving that quickly into the wind? I let out an urgent whine and Cole flung a glance behind us and then broke into a run.
Faster now, we raced through the foggy woods, paws pounding against the forest floor. The acrid smell of smoke grew stronger, mingling with the tang of fear-scent as we ran.
Cole led the way, dodging around trees and leaping fallen logs, Alina right on his tail. My lungs burned as I held my position in the formation, but I didn’t slow. A wall of flame gaining at our backs was all the motivation I needed.
A tree crashed to the ground just ahead, bursting into flame. Fuck! How had the fire gotten in front of us? Cole veered sharply, and we followed. The detour cost us precious seconds. Hot air buffeted my fur as the fire’s heat grew more intense.
We had to go faster. Our lives depended on it. But the trees were thick here, and the fog made everything a blur. One wrong step could break a leg or send us crashing into a tree.
I risked a glance back. The fire loomed closer, licking hungrily at the trees and undergrowth. We weren’t going to outrun it. Panic clawed at my chest but I shoved it down. I had to keep going. I had to.
Cole put on a burst of speed, zig-zagging dangerously between trunks. I pushed my aching body harder, barely avoiding the trees that seemed to jump into my path. If one of us went down, it was over.
The orange glow was too close, the smoke too thick. I coughed raggedly without slowing my headlong flight. Sweat and blood mingled in my fur. Still the inferno gained.
Suddenly Cole swerved, bursting from the trees onto a rocky slope. It was less choked with trees and undergrowth. We raced up it, lungs burning, legs screaming. The fire surged from the woods behind us, devouring everything in its path.
We crested the ridge at last. Below us the trees thinned to scrubland. If we could make it there, we’d be clear. I fixed my eyes on the open ground and ran for my life.
My paws slipped on loose shale. I slid a few terrifying steps before regaining my balance. No time to slow. The others were depending on me.
Cole and Alina reached the scrubland first. I was just behind, Jax close on my heels. The fire raged mere yards behind, the heat scorching my fur. I sucked in ragged breaths, smoke searing my lungs.
With a final burst of speed I broke free of the trees. The firesurged against the stony ridge, devouring all it touched, but it could not follow where there was nothing left to burn. We were through.
I staggered to a halt, sides heaving, and collapsed to the ground. Around me the others did the same, all of us exhausted from the flight. That had been close. Too close. But we’d made it. We were alive.
As my breathing slowed, I lifted my head warily. The fire burned at the edge of the trees, but already the flames were dying down. We were safe, at least for now. I let my head sink down again and just focused on breathing clean air.
Cole was the first to shift back. “Is everyone okay?” he asked, and I nodded, raking my eyes over him to check that he was unharmed, too, without bothering to shift back. I was pretty sure I didn’t have the energy for that right now. But at least Cole seemed okay, Jax too. Alina looked shaken, but unhurt, and right now, that was the best any of us could hope for. I lifted my head to follow Cole’s movements as he crossed to Alina and checked her pack, gently releasing the necklace and looping it over his own neck. I felt a little surge of relief as I saw the small gem intact. Because if we’d gone through all of that just to fail the assessment, I’d have been really pissed.
“We’ll rest here a while,” Cole announced, pulling on his pants. “But stay sharp. Just because we beat the fire doesn’t mean we’re out of danger yet.”
He settled down on the ground and the rest of us stayed where we had thrown ourselves down, still in wolf form. No point in squandering energy that we couldn’t afford.
As the minutes ticked by, I felt myself growing stronger again, far faster than I could ever have recovered from aheadlong sprint like that before. I guess feeding twice in such a short space of time had some advantages.
I shifted back into my human form and left the other two resting, because there was something bothering me, and I wanted to run it past my mate.
“How are you holding up, princess?” he asked, wrapping an arm around me and pulling me close. For a moment I just basked in his presence, savoring the fact that we were here, together, because I couldn’t imagine trying to do this without him by my side.
“Better than Alina, I think,” I murmured, glancing over at where she was crouched, nostrils and ears still twitching as she stared out at the dying embers of the fire. “Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Don’t you think it’s weird?”
