Page 35 of The Enforcer's Rejected Mate
Zero.
“Not yet. It’s not safe. We’ll shift when we get to the meadow,” I tell her. She goes quiet and I know she’s giving me the silent treatment. I roll my eyes and keep walking. My wolf will get over it. I walk for another minute before I realize how dumb I am for walking. Just because I can’t shift doesn’t mean I can’t run. I tighten my backpack straps and a second later I’m moving. I let myself well and trulyrun. My runs were short in Frostclaw. There were always chores to do or a job that needed completing but now my time is mine.
I put on a burst of speed just for the fun of it and laugh as I rocket forward. I’ve never run this fast before but my shifter stamina is well and truly clocked in with my wolf now. I feel like I’m flying. I run for as long as I can, the miles vanishing. I only stop when the trees open up and I see the meadow Carla mentioned. It’s nearly nightfall, but it might as well be with how dark the rainstorm has made it.
I pause and look around the meadow. It’s big alright. Reminds me of the fields I saw outside of the human schools in Winthrop. The trees bend and break here, forming a perfect oval in the middle of the forest. Carla was right, there’s no missingthis perfect meadow. Wildflowers and tall grass sway in the storm like a summer lake. A quick scan of the meadow doesn’t show me any signs of where to go next and I’m about to reach for my map in my bag when my wolf yips.
I know what that sound means.
You promised.
She’s right. I did promise her.
“Oh all right,” I mutter like I’m annoyed but I’m not. I’m smiling. The moment of my shift is here and it feels surreal to actually be doing it. For so long I’ve dreamed of this that at first I don’t know what to do. That’s when my wolf jumps and starts to push at the barrier between us. I feel it as surely as if someone hit me in the chest. It’s a dull thump and I realize there’s nothing really for me to do but let her come. I drop my bag on the ground and peel off my boots and clothes. I take the time to fold them, even though it doesn’t matter much since they’re soaked from the rain. When I’m bare I take in a deep breath and for the first time I let go.
That’s the only way to describe the feeling of my wolf surging to the surface. I’m there and I’m not. Like I’m on the edge of a cliff and from one second to the next I’m not. I’m falling, my body loose and relaxed. There’s no fear or anger, there’s no anxiety or worry that I’m doing it wrong. No sadness or loneliness. It’s just me.
Everything around me blurs and goes quiet while my wolf forms. My body moves in a way that only a shifter’s can when they lose their skin. Limbs and nails changing, moving and lengthening. I fall forward onto my hands and knees but no, now they’re paws. Strong, sure, paws that press firm into the dirt while my back snaps and breaks. There’s a flare of pain but it’s gone in the blink of an eye and when I raise my head to breathe it’s a snout that I lift.
I breathe in and the smell of rain and damp earth, grass and cool mountain air fills my nose. I stand there.Westand there. The wind blows through my shiny dark brown fur, so dark that it turns black near my paws. I shake my head and move. The power I feel makes me dizzy. I turn in a circle to try and get a look at myself. The grass beneath me bends under my weight and I know it wasn’t just a delusion.
I’m as big as the Alpha of Frostclaw. I laugh, the sound a bark. We could beat him. Wewouldbeat him if he showed himself to us again. The thought is enough to send me running. I race the length of the meadow and back again. The ground is soft underfoot, the sweet scent of the grass rises up around us, clings to our fur. My muscles coil and bunch as I leap and I hit the ground with a barely there thud before I turn to run again when a scent catches my attention.
A rabbit.
I can smell it out there. My stomach rumbles and I drop low to hunt. I’m too big to hide from it in the grass but that doesn't matter. I’m fast. Faster than anything in these woods and I’ll catch the rabbit. I’m patient waiting for the slightest movement of the rabbit to show me my prey. I don’t have to wait long. A boom of thunder must scare it because it leaps with the flash of lightning and runs straight for the center of the meadow. Dumb bunny, it should be running for the trees.
My wolf gives chase. I’m quick enough to close the distance before the rabbit realizes it’s being chased. I snap my teeth when I’m a few feet away and leap. I fly through the air, ready to catch my prey the second I land but that never happens.
Another wolf comes out of nowhere and slams into the side of me. Our limbs tangle and a maw snaps at me. I only barely manage to avoid it by twisting to the side. We hit the ground so hard that we bounce and I go flying. My body tumbles head overpaws until I come to a skidding stop. I lift my head and growl. I’m not scared. I’m glad. I did want a fight after all.
Chapter
Fifteen
The other wolf is massive. Much bigger than me, which my wolf doesn’t like. She snorts and snaps at him when he circles her. He’s looking for an easy way to attack. He’s as beautiful as he is scary. Thick black fur that even in the pouring rain I can tell is shiny and soft. His fur is so dark that any light around him seems to vanish wherever he moves. His eyes are dark too, gray and mean, the color of a mountain face in winter. He bares his fangs when we dart forward to snap at him.
Rip. Maim. Kill.
I shake my head and will her to knock it off with the killing. At least I do until the other wolf lunges. He doesn’t pull back like we did, he keeps coming. His legs eat up the space between us until we have to run. Controlling my wolf is what I’d imagine driving on an icy road to be. She resists, tries to wheel around to face the other wolf but I’m not stupid. I can’t win this fight against this kind of wolf.He’s too big, I scream at her but she snarls in response. It’s only when I feel the white hot pain in my back leg that I realize what happened.
He bit us.
The other wolf’s deep breaths sound so close that I know he’s only a step behind us. He’s going to bite us again if wedon’t get away. Pain shoots up our leg and finally our wolf stops resisting and moves with us. We pick up enough speed to put a respectable amount of space between us. Only then do we turn when we’re almost at the middle of the meadow. Blood drips down our leg and onto the wildflowers while we stare down the other wolf. Our staring match lasts for a half second, just long enough for me to spot the path behind the other wolf. I couldn’t see it before where I was standing. I was too far away then but now I can see the clearly marked path heading off into the woods.
That has to be the way to Bloodstone. I know I’m right because the second the other wolf sees me spot the path he charges us again with a bark. His meaning is clear.
Stay away.
We bark back. Fuck that.
My wolf flies. She’s fast, so we might have a chance to make it up the path before he can stop us. Maybe we can lose him in the trees if we do but it only takes a few yards into our sprint for the path for me to realize that while my wolf is fast, we’re notthatfast. The other wolf is on us before we can dodge but this time when we collide we’re facing him and ready. We bite and slash with our claws but instead of a wolf, it’s a man that has his arms around us. The man looks down at us, long dark hair falling over his forehead and the darkest eyes I’ve ever seen in my life narrow on me. The man is easily a head taller than me, the top of my head barely comes up to his shoulders. His very broad and muscular shoulders that I try not to get distracted by because he just attacked me. In the fading light I see tattoos covering his arms and chest but I can’t make any of them out. Without thinking, I crane my neck to get a better look at the one on his shoulder and see it’s a broken clock.
Is he an Alpha? The wind shifts and his scent comes to me. My mouth waters the second I catch it. The smells of rainwater,fresh pine and cedar fills my nose. He smells clean and fresh, crisper than the cold rainwater running down my lips and onto my tongue. I taste the rainwater and sigh. It’s refreshing and cool.
Would he taste the same way?
My wolf wants to find out. I know it when she melts against him, head lolling to the side, neck bared. You traitor, I scream at her but she ignores me for the muscular naked man with thick thighs and tattoos.
