with only a few nights before. It felt like a week. The same one to attack the werewolves during our escape. He trotted over, stopping beside the white female. He examined us for a moment before his eyes met mine. I didn’t lower the crossbow.
What is this? he asked.
“They’re cursed,” I said, knowing he could understand me. “My brother and the girl.”
Where is your mate?
Anger flared inside of me. “He’s not my mate.”
His eyes widened. How is that possible? He is your mate.
“He’s not my mate. He broke his vow.”
This time the alpha’s eyes narrowed and his muzzle drew back in a snarl. Wolves do not break their vows!
Too angry to even think of backing down, I bared my teeth back at him and roared. “HE LIED! I loved him, and he betrayed me!”
The alpha relaxed, and instead tilted his head in pure puzzlement.
Not so. If this were true your heart would break and you would die. Such is the way of mates.
“No!” I lowered the crossbow and pointed at him viciously. “No. Humans do not just lay down and die from broken hearts. We pick them up and put the pieces back together and go on, no matter how much it hurts.”
The second the words left my mouth, a searing pain shot through my chest. As though a pair of hands had taken hold of my heart and twisted. I dropped to the ground, clutching at a spot over my heart.
What the hell is this? I struggled to catch my breath. What has this place done to me?
Alex trumpeted and reared around to stand over me, threatening the alphas with his sharp antlers. The wolves didn’t move. Instead they merely watched as I recovered. I managed to get to my knees, sucking in deep breaths of air as the pain subsided. The alpha male moved forward. Alex snorted and pawed at the ground.
“No,” I gasped, putting a hand on his chest, “it’s okay.”
He backed off a little, still grunting and kicking up a few leaves. The alpha touched his head to mine.
You are different. I am sorry. You have been hurt. He licked my cheek, then gave my forehead a light bump with his. You taste delicious.
I wanted to smile, but couldn’t. I settled for rubbing one of his ears, and fell into silent speech. Were you hurt in the fight?
We had three packs to their one. I was not, but lost two, the others one each. They fled soon after.
I’m glad you didn’t lose too many. The light of the day was fading, and with it the temperature. I shivered. I’m cold. I wasn’t nearing hypothermia yet, but if the temperature dipped too low and the rain kept up, I would.
He looked up at the dark clouds, heavy raindrops striking his muzzle. He faced the other alpha. I couldn’t quite understand what he said since he wasn’t talking directly with me, but I thought I caught the word “den.” After a few more moments he had his answer. He pushed at me with his nose.
Come. She has a place for you.
I stood and beckoned to Alex. “They have somewhere we can stay.”
We followed the two packs west for about a mile until we came to a spot where the foliage grew thicker, overlapping on itself to create a surprisingly large hollow. I ducked inside. It was still wet, but not as much as sleeping outside would be. The two alphas trotted in.
Your brother is too large to come in. He will be fine outside as that.
I sat down in the leaves, rearranging the coat around me in a feeble attempt to cover up as much as possible. I glanced around as several more wolves came in.
The alpha sat down close beside me. We will stay with you tonight. He lay down. But tomorrow we must leave.
“In that case,” I said, and took off the coat. I wrung it out as best I could near the edge of the hollow and then folded it in half. I placed it on the ground beside him and then lay on top of it. It was still damp, but it would be better than the cold ground. I rested a hand on the alpha’s neck. Why leave?
Not our territory. Not every pack knows about you.
I nodded and curled up next to him, draping one arm over his big form. The other alpha took up a spot behind me with the other wolves huddling around us and each other. Though they were damp