The younger males didn’t understand the dangers, and when they were taught, they didn’t want it anymore. An enforcer for our pack meant that you were strong, almost Alpha strong. I fit the bill perfectly. Damian fought me on it for years while I was growing up but relented when he realized nothing would change my mind.
Jude, who was Damian’s brother, was the elder enforcer. Before I was old enough, he was the one who lead the missions. I was under his command for almost five years, but when I turned twenty-one and no mate called me, I challenged him. I won easily. Billy and Jameson were part of my team with Jude beforehand. We knew each other’s moves; we understood how we attacked. Together we were an almost unbeatable team. I saw no reason to change it with other bigger wolves. I had many from the pack request to join my crew but I refused. Unless one of my boys told me they wanted out, I was keeping the team as it was. We worked damned hard to get as good as we were. Seldom did we not get our target.
Michigan wasn’t supposed to be any different. Granted, I didn’t ask the Alpha for permission to enter their lands. I didn’t ask because I knew Isaac Lupen. He was a soft Alpha, who while might not commune with the witches, did not outrightly attack them. It disgusted me knowing that they allowed witches and warlocks to live so peacefully near them. I knew he would take charge if one of them attacked one of his own. I, on the other hand, didn’t believe in that in the least. You had to strike, and you had to strike before they did.
The terrain in this area was perfect. The game was plentiful and there was a lot of cover. I ran through the forest as if I had known it all my life. We hadn’t caught the warlock yet. He was proving difficult and it was getting on my damn nerves. We had chased him across the country. Normally when a mission took this long, it didn’t bother me. I enjoyed time away from the pack; another reason I knew that I would never take the position that would be freely offered to me.
Something was off. I was feeling more jittery than usual. It was like my muscles needed to be stretched but no amount of running helped. Anytime I started to move, it wasn’t fast enough; it was never quite in the right direction. I knew there was somewhere I needed to be, but I didn’t know where the destination was located. I thought for a time it was the warlock we had been after, but it was becoming obvious to my wolf and to myself that it was something else.
My skin was tight against muscles as they strained forward in my long strides. I didn’t run now for pleasure. I ran to exhaustion. It was the only thing that would ever give me peace these days. I had been aching for more. My wolf demanded something, but I didn’t know what it wanted. How others and their wolf communicated seemed so much easier than the guessing game my wolf and I had formed over the years.
If it needed something, it would take it. If there was an uncertainty on how to get it was when we really had troubles. I had no problem bending to his will; I had learned long ago my wolf was not to be ignored. The witch that had cursed me made damned sure of that.
I slowed my pace, knowing that I had to head back to our camp. The others were my responsibility. I was aware of the power I wielded. I was an Alpha. Damien, Liam, and the twins knew it. Everyone in the pack knew it, but I refused the position.
I twisted my head in annoyance. My wolf was right there with me. The thought of being tied down--held to a position, not to be able to run like I was now, not to be able to hunt so freely--it twisted me up inside in a way that could only be described as the borderline of painful. I scented my trail from where I took off and headed back. The others wouldn’t worry about me; they knew me well enough to allow me the space I needed.
I moved faster. I had to push myself so that when I arrived back, I could