“Tonight is our second event.” As Colton continued, I hoped no one noticed the awkwardness between Holly and me. “Last night, we tested your tracking abilities. Tonight, it’s all about speed. There are three checkpoints scattered in the woods. At each of these checkpoints, you’ll find sets of colored flags. Each couple has already been assigned a color. When you get to the checkpoint, grab the flags with your color and move on to the next one. The first couple to cross the finish line with all three flags wins.”
“Wait a second,” Noah said. “How do we find these checkpoints? Did you mark a path or something?”
“Excellent question,” Colton said. “We have marked a trail, but it’s not visual. It’s a scent trail. You’ll have to follow your nose.”
“Oh, come on,” Noah groaned. “I thought you said this competition wasn’t about tracking.”
“Trust me. Even a terrible tracker like you can’t miss this trail. You should be able to smell it even now, in human form.”
I sniffed the air. Colton was right. There was a sweet, tangy aroma in the air. I couldn’t quite place it at that moment, but I knew as soon as I shifted, I would identify it. And, if it was noticeable in human form, there was no way I’d miss it as a wolf.
I turned to Holly. “We’ve got this,” I said quietly.
She didn’t meet my gaze. Her eyes stared straight ahead. “We need to split up.”
My heart sank. “Whoa, listen, I know last night things got weird, but—”
“Ugh!” She rolled her eyes. “I’m not talking about what happened last night. In fact, I don’t ever want to talk about that. I mean for the race. You go for the first set of flags, I’ll go after the second. Then we can meet at the third checkpoint and head to the finish. That should make things faster.”
I frowned. “You think so? That kind of feels like it skirts the line there. We probably shouldn’t break any rules. This is a couples thing, after all.”
“What rules? Did you hear Colton say anything about rules?”
“No,” I admitted. “But it feels a little shady.”
The truth was, I didn’t want to separate because I wanted to run beside Holly again. I wanted to feel that sense of unity that we shared as we ran shoulder to shoulder during the previous competition. It soothed my wolf to be at her side like we were a pack of two. Us against the world.
“You do what you want,” she said. “I’m going for the second flags first.”
“Fine, okay. I’ll see you at checkpoint three.”
The race was on. The trail was easy to follow. Whoever was working on the games behind the scenes had sprayed some type of citrusy juice intermittently to mark the path. The sweet, acidic scent was overwhelming in wolf form. There was no way any of us could miss it from a mile away.
Holly immediately darted away from the rest of the pack, chasing the scent in the distance rather than sticking to the trail. I had no idea if her plan was a good one, but I wasn’t in any form of mind to argue with her.
I noticed that Persephone broke away from the rest of us as well and headed in the same direction as Holly. Either she had the same idea or…I wondered if she was going to attack Holly when they were alone. I quickly discarded the idea. Even Persephone wasn’t crazy enough to pick a fight at a time and a place like this.
Celebrations, gatherings and festivals were huge in shifter packs. Every pack had their own traditional festivals, and there were also several a year that were held in various locales and opened to the shifter community at large. They were institutions that summoned shifters from packs all over the country to get together for fun, games, and camaraderie.
There was an unspoken rule that shifter gatherings were safe spaces. Whatever problems or feuds anyone had were set aside and we shifters adhered to that with an almost religious ferocity. Breaking that peace would result in serious consequences for the transgressor.
Holly would be fine. Besides, I trusted that she could take care of herself if Persephone tried anything. I just had to focus on doing my part and getting the first set of flags.
I moved to the head of the pack without too much trouble. Living out in the woods by myself, I spent a lot more time running in wolf form than most of these shifters. In fact, I spent more time in wolf form than in human form. Even so, they weren’t far behind me. The margin by which I led was far from comfortable.
Holly might have been right. Grabbing the second set of flags early might be the edge we needed to take this competition. Of course, she had to find the second flag point.
The track had been marked well enough that I could smell the whole thing from here. It was like I could see the trail mapped out in my head. The course wasn’t a straight line. It curved in a wide arc through the trees. I was sure Holly could see it all, too, allowing her to cut through the woods and get back on the track, way ahead of everyone.
The question was, where on the trail was the second flag? How would she figure out which point of the arcing trail to aim for?
It was too late to worry about that now. The first checkpoint was coming up. I could smell it before I could see it. The citrus scent on the trail was strong, but there was a heavy concentration of it just ahead. It had to be the bullseye.
I made it into a small clearing before any of the other wolves. Two poles had been staked into the ground. Between them hung a rope with colored flags hanging off it. Holly and I were red. Of course, in wolf form, all the flags were varying shades of gray with only slight tinges of color. I had to shift to human form to distinguish between the nuances in color of each flag.
I shifted midstride, effortlessly going from four legs to two. I didn’t miss a step. Our red flags were in the middle. With my eyes on them, I shifted back and leapt, closing my jaws around the red flags and tearing them away easily. One down, two to go.
Next task—figure out how to get to the third checkpoint at breakneck speed.
I cut through the woods, aiming for where I detected the scent was most highly concentrated near the end of the course. It had to be the third checkpoint. If it wasn’t, well, I’d cross that bridge if and when I came to it.
Running with the flags in my teeth was difficult. I couldn’t open my mouth to pant or the flags would fall. As I closed in on the third checkpoint, I was relived and delighted that Holly’s scent tickled my nose. She was close, too. We barreled into the final clearing at the same time, skidding to a halt in front of the flags. We both shifted.
Holly’s naked body under the moonlight was a sight to behold. Her pale skin almost glowed. My dick hardened at the sight of her. Damn, no hiding that.
I searched the rope for the red flags, but there were none to be found.
“What the fuck?” Holly cried. “Where’s our flags?”
I glanced around the clearing, thinking the wind might have blown them off the line. Still nothing.
“It’s not here,” I said.
Holly marched up to the rope. “Look. There’s another set of flags missing. The purple one.”
I shook my head. “So, what?”
“So, somebody was here before us. They grabbed their flags and ours, too.”
I frowned. “Accidentally?”
“Or...”
We spoke at the same time. “Persephone.”
“But how did she beat us here?” Holly asked.
“I saw her break away from the pack at the beginning of the race. I assumed she was following you, but I now I think she must have come here first.”
“That effin’ bitch.” Holly was fuming. “We have to get those flags back from her.”
“Agreed, but how do we find her?”
“There’s no way she came here and then circled back. She has to be waiting at the finish line for Tyler to bring the other two sets of flags. That’s the only way they can win.”
“Let’s go,” I said, shifting.
Holly and set off at top speed. Holly was lithe, but one of the fastest wolves I’d ever seen, and I was no slouch, either. We
raced a breakneck pace to the finish line. There she was, at the end of the trail. Persephone stood on the other side of the finish line in human form with her arms crossed over her breasts. I shifted.
“Where are they?” I demanded.
She wore a phony expression of shocked innocence. “What flags? I have no idea what you’re talking about”
“Uh huh. Then how did you know we were asking about our flags? We know you stole them. Where the hell are they?” The glare in Holly’s eyes was frightening. She looked menacing, as though she was out for blood—not just metaphorically. I’d always known Sefi was unbalanced, but I suddenly wondered just how far her destructive capabilities would extend if pushed. She looked not just crazy, but dangerous. “Stop being a sore loser and hand it over.”
Persephone held out her hand. She was holding a single set of purple flags. “These are the only flags I have.” She flashed me a smile. “But, you’re welcome to search me if you’d like, Chase.”
She raised both arms in the air and spun in a slow circle moving her hips seductively and showing off every inch of her naked body. She would have been considered attractive to some, perhaps many, but I knew her far too well. No matter how attractive she might be on the outside, she was ugly as sin on the inside. That made it impossible for me to succumb to her charms.
Colton walked up to the finish line. “Damn, you guys are quick. Looks like Chase and Holly are the victors again.”
“Not so fast,” Persephone said. “They don’t have all three sets of their flags.”
Holly snorted. “Because you stole our last set!”
Colton frowned. “Is this true?”
Persephone giggled. “I have no idea what they’re talking about.”
Colton eyed her skeptically for a moment. “Chase, did you see her take them?”
I shook my head.
“But, I know she took them,” Holly said.
Colton spread his hands. “Sorry, guys. It’s your word against hers. You still have time to go look for them, though.”
“Yeah, right,” Holly said. “Who knows what she did with them? She probably ate ‘em or something.”
Colton turned to Persephone. “Listen, cuz, I don’t know what happened here, but if I find out you cheated, there will be serious consequences. I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt on this one, but no more bullshit, okay?”
She shot him an arrogant smile. “I don’t like being accused like this. And by my own cousin, no less. It’s not my fault they’re sore losers.”
Colton looked like he was about to say something, but just then, Tyler came shooting past the finish line. He shifted and presented his two sets of purple flags to Colton and Persephone added hers.
“I don’t like that there’s something fishy here, but I don’t have much of a choice,” Colton said. “Persephone, Tyler, you’re the winners.”
He came over to Holly and me. “Look,” he said, his voice quiet. “I know my cousin, but without proof, there’s nothing I can do. But, you two came in second and we still have the last event. Win that and the two of you will emerge the overall winners.”
I nodded, even though I was livid with Sefi and her antics. Holly didn’t take it so well. She stomped away angrily.
“You should go after her,” Colton said.
“Nah, I’m pretty sure she wants to be alone.”
“Then, you don’t know women. Go talk to her. Trust me.”
10
Holly
Chase caught up to me in the woods.
“Holly, hold on a second.”
The last thing I wanted to do was deal with Chase. I didn’t want to see him right then, maybe not ever again. But, Chase was too stubborn to take the not-so-subtle hint and leave well enough alone. He was hot on my tail, getting closer every second.
I snaked through the trees, changing direction without thinking, doing anything to lose him for good. I was very fast, but Chase was giving me a run for the money. I couldn’t shake him. It wasn’t just his speed, he seemed to anticipate my movements before I even made them.
Everywhere I turned, there he was, a dark shadow with glowing slivery-green eyes. It was maddening. I growled a warning at him, but it didn’t stop him. He hit me from the side with his shoulder, knocking me off balance.
I rolled in the dirt onto my back and Chase pounced on me, pinning me to the ground. As I shifted back to human form, he did, too. I was distinctly aware of his hard, muscled, naked body pressing into mine. One hard muscle in particular. It awoke feelings of heightened awareness in my body that I wasn’t comfortable having right then.
“Get the hell off me.”
“Promise me you won’t run away again, and I will. I just want you to listen for a second.”
“Fine, I promise. Whatever.”
He slid off me and got to his feet. A part of me—the traitorous hussy part—was disappointed that he was no longer flesh-to-flesh with me. I tried to shut that bitch down.
“We need to talk,” he said.
“No, we don’t. There’s nothing to talk about.”
He threw his hands up in frustration. “There’s everything to talk about.”
“Like what?”
“Like last night,” he said.
“I told you I didn’t want to discuss that.”
“Well, I do.” His fists dug into his hips and I tried to keep my eyes anywhere but on his amazingly well-built body.
“Fine. You want to talk? Let’s talk. Last night was a mistake. A big, fat hairy mistake. Is that what you want to hear?”
He shook his head. “No, it isn’t. And I’m not so sure I believe it was a mistake. I don’t think you believe it, either.”
“Don’t pretend to know what I think. You don’t know me, Chase Stone. I’m not that naïve young girl who got her heart trampled on and then broken into a million pieces when you dumped her without a word ten years ago. I’ve grown up, and this grown-ass woman is not about to fall for your bullshit again.”
“Bullshit,” he repeated bitterly. “You know I never lied to you. About anything. Everything we shared when we were younger, everything I ever said to you, I meant it.”
“No! Don’t you say that!” I was so furious I could barely see beyond the red streak of anger impeding my vision. “If you meant any of it, if you even meant one stinking word, then you wouldn’t have left!” I knew I was screaming but only because of the burning in my throat. My eyes blurred with unshed tears.
Chase jerked back as if I’d struck him. “Holly, I never wanted to leave you. I-I didn’t have a choice.”
“Don’t give me that. We always have a choice. And you chose to run no explanations, no goodbye, no nothing.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “It’s not that simple. There were extenuating circumstances you don’t know about. Things about me you don’t know about. Things I…I…wanted to tell you, but I couldn’t.”
I rolled my eyes. “Right. Sure. Yeah. Things you wanted to tell me but you couldn’t. Just like when you wanted to say goodbye, but you couldn’t say that either? Why are we even having this conversation, then? Goodbye, Chase.”
I turned to leave but his strong hand gripped my arm and spun me back around to face him. The tortured pain in his eyes shook me to the core and froze me where I stood. That was not a look that could be faked.
“I’m the reason my pack was killed.”
My breath caught in my throat. Whatever excuse I thought he might possibly come up with, that was definitely not it. “What?”
His shoulders sagged. “I’m the reason they’re all dead.”
“What are you talking about, Chase? That was some kind of old feud between packs. It had nothing to do with you. You were just a young child.”
“That’s what I thought, too. But I found out later that wasn’t the case.”
“Found out how?”
“It doesn’t matter. What matters is that the Blood Fangs attacked my people and wiped out our entire pack—
all because of the tainted blood in our veins. The blood I still carry. There’s something not right about me. Something evil inside.”
I made a scoffing sound. “Come on, Chase. Evil? What the hell are you talking about? You’re kind of a dick sometimes and a total asshat to do what you did to me, but you’re not evil. And, let’s be honest. They’re called the Blood Fang Pack for a reason. If anyone could be labeled as evil in the scenario, it would be them.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain,” I urged.
“All that matters is that one pack was willing to kill another because they wanted to end us. Completely eradicate the bloodline. That type of feud is more than a grudge—it’s a vendetta. A vendetta that came about because of me.”
“But you survived. If you were the cause of the vendetta, wouldn’t they have wanted you dead as well as the rest of your pack? Why are you still here?”
“Because my mother got me somewhere safe before they could find me. Everything that happened that day is hazy in my memory, but I remember that much.”
I frowned. “She told you they were coming to kill you? You never told me that.”
“She didn’t say that, no. But I found out about it later, and that’s why I left.”
“You’re still not making sense. How are those two things connected?”
“Because being with me puts your life at risk. I was trying to protect you. I didn’t want you to get hurt because of me.”
“I still don’t know what that means. How can I be at risk? And, furthermore, whatever the answer to that is, Chase, you should have told me. We could have figured something out—together.”
He smiled sadly. “That, right there, is the reason I couldn’t tell you. I couldn’t tell you why I left or where I was going because you might have tried to stop me or come with me and I couldn’t let that happen. I cared about you too much to allow it and I’m not sure I would have been able to resist your pleadings. It was hard enough leaving you as it was. I can’t tell you how many times I almost turned around. I couldn’t risk you talking me out of leaving.”
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