Pride's Run

by Cat Kalen

  His paws sink into the snow, each step tentative, careful. He’d been so confident before my shift, but now that he’s staring at my wolf, wild and hungry beneath the full moon, I can see the caution in his eyes. Is he finally aware of what I’m capable of or is something else making him nervous?

  A noise at the base of the mountain cracks the still air. Instincts sharpened, my ears perk up and I listen carefully. From my perch I can hear their voices, their laughter, and take joy in the sound of their blood rushing through their veins. It teases my hunger to the point of distraction. Driven by dark need, I canter to the cliff’s edge and run my tongue over sharp canines.

  “Hey,” Logan barks out.

  I turn back to him.

  “I bet you can’t catch me.” He twists around and with lightning speed bolts through the thick forest.

  I scent the air and let loose a yelp, my wolf unable to resist the chase, the thrill of the hunt. Feeling feral, I dig my talon-like nails into the hard ground and with a swish of my tail I take off after him, following his distinct, earthy aroma, one I’ve grown quite fond of over the past few days. As I watch him weave his muscled body in and out of the tall, threadbare trees, I wonder where he’s leading me. I also wonder what will happen when I catch him.

  Will my instincts to kill rule my actions? Can I trust that his animal bloodlust won’t take over?

  Logan tosses me a glance over one powerful shoulder, and begins to slow to a trot. As I hurry to catch up, I note the way his dark gaze zeroes in on my throat which makes me wonder, does this boy have what it takes to tame me, or will tonight end in total and utter bloodshed for all?

  When I stop a few feet away from him, pacing like the wild animal I am, anxious to kill, to feed, I look past his shoulder and notice the small crevice in the rock wall. Logan takes a cautious step backward and when he disappears into the cave, I let loose a deep, guttural howl. The low-pitched sound serrates the quiet night and sends the wildlife scurrying through the forest.

  From the cavern I see a flash of pewter and it sends my wolf into chase. Untamed, I pounce inside the small opening. I look from the left to the right, but before I can locate Logan, his low growl punctures the black and he leaps through the air, pinning me belly up beneath him. My wolf howls and I push him off me. He rolls to the side and I climb on top of his powerful body determined to restrain him beneath my paws.

  Logan, however, has other ideas. With ease, he flips me back over. He uses his power and strength to restrain me beneath him, and when I feel his sharp fangs cut into my throat, I let loose an agonized yelp.

  He holds me down and as blood pours from my neck the smell saturates the tight quarters. As I feel the sting of his fangs, I know in an instant, it’s kill or be killed.

  I struggle beneath him, my paws thrashing, yet I’m still unable to gain purchase. With animal bloodlust ruling me, I fight, bite and scratch until I exhaust myself, but Logan still doesn’t waver, still doesn’t let go of my throat.

  That’s when it hits me. If he was going to snap my neck, wouldn’t he have done it by now? I stop struggling.

  “Are you done?” he asks fiercely.

  Confused and breathing hard I don’t answer. Instead I stare at him, and note the warm heat in his eyes as they lock on mine. That flash of heat does something to my wolf. Something primal. Something that settles my bloodlust.

  “Are you done, Pride?” he asks again.

  “I thought you were going to—,” I answer, breathless.

  “I know what you thought.”

  “It’s…it’s my wolf,” I say apologetically. “She doesn’t know any better.”

  With that Logan eases back and releases his hold on me. I take that opportunity to flip onto my feet. Crouching low I watch him, watch the way his streamlined body flexes as he stalks toward the entrance. He uses his shoulder to roll a boulder in front of the small opening, locking himself inside with the dangerous wolf while keeping the rest of the world out.

  “What are you doing?” I ask cautiously as my body heals the puncture marks on my throat.

  “Protecting you. Like I promised.”

  But when he turns back and I see the hungry way he’s looking at me, needy sensations erupt in my stomach and my caution turns to anticipation.

  Because everything inside me tells me his hunger isn’t for my blood.

  Energy arcs between us as Logan stalks close. My entire body shivers, my wolf suddenly so completely aware of the alpha it’s all I can do to draw in air.

  Then it occurs to me. This is the distraction he’s been planning. A female is programmed to seek an alpha, especially on shift night—a night when a male takes his mate. I don’t miss the significance in what he’s doing, what he’s asking of me.

  He moves in close. My wolf lets loose a howl, a basic animal response to the dominant male who’s about to lay claim to her.

  He touches me with his paw and a shudder races through me. “I won’t do anything to hurt you, Pride,” he whispers.

  “I know,” I say as my stomach flutters.

  And I do know.

  My paw closes over his, then moves to his fur. We touch quietly, and I move my mitt over his coat, a careful exploration of his wolf.

  Secure inside our cave I take pleasure in caressing the magnificent wolf who saved those hikers from me—a boy who saved me from myself.

  There is no denying that Logan has touched something deep within me and stirred feelings I didn’t even know existed. It’s also clear that with his help I’ve come such a long way in such a short period of time.

  A deep sense of gratitude washes over me, and my heart turns over in my chest. Without Logan distracting me from my hunger and safely guiding me through the forest and into this cave as the full moon toyed with my wild side, I don’t know what I would have done. No, that’s not true. A shiver moves through me because I know exactly what I would have done.

  Snuggling and speaking quietly he keeps my wolf calm, distracted. We stay inside the cave until night bleeds into day and the first traces of light are upon us. When we finally shift back, both returning to our human form, we continue to touch, to acquaint ourselves with each other’s bodies until touching is no longer enough.

  Soon instincts take over and I feel a tremble in Logan’s body as he settles himself on top of me. He gives me a questioning glance, uncertain, and that’s when I realize how much I want to love. How much I want to be loved.

  “Logan,” I say.

  “Yeah.” I hear a tremor in his voice and there is something about his nervousness that comforts me.

  I swallow my apprehension. “I’ve never…”

  “I know, Pride. I’ve never either.”

  Shaky fingers gently push my hair back, and when his lips find mine, an invisible fist squeezes my heart. We exchange kisses for a long time and as his body presses down on me everything inside me reaches out to him.

  With the campers, hunters, and the PTF forgotten, we let nature take over and lose ourselves in each other’s arms, sharing trusts and intimacies that neither one of us has ever shared with another.

  A long time later exhaustion pulls at us both and with our arms and legs in a tangled knot we fall into a deep slumber.

  I have no idea how long I’ve been asleep but when I hear a noise at the mouth of the cave, I struggle to blink my eyes open. Caught somewhere between sleep and consciousness I try to focus, try to wipe the blur from my brain.

  Unclear if I’m dreaming or not I glance up to see a familiar figure standing over me. My pulse leaps. “Stone!”

  I watch the way he’s looking at me, the way he always looks at me. Dark eyes move over my bare body, then slide to naked boy sleeping beside me. Oddly enough when I realize what Stone sees—what he knows—I feel a strange sense of disloyalty.

  Without speaking, he turns and makes a move to go.

  “Wait,” I say and rush on. “What’s going on, Stone? What are you doing out here? What have you been trying to tell me?” I
know I’m rambling but can’t seem to help myself. Rattled, I continue, “Tell me please. Tell me about the number sequence. I don’t understand.”

  He twists back around and as his glance falls over me, I can sense his struggle, feel a myriad of emotions tearing him up inside. Despite his turmoil, his words are slow and steady when he says, “The master installed a new state of the art security system. I wanted you to know the code.”

  I blink, confused. “Why?”

  “To help you escape?”

  Escape? Stone wanted to help me escape?

  “I don’t understand. How do you know the code?”

  “You’re not the only one who’s watching and listening.”

  I struggle to make sense of things. “No one’s been able to break out before, so why now, after all these years did he install a new security system?”

  “I think the alarm system has more to do with keeping someone or something out, rather than keeping us in. It’s like he’s expecting an army to come for him.” I hear a shudder in his breath and feel his anger when he says, “One way or another I was going to get you out of there, Pride. Before anything happened to you.”

  My head spins and I sort though Stone’s chaotic visions, trying to make sense of things, then suddenly the tumblers begin to slide into place. “You were going to fight a handler?”

  At first surprise moves over his face, then he answers, “Yes, on shift night.”

  “The night we were supposed to mate.”

  “The night I was going to break you out.”

  “No,” I say shaking my head. “You wanted to break me, not break me out.”

  His tone softens. “Don’t you see? I needed the mating as a cover. It was the only way I could get the master to put us in a cell together.”

  “Stone,” I choke out. “The handler would have killed you.”

  “I would have fought,” he whispers, then I hear a hitch in his voice when he adds, “For you, I would have fought.” He takes a quick look at Logan and the sadness I see on his face rips though me like a silver bullet.

  “You would have died!” I scream.

  He doesn’t respond, instead he says, “You need to wake up, Pride. Now. You need to get moving.”

  With apprehension surging inside me, I jolt upright in the cave and rub the sleep from my eyes. My gaze instantly darts to the spot where I’d seen Stone standing, but when my glance comes up empty my insides churn. I twist to see Logan, still sound asleep beside me and my mind races.

  Had I simply dreamt it?

  I shoot a glance around the cave and a barrage of emotions tear through me, unsure of what’s happening.

  Logan stirs awake beside me. His eyes open and he smiles when our gazes meet, but when he sees my distress, his smile dissolves and panic spreads across his face. He sits upright and reaches for me.

  “Pride, what is it? Are you okay?”

  “I’m okay,” I lie, not at all certain I’ll ever be okay again. “It was just a dream,” I say, more to convince myself than anything else, because I can’t bear to think that Stone was really here, that a wolf who I thought was my sworn enemy—a wolf who was planning to die for me—just had his heart torn out because I’ve given myself to another.

  Chapter Fifteen

  August 30th waning moon

  Stark naked after a night in the cave with Logan, we make our way back to our tent. I gather my torn clothes and look them over. With a tuck here and fold there I figure I can still wear them.

  As I dress I try not to think about Stone, try not to let the pain on his face haunt me.

  Had he been here?

  Or was it merely a dream?

  Confused, I breathe deep to see if there are any lingering traces of his scent in the air, but when Logan’s familiar aroma fills my nostrils, not Stone’s, I shake my head to clear it, unable to make sense of it all.

  Logan tosses the pack over his back and puts his arm around my waist, a gesture that fills me with warmth. “How do you feel?”

  He looks so sleepy and rumpled that it has my mind racing to what we did in the cave. Then a grave thought hits me. Was it merely a diversion tactic on his part? Or does he really want me to be his mate?

  “Last night, when we, you know, was it because—”

  His grin is slow, soft and a smile reaches his eyes as he rakes my hair off my face. “It was because I wanted to, Pride. I’ve wanted to do that with you for a very long time now.”

  A surge of warmth floods me. “Then why didn’t you? Why did you wait for so long?”

  He gives a soft laugh. “Because whether you realized it or not you were vulnerable, and I wasn’t going to take advantage of that. You needed to come to terms with your own feelings before you could come to terms with mine.”

  “So you have feelings for me then?” I ask, my voice rough with emotion.

  His brow lifts in amused awareness then he laughs out loud. “For a smart girl—”

  My heart tightens and I press my lips to his to stop him before he can finish. When I finally pull away surprise registers on his face.

  He quirks a perplexed brow. “What was that for?”

  I think about the last few days, think about where I would have been without him. My voice comes out a little shaky when I say, “I think you know.”

  All humor fades from his eye when he says, “And I think it’s time for you to know, too.”

  Not liking the sound of that I tense and take a small step back. “Know what?” I ask cautiously, my entire body tightening at the seriousness I hear in his voice.

  He lowers his tone, like he thinks it will help soften the blow when he says, “I’m not who you think I am.”

  In an instinctive move, my throat tightens and my nape prickles in warning. “What are you talking about?” I begin to move away, trying to wrap my head around this unexpected turn of events.

  “Pride. Don’t.” Logan grabs my arms, but there is something in the way he says my name that immobilizes me.

  “Who are you then?” I ask.

  He goes quiet for a moment then says, “You remember when you asked if I believed there were packs who roam free in Canada? Compassionate wolves who live normal lives amongst the population and take to the woods on shift night?”

  I watch him carefully, and give him a look that conveys my unease. “Yeah. Why?”

  “Well they do exist. And that’s where we’re going.”

  Incredulous, my eyes widen. “So you’re telling me you know for a fact that they really do exist?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because I’m one of them.”

  He goes quiet and lets me look at him long and hard as I sort things through in my mind. My glance pans his face searching for the truth, but there is nothing in his expression or his body language to suggest he is lying to me.

  I shake my head and realize I shouldn’t be surprised at what I’m hearing. All the signs were there, waiting to be pieced together. As I think about his knowledge of the woods, his ability to hunt, to remove the microchip, to fit in so easily with the hikers, the puzzle known as Logan finally begins to fall into place.

  Still, I remain cautious when I ask, “If you’re telling the truth, why did you wait so long to tell me?”

  “Would you have believed me?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Well I do know and what I know is that you wouldn’t have believed me for a minute. I’ve learned that trust isn’t something that comes easy to you, Pride.” There is a real sadness in his eyes when he lowers his head and I hear gentle understanding in his voice when he says, “After everything you’ve been through it’s not much wonder. It took forever for you to trust me.”

  While I know he’s right and that trust isn’t something that comes easy to me, I still can’t help but feel he betrayed me. “You still should have told me.”

  “Let me ask you something. If you thought I was trying to lead yo
u somewhere would you have run in the opposite direction?”

  “Yes,” I say without hesitation. “I would have.”

  “That’s why I didn’t tell you. You’re a girl to lead, not a girl to be led.”

  “Okay, fair enough.” I incline my head, smooth down my ripped shirt and ask, “So you got captured, broke free, and now you’re trying to find your way back home?”

  He nods and runs his hands along the back of my neck. “I’m trying to get us both home.”

  My heart hitches. “You want to take me to your home?”

  “Of course I do. I need you, Pride.” He glances around. “I couldn’t have made it this far without you.”

  “I wouldn’t have made it without you, either.”

  As I mull things over longer and realize what this really means for me, a surge of excitement rushes through my veins. I take a moment to think more about his family in the Canadian mountains and give further consideration to the compassionate pack of wolves that live normal lives, wolves that work together, and only take to the woods on run night.

  My heart races a little faster and a plan begins to formulate in my brain. My mother once thought this pack could help her, which was why she tried to make it across the border. Now that I know such a pack exists I begin to wonder if it’s possible. Would they be willing to help me take down my master?

  “If we can make good time today, we can be at the ferry by dinner time.”

  I’m already stepping over brush and pushing branches out of my way.

  “We might have a small problem though.”

  I stop and my hair whips around my face when I turn back to him. “What?”

  “You don’t have a passport, and in order to get into Canada you’re going to need one.”

  “Do you have one?”

  “I have one stashed in the dash of my car. It’s been in the parking lot at the ferry dock since my capture.” He pulls a face and says, “Let’s hope it’s still there.”

  We’re so close I refuse to give up now. “We need a plan.”