by Lilly Wilder
Chapter 2: Landon
“We have to find it,” I growled. “It is the only thing we have left.”
“And how do you suppose we are going to find it, when you don’t even know where exactly it is that you lost it. We traveled over forty miles last night. That medallion could be anywhere.”
His words infuriated me. “Watch your tone,” I warned, as my upper lip curled back to reveal a full mouth of deadly teeth.
“Alright, alright.” Roman held up his hands to signal his submission. “There’s no need to get all Alpha on my ass, Landon. I get it. But —”
My growl deepened. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I was close to shapeshifting into my wolf form and showing him a piece of my mind. “We keep looking for it and that’s the end of this discussion.”
Roman sighed and waded into the river. A second later, he disappeared into its depths. I soon did the same. My eyes burned as I opened them underwater. Everything was blurry, but I was hoping that the jade on the medallion would be bright enough for us to see, even if it happened to be half-hidden under the muck.
My lungs begged for air but I ignored them, as I ran my hands along the bottom, hoping to find what I was looking for.
Roman grabbed me by the nape of the neck and dragged me out of the water. “You’re going to end up killing yourself,” he said. “And I’m not going to let that happen. If we want to rebuild the pack then we both have to survive long enough for us to find a mate.”
“Well, right now, you’re pushing your luck.”
“It’s just a piece of jewelry.”
I slammed Roman against a nearby tree trunk. It shook so violently that many of its leaves came fluttering towards the ground.
Roman held my gaze. “What are you going to do, Landon?” Roman was my Beta, yes, but he was strong enough to be an Alpha as well. Tit for tat, we were rather evenly matched. I was stronger and he faster. Squared off against one another, neither had a clear advantage.
Nevertheless, I tightened my hold on his shirt. The fabric was bunched up inside my fist as my nails became sharper, threatening to tear through it. “It’s more than that,” I said. “It is the last piece of our ancestry that we have to hold onto. Without it we are —” I was interrupted by a strange sound carried on the wind.
“Did you hear that?” asked Roman.
I focused and my sense of hearing honed in on the sound.
A girl.
A girl screaming for help.
Before I could even realize what I was doing, I had transformed into my wolf form. Instinctively, I howled up at the moon before shooting forward like a bullet train. I could tell that Roman was right behind me by the sound of his footfall.
He caught up and even went ahead.
I was close on his heels.
The girl had stopped screaming and I knew that probably meant one thing: she was already dead.
No, I told myself. I will not let that happen again.
I tried to keep the memory of that horrible day at bay but it taunted me with its pain. As always, its’ cut was deep.
***
Roman and I had gone hunting for the day. Together, there was nothing that we couldn’t catch. So, whenever the pack was desperate for meat, we were always the ones sent to replenish the storehouses and because of us the pups and expecting mothers always had something to eat, even in the dead of winter.
We had considered ourselves heroes and many pack members had agreed.
They were ready to make me the pack Alpha, when it happened.
The attack was already over by the time we had returned. We had heard the screams — the cries for help — from miles away. They had echoed through our eardrums, as we made a desperate attempt to get back to our turf. We had abandoned everything we had caught that day because had we carried it back, it would have slowed us down.
Even so, we didn’t make it.
Everyone was already dead.
We searched every last inch, trying to find a survivor but not even one single pup had made it out of the bloody massacre to tell the tale. The monsters that had decimated my people, had even killed my mother, a woman who was expecting a child by the next moon cycle. That brother or sister she had carried, was someone I would never have the pleasure of knowing and, for that, they were going pay and payment wasn’t cheap.
***
“Help!”
Relief washed over me as I heard her shout. If she was still capable of screaming, then that meant that she was still alive.
Determined to get to her in time, I pushed myself even harder. My long nails worked like cleats that destroyed the earth with every step I took. Woodland creatures ran into their burrows because they knew that we were not the sort of predator that they wanted to mess with.
“Do you feel that too?” Roman’s voice echoed inside my head.
I knew exactly what he meant. There was some sort of electricity in the air, like there was a thunderstorm in the forecast. It was the same sort of feeling that had surrounded the pack. It was the aura of our people, like an invisible force that brought us together and told us, ‘this is where you belong.’
“She might be one of ours,” I responded. “A survivor.”
“No, this is different, somehow.”
But I didn’t really care. If there was any possibility that she might be a lost member of our pack, then I was going to find her and I was going to save her. With my father and mother dead, it was my duty as the newest pack Alpha.
Roman skidded to a halt and nearly fell off the edge of a cliff. If I hadn’t been there to grab him by the tail, it would have been an inevitable tumble to the jagged rocks below.
“Careful,” I snapped. “Are you trying to get yourself killed? I’d rather not assume the title of ‘lone wolf,’ if I can help it.”
“Wow, and here I was thinking you were a heartless bastard,” he responded, with his usual sarcasm.
I didn’t have the patience for banter so I released his tail and scanned the area hoping that I could find this damsel in distress.
Roman sniffed the air. He was much better at tracking a scent.
“Do you smell anything?” I asked, now back in my human form. The hairs on my arms were raised with a sweeping of goosebumps. A strange sensation rolled through the length of my spine and left my nostrils flaring.
“There!” he exclaimed, pointing at the water. It was dark and the water even darker but, thankfully, my superior vision allowed me to see the head of a girl bobbing just above the water. She opened her mouth, like she was going to shout but a wave crashed over her and filled her mouth with water. A second later, she disappeared.
Without thinking, I ran to the cliff’s edge and dove into the water. It didn’t matter to me what might be waiting for me at the bottom of my dive, so long as I could manage to save the girl from drowning.
“Landon!” I heard Roman scream my name just before I sliced through the water. It was ice cold and quite a shock to my system but I ignored all that as I started to kick my legs. I reached the surface and tried to orient myself but I really had no idea where the girl was in proximity to where I had landed. Perhaps this hadn’t been my most intelligent decision but when instinct tells you to do something — you do it and you don’t ask questions. “Right in front of you!” Roman directed, taking advantage of our link as Alpha and Beta. Trusting that he was guiding me in the right direction, I started forward.
It had been a while since I had swum in my human form. It felt strange but it was faster than doggy paddling to this woman. Besides, if she happened to be a normal human woman, instead of a member of our lost pack, then I didn’t want her to freak out when I finally came upon her. Humans didn’t take to shifters all that well. Urban legend has painted us into monsters over the years and, truth be told, some of our kind fit the description to a disturbing degree.
“Hurry up, will you? She hasn’t surfaced in a while!”
�
��I’m going as fast as I can! The current is working against me here.” I knew that this was a race against the clock and that with each wasted minute, I was that much closer to losing her.
But I wasn’t going to let that happen.
Some internal trigger signaled that it was time to dive and that’s exactly what I did. When I opened my eyes, I saw her body suspended in the water. Bubbles escaped from her lips as she sank deeper and deeper.
I grabbed her arm and yanked her toward the surface.
Her body was already dead weight and I was starting to fear the worst.
She can’t be dead, I kept telling myself. There can’t be another death on my hands.
We broke through to the surface. Her skin had a waterlogged look to it and her lips were blue. With her body pinned against my own, I tried to get a response out of her but as far as I could tell, she wasn’t even breathing.
“We’re too late.”
“Get her back to shore and I’ll be the judge of that,” said Roman. Of the two of us, he was definitely the optimist.
“She isn’t breathing.”
“Ever heard of something called CPR?”
“I don’t know how to do that.”
“Well, I do, now get her over here. Now.”
Seeing as she was unconscious, I transformed into a wolf and settled her onto my back, so that she remained above the water at all times. It felt like an eternity before I finally reached the shore. Each minute felt like it was dragging into an eternity and I knew our chance of saving this girl was dwindling to almost non-existent.
As soon as I stepped on firm ground, Roman snatched her up and landed her on a patch of dry sand.
He started to pump her chest, both palms together. His face was screwed up with concentration.
After a while, he leaned down and opened her mouth, blowing air into it.
He repeated these steps countless times but nothing seemed to happen because of it. “Roman —”
“Shut up. I won’t have you tell me that it’s too late because I know it’s not. We heard her screams for a reason.” His eyes burned like I had never seen them burn before but I understood his emotion because there was something about this girl…
I couldn’t quite tell what it was exactly but it felt like something had clicked inside of me. In a way, she felt like a missing link but I didn’t know what it was she was completing.
Could it be? I wondered.
No.
Why would a mate come at a time like this? It just didn’t make any sense. The elders always preached that one’s mate arrives when the time was right but the time wasn’t right at all. My pack was gone and the murderers who had taken them were still running around wild and free. My vengeance had yet to be served.
And yet, this girl, she called to me in a strange sort of way that made me feel like she was speaking to my soul.
“You have to save her, Roman. I think she might be the one.”
Chapter 3: Roman
Landon had spoken the words that had been on my mind since the moment I had heard her cry for help. I couldn’t explain the way she made me feel, other than the fact that there seemed to be some kind of magnetic pull working to bring us together.
But now, it wouldn’t seem to matter because nothing I did was working to bring her back to life. Still, her chest refused to move in that up and down motion called breathing.
“Come on, breathe for me,” I kept whispering, as if that might help the progress. It didn’t.
My arms were becoming jelly-like from all the compressions but I didn’t let that stop me. I wasn’t going to give up on this girl, because, I swear, I could hear the beating of her heart. Or maybe, that was my own. I didn’t know and I didn’t care because something was telling me that one day those heartbeats would be one and the same.
For the millionth time, I pressed my lips to hers. When I thought about kissing my mate for the first time, this wasn’t what I had in mind.
I gave her every last ounce of breath that I had and, still, it wasn’t enough. When I pulled away, I was light-headed.
“Let me help,” said Landon. “Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”
I was just about to guide him through the motions, when her body jerked. A second later, she began to cough and water came flying out of her system. Good. That was exactly what we wanted to happen.
Both Landon and I helped her sit up.
She gasped for air.
“Shh,” I whispered. “Take it slow.” Relief washed over me when she finally opened her eyes and looked up at me. They were a deep shade of green — the same green we used as our pack color.
She blinked and cocked her head to the side. “Who are you?”
“Never mind that,” I said. “Right now, I want to know how you’re feeling. Can you breathe?”
She didn’t answer me. Instead, she turned her head and considered Landon for a moment. I noticed that he became tense, something that only really happened whenever he was nervous. And it wasn’t every day that an Alpha felt that way.
“Um… yeah.” Her voice was as sweet as honey. Even ragged as it was, I yearned to hear more of it and I could tell that Landon felt that way too. Our instincts were in sync. This girl was definitely the one. “But… my leg.”
In my desperate attempt to get her breathing again, I hadn’t even realized that there was a giant gash on her leg.
“We should get her to a hospital,” said Landon.
“No!”
“No?” I repeated, as my brows furrowed in confusion. “You’ll probably need stitches or something.”
“I can’t go to the hospital. I’m having a hard enough time paying the rent. I don’t need another expense heaved onto my plate.”
Now, unlike most shifters, I like to keep myself well-informed on the way of humans. After all, their culture is a rather interesting one. And this concept of struggling with money was not a foreign one but I couldn’t understand why she would forfeit her own well-being to pay rent. Surely, if she just explained the situation to her landlord, he would understand.
“I knew I shouldn’t have come out here. What was I thinking…?” she mumbled to herself, as she attempted to get to her feet.
Landon, however, stopped her by pressing a hand to her shoulder. “At least let us take care of it.”
Before she could even think to respond, Landon had already taken off his shirt.
Her eyes widened and I didn’t know whether it was due to surprise or the sight of Landon’s half-naked body. Probably a combination of the two, if I had to guess.
“Oh,” she squeaked, when Landon lifted her leg and began to bandage it with the strips of fabric he had torn from his shirt. “This is really happening.”
“Don’t forget her foot as well,” I said. Like her leg, it was also bleeding.
“Who are you guys?” she asked.
Seeing that she was breathing just fine, I felt more comfortable answering her question. “My name is Roman and this, here, is Landon.”
“Landon and Roman…” she repeated, saying Landon’s name before mine, almost like she understood that he was the Alpha and I, the Beta. But, of course, that was impossible. Unless told, the humans didn’t know about our hierarchy. They certainly wouldn’t perceive of it on their own accord, unless…
“She’s the one,” Landon’s voice echoed in my mind, finishing my thought.
“But how? We are without a pack.”
“Perhaps she is the key to rebuilding it.”
“Maybe so, but right now we need to focus on getting her home and getting that leg of hers taken care of.”
“Um… I don’t mean to be rude or anything but do you think we can get off the beach now? It’s colder than a witch’s tit out here.”
It was then, that I noticed that she was shivering. I shrugged off the leather jacket I liked to wear. Many of my pack members had thought it tacky but after watching some 1950’s movi
es, I understood that it was the perfect fashion statement. Besides, it made me look like a badass. And watch out, if I wore sunglasses too.
Before my thoughts could get carried away, I draped the jacket over her shoulders. “We’ll carry you back.”
“I can walk,” she said.
“Yeah, I don’t think so.” Before she could protest, I scooped her up and cradled her against my chest. Just as I had expected, it was extremely natural for me to do so, almost like she belonged in my arms. At least there, I knew she would be safe and sound.
“Put me down!”
“Is that really what you want?” I asked, as I fake dropped her.
Instantly, she tightened her hold around my neck.
“You should really be careful what you ask for,” I teased, as I continued to carry her toward civilization.
She pouted. “You didn’t have to do that. Or this — I’m perfectly capable of walking on my own.”
Landon hadn’t spoken a word during all this time. He was walking a few steps ahead of us, with a somber expression on his face. I could tell by the faraway look in his eyes that he was thinking about that day — the massacre.
“So, where’s this house of yours?”
“Apartment,” she corrected.
“Alright, apartment. Where is it?”
“Are you seriously going to carry me all the way there?” she asked me. “Aren’t you going to get tired?”
“Doubtful, but if I do, Landon can always lend me a hand.”
She glanced in his direction and I could see the wheels turning inside her head. What was she thinking? And was it as dirty as my thoughts of her? Because, right now, I had her in a thousand different positions, trying to figure out which one I would like best.
“Just down the road,” she said, at last. “It’s the building with the red door.”
“Red door, got it.”
As we walked down the street, I could tell that Landon was surveying the area to make sure whether it was safe or not. At first glance, it appeared to be uncontested area but a few shifters live as nomads, constantly moving from place to place. What might be unclaimed today, might not be unclaimed tomorrow.
