To The Wolves: A Paranormal Shifter Romance (The Hollow Pack Book 1)

by Camille Rae

  We laid down to sleep, and I situated myself on my blanket. Lachlan and Mika were the only ones who slept near me, but Lachlan had first watch tonight and Mika was prowling in the dark somewhere, so I was cold and alone.

  I had really made a mess of things.

  The guys had completely lost trust in me since I had tried to leave them behind. It was as though they were with me out of duty, not because they actually wanted to be with me.

  I had left immediately and without saying goodbye.

  The Wolves were clearly a little pissed about that.

  Especially Loel, who was doing his best to never completely acknowledge my existence.

  I knew now I had made a mistake in leaving without telling them. I had made an even bigger mistake by thinking they’d side with Theo, the leader of the Rebellion, instead of me. That had been the truly offensive part, apparently.

  I flipped onto my side, unable to get comfortable. Why would I have thought they’d pick me over Theo? They had been working for Theo for four years. They had been with me for less than four weeks.

  I traced the ring on my hand. It had been warm to the touch for the past few days, but I didn’t know why.

  I stared up at the starry sky, the night too quiet. I missed traffic noises. City sounds, even. Anything but insects and the slow, steady breathing of men.

  I turned onto my back, kicking my legs under the blanket to straighten it out.

  “Can you shut up?” Cash growled, and I glared into the darkness where he was lying down.

  “No one is forcing you to come along,” I said.

  “No need to be so rude,” Silas said quietly. “Both of you.”

  “Whatever,” Cash grumbled.

  I heard a smack and then Cash mutter a curse, and I imagined either Loel or Silas had hit him for the remark.

  Great, I was wandering through the woods with a moody group of guys who couldn’t even get along with each other.

  I shifted back onto my side and stared into the dark woods until my eyelids grew heavy.

  Queen Elestra sat in a high-backed chair near a fireplace. She wore a black, long-sleeved dress and her hair was down, barely scraping the edge of her jaw in its sharp bob.

  The fire was roaring, built way too large for its hearth, and I feared it might spark into the room.

  “You’re on your way, then? Splendid,” she said, and I could feel my heart pounding in my chest.

  Did she know where I was?

  “I have my men out searching for you. We’ll get you here sooner rather than later,” she said, and I saw that she was holding a teacup, as though she was just having a casual chat with a friend.

  I shook my head, and she tilted hers, staring back at me.

  “In fact, let’s say sooner,” she said, and the side of her mouth twisted up in a smirk.

  I was being shaken. I opened my eyes and saw Lachlan over me, more by the shape than by detail.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked in a whisper, and he put a hand over my mouth, leaning down close to me.

  “Blue Scouts, coming our way, not far off, be quiet, move quickly,” he breathed in my ear.

  I was instantly awake and alert, my senses heightened with adrenaline.

  I rolled into a crouch and grabbed my blanket, stuffing it inside of my day pack as quietly as possible. I could hear the shuffles of the Wolves around me, but without the fire, and with no moon, it was too dark to distinguish what was going on. Hopefully the darkness would work in our favor.

  I prayed that it was a false alarm, that the scouts would be diverted before coming too close.

  A hand touched my elbow, and I knew by the feeling of energy pulsing through my arm that it was Lachlan. He gave me a gentle tug, and then Mika was beside me, and the two guided me back into the dense tree cover.

  The six of us — Mika, Loel, Silas, and Cash were in their wolf forms — moved quickly, crouching low to the ground. I listened for the sounds of anyone approaching near us, but it was almost eerily silent.

  “Split. Search,” I felt Loel say through the bond, and Silas split off from the group. Cash did the same, but in a different direction.

  I felt a pulse of positivity and calmness flow over me, and then Lachlan slipped away, as well. I sensed, rather than saw, him shift into his wolf form.

  I imagined Loel was instructing them to search the area for scouts again.

  It was down to just Loel, Mika, and me.

  We stayed still, waiting for our group to come back with reports on where the Blue scouts were.

  Being so close to Loel, and alone with him, no less, I couldn’t help but think back to how happy we had been just days before.

  “From the moment I told you I’d never let anyone hurt you, I have been a combination of misery and hope, pierced entirely to my soul,” he had told me.

  My shoulders sunk a bit at the memory. He had been so vulnerable, and I had left without even saying goodbye.

  I knew I was going to leave even as he said those words, and I had still let him give me his heart like that.

  “We don’t have time for that right now,” Loel’s voice intruded into my thoughts.

  I snapped my gaze to him.

  “Stop reading me thoughts, then.”

  “You are basically screaming them at me,” he said through our connection.

  I could hear his faint sigh, and then he took a step away from me.

  I leaned against a tree and had an idea. From what I could tell, it was a sparse pine of some sort. If I could climb it, I could try to see if there was a fire or maybe even multiple fires near us, signaling where the Queen’s Army encampment was.

  I set my pack down at my feet and reached for the lowest branch, then jumped, gripping onto it. As silently as I could manage, my feet dug into the trunk, and I pushed up, securing my weight onto each branch that I climbed past. My hands were tearing open with the rough bark and branches were scraping my cheeks, but I had to help. I was the reason we were on the run, and I hadn’t been particularly helpful the last time Cash and I had found scouts or guards — I still wasn’t completely sure of the difference, and the Wolves weren’t particularly forthcoming with details as of late.

  I paused, looking around, but found that I wasn’t high enough. I realized I’d have to climb rather high to get any kind of sight vantage.

  I climbed higher still and when I was nearly twenty feet off the ground, I could see a hint of light in the distance, due east. I stayed still, allowing my eyes to adjust. There was definitely a fire. More than one fire, in fact. Five or six. They were far off — luckily, we were heading in the exact opposite direction of them.

  The beauty of the unadulterated night sky shocked me. I had spent many nights camping and lying underneath the bright stars, but up so high, it was like I could see them forever.

  I felt a deep sense of connection, staring up at the night sky. I couldn’t understand the feeling exactly, only that I felt at home, looking at the stars.

  I saw movement out of my peripheral vision, and I heard Mika’s low growl, and then Loel’s firm voice.

  What the hell was going on? Has he shifted back?

  I tried to let my eyes adjust as I stared down, but the lack of light was even more pronounced down on the ground. I stayed still again, trying in vain to see.

  I heard a brief scuffle and then everything went quiet. I could feel my heart pounding. What if Loel was hurt? What if Loel was dead?

  My stomach twisted at the thought, and I bit down on the inside of my cheek to keep from crying out.

  “Get down here as fast as you can,” Loel said through our connection.

  I began climbing down and my hand slipped off a branch, making my insides spin for a second when I thought I was falling. I paused, taking a deep breath and readjusted my balance.

  I heard Mika whine and I paused, but didn’t hear anything more. There was more movement — the Wolves, I’d always be able to tell their presence from the feeling of protection that surround
ed me when they were near.

  If I wasn’t in such a hurry, I’d have paused to think about how funny it was that just one month before, I was hiding from these same four men in a tree, and now I was hurrying to get back down to them.

  One month had changed my entire life.

  I heard a groan coming below me. “Who's hurt?” I asked desperately, but there was no response. What was that? Was one of my guys hurt? I started climbing down, skipping branches, teetering in my balance. I was being careless but the panic running through me wouldn’t let me slow down.

  The branch under my foot snapped. In my distraction, I hadn’t tested it before putting my weight on it.

  I fell quickly, and though it was only about ten feet, the tree scraped my entire body, tearing at my arms and face and back as I tumbled down the branches. I tried in desperation to cling to anything, but in the dark, finding a sturdy branch quickly enough was impossible.

  I landed on my side and heard a snap the instant I hit the ground. A surge of intense pain washed over me, and my stomach lurched. I thought I could see my bone sticking out of my shin in the dark.

  One of the guys knelt beside me and put a hand on my shoulder, but before I could cry out, I was vomiting, sweating. Lachlan, I thought, was holding my hair back from my face. I wiped at my mouth, my mind clouded with the intense agony. Someone, maybe more than one person, was talking to me. Someone, maybe more than one person, was cursing.

  I laid back down on the ground, gasping for air as I heard, “We’ll have to get them to healers in the village. Check that ranger first, though.”

  Then, nothing

  Chapter 24

  Caia

  I cracked an eye open, feeling as though I had been run over by a truck. I either had the worst hangover of my entire life, or I was dying. There was no other obvious reason I felt this terrible.

  “Don't sit up, you'll get sick,” I heard a familiar voice say, and I turned my head to see Loel lying on a table next to me.

  A table? Where were we?

  My hair had been tied back, and only a sheet covered me.

  I smirked at his obvious reference to the first words he had ever said to me.

  “Where are we?” I croaked and tried to clear my throat. It felt as though someone had poured sand down my esophagus. I coughed, looking around.

  We were in a darkened room, but it wasn't night. There were thick curtains hanging across the windows, but as I looked closer, I saw that they weren't curtains, but animal skins.

  “The men found a healer,” Loel said, pushing up onto his elbow to turn toward me. He was drinking from a cup.

  “What happened?” I asked, eyeing the cup jealously. I'd give nearly anything for some water at that moment, though I'd settle for strong whiskey, if it was available.

  “I was stabbed. You fell,” he said flatly.

  “Stabbed? Who stabbed you? Are you okay?” I asked, alarmed.

  “Not sure. Seemed like Blues soldier, but wasn't in uniform. Definitely trained, though. Perhaps a Blue undercover or could be someone Theo sent after us,” he said, lying back down. “We had to leave the scene after you started vomiting everywhere.”

  I grimaced, but thought I detected a twitch at the corner of his mouth at that last remark.

  “Where'd they stab you? Are you alright?” I asked again, and he shrugged.

  “My shoulder. It could have been worse,” he said, and I could see he had some kind of wet leaf stuck to his skin.

  I looked down at my own skin and saw that my leg was propped up and wrapped in a heavy bandage.

  When Flora had healed my broken arm back in the pantry of the Citadel's kitchen only a few days before, it definitely hadn't felt like this.

  Then again, I had to remind myself that Flora was one of the most powerful magic users in Laeris.

  Whatever healer the small village employed had evidently gone a more natural route, and judging by how my head and body were feeling, had perhaps clubbed me over the head multiple times with a large stick in the process.

  “Where is everyone?” I asked, and Loel shrugged again.

  I started to push myself up to stand, but the door swung open and an older man walked in. I held the sheet to me tightly.

  “She’s awake,” he said, coming to the side of the table.

  “May I have some water, please?” I asked, wary to let him touch me.

  Lachlan and Silas walked in, both looking concerned.

  I felt a wave of relief about seeing them alive and unharmed.

  “Where's Cash and Mika?” I said automatically. I didn't like when one of the pack was missing.

  Silas raised a brow, handing me a cup of water. “He's out trading a few pelts that Mika caught while you were asleep. She’s with him.”

  “How long have I been asleep?” I asked, glancing from Silas to Lachlan to Loel.

  “Three days,” said the healer I didn't recognize.

  “Three days? Why would I be unconscious for so long?” I asked, feeling anxious. I pushed myself onto my elbows, feeling weak. I drained the entire cup of water in three gulps.

  “To let your body heal,” said the man. He was busying himself at a work bench along one wall, mixing ingredients from various bottles.

  “Has Loel been out for three days?” I asked, looking over to him.

  “No, but we couldn't pry him away. He insisted on sleeping on that table the entire time and sat by your side whenever he was awake,” Lachlan said, smirking.

  I blinked, confused. I thought Loel despised me. I looked over to Loel to see his reaction, but he wouldn't meet my eye.

  Well, that was interesting information. I made a note to try to get him alone so I could speak to him again.

  “What have you two been doing?” I asked Lachlan, and he shrugged.

  “Mostly just wandering around the village, trying to get information about the Blues being here. No one has ever seen the Blues this far West, and certainly not in such large numbers,” Silas said, rubbing his chin. I noticed that all of the men had a bit of stubble, as though they hadn't been taking care of themselves lately.

  “I'm so sorry for putting you guys through this,” I said, handing the empty cup back to Silas.

  “It's not your fault. Though I think Cash might be a bit angry at you for awhile. You should have heard him cursing your name as he carried you here,” Lachlan said with a small grin.

  I cringed, lying back down. I hated being such a burden on the men. The last thing I ever wanted to be known for was being helpless.

  The stranger came to me with a small fluted cup. “Drink this,” he said, giving it to me.

  I smelled it, trying my best not to recoil at the stench. It smelled like black licorice gone rancid.

  “What is it?” I asked, attempting to casually hold it at arm's length.

  “Heals the bone,” he said.

  I tilted my head. “How does drinking this heal my bones?” I asked.

  “Sorry, she comes from a land without magic,” Silas told the healer.

  Lachlan placed a hand on my shoulder. “You can trust Reggie,” he said. “You're nearly all the way healed already from that pretty nasty break thanks to him.”

  “What kind of healer are you?” I asked Reggie, downing the bone healing liquid like a shot. It was bitter and made me cough. “I met a woman who healed me with a simple touch, but these bandages and salves are something different altogether.”

  “Ah,” Reggie said, ambling back to his work bench. I could see that he walked slightly hunched and shuffled. I'd guess he was in his late sixties by the weathered look of his skin and his slow gait. “That was very powerful magic. I simply call upon the will of the Gods.”

  I bit my tongue, looking to Silas. He shrugged.

  Loel cleared his throat. “We did have one idea that we wanted to run past you, however,” he said. He shifted on the table, looking uncomfortable.

  I raised an inquiring brow. “And that would be?”

  “Well,
we thought it might be best if you could... disguise your appearance,” he said, rubbing at the back of his neck. “It's not safe for you since we left Nos, with so many people looking for you, too.”

  I looked to Lachlan and Silas to find them both staring at the ceiling.

  “Disguise how?” I asked skeptically.

  “It's simply a spell that will wear off in two full moons,” Reggie said.

  “What? No,” I said quickly, holding up my hands. I saw that my ring was still there, at least.

  “Spark,” Loel said, moving to stand. He didn't look as sore as I did.

  “We... uh...” Lachlan started.

  Cash walked into the room casually and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw me. “What the fuck?”

  “What?” I asked, sitting up in a panic.

  “Who is this?” Cash asked, his eyes wide.

  I held my sheet with one hand, then reached behind me to untie my hair. It fell about my shoulders in thick, blonde waves. “What the...” I said under my breath, holding it in my hand. I looked from Loel to Lachlan to Silas. “What did you do?”

  “We did what we had to do to protect you,” Loel said, crossing his arms.

  “So, you had Reggie change my hair?” I asked, confused.

  “That's... not all that changed,” Loel said, and I looked down at my body. I had huge breasts, comically large, and wide hips.

  “Really?” I deadpanned, rolling my eyes.

  Lachlan smirked and stared unashamedly at my breasts.

  “Did you change my face?” I asked, touching my nose. It felt similar, so at least they didn't give me something too weird, I hoped.

  “Yep,” Cash said, leaning against the doorway. He stared at me as though I was a complete stranger.

  “Give me a mirror,” I demanded, my rage growing too large for the room. The candles on the bench flickered, glowing brighter.

  Lachlan reached for me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. I felt calmer, but I shoved him away.

  “Give me a mirror,” I commanded, panic and anger rising up inside of me. I could feel my magic pulsing under the surface, threatening to come unleashed if I wasn't careful. I took a deep breath.