Bound to the Tribe (Bound to the Pack, #2) (13 page)

“He’ll be back soon, he just stepped out for air.” I cursed my lack of imagination, it had been a lame thing to say and Troy shook his head, expression never changing.

“Poor thing, couldn’t handle his execution could you. Made you crazy. That’s all right, you’re free to pursue others now and, as it happens, I am a free agent.” He smiled at me, a baring of his teeth. “We’ll be perfect together.”

“Troy, I’m spoken for,” I said gently as I continued to slowly back away, watching him warily. “What happened to...” The rest of my question was lost as he leapt at me.

“We’ll be perfect together!” he screamed at me, inches from my face. I felt his hands at my throat and struggled to break his hold as stars began to dance in my vision. Insanity had given him an unexpected strength.

“
Perfect
,” he whispered into my ear.

Liam

S
tepping out behind the gym and into the snow, I had to admit, to myself at least, that it was a too cold to be standing here naked. Embracing the wolf aspect of my being, I closed my eyes and began to shift.

It felt fantastic to stretch out, it had been days since I had run as the wolf. When the final itchiness of my fur growing in receded I threw my head back and let out a howl, loud and strong.

I was on the hunt.

Opening my eyes, I turned to see if Ian was ready to begin and found him still in human form, staring up at me.

Staring
up
at me.

“Lad, you uh, might want to keep the howls to a minimum.” His voice was weak, eyes wide as he watched me warily. A cacophony of car alarms sounded from the parking lot in front of the gym, and beyond.

Looking down at Ian, I guessed that the top of his head would be just beneath my shoulders.

I was a Prime.

“So this is why bonding a human is forbidden.” Ian’s voice was hushed, awed.

We needed to move, there would be time enough to find out what this body could do later. I turned back to the trail and began to run up it but was stopped almost immediately at Ian’s yell.

“You need to stay off the trail, if anyone sees you...” He gestured at me, not needing to finish. “I’ll go ahead on the trail to where she caught his scent and give a howl for you to follow. Stay out of sight.” He looked me up and down and sighed, “If it’s even possible.”

The sound of his shift came to me as I left the beaten path and thanked the heavy snowfall. If I was lucky it would be able to cover my tracks so that nobody would realize what they were.

I paralleled the trail that Ian ran on but struggled to keep up. Even though I would likely be able to run far faster than anything else, I was much too large to go between most groupings of trees.

Going around them ate up a lot of time.

We were still moving far more quickly than was possible in our human forms. In less than three hours we had made it back to Troy’s trail. It had taken over a day and a half as humans to cover that same hike.

Ian’s howl reached me and I charged off in his direction, meeting up with him as he followed the scents of Troy and Kris. To my surprise I could smell it clearly as well; the scent was sharp, distinct, easily identifiable even after several days of rain and snow.

Night had long since settled around us as we continued to follow the trail. Even in the near whiteout conditions I was able to see clearly, making out every detail far into the distance.

Even still, Ian’s help was invaluable. I was too large now to be able to follow the scents directly as they wove over, under, around, and through spaces I couldn't fit in. Ian would pass through the obstacles quickly as I went around and caught up with him.

It was late in the night, closer to being early morning, before we came to the first sign. My heart sank. Kristen had caught up with Troy here... and they had fought. The scent of old blood led off in two directions, the more severe of them being Kristen’s.

Ian looked to me before charging off along her trail with renewed energy.

Hours later we came to the end of her trail, the morning light showing a small hollow near a stream, and found her barely clinging to life. Shifting quickly, Ian and I went to her side and examined the wounds, seeing her chest rising and falling as she breathed shallow breaths. She was still warm, the hollow had sheltered her from the worst of the storm and her fur was thick, but the loss of blood had taken its toll.

“This is bad.” Ian looked her over; the injuries were minor for the most part, but when all were added together it was dangerous. There was also a deep wound on her stomach that would prevent her from shifting back to her human form for quite some time.

Stretching out gut wounds was almost always fatal.

“We have to get her to the doctor,” I said. Her eye cracked open at the sound of my voice and she whimpered in pain. The naturally powerful healing of being a shifter had kept her alive, but wouldn’t be able to for much longer.

Placing a hand on her fur I turned to Ian. “I’ll shift. I need you to pick her up and get on me, I’ll run while you keep her warm and secure.”

Ian nodded slowly before sighing. He picked Kris up gently as I shifted. Laying down, I waited for Ian to get settled on me with Kristen pressed between his chest and my back.

I couldn’t even feel their combined weight as I stood. Testing the air I turned slowly, unsure as to the fastest route to take to get to a shifter doctor.

“That way,” Ian said, leaning forward and pointing off to my side.

Slowly at first, but quickly building speed, I tore off in the indicated direction. I still had to maneuver around obstacles but now that I wasn’t following a specific trail I was able to move much more quickly than before.

Ian clung to my fur while my sister clung to life.

And I clung to hope.

END OF BOOK TWO

Book three coming soon!

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For news about Book three and more, click here!

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S
onja Morelle is an avid reader who decided enough was enough and it was time to start contributing.

When her nose isn't buried in a book she's just as likely to be off on some adventure. Visiting jungles and deserts in South America, being snowed in during a Canadian winter, or visiting any of the iconic American cities. And, always, spending time with her wonderful daughter.

As adventurous with food as she is with travel, you will never see her shying away from trying something new. You are just as likely to find her with a glass of wine, mixed drink, or even a beer with the guys.

Always one to let her imagination run away with her, it is her greatest pleasure to be able to share some of that with you all!

Check out her blog,
http://sonjamorelle.blogspot.com/
, or email her at [email protected] if you just have some questions or want to chat!

-Sonja Morelle

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