“Do you care?”
“Yes,” she said. “Don’t ask me why. That I have no answer for, but the last thing I want is for either of you to end up dead.” She looked past his shoulder, and he cupped her cheek.
“I know what I’m doing. I’m not going to die.”
“Then take me with you. You’ve got nothing to lose here.” She covered her hand with his. “Please. I’m a good tracker.”
If they didn’t take her, she’d only follow them.
Damon sighed. “Fine. You will do as you’re told.”
“It’s all you do, tell.” She was in jeans and a shirt with a pair of boots. Ready to go hiking at a moment’s notice.
After she followed Damon out to the car, her father climbed out and shook his head. “Not happening. You go back inside.”
“No. I’m a grown woman.”
“I’m your alpha.”
“And I’m your daughter. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I’m sticking around, and that is final.” She climbed into the back of the car.
Her father and Damon were up front, and Henry lingered outside the car.
“I’ll call you when we’re on our way back. Go into town. I don’t want you to be alone. Help out where you can. Let them know where we are.”
Henry nodded. “Be careful.”
“Always am.” Damon closed the door.
Her father started up the car, and away they were on the journey. She sat back, aware of her father’s looks in the rearview mirror.
“You can stop being angry at me.”
“Holly, it was a nightmare that night. I didn’t even know if you had made it and now you’re going back with me.”
“I’m doing what I need to do. Both of you are going back. Someone needs to be watching your backs.” She breathed out a sigh of relief. Sitting back in the car, she glanced up at the ceiling.
She hated cars. They were a necessary evil, but she much preferred walking. There was nothing better than feeling the earth beneath her feet. Shoes were another problem for her as well.
Back home, she’d often be found wandering the streets with nothing on her feet. The kids used to always giggle about that fact. There was so much she missed about the love and comfort of home.
No one talked.
She watched Damon and her father in between staring out the window.
“How long have you been without a pack, son?” her father asked.
“I’m not your son. We’re the same age.”
“Ah, so you’re nearly seventy years old?”
Holly smiled.
“You’re seventy?” Damon asked.
“I’ve got good genes. Part of being a happily mated alpha and wolf, we age slowly. It’s another reason I avoid war and violence. Hurting others will guarantee bringing enemies to your front door. I’m a peaceful man. My pack values peace. We have no interest in all that other nasty business.”
“You do know that makes you rare, right?”
“I’m guessing you came from a violent pack. One where the alpha was challenged in a fight. Am I right?”
“Have you ever been challenged?” Damon asked.
“Several times.”
“And you’ve killed your competition? And here I thought you were a peaceful man.”
Her father chuckled. “You’re not a very trusting man, are you? I have fought. I said I don’t like to fight, not that I haven’t ever fought. I do not harm any of the men or women who have tried to take my place within the pack. Of course there has to be a fight. A challenge is handed out, and it must be met. What I don’t do is kill them or hurt them. I disarm them. There is more to fighting than the kill, and there is a lot of power in mercy.”
Damon snorted. “You’re going to die one day. You’re too forgiving.”
“This coming from a forty-year-old lonely wolf against a seventy-plus alpha of a large pack. I believe I’m the one with the experience here, son.”
She tried not to laugh, but it was so hard not to. Damon sounded so cocky and sure of himself. It wasn’t attractive, but knowing what she did, the packs he’d met before, they had hurt him deeply. The scars he carried were in mind and body. They consumed him and stopped him from trusting anyone else.
One day, she hoped he would be able to find the peace and love of a pack. Even if he didn’t accept hers.
They drove well into the night, stopping to fill the car with gas and to sleep. She knew they’d been running for a long time. The journey in total took three days. They were getting closer to the full moon, and her wolf was itching to get out. After everything that happened in a short space of time, her nerves were shot.
Her father finally pulled over onto the side of the road.
The forests that surrounded them was home. The smells were familiar. Where they once brought her comfort, now she only saw pain.
“Home is ten miles that way,” her dad said. “We need to go through the forest. We’ll be able to sense any other people close by. The wind is in our favor.”
Damon opened the car door, and Holly climbed out of the back, looking around. She closed the door quietly, feeling sickness swirling in the pit of her stomach. This wasn’t good.
In the back of her mind, the screams of that night lingered.
She recognized the tension in her father’s shoulders and immediately wanted to comfort him.
“Do you want to take the lead?” Damon asked.
If he sensed the discomfort, he didn’t allow it to show. She didn’t know if that made her happy or sad.
“Yes,” her dad said.
Damon reached for her hand, and she slid hers into his, following behind him.
She kept looking around, listening closely. She heard the rustling of the trees from the wind and felt it on her cheeks. Up ahead, she heard scurrying of bunnies as they sensed predators. In all the years she’d been turning a wolf, she had never eaten a bunny. The key to not eating any wildlife prior to turning was eating lots. Sating your wolf before a run, which made no sense, seeing as anyone who ate a large snack would feel sick. It worked for her wolf. She never wanted to eat rabbit. The very thought of it made her feel sick.
Every couple of feet, her father would stop, tilt his head back, and inhale deeply. He was being cautious with each step they took, and she couldn’t blame him.
They all froze when the old, disgusting scent of blood assailed them. She squeezed Damon’s hand as fear filled her.
Had they left this smell?
The human hunters?
“We’re close,” her father said.
As far as Holly was concerned, a little too close.
****
Holly struggled. Damon held her hand tightly as they moved through the line of the forest. He knew the place was dead and burnt even before they got there. Buildings were down, black, smoke-tinged wood on any structure that appeared to still be standing.
In the middle of the square, he saw the pile of dead bodies, also burned. Christopher gagged, covering his mouth with his hand, and Holly buried her head against his shoulder. He gripped the back of her neck, holding her close.
“I’ve got you,” he said.
“This is … they’re so cruel. Why did they do this?”
Damon looked around him at the carnage. This was worse than he expected. He envisioned a small town, abandoned, some broken windows as if it had been ransacked. Before him was an annihilation, which instantly made him tense up. This was more than a bunch of hunters in a random attack. His early assessment was right. Christopher’s pack was being watched long before they were taken out.