The Alpha's Oracle (SAMPLE, IronMoon #1)

Flesh

Running through the woods at Gabel's side, the pack around us, the Bond between us singing with glee and joy, the scent of the hunt and wolves and earth all about, was exactly as things should be.

Except that it was all wrong.

All I had to do was think about Gabel's lips brushing Platinum's hand and him declaring to Alpha Anders "perhaps" and it cut through the Bond's version of the truth.

The Bond wanted to believe. It was lungs that wanted to breathe, a heart that wanted to beat, a stomach that was starving or a throat that was desperate for water. I was the castaway driven to drink saltwater.

Gabel was a large wolf with shaggy, rough-looking fur the color of charred iron. His bones were large and there a raw ugliness to his wolf form. It seemed like his skin was stretched a little too tight over his large frame. His fangs were large, but instead of gleaming white, were tinged yellow, and his claws tore up huge clods of dirt as we moved. He reminded me of the stories of the Skeletal Hounds that guarded the gates of hell. When summoned by the Moon to take away a damned soul, they'd descend upon the soul in full cry, and harry it to its punishment.

We ran through the woods in silence. There were no howls yet. No point in alerting the RedWater to our arrival. They weren't expecting us.

The southern perimeter was rocky forest, where the ground was uneven and punctured with rocks, and covered with a thick carpet of rotting leaves. The pack slowed, and Gabel directed one of the scouting wolves to go find us a path.

The wind blew the scent of wolves towards my snout. I lifted my muzzle and sniffed deep. Many male wolves, but it was hard to tell much more than that. They were still a mile or so away.

Gabel moved over to a tree to sniff it, then pushed his snout into the ground cover to sniff. To my left, Beta Hix waited with his group of warriors. He met my gaze, and his amber eyes drifted to Gabel, then back towards the wind's direction. He was a large wolf in shades of tawny earth and smoky grey, and had large ears set forward on his head that flopped forward when not perked.

It would have been cute, except it was Beta Hix, and nothing about Hix was cute.

His back leg was missing a large patch of fur. It must have been silver-acid that had caused his scars. He also had a few patches of missing fur on his shoulder and spine.

We waited until the scout returned.

"Come," Gabel told us after confering with the scout. He nodded to Hix. We'd sweep around behind the RedWater, and drive them back to Hix and his team.

"Lady Gianna should stay here," Hix stated as Gabel moved off after the scout.

"She is coming with me. Her place is at my side." Gabel informed Hix.

Hix slicked his ears back and his tail lowered, and his spine stiffened. "She is not a warrior. She has no business being in the front assault group. She should remain here under protection."

Gabel's displeasure with Hix was both scent and sensation for me. He growled at Hix. "She is coming with me, Beta. Her place is at my side!"

It hadn't been for meeting Alpha Anders, but it was for an assault on another pack. I would have thought Gabel was trying to get me killed, but I didn't honestly believe he'd be that cowardly or give up on the Bond that quickly. It really didn't seem like what his goal was.

Gabel growled at the scout, then bounded off after his retreating tail.

I darted after him.