The Clear Choice

{ Chapter 35 }

Tobias's POV

"Take a break, Tobias, all we have to do is wait. We have all our fighters in position and humans and children in the bunker." Luke said, his green-blue eyes staring at me with concern. His wife Silvia, the Lacus pack Luna, was standing behind him with arms crossed.

My eyes flickered to the other pack Alpha, Amar. His muscular arms were tense as he leaned against the office window and out into the inky sky outside. His golden eyes moved to look at me with the same concerned look as Luke and I sighed. "Alright." I breathed out. "Just keep your mind links open and don't-"

"Tobias." Luke spoke again, his voice stern. The dim lamps in the office reflected off everyone eerily, shadows casted all around our tense forms. Luke's fatherly instincts were rubbing off on me and I didn't like it. I had a father. Even if he was mentally unstable and almost always no where to be found.

"See you in the morning." I muttered and spun around, walking to the door. I looked towards the couch where Amar's son, the Beta of the Patet pack, was lounging. He was built tall and muscular like his father but had the fragile and exotic look of his mother. I didn't know his name but he was the same age as me and I couldn't help but relate to him.

As soon as I closed the office door behind me I let out a long breath, puffing out my cheeks and combing my fingers through my hair. I began to walk down the empty, dark hall; thinking about everything.

My father had contacted me saying Issac and Clary were safe in a cottage on the other side of the mountain. I felt relieved at the news, but nothing could calm my racing nerves. Every thought I had centered around the up coming war and I couldn't concentrate.

Rushing through the maze of hallways my skin inched with warmth and my teeth ached because of my fangs coming out. My breathing was heavy and I finally bursted through the back door, instantly leaping forward and shifting.

My lack of sleep and constant anxiety was building up and I desperately needed a run. The stars above me swam in the dark blue sky and the pine trees ahead reached up towards them, familiar and calming. My brown fur whipped straight to my body as I ran through the woods, breathing in the smells and leaping off fallen trees.

I caught many unfamiliar scents from the other packs. Ones that smelled of lake water and sand, the Lacus pack, and ones that smelled of dry grass and sunlight, the Patet pack. I was almost at the border, about to turn around, when my nose twitched with an entirely new scent. It was everywhere and it was hypnotizing.

My Wolf stopped dead in his tracks and stared forward, taking huge lung-fulls of the intoxicating smell. The scent was like fresh rain and honey, and something unfamiliar. It was close and I couldn't stop myself when I began to take steps forward. Darkness surrounded me but my vision was sharpened by determination.

Suddenly, like a ghost out of the mist, a blur of movement caught my eye. In the midst of the black forest my eyes zeroed in on a pale girl standing halfway out from behind a tree. She was beautiful and she was staring at me.

Her scent was the one I was following, but it held a hint of something dangerous. Something I always smelled on Clary.

She was from the Purum pack, my mind screamed at me.

My body froze up as I tried to take in everything about her. Her white-blonde hair was chopped to her shoulders and her eyes were such a dark brown, they were almost black. The girls skin was pale and porcelain like Clary's had been when she lived in the mountains. She was as beautiful looking as she was dangerous and I had no clue what to do.

My Wolf was pushing me towards her but I kept my paws dug into the dirt, not moving. We were staring each other down, unable to take action. A whimper built up in my chest, my Wolf pleading with me to go to her, and I began to back away. I didn't trust myself and fear ran through my every nerve.