Sacrificed Soul

Chapter Four

In her current state, there was no way she could be considered stealthy. Her feet crashed through the underbrush, holding hard to Tyler's right arm that she had tucked herself around. 

He wasn't much quieter, having to keep her wobbly, unsteady legs from failing her every few feet. She was breathing hard with the effort to keep moving, and she could hardly recognize the territory they stumbled through, let alone what direction they headed. Everything was a blur of greens turned silver by the moon and oppressive shadows that hid malevolent secrets.

It certainly wasn't towards her car.

She hoped so, at least.

They'd been walking for at least thirty minutes.

Maybe they were taking the long way.

Maybe... Was there a long way?

Her internal clock wasn't the best in town.

She snorted, despair filling her in the wake of happiness. She wasn't the best in town, either. Grades didn't mean a damn thing. School was only useful for the diploma, and even then most trade schools hardly required them anymore. Especially for shifters, mostly if they were dominant, and only if they even had a second soul. It was even worse so since being a dud hardly ever occurred, there were so few case studies.

She knew. She'd looked it up.

There were no forums or social media accounts she could find of people who suffered like she did. Or, like her, maybe they just didn't want to advertise it to the world. She knew she should be thankful to be a dud, but like most other times, couldn't find it within herself to feel even a little bit of gratitude.

How else would she have been accepted into a human school?

Her dad always spouted bullshit, too. How do packs utilize duds when they usually don't have one?

It made her head hurt.

It made her heart—

"Hey," Tyler said, jerking his arm out of her grip and grabbing her shoulders instead, bringing them to a halt. He awkwardly wiped away the tears that had fallen with the tips of his fingers, "Have a seat for a minute."

The ground was blissful, and she couldn't be bothered to gently lower herself. Crumbling into a heap, and with the lack of another person next to her, she instead wrapped her arms around the baby tree she was thankfully next to.

He cursed, the sound muffled and too far above her head for her to have heard it properly. Her eyes had closed.

She was so tired.

And horny.

Why was she so horny all of a sudden?

Oh.

Tyler was with her.

She scented the air.

Didn't matter that she couldn't perceive the pheromones like a second soul could, she could still smell his familiar scent. She could feel the wolf he tried to keep contained, and it was excited.

Riled.

She could almost taste the wildness of him as she inhaled.

They could probably smell her interest in them.

She liked that.

Her cheeks blushed.

Gods he was so hot.

She'd liked him for so long.

"Really?"

She only managed to crack open one lid. He was kneeling in front of her, but her vision was blurry.