Sacrificed Soul

Chapter Twenty-Two

She grimaces at my sister, "Just drive."

Lenora snarls, "Don't tell me what to do. Leanne, come on. It's not safe, and I know you've found your place in the pecking order but that doesn't mean others aren't still thinking they can take you on!"

Corie huffs.

"I'll be fine," I repeat quiet and somber as I heed the tugging in my chest. I turn away from them, slinging over my back, "Do you really want to pup with no one there to help you?"I hear Corie's muffled growl and Lenora's gasp of surprise as I clamber down the steep trail on the embankment leading down to the river. The water rushes past me without a care in the world, the noise of the wild nearly masking the cars that snake past with wind buffeting at the leaves above them. There's a decent sized boulder sitting halfway through, and I can't find it in me to care about Lori's jeans as I wade in to claim it for myself.

When I reach it, though, the wild continues to call to me. I swim across, climbing the rocks, up and over the cliff that reaches well over my head. My arms strain, feet slipping though my hands hold strong. With the strength of my true form suffusing in my human muscles, I stand tall on my feet as I enter the deep darkness. The moon is new, and only after I've altered my eyes to that of a wolf am I able to quietly navigate the undergrowth.

The scent of pack is all over the place. It covers the trees and bushes, sparking a futile irritation within me. I ignore it because it's faded and there is no direct threat present out here. After my show of strength, I figure those who want to challenge me will wait for a more opportune moment than when my heat will muddy their senses.

After three hours of hiking and only about four miles away from my home, I finally sense him.

"Keith," I say, turning on my heel.

The second soul of my mate pauses. I'm sure he'd thought he was hidden well, keeping himself down wind of me, but the bond never lies. It's a pull that has lowered to my pussy the longer we stay a part from each other. My whole body tenses and pulsates at the same time as I see the shadow lying in wait.

He gives up on his pretense, climbing out from where he was hiding behind a bush and approaching me. He doesn't come in too close, able to sense my rioting emotions far better than any human would. However, it's the both of them that pauses when I speak again.

"Now is not the time," I tell him, "You need to go home."

It's not the wolf who responds, amber giving way to blue and fur receding into the skin as muscles stretch and cave in. I watch the change come over them, the human standing tall and uncaring of his nudity as the wolf accedes.

"I only just heard what happened," He says, rubbing the back of his head where his gently curling hair is longest, "And I couldn't stay away. Neither of us. We... I needed to make sure you were okay."

I see the wolf needling the human. There is a lot of inner communication between the two, more so than any wolf I've yet to meet. There is a cockiness to shifter predator's and their humans that isn't present within the prey of us. They think of themselves too much as a singular identity. I wonder again about what happened to him and the pack that had raised him, holding on to my silence. I've already made my demand, and I can't repeat it. Not when it's something I don't really mean.

Because here is my mate, standing only five feet away from me while I am ready to combust with need. I'm sweating again, and I shove my shaking hands into the pockets of y sister's jeans that have only just dried.

"Why weren't you there?" I ask instead, letting my curiosity climb. I hadn't realized until now that his scent was no where in the building. It would have driven me mad, I think, if he had been there and in any sort of trouble.