Howls of the Lost | Now Published!

Chapter 19

Rolling my eyes, I snapped my jaws at her. She immediately jumped away from me and I followed her, herding her into the woods. Her back collided with a tree trunk and she sent me one final glare before shifting. Then she ran off into the night. When I turned, the awestruck faces of the packs caused the reality of the situation to finally sink in. The anger ebbed away and I realized that I had done it. I had faced Camilla and she was gone. The reason for all the animosity in my family had run away.

I had won.

Suppressing the urge to let out a victory howl, I walked back to Logan. He smiled. When we were in wolf form, we were the same size as the animals we looked like, so I had to jump in order to nudge his shoulder. He quirked an eyebrow at me before realization dawned on his face.

"You need clothes, don't you?" he asked. Whining, I nodded. He pulled his shirt over his head and swung it around my neck so I would have it when I shifted. "There you go, ma vie," he said.

As I passed by the large bay window that gave view of Logan's living room, I caught sight of my reflection. Unable to help myself, I winced. My snow-white coat was dotted with mud splotches as well as deep crimson stains. I didn't even want to look at my shoulder, so I forced myself to take the final step into the trees.

Once I was sure I was out of sight, I shifted. The changing of bones caused me to grit my teeth as my shoulder changed form, reopening the already semi-closed wound. Deciding I would deal with it later – seeing as how it may take a day and a half to fully heal – I pulled Logan's oversized t-shirt over my head. When I glanced down at my hands, I found that they were covered in mud. Sighing, I raised the hem of the shirt to wipe as much of the mud off of my hands and face as possible before walking back out to where the packs were assembled.The minute Logan saw me he was sprinting in my direction. Within seconds he had me in his arms, pulling me tight against his chest.

"You did amazing, Torian," he murmured in my ear. Grinning at him, I took a deep breath before turning to face the Pierce pack.

"Any of you that wish to return to Tennessee with Camilla are more than welcome too. None of you know me, and none of you have any obligation here. We are fighting an immensely powerful vampire and he isn't looking forward to losing. The battle may be long and drawn out, and though I hate to say it, deaths are certain." I allowed my eyes to sweep over the crowd. "There's no need to risk your lives here if you are not willing."

"We're here to protect the original Pierce bloodline. You're a part of that," a man somewhere on my left called.

"Yeah!" a female voice broke in. "We're here until the end!"

"Alright then. Let's all get some sleep. We'll start going over plans tomorrow,' I announced. Murmurs of agreement rippled through the crowd and Logan wasted little time in pulling me towards the house with him. Suddenly, a wave of exhaustion crashed over me.

"Tired?" Logan asked as Kenna and Nicholas moved in to divide the Pierce pack amongst the town.

Yawning, I nodded. "Answer your question?" I muttered as my family and our packs entered the house behind us.

"C'mon then," he said as he began to tow me down the hall to 'our' room.

"Rin!" Jacob called, stopping us in our tracks. "Where are you going?"

"To bed," I told him.

He jogged down the hall until he was right in front of me. "With him?" he asked incredulously, his eyes flicking to Logan.

"Jake, I may be your little sister but I'm not a kid anymore," I said, rolling my eyes at him.

"Don't try anything or I'll rip your throat out," Jacob threatened Logan. His voice was light and playful, but his eyes said he meant every word.