Beast Pack

Chapter 2

Ugh…my head…I tried to open my eyes, but they felt heavy. I could taste blood on my lip. I finally managed to pry my eyes open. I blinked in the bright light. It was past dawn. When I looked at my watch, it read 8:30 A.M.

Memories of last night rushed back to me, and I gasped, shooting up. My head pounded, arguing with the sudden movement. When I could see straight again, I looked around, wondering where I was. I was no longer in the woods; I seemed to be in some sort of crevice in a rock. A crack in the mountainside.

My head hurt terribly; when I reached back to feel it, I felt a large bump and a lot of dried blood. My back ached painfully, and I was covered with bruises and scrapes from rolling on the forest floor.

My thoughts were starting to come together. If I am here and not there, I thought to myself, one of those…things…must have brought me here. Which one, though? They looked like they were fighting.

I heard the sound of footsteps and looked into the entrance of the crevice. My heart was starting to pound again. To my surprise, it was not the silver-haired man who appeared.

It was the other that had protected me. As I looked at his face, I saw that he was very dark in his appearance. He had black hair and black eyes. Like a wolf, his eyes seemed to be outlined in a smokey black. His face was angular, and his mouth was wickedly curved. He was dressed entirely in black. His appearance, although stunningly beautiful, was frightening and fierce.

He didn’t look feral when he saw me. “Oh, you’re awake.” He came closer. I scooted away. He stopped, and his expression softened a bit. Just a bit. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

When he stepped closer, I couldn’t move away. I was trapped in the corner of the crevice. He knelt down and reached out towards me. I flinched, cringing away from him. He let his hand drop.

“You don’t have to be afraid of me,” he said. “Who are you?”

XX

The poor girl was terrified of him. He could see that she was shaking and hear her heart beating frantically in her chest. Tao waited for her to answer his question, but she did not. He felt a bit of irritation at that; his wolf was not used to being ignored. He did what he normally didn’t do and supressed his instincts.

She’s probably too scared, He thought. Scared speechless… He stood up and left the crevice. She couldn’t go anywhere without a splitting headache; besides, he was fast enough to catch her if she tried. Put a wolf against an injured human in a footrace and see who wins. Duh.

Last night had been insane. He had not expected to see Luhan or have to fight him. Luhan… I will keep you safe just this once. I won’t tell the alpha I saw you. Tao briefly wondered why Luhan had been chasing the girl, anyway.

Tao approached the den, which was the place where him and his pack lived. The alpha, a powerful wolf named Kris, looked up. “Where have you been?” Kris asked.

The alpha was harsh-looking in his appearance, with black and red hair and eyes that never lost their tint of red. He had become even more like a monster over the three hundred years. Ever since his mate had died, the alpha was never the same and steadily grew worse. Those reddish-black eyes narrowed at Tao’s clothes. “That is not your blood. That is not the blood of a wolf.”

“I was hunting, alpha,” Tao said, not meeting Kris’ eyes.

“That is human blood. What happened?” Kris asked.

Tao bared his throat. “A human was wandering in the woods last night while I was patrolling. I have taken care of her and made sure that there were no stragglers.” I’m not lying.