Salt to Her Sea ✔️

29. running west

THADAL

Three days of running was all it took to reach Sapher, Montana. The small town had always held rumors of crooked cops and prejudice. It was the main reason why most packs steered clear of any human interference. Human fingers held triggers with too much insanity, too much eagerness to spill blood.

We stayed to the back side of the pack that was pressed up against the lake. It was a beautiful area, sort of arid, with sparse foliage and lots of dust. It reminded me of the South, where my mother was born. Where my mother met the Moon.

We slowed to a lope as we approached the border. Akesis whined softly through her nose, nudging my flank. The smell of smoke was still in the air, lingering as if it clung to the branches of the trees and the dirt on the ground. It coated the land in its dangerous scent. Guilt continued to press between my shoulder blades. The price of Akesis's rescue continued to grow, it was worth it, but that didn't make the debt any easier.

We stopped a few feet from the line. Not a beat later, the young Alpha stepped from between the trees as if he had known we were coming all along. He had on a pair of ripped denim shorts and nothing else. There were the darkest of circles beneath his yellow eyes, so dark they looked like bruises. He didn't smell much like a totum lupus, instead, he smelled like soap. As if he had spent hours at the faucet, scrubbing his skin raw. Two wolves flanked him, a female and a male.

I shifted back to my skin in a fluid motion, standing tall and proud on two legs. He lifted his chin as if to acknowledge my identity, though I knew he already knew that. He still had much to grow, much to learn. I realized that I had put more weight on his shoulders than I had on mine. I felt increasingly worse, knowing I destroyed his puphood. I destroyed his chances of learning from his parents, of living, of everything he knew.

"Alpha Thadal Kherrs," he spoke as if he had been an Alpha forever; strong and courteous.

"I do not know your name," I responded with my chin held high. I kept an eye on the wolves to his back, they looked equally as ragged. I shifted the blades of my shoulders, willing the pain to just go away.

"Kale Beck," his answer was firm, proud. He held his name with two hands clenched tight. There was an unwillingness to bend, it was clear in the way he held himself. This may have been his lowest point, but not even that would bend his neck.

"Alpha Kale Beck," I didn't step any closer and neither did he. This was his land and I would never intrude on that boundary again. He didn't have to ask, his mere presence offered enough to allow him the space. Just as I had always made sure mine had.

His tired, sad eyes looked over to Akesis who stood beside me, still in her fur. "Is this the mate you were trying to find? The one that was stolen."

I nodded, placing a hand on her ruff tenderly as I looked down at her. "It is. She was taken and used by Romanov, he owned some labs in the East." My eyes moved back to him. "They were planning to take over packs in the Americas but we took them down together. It has been a hard journey, but we made it."

Kale's eyes moved back to me, "I'm happy for you." His words were sincere, but there was a sadness to his eyes that showed that even though I had gotten what I wanted, everything had been taken from him.

"Thank you," I removed my hand from Akesis's neck to step forward, toeing the edge of his territory. "I have come to make amends with you and your pack. I lost myself when she was taken. I did things I would have never planned to do and for that, I am sorry."

A beat of silence passed by with Kale looking into my eyes and me looking into his. He fidgeted under my gaze, but only slightly, it was impressive. He stepped up, stopping only a foot from me. His chin was high, he was not scared. "Thank you, but we do not need your help."