The Alpha's Daughter: Book 2

Ch 31: Group Bonding

"All I feel is guilt," my leg bounces with nerves. "I feel like it's all my fault she's gone. I'm her big brother. Where was I when she needed me?"

"Everest. Look at me," Scarlett demands. I slowly raise my eyes to meet hers. They're filled with fire. "It. Is. Not. Your. Fault. It's nobody's except Harley's. No one knew this would happen."

My eyes fall to the ground again. Somehow, her small speech has lightened my heart. I don't feel as heavy with guilt. My shoe scuffs up a mound of dirt when I suddenly hear a loud snap in the distance. My head jumps to attention in the direction of the sound. Everyone else has noticed too. I pull off my clothes quickly to shift. I barely kick off my shoes when my bones start to crack and dislocate. I notice Scarlett was preparing to shift too. I tell her that I will handle it. She huffs but waits.

In wolf form, I creep along the ground. The daylight has given me the advantage due to my caramelly coat; I would've stuck out a lot more in the night. The forest seems still, almost too still. I know they're someone else around when I don't hear any animal sounds. I hear a growl about twenty feet to the left of me so I whip around. I come face to face with three large wolves. A female of silver color, and two males, both off white.

I take a step back, feeling something brush against my tail. Another female, dark brown, much larger than all of the others. I start to growl, mind-linking my friends for help. Not even a second later, I hear my friends rushing through the branches. Except, the only wolves to arrive is Axel and a mocha colored wolf. Valencia.

"You need to leave," a male speaks up. I snap at him.

"We don't need to go anywhere."

"This is our land. You are trespassing," the large female snarls harshly. Valencia growls back.

"We're just resting for the day. We will be out by night fall," Axel explains calmly. The first male barks.

"Enough talk. Let's fight this out!"

"Relax, Hunter. We can easily take them," the silver she-wolf whispers loudly. The white wolf named Hunter lowers his head in obedience. The other white wolf snarls lowly.

"Then we should kill them while  we have the chance," he mutters. She shakes her head.

"Garth! That's quite enough out of you," the large she-wolf booms. He stands down, whimpering. She turns back to us. "Can you show us where you're staying?"

"Absolutely not. What if you try and kill us?" Axel shoves me out of the way to come face to face with her.

"Show us or you'll regret it," she says through clenched teeth. Axel shakes his head and growls, turning around and starts to walk in the direction of camp. She gestures with her head for Hunter, Garth and the unnamed she-wolf to follow. With their heads hung low, they comply.

I speed up to walk next to Valencia. I mind-link her and tell her to stay out of any fights that might occur. She refuses. I prepare to mind-link her again but we reach the camp before I can. Scarlett and our stuff is nowhere to be seen. Neither Valencia nor Axel seem to notice or care about her mysterious absence. He struts over to our now smoking fire pit. The hares and fire is gone.

"Home sweet home," he says sarcastically.  The large she-wolf starts to sniff around the fire and the logs. Suddenly, in wolf form, Scarlett pounces out from one of the hollowed out logs and latches onto her neck. The wolf cries out in shock and pain as Scarlett hangs from her jaws. Hunter and Garth spring into action to attack Scarlett.

Garth's teeth grip onto her tail. Scarlett yelps but her teeth do not budge from her neck. I can see blood. Hunter starts to circle Scarlett, Garth and the she-wolf, ready to attack. I leap into action and manage to scratch his snout. He growls at me and lunges for an attack. I jump to the side as he manages to barely miss. I flip back around and bite his ear. I feel a gush of blood as I rip the tip off. He howls in pain and falls to the ground. My eyes scan my surroundings, looking for Val.