Jackson POV
The forest was thick. Enormous dark green trees covered the sky only letting in slivers of light. The thick brown bodies of the trees took up almost every inch of the forest floor, making it difficult to run as a group. The ground was littered with sharp pine needles and broken branches that cut into the pads of my paws, sending sharp pain up my legs.
I was running on pure adrenaline, only seeing those damn trees in front of me as I dodged them with ease and bolted past them. My body ached and every breath I took burned throughout my lungs like they were on fire. The only thing that kept me moving through my exhaustion was the feeling of Casey gripping my fur. Her whole body was flush with mine, her head buried in the fur of my neck. I could hear her quick breathing keeping in time with mine. I had to get this kid to safety.
I dodged another tree and launched myself over a broken stump, hearing Casey scream and shift as we landed hard on the ground. She repositioned herself quickly and grabbed onto me harder. She was a trooper, she was scared and I knew it, but she held tight.
I was looking for anything that would provide us with protection, preferably a cave or possible a body of water. The hunters scent was gone and we hadn't seen anymore arrows, but I refused to stop until I knew we wouldn't be left out in the open as easy targets.
I could hear the rest of the pack behind me, the thunderous sounds of their paws beating the ground filled my ears. To my right, Trent kept pace with me, darting his head around every few seconds, probably looking for a safe place just as I was. He had a small boy, younger than Casey, riding on his back with his arms secured around Trent's wide neck.
To my right was Brinley. She too had a small boy on her back, probably around five years old. His whole body was almost completely covered by Brinley's fur, but I could slightly see his tear stained face. Even though I could see his fear, he had a tight grip to Brinley and kept himself safe. The children in this pack were so much stronger than the adults.
While watching the little boy, something over Brinley's head caught my attention. A group of large rocks. I took a second to evaluate them. The large gray boulders seemed to be taller than myself when in human form. There were at least five of them positioned into a semicircle. Right behind them stood a group of large trees, providing the rocks some shelter.
I decided that's where we needed to be. I turned my body quickly and cut Brinley off, causing her to skid to a stop before regaining herself and continue running. I didn't even feel bad, the only thing I felt was relief because I needed a damn break.
I was running so hard that I was a good ten feet in front of everyone else. Once I came up on the rocky structure I ran around it to get a good idea of how it was set up. The boulders were definitely taller than I was, there were six of them situated in a circle. Smaller rocks, about half the size of the taller ones, lined the large trees next to it. In the middle of the set up was a small fire pit full of ash and partially burnt wood. Someone had been there before, but whoever it was, was long gone. The only scent that filled the air was ours.
Satisfied, I stopped moving and lowered my body to the ground so that Casey could climb off.
"I grabbed your bag before I climbed up, I figured you were gonna forget it," Casey said with a shaky voice.
She was right, I had completely forgotten about my small bag that held a dirty pair of black sweat pants and a slightly torn, extremely dirty white t-shirt. Sure enough, Casey had it tucked under her arm. I knew there was a reason why she was my favorite.
Casey sat the bag down on the ground in front of me, "You change and I'll get some wood." I huffed towards her not liking the idea of her going into the woods alone. "Oh hush, I won't go in more than a few feet," she scoffed at me.
I gave her a short nod and then watched her walk into the tree line. I shifted quickly and grabbed my bag, pulling out the clothes and dressing within a minute. Once my body was clothed I took a deep breath and slumped down to the ground. I had wasted all my energy and my body rejected my own weight. I leaned my head against the rock behind me and closed my eyes.
I could hear the rest of the pack when they joined me, but I kept my eyes shut. Slowly the silence drifted in a low rumble of quiet whispering as everyone shifted back to their human forms and began to dress. I could hear the older women talking to the children, making sure that they were alright, I could hear the men dividing up watch schedules and hunting trips for the night. I knew the second Casey came back because she dropped the wood into the pit behind me.
"Good thing I have a lighter huh," Casey said, slightly nudging my leg with her foot.
I cracked my eyes open and looked up at the small girl. Her face was covered in dirt and her hair was a mess of knots under my ball cap, but her eyes shown bright with amusement. The situation was hard on everyone, but looking at her you wouldn't know it. "I'd be lost without you Case," I joked.
"Duh," she laughed.
As I watched her walk away I couldn't help but wonder if I could talk her into coming to my pack. All she had was her sixteen year old sister. Her parents were killed in the first hunter attack. As far as I knew, her sister hadn't found her mate within the pack, so there was really nothing that should be holding them here. Their pack was so messed up that I doubted they could provide the girls with the care they needed. I didn't want Casey to grow up having to take care of herself because her pack didn't care.
I closed my eyes again and prayed for sleep. I had no clue what our next move would be next or where the hell we were going to go. The situation had gone from bad to worse. I was pretty certain that there was nothing more that my dad and I could do. We just needed to go home.
I was on the edge of sleep when I heard my sister speaking. "You did what?" She shrieked
"Brinley, keep your damn voice down," Trent growled.
"No!" She yelled causing my eyes to shoot open. Trent and Brinley stood a few feet into the trees in front of me. "We have to tell my dad or Jackson."
"I don't know," Trent sighed, rubbing his large hand over his face.
I continued to watch them as they stood silently staring each other down. Brinley's body was rigid and her face displayed her anger. Trent looked defeated, like a guilty criminal. That was all it took to wake me up.
I pushed myself off the rock and made my way over to them. The second they saw me Trent's head dropped and Brinley's eyes widened. My stomach turned, I had a gut feeling that I didn't want to know what they were hiding.
"What?" I asked once I was right next to them, "What are you hiding?" I looked over to my sister and noticed that she was still naked. I pulled my shirt off and passed it to her before giving my full attention to Trent.
"I think I know why they keep finding us," he sighed, "and we don't have a mole, well not one that realized what was happening."
"What do you mean?" I asked carefully, keeping my anger in check.
"My parents aren't dead, the hunters took them."
"Are you fuc. . . What the hell. . . Damn it!" Was all I could muster to get out. My brain was moving faster than my mouth could. I wanted to call him every bad name I could think of and then kick his ass.
"Calm down Jackson," Brinley scolded.
"Why did you lie to me?" I shot back at her.
"I didn't even know until now!" she yelled. "He lied to me too!"
I turned back to Trent, "You have one minute to explain what the hell is going on before I kill you."
"When we were attacked, they took my parents. I thought they were dead because they blew up their house. Two days later I was attacked by the Hunters while I was sifting through the ashes, they hit me over the head with something and I blacked out. When I woke up I was strapped down to a metal table with four of them standing over me." Trent paused a second to look over at Brinley. I followed his gaze to see her crying, she actually thought she had become a Luna and I was sure this story was devastating her.
"Keep going," I urged Trent.
"Long story short, they told me they wouldn't kill my parents if I brought you back to our territory and handed you over. After I agreed, they knocked me back out."
"You son of a bitch!" Brinley yelled. She walked right up to him, her head just barley passing his chin, and punched his left cheek. "You were going to hand over my family?" she yelled, giving his chest a forceful shove.
I grabbed Brinley's arm and pulled her back to me, placing her body behind mine. "Why did they want me?" I asked, getting back to the conversation that needed to be had, "I want the full story." I figured Brinley could handle her mate's betrayal when I knew everything necessary to protect myself.
"They don't want you, they want Sadie. They think that her blood has some sort of significance. They think that if they inject her blood into them it will make them stronger, since she is the only half wolf half hunter ever."
"They told you all this?" I asked infuriated. "and you didn't think to tell me the second you saw me with her?"
"I couldn't!" He yelled, no longer looking like a scolded puppy. His anger was beginning to peak but it was pathetic. "They told me that once they had killed you they would release my parents! I had no choice!"
"Why do they want to kill my brother," Brinley spat towards her mate, not even making a move to leave my side.
"They think if they get rid of everyone tying Sadie to the pack that she will come to them willingly."
"So you've been feeding those bastards our location this whole time?" I roared.
"No! The only thing they told me to do was bring you to my pack." Trent was no longer angry. He had no right to be. Yeah his parents were taken, but he was technically killing off his whole pack trying to keep them alive.
"So how are they finding us?" I asked, putting all of my future Beta power into my words. Trent wasn't an Alpha, and by betraying his pack he lost the chance of ever being an Alpha. That power was giving by the magic that was used to create us. Usually it was passed down through the same family, moving on to the first born son, but it wasn't law. The person receiving the title had to be worthy of the position, and he had just proved that he wasn't.
"I think I have a device under my skin," Trent said quietly, holding his right forearm out towards me.
I looked down at his arm and saw exactly what he was talking about. There was a slight buldge in the middle of his forearm. I ran my finger over it to find it hard and I was unable to push it down.
"Get it out," he said, handing me a small pocket knife with is other hand.
"I'm going to find dad," Brinley said, keeping her eyes on the ground.
Trent and I watched her walk away until her body vanished behind the wall of rocks. "You know that she can never be a Luna now, because you will never be an Alpha, you know you took that from her right?" I asked, still looking in her direction.
"Yeah, I know," Trent sighed.
I turned back towards him and grabbed the knife, "This may hurt, in fact I hope it does," I said before jabbing the knife into his skin and listening to him yell out in pain.
Once I had his skin open, I could see the small black device, but before I could grab it his skin healed over. I cursed under my breath at my stupidity. I should have moved quicker but my mind momentarily forgot about our healing abilities.
I didn't warn Trent before cutting his skin again. Before his skin could heal over, I jabbed the tip of the knife under the device and wedged it up with force. The small thing popped out at the same time Trent yelled out and hit the ground. It turned out that the hunters stitched the thing into his muscle. I couldn't feel bad for him though.
I reached down and snatched up the device, turning it over my hands. It was definitely a tracking unit, complete with a little red blinking light, just like in the movies.
Shaking my head, I threw the thing down in front of Trent, "Get rid of it," I ordered. "When you get back, if your pack doesn't kill you, we're going back."
"Back?" Trent asked looking up at me. I almost cringed at the sight of him. He wasn't the same man who began to falsely lead his pack, no he was nothing now. He looked weak, sounded weak, and acted weak. He completely lost who he was by admitting his betrayal and it was difficult to look at.
"I'm going home and taking the pack with me. I'm going to protect my mate and get your parents back."
"That's going to take a while."
I shrugged my shoulders at him and turned away. I knew it would take some time to get back, most likely a few weeks or so, but I had to get home. Sadie was in danger and I need to be there for her, I should have never left.
"We leave in the morning," I announced to the pack, "We're going back to Virginia."