Chapter 53

I shrug, pretending to be confused, turn around—and something small suddenly jumps on me. I flinch with a confused growl, raising my guard in alarm, and only then notice a small wagging tail. It’s just Lily, Caleb’s five-year-old daughter, who is showing herself as a big and scary wolf and clearly wants to play more. She stretches out her front legs, looking at me with a playful glint, but I only huff and nudge her out of the way. I’d love to play with her, but only when the day is over.

I trudge out of the settlement without hurry, habitually breathing in the fragrance of the forest mixed with the smell of our pack. On every patch of land I pass, I catch a hint of Owen’s scent that’s the clearest in the mixture of all our scents. It’s on my fur as well—an alpha’s scent is the basis of the scent of a pack. It’s so natural to be surrounded by it now, and I can’t help but wonder.

How come I followed him despite everything that happened?

I left my family and my old life for Owen, the man who was at the beginning of the worst day of my life. But you know, I’d never actually held it against him. I wanted to leave my old pack, where everyone was still giving me wary glances even years after the curse had been tamed. I wanted to find a new place for myself.

My wolf spirit isn’t an alpha—not after the curse, at least. I’d never planned to start my own pack, but I knew Owen and his spirit. I knew he would guide me to the right place—and Owen did, without a hint of hesitance. He supported me even when I was cursed and didn’t know what to do with myself, so I’d never even thought about blaming him.

Maybe it’s time to take another look at the past and stop blaming all witches for the one that turned out to be a psycho? Maybe I have to let go and open my heart to Paula?

My mind is returning to the same old track, and I find my thoughts bouncing back and forth between Paula, Hailey, and my surroundings. I mindlessly follow the usual path, but it’s hard to find prey in a place where our scents are strong, so I dive deeper into the forest. I carefully crawl through the underbrush, until finally my nose catches the scent of a boar.

The wolf’s instincts immediately perk up, all conscious thoughts leaving my mind as I focus on the prey. This time I have to bring it to my family. There is a note of sickness in the boar’s scent, so it should be easy to hunt it down. I follow the trail and crawl through the forest until the boar is only a few feet away from me. I can hear it chewing and grunting, its dark fur slightly shifting in the shadows until it freezes. The boar looks around— and I jump forward.

With a panicked grunt, the boar sprints away. I run after it, weaving between trees, jumping over holes in the ground, and digging through thick bushes. I keep my eyes on it as I run—until my breath runs out first. Damn it. I’m sure it smelled of sickness. Why is it so hard to catch up? In the end, I have to give up and stop to catch my breath. Okay, that one is a failure, what…

My thoughts trail off as I look around and let out a confused rumble. Somehow, I’ve ended up at the bottom of a hollow I’ve never seen before. It’s rather pretty, with flowering bushes covering the slopes, but I don’t like being in unfamiliar places on my own. It makes me nervous, and I instinctively raise my head to catch a familiar scent—but the sweet odor of the red flowers is clogging my nose.

Shit. I don’t like it. I grunt to myself and look around, my wolf spirit strained with tension. Okay, so first I have to climb out of the hollow, and then I’ll figure out what to do. I huff to myself in an attempt to disperse my growing anxiousness and scan the slopes for a way out. But there’s nothing, even behind me is a wall of underbrush and bushes.

So I have to dig my way through the flowers. Well, it’s not the first time anyway.

I gather all the strength I have left after the race and dart up the slope, growling as the bright red pollen blurs my vision and enters my nose. I’m almost out of the hollow when a series of sneezes forces me to stop, shaking my whole body. What is this damn flower?

I pause to catch my breath and blink out of my daze when I finally feel it—the stinging sensation on my back. A wave of horror runs through me as soon as I realize where it comes from, and I turn around, trying to see the pale mark on my fur—but the pain bursts out, and my vision darkens as a scream tears out of my throat.