Chapter Twenty – The Hunt Begins
The forest was heavy with silence, the kind that draped over everything like a warning.
Caius crouched near a creek bed, inhaling deeply. There—faint, almost lost beneath the cold earth and moss—her. Eira’s scent. He hadn’t imagined it. His fingers dug into the soil.
“She was here,” he murmured.
Cass stepped up beside him, her expression guarded. “How long ago?”
“Two nights. Maybe three.”
She didn’t ask how he knew. She didn’t have to. The bond might’ve been fraying, but it wasn’t gone. Not yet.
“We should split up,” she said. “If they’re moving her through old pack territory, there’ll be traces they can’t hide. Camps. Burn pits. Routes only someone who’s lived these woods would know.”
Caius’s jaw clenched. “North. Toward the border towns. If they took her, it’s the only direction with enough distance and cover to vanish. And if we’re wrong—”
Cass nodded. “I’ll go west. The broken ridge trail still has old holding sites. If they’re hiding her, that’s where I’d start.”
He gave her a single look—sharp, silent—and then paused, his voice rough.
"I'll head north through the pine range and the cliff trails. There’s old territory up there—abandoned villages, places someone could hide her if they knew how to stay off the map. I’ll track anything that looks out of place. I’ll track any movement that veers in that direction."
Cass nodded. "I’ll move west and sweep back toward the pack lands. If they’re staying mobile, I might catch the tail end of a supply route or camp."
They briefly looked into each other's eyes, remnants of the bond they shared before Caius found his mate.
"We regroup at moonrise in two nights," Cass said. "Ravenstone Pass. If one of us doesn't show—"
"We don’t stop looking," Caius finished, his voice steel.
Then, with a last look, they turned and vanished into the trees.
Cass moved fast and quiet, her feet barely crunching against the undergrowth. She paused often, crouching low to feel the earth, to inhale the faintest traces of scent left behind. Eira’s presence lingered in whispers—bent grass, broken twigs, a scent that wasn’t just her own. It was buried beneath layers of pine, smoke, and something else—something unfamiliar.
Just when she thought she’d lost the trail entirely, she spotted it: a strip of pale blue fabric, snagged on the jagged edge of a thorn bush. Delicate. Torn.
Eira’s.
Cass pressed it to her nose, breathing in sharply. Still fresh. Still enough to follow.
She moved deeper into the woods, noting the remains of several old camps. Burn pits covered poorly with dirt. Stones still warm from recent use. At one, she found the remnants of dried meat, hastily wrapped and discarded. At another, a tuft of dark fur clung to the bark of a tree—unfamiliar, unclaimed.
The trail twisted west, cutting through the foothills where moss crept up jagged boulders and the air grew colder. Cass’s pace slowed. She found half-buried prints—three sets—two larger, one smaller. Someone was being escorted.
Or guarded.
By the second day, the trees thinned, revealing a valley below. She descended into it cautiously, her senses wide open. A small hunter’s rest stop stood at the bottom—a ring of cabins and a central firepit. Empty now, but the embers were still faintly warm.
Cass ducked inside one of the cabins. Scratched into the wood of the doorframe were initials—E.C.
She exhaled slowly. "Eira".
She wasn’t just being moved. She was being watched.
As dusk fell, Cass continued west toward the outer rim of Eira’s former territory, her body aching but her purpose sharpened.
She didn’t stop until the scent led her to the edge of a familiar road—the kind that led straight into pack-owned lands.
The Inn sat at the heart of the small village, smoke curling from its chimney, light spilling from its windows. Laughter drifted into the night air—wolves drinking, unaware they were being hunted.
Cass adjusted her hood and stepped through the door.
Heat and scent hit her like a wall—wet fur, ale, pinewood.
A few heads turned. Then quickly looked away. Lone wolves didn’t ask questions here.
She approached the bar, ordered nothing.
She was here to listen.
And watch.
Because someone here knew where Eira was.
And Cass planned to find out.
After a few long moments of quiet observation, she finally lifted her hand and flagged down the innkeeper—a grizzled wolf with a gray beard and sharp, narrow eyes.
"Something warm," she said, voice low. "And local."
The innkeeper poured a dark amber drink into a heavy mug and slid it to her without a word.
Cass took a slow sip, letting the heat settle in her chest. She glanced around the room again before leaning just slightly toward the bar. "I’ve been wandering awhile," she murmured. "Looking for a place to settle. Somewhere with work... somewhere quiet."
The innkeeper raised a brow. "You’re not from here."
"Doesn’t mean I couldn’t be useful."
He grunted, drying a glass with a rag. "We don’t get many strays looking to stick around. Pack folk like knowing who their neighbors are."
Cass smiled faintly. "Then I guess I better make a good impression."
She didn’t ask about Eira. Not yet. But already, pieces were shifting.
She was inside the pack’s walls now.
And sooner or later, someone would talk.
The innkeeper studied her for a long moment, then leaned his elbows on the counter.
"You thinking of staying here for real? Then you'd best know the lay of the land."
Cass gave a slight nod, her expression unreadable.
"The Alpha here—Elric—he doesn’t tolerate weakness. Runs this territory with a cold fist. Has for decades. His Luna’s no better. Nysa’s got eyes like a hawk and a tongue like a whip. She’s the one who really keeps order."
He poured himself a shot of the same dark liquor and downed it in one go.
"They had a daughter once. Eira. Wild thing. Disappeared months back. Rumor is she went rogue. Didn’t like what they were grooming her for. Some say she died. Others…" He shrugged, gaze narrowing on a knot in the wood bar. "Others say she’s been found again. That she’s back. But no one talks about it outright."
Cass tilted her head slightly. "And you believe that?"
The innkeeper smirked. "I believe in what I see. And lately? I’ve seen wolves passing through with eyes too sharp and mouths too quiet. Something’s brewing."
Cass nodded, absorbing the words. "Good to know."
He grunted. "Just keep your head down. And don’t ask the wrong questions."
Cass gave a thin smile. "Wouldn't dream of it."