Chapter 14 – Caden

The cry of a male echoing through the night causes my steps to falter. I have never heard such a blood curdling scream before and the only thing I can think of is that this male most likely messed with the wrong she-wolf. Amelia chuckles, her eyes holding a hint of blood thirsty-ness to it and I roll my eyes at her.

"Seems like some one is fighting a she-wolf and lost." She states, continuing forward. We come to the riverside once more and keep walking in silence with only the sound of the river sounding beside us. We kept talking to a minimum, not wanting to attract any attention to us in case others come to investigate that scream.

“I have a feeling we are getting closer to where that scream came from.” I point out, Amelia nodding in response.

“I agree. Which means there is another she-wolf in the are.” She sighs out. Looking at her from the corner of my eye, I see a hint of sadness in her face. I worry for her even if we have only known each other for a short time. She reminds me of my sister.

“Are you okay Amelia?” I ask, taking hold of her hand and pulling her to a stop. She looks away, hiding her face from me, but I notice the tears slipping past her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. Gently, I wipe them away and pull her in for a hug.

"I'm scared.” She whimpers out, her hands fisting in my shirt as she trembles slightly in my arms. Pain and fear radiates off of her and I now understand that she has been putting up a brave front. This poor girl.

"I just want to go home to my Bryden." She states with a quiver to her voice. We stand in silence as I let Amelia cry into my chest. It must be hard, being separated by the person she loves not knowing if he will live or die while she is trapped here at The Run. Her tears start to slow after a few minutes and her shaky breath begin to even out. With a smile, I pull away from her and wipe away her tears.

“Better?” I ask, getting a not from her as she sniffles.

“Good, lets get moving and find Grace and help her win this bet between your father and her.” I add cheerfully, poking her nose and getting a giggle out of Amelia.

“Thanks Caden.” She whispers out, smiling brightly at me.

“For what?” Confused, I look at her trying to see what Amelia is thinking.

“For not taking advantage of me and for being a friend.” She answers. I smile, pulling her in for another hug and reassure Amelia that as soon as we get done with The Run, I will form an alliance treaty with her before we continue our journey of finding Grace. The forest is still so quiet, but I keep my senses alert just in case something or some one pops out of the bushes.

“Do you think the Fae are around here?” Amelia asks and I shake my head.

“No. They prefer the middle of the forest. It’s easier to trap wolves there with them.” I answer quietly. Amelia nods before going back to sniffing the air every so steps. She knows Grace’s scent by heart and is our best chance at finding her Beta. Our walk brings us closer to a willow tree just a couple of feet away, one that has a rope ladder swinging with the branches in the breeze.

“I can smell her!” Amelia exclaims in delights, her eyes widening as she makes a beeline for the willow tree. I chase after her, worried that the noise will attract the males in the area. Mint and lavender fill my nose and I sigh. She smells delicious.

"She's not here but it looks like she spent the night. We might have missed her by an hour, maybe two." Amelia exclaims loudly, pulling me from my thoughts. I think back to what my pack mates told me and nod, the time frame matching up. If the fledgling they saw Grace fighting attacked her around her, then we should soon see signs of a fight.

“Do you know which direction she might have head?” I ask, getting a grin as a response.

“She is making her way to the outer borders. If we keep walking up river, we might be able to spot her soon.”

“Then lets keep walking.” I smile out, letting Amelia lead the way. She had her nose in the air once again, scenting for Grace but even I can smell the mint and lavender growing stronger with each step we take. I notice the signs of battle, pointing out a few broken branches and the scent of a vampire nearby and Amelia confirms that Grace did in fact fight a fledgling. I can tell that with each claw mark we see on a tree that Amelia grows increasingly worried.

“Do you think she got injured?” She asks, her voice quiet as we step over a log. I go to answer her, only to spot the un-moving body over her shoulder not to far from where we stand and I chuckle, looking at Amelia and giving her a smile.

“I think she is fine and that the won the fight.” I reassure her, pointing to the dead fledgling. She smiles, looking at the body and letting out a sigh.

“Grace should have been an Alpha. She is too strong to stay as a Beta.” Her voice is low, almost inaudible, but the feeling of pride coming from Amelia is one I cannot miss. If Grace is so strong that she can take on a fledgling and win then I wonder just how much stronger she will become in the future with continuous training. We follow her scent, the path leading us away from the river and through the forest where more remnants of fighting can be seen. I am shocked by the sheer destructive power of a fledgling and excited to see the woman that killed one. We emerge near the side of the river once more after the detour the scent trail took us through, the scent of blood reaching our nose. I look around for the source, putting Amelia behind me as we cautiously walk forward. The forest is silent in the dead of night and I reach out my senses to see if anyone else is around. Sadly, I do not sense anything other than a wolf a few feet away laying beside a tree.

“Stay behind me Amelia and lets see who it is laying there.” I whisper out, the blonde nodding her head in understanding. We stay close to the treeline, allowing the shadows created by the moon light to hide our bodies as we creep closer to the wolf. The scent of blood grows stronger the closer we get and as soon as we get close enough for a better look, I notice why the wolf hasn’t moved.

His face it torn and I am unable to identify who this wolf is. Some scrapes are already in the process of healing thanks to being a werewolf, but other than that I have no other idea why he would be unconscious.

“He is bleeding.” Amelia states and I sigh.

“Yeah I see. His face should be healed soon.” I shrug, wondering if I should do anything to help this wolf.

“No, I mean in his pants.” My eyes dart to the spot Amelia is pointing to and I shudder, my hand instantly moving to subconsciously protect my own cock, feeling sympathy for the man. To think someone would mutilate his manhood like that to the point of being unable to create pups.

“Who would do something like that to a man?” I question quietly, backing away a few steps.

“Grace. I can guarantee he was trying to rape her.” Amelia deadpans, her eyes cold as a murderous aura surrounds the she-wolf. All the sympathy I had is now gone, only disgust left. I sniff the air, searching past the blood to find the mint and lavender underneath. Grace was here and luckily she left unmated and with a warning to all males. I can’t help but feel pride for a wolf I have never met.

“Remind me never to piss her off.” I chuckle out, taking Amelia’s hand and leading the woman away. I have a feeling that if we stay in this spot any longer she might kill this wolf for harming her friend and I can’t allow that as much as I wanted to. There are cameras in the forest and if she were to kill, she would be captured and executed as soon as The Run ends. We continue walking along the river, the water soothing my mind making me yawn and reminding me that we have been walking for hours searching for Grace. Morning will be here soon meaning we will need to find a cave or treehouse soon to sleep. Wolves will be out looking for a mate as soon as the sun is up and we are becoming too exhausted to fight back.

“Amelia, we need to find shelter.” I grab her wrist, pulling Amelia to a stop beside me. She growls, trying to pull away but stopping to yawn.

“She is close Caden, I can feel her.” Amelia protests, her eyes looking into mine. I sigh, seeing the unshed tears she holds back and pull her in for a hug.

“I know Amelia. But it will be morning soon and you need to sleep and avoid any males leaving their hideaways to look for a mate.” I reason with her, pulling her towards the tree line once more. If I am not mistaken, there is a cave somewhere near us and we will need to get to it quick.

“Caden, let go.” Amelia pulls at my hand, trying to free herself from my grasp, but she is tired, I can hear it in her voice.

“I will when we get to the cave.” I retort with. She growls, her fingers shifting until I wince and end up letting go of her to see three claw marks along my wrist. She had transformed her nails into claws and clawed me. Growling in frustration, I turn to scold her for hurting me only to see a look of shock in her eyes as she looks behind me. Before I can turn around, I hear the snapping of a twig and my body being tackled to the ground, a snarling wolf above me with their fangs around the back of my neck. Mint and lavender fill my nose and I relax under the weight of this snarling wolf as soon as I realize who has tackled me. We have finally found Grace.