Page 23 of Wilde Beta

“Where did the bitch go?” The first guy asked.

“You think if I knew, I'd be standing next to you looking around, idiot?” The second guy responded.

The others just mumbled and looked around helplessly. They had no idea where Mel was and didn't know where to look. They finally turned back and headed the way they'd come, running under her tree without looking up.

Janie was right. Wolves didn't look up. It was the safest place to hide. The problem was that Mel didn't know when she could come down, and the tree was not the most comfortable place to hide. The wind blew through, slapping her with pine needles and small branches. She knew to wait until someone she knew came by, but it was not comfortable sitting in the tree.

Mel must have fallen asleep because she awoke disoriented. There were sounds below, but she wasn't sure who it was. She wanted to know who it was, but if it was someone who knew her, wouldn't they call for her?

Mel stayed hidden, and eventually, they went away. Because the branches were so thick, she could sit just like she had a seat and fall asleep again. Amazingly, she hadn't moved or fallen out of her chair. She could tell that it was getting late. Not only was it colder, but it was darker. What had happened to the pack and to Janie? Had her cousin been caught?

She had no water, no food, and though she wore a coat, it wasn't nearly warm enough for the cold weather that was coming. In her wolf form, the night would not be so bad. Mel knew she could not morph or stay in wolf form in a tree. With night coming on, she wondered what action she should take. The bad wolves came near where she was hiding around every hour. There was really no other place for her to go. The whole situation made her wonder where Janie was.

She had no choice. She spent the night in the woods in a tree. While it was cold, it was not freezing. Mel felt terrible, but she didn't think it would kill her. Even in human form, her wolf gave her some support. She was not as vulnerable as she was when she had been human.

She saw dawn breaking but still saw the enemy making patrols through the woods and walking right below her. Mel was hungry, but she had nothing to eat. Even more, she was thirsty and had nothing to drink.

Waiting until the wolves passed, she climbed down the tree and went to the creek, changing into her wolf to drink all she wanted. She used the pine needles to cover her scent, climbed up the tree, and waited to see if the next patrol scented her and tried to find her. At least she had gotten a drink and didn't feel so parched. Food would be a problem that was not as easily solved. Being in wolf form, even for a short amount of time, had given her strength. The patrol came, but they didn't seem to notice anything.

Once they had come through, she heard noises as if a battle were taking place. Maybe they had gotten reinforcements, or was the other group after her coming to stake their claim? How would she ever know what was happening?

She needed more training to handle a situation like this. No scouts came through when she expected them. Did that mean they had given up the search for her? Maybe it meant everyone was gone, including her people.

Was it a trick to draw her out? Mel knew she couldn't last much longer. Soon, she would go down the tree and try to figure out what was happening.

That was her last thought before she fell asleep. When she woke, she would go and see what was happening. When she woke, it was pitch dark. She waited for a little while to see if there was any movement below. There wasn't, so she climbed down the tree. First, she went to the creek to get a drink in case she had to hurry back up the tree again. Then, she headed back toward the house, slipping into bushes and going slowly so no one would see her.

At the edge of the woods, she made sure she had a pine scent rubbed all over her. She wasn't sure if that would work out in the open where no pine trees were, but she had to try.

Mel ran to the first cabin at the edge of the woods. She peeked around the edge, but she saw nothing. There were no people and no wolves. Slipping up to the door, she slowly opened it and looked inside. She saw no one.

Her stomach growled dangerously like it was going to rise up and attack her. Hurrying to the refrigerator, she opened it and looked inside. There was some sandwich meat, which she quickly wiped out.

Tossing the empty container into the garbage, she looked for more. There was little to be found, so she slipped out of the cabin and hurried to the next.

There was no point in feeling guilty for robbing the cabins of food because there wasn't much in any of them, and they could all eat at Jane's house if they chose to. Thankfully, there was enough food to take the edge off her appetite. The fourth cabin was ahead when she heard someone moving around and slipped into the bushes next to the cabin. Two guards moved past her. They looked like they belonged to the Mexican pack that had been attacking her.

“Jose, I can smell food.”

Jose laughed. “Your stomach is never full. It is so bad that now even your nose thinks food is around. Maybe you should run down a rabbit, Ricardo.”

She was thankful they headed past her, circled at the end of the cabins, and went to the other side to check out the other cabins.

Mel had a good idea of what had happened. The Mexican pack had taken over regardless of who had broken through the perimeter. Moving closer, she saw a few more guards she managed to avoid.

Finally, at Janie's house, Mel heard someone with a heavy Spanish accent questioning Janie and Trev.

“You will tell me where she is. If you don't, you won't like what happens," the male threatened.

“We don't know. She was scared and ran away. She won't do you much good anyway because they mated. Even the council will act if you try to hurt her mate," Trev observed.

“That's only if any of you are left alive to tell them about it," the alpha observed.

Mel felt lost. What was she supposed to do? She needed to free some of her people so they could escape. Once that happened, everyone would know what that horrible alpha had threatened to do. Hopefully, the council would act. The question was: How could she do that and survive?

Mel was a great shot and knew guns were kept in various places in the house. Some were even treated with silver bullets. Not because silver automatically killed a wolf but because many were allergic to it, which would stop the wound from healing immediately. Some were so allergic that it would prevent the wound from healing at all without medical intervention.

There was no time to waste. Mel moved to one of the rooms where the weapons were kept. In a drawer, she found a gun. One was great, but she needed more.

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