Page 48 of Scarred Resolve

“Tomorrow morning,” Heath answered, putting his hands in his pockets. “That’s why I did this so quickly. It felt like it was something I had to address before flying out.”

Heath was leaving the next day to see the families of the victims in Alaska. He had their details now and was going to make the necessary reparations for their deaths. He already had a cover story if he was questioned by any humans who didn’t know supernaturals were involved. These humans wouldn’t, so that cover story was important, and he had the documents, if necessary, to make sure no one looked too closely at his presence.

“Yeah, it probably was,” Landon agreed. “Well, get out of my house, please. I’ll see you tomorrow before you leave for the airport.”

“Of course.” Heath patted each of them on the shoulder as he went to the door.

As he got in his truck, he no longer had to hide everything, letting go of his Talent. Longing filled the air around him. He gripped the steering wheel tightly, trying to focus on driving, as he fought the urge to turn to the airport and book a flight to the wrong state and find her. Talking about her with the pack had only made it worse, and it was already the worst level of fear and protectiveness he had ever felt. Maybe it was from the problem she faced or maybe it was how they had only just begun recovering from what happened in Germany, but this time affected Heath differently.

Just stay alive, Jacky. Just stay alive and come back.

21

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Iwalked with my brothers for miles. We moved fairly quickly now, knowing we needed to close the distance. The only reason I believed we could do that was the idea that the werecat was going to need to sleep sooner than us. Move, eat, move, sleep, move. If we were right about this being a rogue, we had to trust that it wasn’t moving too fast or too far and hope we could catch up to it.

Moving south, we slowly left the tundra and entered thicker areas of tree coverage. We passed two private homesteads, making us realize the werecat had left the park entirely. I wasn’t surprised that people lived in the middle of nowhere like this, but I was surprised we happened across them, and there was no evidence of anyone having been killed. The werecat we were going after had passed right by these humans, but the inhabitants were fine, going about their chores, not realizing that anyone was passing right by them. Only Niko seemed to be as confused as I was by it, but we didn’t talk while we moved.

I had enough conditioning at this point to keep up with my brothers. I worked through the initial burn in my legs while me and Davor warmed up during our first hike, and now we kept asolid jogging pace, even with our packs. We were still far weaker than Niko, but the breaks taken were still very short, and we weren’t slowing down too much. After a solid twelve hours of moving, Niko was the one who stopped.

“We’ll take a long break here. Get your naps in. Six hours off our feet should be a good recovery time. Jacky, you’re taking first watch. Two hours, then four of sleep.”

With a nod, I settled in for that watch. I wasn’t spooked by a bear, and I tried to keep calm, the stiffness in my legs and aching muscles making it both easier and harder. I didn’t have the energy to be anxious. All of my energy went to keeping my senses alert. When those two hours passed, I woke up Niko, then fell down with my back to Davor’s for a nap.

We started moving after the break without much fanfare. Davor sent an update to Jabari that we were still tracking, and we ate some of the rations Subira had prepared. They were a shock, certainly, but it felt good. I needed it as Niko started jogging, and I ran after him.

Another twelve hours. I had no idea the pace we were going. Just doing my best to keep up with my brothers. Davor was faring better than me, but not by much. Niko was the one who felt like he was at home in the terrain even though it wasn’t anywhere near the forest he once roamed. At the end of the run, not even sure of the time anymore, I looked at Davor as he opened the case and started typing.

“Where are we?” I asked him, huffing. We had passed another two remote homesteads closely and gone over a road.

“For you, I’ll do this in imperial measurements. We’ve been keeping a pace of about five miles an hour for twenty-four hours of travel from the campsite. We’ve covered just over one hundred and twenty miles.” Hearing those numbers made me sick to my stomach, but Davor was looking at the computer in his case. “The case has a tracker in it, and the data says ourtarget went around the town of Ambler, definitely avoiding the potential exposure.”

“And still heading south,” Niko murmured, staring into the distance. “Hasn’t rested or hunted yet. What the hell is this werecat doing? Avoiding a town that was in its path when it wouldn’t have eaten in over a day? Not killing a single easy meal this entire way?” Niko shook his head but didn’t look at us.

“Yes, it’s rather unusual,” Davor agreed, sighing heavily. “Certainly not within the bounds of what we know about werecats in the Last Change.”

“Of course it’s not,” I growled, frustrated to hear those words from them. “I’m here. It can never be fucking normal.”

They both looked at me, a little wide-eyed, as I tossed my bag down.

“I’m taking the first nap,” I said, trying to rein in my frustration and anger.

“I’ll take the first watch, then,” Davor said, his surprise coming through his tone as well as his scent. “Niko?”

“No problem with that,” Niko said, his shrug not one I needed to see.

I closed my eyes, trying to think of home. Trying to find some semblance of peace, but of course, I was wandering in an unknown forest with no territory to protect me. My legs burned, and my head hurt. I was asleep quickly, but I knew before my eyes ever closed that it wasn’t going to be as restful as I would have wanted.

When I was woken up for watch, I growled at Niko, making him back up and rest a little further away than he had previously. We tried to stay close for security, within a few feet. Niko went a clear five or six away from me, doubling that normal proximity. Watch was simple, with nothing around. It was early morning. Time wasn’t fickle in Alaska like it had been in the Black Forest, but the light messed with me just as much as theperpetual dark had when it came to telling time. I was glad it was light out, but it was frustrating to figure out whether I should be tired or not. I tried to piece together the trip so far and realized it was already nearly a week since I had first learned of this mess. It was June 12thalready. The days had disappeared on me. It was the morning of June 12th. A week before, Heath was asking me if I wanted to go to the pack meeting. A week before, I went out to dinner with Niko.

“Fuck me,” I mumbled to myself, the loudest noise in the immediate vicinity. Nothing reacted to the noise, nature not caring about the frustration of one tired and cranky werecat.

I woke up my brothers and was ready to go before they were. I ate the ration, letting it course through me, accepting the fast and easy energy. My legs hurt far less after the rest, something I had to be grateful for.

“How do you two feel?” I asked Niko and Davor since they seemed even better than I did.

“Fine. You don’t do long runs very often, do you?” Niko slung his bag on and looked me over.

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