Page 51 of Wolf's Whisper

Chapter 12. Sharing

After days of sheltering, we finally left the cave and were back on the road. Well. There wasn't much road here in the forest. Back on the trail.

Darren was happily skipping through the forest, at least twenty meters ahead of us. Every now and then, he waved at Danny and showed her a stray flower or a rare plant.

Aspen seemed to be completely lost in his own thoughts. The only reason his body was moving? Autopilot. He was definitely slipping, but I didn't know what to do or how to help him. I wasn't sure anyone could.

I nudged Ashleigh, pulling her out of her daydreams and whispered. "Who's Em?"

I'd been wondering about that name all night and couldn't find any good reason why he'd use Em as a nickname for me. It was obviously someone else. But who?

Ashleigh bit her lip as she glanced at her brother in front of us. "Em was Aspen's first mate."

"His first mate?"

"Yes... It isn't my story to tell, but Aspen lost her a couple of years ago."

"Oh..." New questions flashed through my mind as I wondered about Aspen's past. Not just Aspen's. The whole group's, actually. They were far too cheery for their age and that usually meant one thing. They had a good reason to be.

"So... Will he be okay?"

Ashleigh waggled her head from side to side. "Ehhh, I don't know... He's had moments like this but never this intense..."

I remembered the dead girl on the ground, threw up a little bit in my mouth and with a hic-up, swallowed it again.

Hey, I was a lady! I wasn't going to throw up in front of Ashleigh. Again...

"So that, umm, this... Chesca thing... Is this unusual?" I asked carefully, not sure if I wanted the answer or not. What if I had unintentionally joined a travelling killer Carnival? That was hardly something you add in the letter home.

I could already imagine the tribe gossiping about it.

Silly Akira, thinking she could travel all by herself to Coyote Country, got snagged up by a killer circus and was murdered in the Aladwin Forest. But what else was to be expected of such a stupid girl anyway.

Ashleigh opened her mouth. "We..."

A long pause. That was never a good sign. Oh fuck, I really had joined a group of madmen. I should've left when I had the chance.

She scratched the side of her face as she stewed over the right words. Are there right words to tell someone you and your friends went on a killing spree?

"The life Aspen and I've lived isn't like the one you had in your tribe... It wasn't... Easy. Or Fun. Or you know, all that civilised, for that matter."

I waited as I gave the dark-haired woman more time to explain what she meant by that. Life in my tribe certainly hadn't been fun or easy, but that didn't mean I went around killing people. Even if said people were crazy Pumas trying to... Actually, what exactly had Cece been trying?

I suddenly realised she never gave me an explanation for why she had enchanted me. Or how she had done it. If I recalled correctly, Pumas should only have the power of invisibility. They shouldn't be able to enchant or bewitch anyone. So how did she...

"I need you to understand that the things we've done were necessary evils. I'm not proud of my past, but we did what we had to."

I swallowed a lump in my throat as I prepared for the worst. "And that's...?"

"Kill."

Oh my gods. I wasn't deluded. I really had joined a crazy killer gang. I really was going to die here in the forest. Or worse, they would try and turn me into a killer as well. Akira the killer. Well, if that wasn't just peachy.

I felt the blood rush through my head as panic spread throughout my body. Aspen, the guy who loved running around naked, was a killer. Danny, the cheery redhead that was always smiling, killer. Darren, the divine cook, killer. Regan, the tall and trustworthy man, killer. JP, the shy man who couldn't utter more than one sentence without stuttering, killer. And Ashleigh, my beautiful mate, my other half, my wolf's guide. Killer.

The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth as I realised I had bitten my own cheek. This was it. I was doomed. I really was only destined for bad things. My father had been right.

I forced myself to keep a straight face as I felt something stir inside of me. Even if my wolf was crying for hers, I couldn't be with a killer, could I?

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