Page 58 of Flock Around and Find Out

So I twisted my hand, opening the portal to my personal bay, and retrieved my stun gun.

Ready or not, here I was…

Galen

The tiger moved fast. The way his scent wound through the trees showed his comfort with this area. I was in his home turf, and I couldn’t let myself forget that.

Still, a part of me had to admit—I enjoyed the hunt.

When was the last time I’d gotten to really track anything? To let go of my control just a bit and use my instincts?

Being an alpha meant problem after problem. It meant dealing with issues, solving conflicts, and doing so many mundane tasks that, at times, I felt more like a politician than a werewolf.

Leaving Grey hadn’t been my favorite of ideas, even if it were the best, but at least it meant I got to release the pent-up frustrations inside of me, that growing discomfort, the aggression, and point it all in a singular direction.

Part of me hoped the tigerwasferal in some way. I wanted a fight, wanted to find a way to get rid of these feelings inside me. The tracking helped, but the anticipation was for a fight, for the way I could deal with it when we found it.

So I moved through the jungle, giving up control, letting myself run based on the sensations running through me, trusting myself to my wolf rather than my human brain. I inhaled deep, pulling all the conflicting scents into my lungs to let my wolf sort them out, categorize them. I didn’t even know which way to turn immediately, but my body did, grasping a tree trunk to help catapult me in that direction. I didn’t need the blade tied at my waist to clear a path—I made my own, leaping rocks, vaulting over debris, a sense of freedom I had long forgotten rushing through me.

I almost wondered ifthiswasn’t some sort of forgotten ritual of its own. Too often we Weres tried so hard to give everything to our human sides, to ignore the animal inside of us, to tame it until it was no longer what it once had been.

We did that to exist in a society, to civilize ourselves, but we rarely let go like this.

I twisted around another corner, time having passed strangely in this state. I wasn’t sure how long it had been, what had happened, but I only knew that I was chasing something I desperately wanted to catch.

I jumped a large clump of fallen trees, but the ground didn’t catch me as it should have. Instead, it gave way, sending me plummeting down into a deep, dark pit.

I struck the ground hard on my back, pain shooting through my shoulder, my gaze cast up to the space above.

Where I spotted a white tiger, peering down into the pit, the eyes far too clear to be only animal.

It tilted its head, then took off, leaping over the open pit and toward the camp.

I let out a roar as I realized just how badly I’d screwed up, especially when I turned my head to see a bloody spike through my shoulder.

Chapter Fourteen

I clutched the stun gun in my hands as though that was going to make this all better. It had been about an hour so far, and I’d had to admit, Galen had been right.

Much like when we’d walked, I saw no signs of critters around the hut. They must have smelled the tiger, knew they wanted no part of that mess, and kept their distance.

If only I could make that same choice.

To be fair, I wondered if it might not be safer out there. If rabbits and deer and other cute creatures stayed away, I had a feeling I should probably follow their lead. In fact, I noticed I hadn’t even heard the flutter of wings anywhere around here.

They must have recognized that the tiger was one hell of a threat.

And here I was, sitting at his house, waiting, as though I had an invitation.

Yep, dumb plan all the way around.

At least this had been Galen’s dumb plan rather than my own. It was nice not to be at fault for once. Not to be the one causing the issues this time. If I got mauled, I could blame Galen for his stupid ideas.

It was sort of a nice and rare position for me.

For once, Galen could be the bad guy. That’s right! If he got me killed here, not only could I haunt him, but I was pretty damn sure that at least Kelvin would be pissed.

Knot might make his life a living hell—maybe. I never knew exactly where I stood with Knot, after all.

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