Page 51 of Midnight Moon
My eyes widened, surprised.
“Really?” I was fast, but not as fast as them. I knew I would slow them down.
Asher dipped his chin. “Yes. You know the territory well, and you can help us narrow down places our opponents could have planted their flag.”
Again, knowledge made me an asset.
I nodded.
“Then, it’s settled,” Alpha George stated. “You three should get going. Our thirty minutes is up.” And, no doubt, the other team was already on their way.
Without another word, Asher, Chase, and I jogged back into the trees. We put about half a mile between us and our flag before stopping to strategize.
“Where should we look?” Asher asked.
I chewed the inside of my cheek, thinking. We’d claimed the only body of water, but there were plenty of elevated locations within the forest. Any one of them would be easy for our opponents to defend.
“There are at least three cliffs on their side of the forest. Given the fact the Coastal Pack is so skilled at scaling rocks, it’s likely they chose one of those spots for their flag.”
Asher and Chase nodded.
“Sounds like a good place to start. How far is the closest cliff?”
“Half a mile,” I answered Asher. This time, I forced myself to meet his gaze. As much as his presence unnerved me, I wouldn’t let it hinder me. I was the Summit Pack’s future alpha, not some prepubescent schoolgirl who swooned whenever a hot guy looked her way.
“Lead on.”
Happy to oblige, I turned and ran swiftly through the trees. The Wilds shifters followed close behind me, each of us careful to minimize our noise now that we were approaching our opponent’s side of the forest.
Soon enough, we reached the first cliff. I hung back while Asher and Chase sniffed around. Even in human form, shifters had a decent sense of smell.
Unfortunately, our opponents hadn’t used this cliff for their flag.
We continued on.
The second cliff yielded the same result. I was beginning to doubt myself when we closed in on the third cliff and immediately picked up the smell of marshy water and cloying grass—the Moors Pack.
Inside, I squealed.
Correctly leading my team to our opponents’ flag had to give me major points. As long as the Northeastern shifters didn’t have to fight off the others, or do anything remotely impressive, I could earn first place.
I pressed my lips together in determination. We needed to get that flag before anyone else could do anything to overshadow my contributions thus far.
Our group stopped our approach approximately one-hundred yards away. The wind blew our direction, carrying our scent away from where the Moors shifters protected their flag.
Through a break in the trees, I could see the bright, red flag waving in the breeze.
“So, what’s the plan?” I looked at Chase, then Asher. “Got any skills that can help us grab that flag?” By skills, I meant magic, but I didn’t want to say it out loud.
Asher smirked. His eyes darkened as they zeroed in on our target. “You two stay here. I’ll get the flag.”
“There’s no way you can scale that cliff.” Chase said. “We should draw them away so Blair can sneak up there and get the flag.”
Asher scowled. “There’s no way they will both abandon their post.”
“Then we approach and fight them head on. Regardless, no one should go up there alone.”
“You’re forgetting myskills, my friend.”
