Page 25 of Wolf Trapped
I need to get out of my head and let my wolf free. He is pawing at my insides, whimpering at the loss of his pack mate. Striding out the door, I don’t even wait to get to the forest before stripping down and shifting.
My wolf races through town into the woods, and he won’t even stop for the scent of prey. We speed through the woods, following the faint smell of blood in the air. I’m not sure I want to see the crime scene, but I need to know.
Alpha?Alex’s voice in my head has me snarling momentarily.
Are you patrolling alone?
No, Alpha. I am looking for Carter. He could be hurt or in danger.
Carter is at home. He found us shortly after Patrick got back to the village. Jacob…A mournful howl bursts from my wolf, and Jara swiftly joins in my call.
Jacob’s dead?Alex asks, and even his voice in my head is melancholy.
Yes, we were too late. I’m going to the scene to see what I can scent.
I reach the edge of the territory and sniff the air letting out another howl. The stench of blood is more pungent here than anywhere else in the forest. It’s so strong it’s covering up all other scents. There are too many tracks to know which are the rogue’s and which are Carter and Alex's tracks. I still have no clue as to the identity of the rogue or where he is holing up in my territory.
There’s nothing here that will help.I grumble to Alex in his mind.
We just have to keep patrolling and looking out for it, alpha.
I’m shocked by Alex’s attitude change about patrolling. Maybe this will be the wake-up call that the rest of the pack needs. My wolf whines pawing at the ground, and I give control over to him. He runs the length of the forest and stops on the cliff, lying down with his head on his paws, and whimpers.
The cool sea breeze whips at my fur, but I barely feel it. I howl again; this time, even more howls join in response. Angela steps through the trees, and I blink at her. I didn’t expect to see her so soon.
“Alpha? Sorry, this was kind of our spot.” Angela sniffs.
I trot over to my stash spot, shift to human, and grab a pair of shorts before turning back to the beta. “Are you okay?”
“No,” she mumbles, something I can’t quite hear.
“I’m sorry, Angela. If I had more wolves volunteer, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. Maybe if I hadn’t gotten so lax with patrol, then the wolf wouldn’t have been a problem in the first place.” I hang my head. I hate this. The link in my head with Jacob has been severed, and the pain in that is almost unbearable.
“You are doing the what-if bullshit, Archer.” She sits on the ground, crossing one leg over the other in front of her.
“I am the alpha. I take responsibility for what happens to my pack. I am responsible for keeping them safe.” I sit with my elbows on my knees and my face in my hands. I am responsible for not requiring daily patrols. I lost one of my best enforcers and a friend because I let my pack get lazy and undisciplined.
“Yeah? If you want to throw blame around, Jara and I should have taken off after the wolf the first time we saw him. Jacob would be alive if we had gone after him and got him out of here.” She yells but her voice breaks at the end. “You may have killed me, but I wouldn’t have lost him.”
“Fuck no,” I growl, turning my glare on her. That was never an option. Jara isn’t allowed to run into danger. She must be protected. I won’t survive without her.
“Then stop blaming yourself,” Angela whispers. She is placing the blame firmly on her shoulders and refuses to let anyone take that from her. I stare out into the darkening ocean and sigh. This is completely fucked up.
Why the hell did the wolf attack Jacob and what is he even doing in my territory? Is Jara in even more danger than I thought? She was the first to see him and said he looked at her with hatred. It’s even more critical than ever that she stay locked in the house, but how will we live with the consequences of keeping her wolf in a pretty cage?
It’s been a year since we lost a pack member, and I fear there are more to come if I don’t do something about it. I just don’t have a clue what.
9
JARA
What the hell happened last night?
Archer never returned from the meeting, and his howls were filled with so much pain. I pace the room much like most of last night, hoping something didn’t happen to my mate.
The mournful howls didn’t sound like he was in physical pain. Something big happened, and I’m going crazy, stuck in this room wondering what it was.
“I brought you breakfast.” Angela grins as she walks into my bedroom.
