Page 77 of The Wild Moon
Fixing our mate with one final glare, we turned and bolted. Not back the way we had come. The humans we traveled with,theyhadn’t snarled at us. Hadn’t threatened us. If they had, we would have torn them to shreds. We knew we could. They were no match for us. Not tonight.
So, we ran east, where the Wild Moon was high in the sky, making its journey across the heavens. Like the very wind itself, we ran, swift and eager, surging forward with all the speed we could muster.
Behind us, our mate howled, and they gave chase.
We snorted with laughter. There was no way they could catch us. Too fleet of foot we were as we raced onward, paws digging into the dirt, clumps occasionally thrown into the air behind us. We were leaving a track that couldn’t be missed, but there was no other choice. To move with stealth would rob us of desperately needed speed.
Besides, with the Soulbond, our mate would find us anywhere. We couldn’t escape him. It would be a chase, for all eternity, us running for our lives, him behind us, that giant sable-furred mongrel. Only, if he caught us, we would no longer enjoy a life of happiness together. He wanted us dead.
We’d like to see him try.
On we ran, the pack behind us. Our ears told us that our pursuers were getting strung out. Space was developing between them. Only our mate could keep pace, the others fell behind bit by bit. We knew we couldn’t outrun him. But perhaps if we ran long enough, hard enough, we could find time to settle our differences.
Privately.
The moon continued to rise, falling off to our right flank as we headed north.
North?
We didn’t recall deciding to turn north. Yet, we were. Our course had changed. At some point, we had stopped runningfromour mate and had begun following the call ahead of us. That elusive power, its call so different from that of our Soulbond. It pulled at us, summoning us.
Our claws dug deeper. We ran on, somehow finding another gear as we slipped between trees, dodged bushes, and leaped over fallen trunks.
We were going to find what called to us. No matter what else happened, we were going to discover what it was. Before our mate tried to kill us.
All at once, we burst from the edge of the forest, the thick undergrowth at its edge concealing the end of the trees until we were out in the open, running down what appeared to be a path. It ran straight and true.
Like a street.
I came skidding back to my senses, the meld snapping us apart as I directed the massive wolf’s head to drift from side to side, giving me a better idea of what I was looking at.
We were on a road. It had to be. A road, or path, something that had beenbuilt. The stones there, to my left. Those had been worked. Right angle corners like that, built over multiple levels, weren’t natural. Tools had done this. Intelligent minds.
My wolf let me hear it at that last comment, but I was too stunned by what I saw as we ran onward to notice.
People hadlivedhere.
Behind me, Johnathan howled. I ran down the boulevard, noting that it headed straight at the face of the mountain ahead of us, a sheer vertical cliff rising high, towering over the remains of what could only be Shuldar. The lost city of shifters.
This had to be it. I’d found it. Finally!
It wasn’t all for nothing, Dad.
Of course, it might still be if I didn’t survive the night. Behind me, I could hear Johnathan closing. I couldn’t slow now. Otherwise, he’d catch up. So together, with my wolf guiding us, we ran onward. In the open, though, our advantage of agility was negated. He was bigger, faster, and we couldn’t outrun him.
Nor were we going to make it to the source of the calling first. He was going to catch us before we got there. I needed to do something else.
With our mate now snapping at our heels, I told her to turn. We skidded around a corner onto a more overgrown path, a side street perhaps, and raced onward, claws scraping across stone. We listened as Johnathan grew closer and closer. He was right behind us now, only a few lengths back.
My wolf abruptly darted us to the side, and I only belatedly reacted as his jaws swept through where our leg had been. The move cost us time, however, and Johnathan came up on our side and slammed into us.
We tumbled and rolled, crashing through a brick wall. A wall! This had been a building. People had lived here, built this place!
I had no time to appreciate it, however, since Johnathan appeared at the entrance, his yellow eyes glowing in the darkness. I looked up to see a tree growing thick overhead, acting as a makeshift roof.
The giant wolf came forward, taking a step as we got to our feet. This was it. There was no time left. We had to fight.
Bracing ourselves, we snarled at him. Told him we hated him. That he was a coward.
