Page 66 of Blade's Battle
* * *
BLADE
For hours, the wolves followed Blade’s trail, hoping to trap him. They came close once when he entered a gorge with a dead end. It wasn’t new territory, but he was distracted. His wolf kept grappling with him, beating him down, trying every trick he knew to overpower him and seize full control. Blade knew if the wolves caught him, he’d be in more danger than from their claws and teeth. A fight with even one wolf would distract him enough that he’d lose what little control he had over his wolf, and that could not happen.
Right now, he was exhausted and needed to rest. Exhaustion only catered to his wolf. Blade needed the safety of a den or more precisely home. Except his home was gone, destroyed by the humans years ago. It was a gamble, but the only tactic he could think of now was doubling back and hiding among the female wolves and the pups in their pack, the pack these wolves had left unguarded.
From the cover of the trees, Blade watched the empty camp. The wind had died down, making entering easy. Silently, he moved through the trees, careful to stay off their trails. This area of the woods seemed more familiar than most. He could predict where every root and branch shot out from the trees. Something inside said the area was home, though not the home in his memories. His wolf was tormenting him, confusing him.
As he neared the cabin, the scent of flowers and sunshine tickled his nose. He’d smelled that exact combination somewhere before, but he couldn’t recall where. The smell angered his wolf, and if it angered his wolf, then Blade needed to explore it, to discover what besides him threatened his wolf.
He entered the den and scented the air. This place smelled of him and another. As he moved through, knocking over objects that he faintly recognized but couldn’t place, the scent became stronger. The raised platform beyond the ashes where a fire had once been held that sweet scent that drove his wolf wild.
Blade tried reasoning with his wolf. As always, his wolf growled at him, demanding freedom. After lying down where the sweet scent was strongest, his wolf’s growl lost its edge. Blade’s wolf was exhausted as he was. As his wolf finally settled, Blade closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
* * *
ANNA
“Do you want me to stay with you?” Tess asked. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea for you to be alone.”
“Afraid I’ll head out into the woods and look for him?”
“Sort of?”
“Because it’s what you would do?”
“It’s what I did. But I had help. I had—” Tess stopped mid-sentence.
“You had Blade’s help, didn’t you?”
Tess nodded. “He and Frank tracked Damien for me, and then they left us alone.” Tess pushed Anna’s hair back from her face. “I can tell you the rest another time.”
“They’re going to kill him, Tess!”
Tess took Anna by her hand as they reached the cabin. “Come on, let’s see if there’s any tea in here. Then we can brainstorm a bit. Between the two of us, we should be able to come up with an idea. ”
Anna nodded and followed Tess inside. She’d been turning the facts over and over in her head, trying to find a solution. While she felt compelled to search for Blade, she was useless out there in the dark. Even with a flashlight, she’d have a tough time traversing the trails, and she’d probably fall off a cliff.
“You sit while I make the tea.” Tess headed into the kitchen.
Anna plopped down on the sofa and hugged Blade’s pillow while Tess opened and closed kitchen cabinets hunting tea bags. The pillow still smelled of him. For that matter, the whole cabin did.
“This place is as bare as can be,” Tess said from the kitchen. “I know he ate most meals in the cookhouse, but come on, not even a lousy tin of coffee or tea.”
“Coffee,” Anna said. “He liked. . . likes coffee. And squished muffins.”
“Squished muffins? Isn’t that a reference to—”
Tess’s face turned white. “Don’t move, Anna.”
A hand sifted through Anna’s hair from behind. She knew the feel of that hand so well. Slowly, she turned.
Blade’s eyes were not their usual dark brown. They were brown with flecks of red, but not wild like earlier. He was more Blade than feral wolf, but not fully himself. He straddled two worlds.
“Go, Tess,” Anna said, her voice perfectly even and calm. Blade would not hurt her, but she couldn’t be sure about Tess.
“You too,” Tess said as she edged her way out of the kitchen and in front of Anna. She suspected there wasn’t room for Tess to squeeze behind Blade, or she simply didn’t want to risk getting that close to him. Tess took hold of Anna’s hand to pull her along with her toward the door.
