Page 29 of Winning the Wolf

“Caleb?” I gripped his arm and squeezed. “What’s going on?”

Glancing down at me, he took my hand and tried to smile reassuringly. “It’s the Mating Games. Killick had no choice but to go ahead with them. Your name was called forth by the Great Wolf Spirit. Just…”

“There’s only a few more moments until the full moon reaches its apex!” the woman cried, gesturing wildly.

Almost shoving me towards the line, Caleb retreated and disappeared into the shadow of the trees. I slunk to the end of the line, staring at the women as they giggled and hopped on the spot, raring to go.

“I’ve explained the rules once, but since we have a late arrival, I’ll quickly summarise.” Glaring at me, the woman raised her eyebrows. “You will run through our lands in search of a scent that draws you. You must focus on that scent until you find its source. If you are able to reach it before the full moon’s power disintegrates, you will find your mate. Both you and your mate will then return to the sacred stone, where you’ll be bound for seven days. After those days, the male mate will decide whether he wants to stay bonded and the female can accept or reject him.”

“And if you don’t find the source of the scent?” I blurted, drawing the attention of the girls.

The woman frowned, my question clearly baffling her. “Then you don’t have the right to mate this year.”

A shudder moved me as I clenched my hands into fists. Now really wasn’t the time for me to find my fucking mate. I was embroiled in the pack’s worst crime ever. I was surprised Killick hadn’t refused to let me participate in the games.

I was about to say this when a loud horn sounded from behind. The women shrieked and set off, quickly covered by the dark shadows of trees and bushes. I was stunned, unable to move, despite the woman forcibly shoving me.

“Shift!” she barked, her order giving me something to focus on.

My skin itched as the rustle of leaves behind me made my heart jump. My instincts kicked in, propelling me forward and into the brush that hid me. My shoes bounced off the dry dirt as I pushed forward, the adrenaline making me run as fast as I could. I was blind, dodging branches and fallen logs as I tried to work out what I was going to do.

How could Killick and Caleb have left me so unprepared? I’d had no warning, not even a proper brief. Not only that, no choice. If I’d have known the brutes were bringing me to the Mating Games, I would’ve tried harder to get away. I did not want or need a mate right now.

The heady scent of wolf slipped up my nose, sending a bolt of desire straight through me. It smelt strange, exaggerated somehow… and totally fucking intoxicating.

My legs started to guide me to the left, leading without my consent. No, if I gave in to the need to find the scent, I would doom myself. The woman had said that if we didn’t find each other in the time it took for the full moon to release its power, which was roughly thirty minutes, we wouldn’t get to mate. Good. I had to be strong, to go in the opposite direction of my instinct.

Slowing, I glanced behind me, losing my footing when my hair flicked into my face and blocked my view. My legs cartwheeled out from under me and I crashed to the ground, grazing my knees.

“For fuck’s sake!”

A sob erupted from nowhere as I sat there and tried to even my puffing breath. The sounds around me were interspersed with the noise of nocturnal creatures. Trust me to get picked for the mating games now. Only my karma would bring me something so fucking stupid, right in the middle of my mid-twenties life crisis.

The crack of a twig nearby made the hairs on the back of my arms stand up. Fuck it, why was I sitting around, giving my mate the opportunity to find me. It would be better to head towards the middle-lands so I could nip off and find my sister. No one would miss me. In fact, my mate would probably be happy that I hadn’t stuck around.

Deciding to break all the rules, I got to my feet, undressed and checked the map on my phone, one last time. I’d already worked out the co-ordinates, making sure to memorise them.

It was time.

I placed my phone on the ground nearby and crawled onto my hands and knees. My teeth clenched as I allowed my wolf spirit to take over. For the first time in months, she howled in my mind, happy to be free of her human constriction.

A shudder moved me as my bones cracked and my face elongated into a snout. My senses heightened, the smells and noises blasting into my nose and ears.

The rustling of leaves grew louder, as did someone’s panting and huffing from a few hundred yards behind me.

My heart leapt into my throat. Could that be my mate?

Opening my jaw, I scooped the phone between my teeth, careful not to crunch the plastic waterproof case. The pads on my paws bounced on the ground as I ran, taking me away from whoever was in the woods nearby.

In between dodging trees, I looked for the moon, checking where it was in the sky. The North Star was nearby, shining bright. Good, I was going in the right direction.

It was incredible to think that my sister was only half an hour’s run away. She had caused so much trauma for both myself and the pack. Most people would’ve written her off. I couldn’t do it, she was all I had left.

Keeping the North Star in my sight, I zoomed through the shrubs and around the hedges. A couple of times, I scented other wolves, and quickly avoided going too near. I didn’t want anyone to realise that I was trying to escape the games.

My heartbeat was pounding as I pressed on, balancing the phone between my teeth, despite the drool that flicked from my lips. The surroundings started to change, the forest turning into big wide fields. Ah, I was near the border of our territory, which meant I would be out of range from my mate soon. Hopefully.

The wide open space of the green grass made me hesitate… right before that sweet delicious smell hit me again. My nose turned in spite of every muscle trying to defy it. The heady aroma called to me, begging me to follow my instinct and search.

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