Page 3 of Winning the Wolf

“Okay!” the alpha barked, holding up his hand. “I believe you.”

My stomach knotted, even though Phileas had pardoned me in front of everyone. My family name hadn’t exactly been top of the pack recently, especially with my father’s disappearance. Was it all related?

“Do you know where she might go?” The direct question threw me off.

Frowning, I closed my eyes briefly, trying to think of where my sister would go. She had become a little distant in the last few months, too wrapped up in her new partner. I’d questioned her, even teased, but she’d been reluctant to share much information with me. Now I knew why.

Taking a deep breath, I slowly shook my head. “Not really, but I can try and scent her?”

The alpha looked around at his men, his eyebrows raised. He was a strong leader, but he had always trusted his friends to advise him. Being the head of a pack meant working for the whole of us, rather than alone.

A silent conversation was had before Phileas turned to Killick. “Go with her.”

His command was met with a nod from his son, who didn’t even bother to look at me. His tight jaw was covered in a smattering of dark blonde stubble as it clenched. His distaste wasn’t unusual. He had never been the friendliest of men.

The alpha stepped closer to me, his expression grim. “I’ll send a team out separately to you. If you fail to pick up a scent, they’ll take over. You have a couple of hours. Go.”

Chapter Two

“Why did my sister have to choose the muddiest part of the year to go AWOL?”

Pulling my black calf boot out of the thick muck, I glanced back at Killick. He trod confidently, his own black leather boots not daring to defy him in the sludge. Huh. Even the earth beneath his feet bowed to him.

“You tell me,” he grumbled, his gaze darting around as we emerged at the top of the gorge.

I had led us straight to my favourite lookout. Nyla and I had come to the brow of one of the hills many times as teens, just to try and deal with the loss of our brother, Chris. He had been three years older than us and our idol. Unfortunately, he had also been the world’s greatest thrill seeker. When he was up, he was as high as the clouds, but when he wasn’t making his life soar, he lived in the pits of despair.

Shaking my head of the grief, I sniffed the air. The saltiness of the tears that sat on my lashes made me swallow. Nyla had promised never to leave me the way Chris had. And here she was, abandoning me for a guy who wasn’t even her fated mate.

“Can you smell her?” Killick asked quietly.

The alpha-heir had been best friends with my brother, always egging him on when he did his crazy sky diving stunts or track racing days. He’d rarely been in our house, the pair too busy living life to the fullest. Until Killick found a girlfriend.

I smelt the air again, trying to get a hint of my sister’s scent. There. Moving towards the east, I looked out over the horizon, where the sun had disappeared only moments ago. Her particular smell was rosewood and herbal shampoo. The mix had always brought me comfort. Until now.

“She’s been here,” I said, shaking my head, “although, it was a while ago.”

Killick sniffed loudly, his nostrils flaring as he eyed the ground. “I can smell her, too.”

“You remember her scent?”

Shrugging, he slipped around me, his wide shoulder brushing my hair. A purple strand caught on his arm, caressing his bare skin. He shuddered slightly before stepping away and dropping his honey coloured eyes. Those eyes, which were almost yellow even in human form, were famous amongst the female pack members.

“I always snuck into your brother’s room in the evenings to play video games,” he muttered, gesturing for me to follow. “I remember how you both smelt.”

Slightly unnerved, I pushed past him, determined to lead the way. The alpha had asked me to track my sister, not him. Not that my pettiness would help the situation, but I wanted to prove to the pack that I had nothing to do with the alpha’s wife’s kidnapping.

“Creepy much,” I murmured as I followed the rosewood scent.

A chuckle made me look behind me. Killick had a smirk on his face, the corner of his lip lifted into his cheek. “Don’t pretend you didn’t have a crush on me back then.”

Laughter bubbled from me before I could stop it. “Didn’t every schoolgirl have a crush on you back then?”

“What?” Killick feigned surprise. “You’re saying you don’t now?”

I hadn’t seen the jovial side of him since he was last with my brother. That day, they’d been heading out to the creek for a BBQ. Chris had felt abandoned by his friend ever since he’d shacked up with a girl. He’d locked himself away in his room for weeks on end, unable to function properly. We’d taken it upon ourselves to let Killick know that his abandonment had hurt our brother.

“Everything changed,” I said, turning to look at him.

---