Wilder

A lone wolf never survived but I had paid the price to be alive. Alone and barely existing. With my blood and determination.

I had been more than once at the death's door, blade pointed at my heart to kill, to plunge deep but I fought hard with a sole purpose on my mind. To prove my innocence and return to my home.

But it wasn't easy. Never easy. To survive I had witnessed how my sanity slipping away from me, shoving me into the darkness every time I had to wash my hands with the blood of my black brothers.

I grew up with them, sharing a bond, took an oath to protect my brothers and with the same hands, I was now taking their lives.

A lone wolf survived but he never stayed the same. He lost everything, shed his old self and became something horrid, more like a shadow, a stranger living beneath another's skin. Every second living on the very edge of losing my life.

My sanity.

"It's not here."

"Huh."

"The name you just told me to check. Noah Davis. It's not here. Now, would you mind booking a room? Or you are just here wasting my time?"

I let out a breath and gritted my teeth. Without a word, I turned and walked out of the cheap local hotel.

The man at the reception was lucky I was wearing a hood that he didn't have to see the rage on my face and the glow in my eyes.

My temper was already flaring since the morning. I had already searched a few hotels and had no success. I couldn't locate the man I came to Fallbridge for. I needed to find him before my alpha got the sniff of where I was right now. He wouldn't even listen to what I had to say before he will give the orders to kill me. Blinded by love and loss.

I went to the main spot, the town hall where the locals often hung out. The place was always bustling with people so I could easily get blended in without drawing much attention.

I got in here and grabbed a coffee from a local shop and sat on one of the benches on the porch, tucked in comfortably under a shade of a tree, slightly hidden from the main view of the road.

A perfect place for me to keep an eye on the activities unfolding before me.

I took a sip and instantly felt how the caffeine did wonders to my body. I hardly had any sleep last night, driving from one town to another and upon arriving here, I started what I came here to do. Searching for Noah Davis.

I needed to get a hold of him and asked him questions that had been playing on my mind since I found out that he was there the night when everything had changed for the worse. The night I had to run away from my pack. What reasons he could have to be being there and why he had never said anything before.

I needed to find out and for that, I needed to locate him first. Already my mind started spinning with assumptions did his friend alerted him? Had he mentioned me asking for him?

I was in my thoughts when suddenly either out of pure luck or moon goddess was eliminating the obstacles from my path, that I noticed Noah.

He was on the opposite side of the road, talking to a guy and after a minute another guy jogged out from the store, seemed like a garage and then started walking towards the jeep parked ahead.

In an instant, I was on my feet. I ditched the coffee and started running towards my car which was parked a few stores down the shop, constantly keeping an eye on Noah.

When I was behind the steering wheel, their jeep had already out of the town hall road and edging close to the main road. I sped the car but with the bustling crowd, I couldn't go beyond the certain speed limit and having the risk of exposing myself, I couldn't start honking to reveal I was on a wild chase.

It didn't take me much time to get close to their car, still a few distances apart to avoid noticing while I was out of the town hall. I trailed behind them and when they took a turn to the dirt road, branching out from the side of the main road, I slowed down the car. I waited for like five minutes before I directed the car to the dirt path.

I sighed in relief when I couldn't see their car up ahead. I didn't want to reveal myself before I got my hands on Noah. The car rolled forward as I shifted my gaze to look everywhere. To search for any signs of attack and staying alert. Living alone for the past few years instilled those habits in me and more than often helped me to stay alive.

The path was narrow, cutting through the forest on either side, peeking above I noticed the blurry lines of the mountains engulfed by the clouds and the forest swept a blanket over it.

I didn't know how farther they went so without taking a risk and revealed that I was trailing behind them, I switched the dirt path and turned the car into the forest, directed between the trees.

The car bounced up and down while driving over the uneven terrain and bumpy surfaces. I took it farther ahead and when I was convinced that it was safely tucked and hidden into the shadows of the overhead branches, I got out and went back the way I came from.

I didn't fully come out from the shadows, walking close to the edge where the dirt path blended into the forest. It was easier to track them down though after walking a few kilometres, another path was branching out from the dirt path and went towards the main road. It looked much better in condition, assuming people use this path more often to do their daily activities.

But I didn't have to face any difficulty with the tire marks on the damp soil from the last night's rain beckoning me to follow. It took me more time than I had expected to finally reach the spot where the car was parked. Next to a cafe.

A small cafe perfectly fit with the theme surrounding it. It looked simple and with bare minimum decor. I kept my distance and found a dry nice spot in one of the fallen branches and waited for them to come out. Hopefully, Noah would be alone soon after whatever conversation they were having inside the cafe. Mostly pack business.

I might have dozed off, not only because of last night without having an ounce of sleep but I never fully rest for more than a few hours. The constant nagging feeling of someone might kill me in my sleep and I would be helpless to even fight for my own life.

But this time, something felt different. No. Not a danger, lurking behind the trees to pounce on me. It was more like something alluring beckoning me to come closer. And then it hit my nose and almost swayed me off my feet.

I clutched the nearby trunk and leaned against it, resting my head and gulping down more and more of that exquisite, refreshing scent. It was subtle and lightly spritzed with early morning serenity before the sun greeted the world.

I found my stance and stepped forward to find the source of my discomfort or the salve of my broken spirit. I forgot everything around me as if I fell into a trance of oblivion, didn't even care if there was any danger stalking me. I was beyond my senses.

My mouth salivated. I had never tasted anything this exotic on this planet before. A hunger so foreign to me clenched my belly in anticipation to have a bite, even just a nibble, a taste. Anything. My whole existence is ready to fall on his knees and surrender to this divine temptation.

When the cloak of madness pushed me further to peek behind the branches, all I saw was red.

Flaming red.

The first thought that popped into my mind, that it might be some shawl or coat drifting with the wind but as I trudged closer, the form appeared to take a shape.

A woman. A human.

Her feminine curves swayed with each movement of her hips. She was not a petite woman by any means, obviously shorter than me but those long legs could easily wrap around my back when I thrust into her.

Her hair even in the dark, was a shining beacon, swerving me away from shadows and steering me towards her. Her red strands resembled the fallen leaves in autumn. She was here to ease her way into my life with her regal grace and help me shed my pasts, taking me on a new path fated for us.

I crept closer to get a glimpse of her face, or the colour of her eyes, even a sliver of the smoothness of her skin, to have something to hold onto till the next time she crossed my path.

A twig snapped under my feet and I stiffened. Her head locked in my direction, darting left and right until she found nothing and resumed her walk. I held onto my breath and solidified my stance in the shadows to not reveal my presence to her.

I cursed the sun and the moon, not sparing a light on her face. Her face was cloaked in shadows, obscuring her features, too hard to make out the details and with the bangs falling over her eyes, it just made damn difficult.

I trailed behind her but never stepped out of the boundary of the forest, close enough to see her but never too close to give away my identity.

Her head cautiously dipped and her eyes darted here and there and it almost brought out a chuckle from me. Did she believe if somehow she made herself small, a predator would just ignore her and go on their way to another victim?

There was an urgency in her steps, too eager to get off this street where there was only she and me. She didn't know that and that even made her more nervous, wary of the unknown.

Her hand grasped the sling of her bag and in her other hand, she was holding her phone as if she was a minute away to call someone.

Who that would be? Was there someone waiting for her? Was she going on a date? That didn't even make sense. I shook my head.

When she reached the main street, she turned back once before she disappeared around the corner. I followed her and slowly I was coming to sense, realizing I was crossing the line I shouldn't cross. Walking straight beyond the boundary of campus and trailed behind her to one of the buildings on the side tucked into the back. Only trouble laid past that point and I already crossed into unknown territory.

My wolf urged me to take the risk and pursue her but how could I let go of these past years of suffering into waste and give away my location. A rumour would be enough to spread the word about spotting me in this small town and brought my pack here. My black brothers wouldn't hesitated to seek revenge in their alpha's honour.

Still, I followed her, knowing full well what would happen if I get caught. I wouldn't be shown mercy and my fate will be decided by my alpha. Still, no measure of rational thoughts could sway me from my path and stop me in my endeavour. I had to get close to her. I had to have her.

But the rules that ran our world was strict and with consequences if anyone broke them.

Humans weren't supposed to get even a sniff of our existence. If they somehow found out, the price was brutal, either kill them or claim them.

There was no other choice.

Only a decision to make.