Trifecta: Stone [Completed]

Chapter 13: Cold Boil

Serge's POV

It was faster cutting through the forest to get to the breech than by driving, so I abandoned my truck at the shelter and cut through the forest by running.

Mark took Elise inside while I rushed toward the forest. I put in my earpiece and shed my clothing as I went. It felt as terrible as it did every time I had to leave her for battle. I imagined it would be bittersweet even if the curse was not involved.

I put her out of my mind. I did not want to lose more of my people if there was anything I could do to help it and focusing would end her suffering more quickly.

"Call out two backup teams and put a third on hold, Sierra," I ordered.

"Roger."

"I'm out," I told her as I let my flesh shift and slide into my wild form.

With Austin's pack already occupied, we were on our own this time at least until Nicholas' pack arrived, and his forces were nearly as far from the location of the breech as it was possible to be. This fight was not a good situation for us strategically.

Sierra's voice crackled in my ear. "We're falling back to northeast eight. I'm out." I ducked under a low hanging branch. Things were not good if Sierra had to transform and run.

I adjusted my direction and hurried forward. I clenched my sharp teeth and rushed towards the break.

Questioning the wolf we captured had told us nothing, the eastern king seemed to keep his people as much in the dark as we were, and the small scraps of information we had managed to obtain were either things we already learned from past interrogations or had already inferred from observed patterns in behaviour.

He remained locked up, but I believed that he was useless to us. Perhaps we could catch another and find out something more.

The feral wolf part of my nature made me furious that my pack and my people were being endangered. I was frustrated by my inability to puzzle out and predict what was coming.

All speculations were pushed from my mind as I neared the quadrant. It was quiet, which probably meant that my patrol was falling back. I listened carefully as I run and I spotted one of my pack members, Tyler running full tilt in my direction.

When he saw me he slowed his pace and I joined him. A moment later Tyler joined us and then Brock, along with a dozen fighters of a backup force I had ordered.

I signalled that we would go back and reengage the enemy. I howled that my people should return to the offensive and we started forward, looking for our prey. Sierra stayed with us, her quiet eyes observing everything around us. There was a reason she was my top scout.

We rushed forward, fanning out until we hit the edge of the territory. We found none of the attackers, just their slowly fading scents. It was odd that they had retreated so suddenly.

I transformed. "We've lost the enemy. I'm sending out Group E to scout and see where they went. Do not engage. Everyone else, loop the perimeter and look for infiltrators."

They barked their agreement and began running in the directions that I had ordered. I ran the edge of the territory and found nothing out of the ordinary, nothing but the normal scents of the flora and fauna of my territory and the occasional hints of scents of my pack members.

Finally, I gave up. I had the teams switch out to give those who had seen combat time to rest. We had lost none of our fighters this time, but I still had an uncanny sense that something was not right.

The attack had been odd.

Though the news should have made me feel better, I was not comforted when I heard that Austin's pack had easily fended off their own intruders.