The Hunter's Alpha

52 Desperate

Amber

"Luna? Amber?"

Oliver's voice ran through my head. I opened my eyes to see him standing in front of me. My sleep fogged mind first struggled to figure out where I was and why Devon wasn't with me.

It came back quickly. I was in a chair in the room with the poor little freed children, and Devon was off fighting and in Danger. My heart pounded at the thought.

Since I assumed Oliver was using the mind link not to wake the children, I did the same. "What is it?" I was afraid of his answer, but I had to know. Was Devon hurt? That wisp in the back of my mind panicked at the thought.

"The battle is over and we prevailed, but Devon needs you."

I nearly melted with relief at his first statement, and then confusion at his second.

"What's wrong?"

"Seems he's lost control of his wolf."                                                        

"Is that a thing?"

"He was quite injured—"

"What!?"

"He's not in mortal Danger, but his wolf took control and we can't get through to him. Devon's wolf is very strong, Amber, but he'll listen to you."

My hands shook at the slightest unease in Oliver's voice. He was tense and clearly trying not to worry me.

"Take me to him."

—————

It took too long to travel to Devon, although it was only about an hour's journey. There was something troubling about a hunter base being so close to our territory without our knowledge, but that wasn't what I was concerned about at the moment.

We stopped on an expanse of highway with nothing in sight but silent forest. I glanced at Oliver nervously. "Where is he?"

"He keeps running off. They tried to catch him, but he's fast and getting close is Dangerous."

"How am I supposed to find him?"

"Well, we'll walk around, calling through the mind link and hopefully we'll run into him. If he hears your voice or catches your scent, he'll probably find us."

Devon and his wolf would never hurt me, but something about how I was monster bait made me still want to run away.

But it wasn't just any monster, it was Devon, and I wasn't just going to leave him. Not this time.

We began our trek, me, Oliver, and the other wolves who had come along to guard me. I was glad Oliver had told me to wear comfortable sturdy clothing, since after a couple of hours of walking through the predawn light, we still hadn't found my mate. I continued to call out to him through the mind link, but I got no response. "Are we lost?" I asked Oliver.

"No, and even if we were we'd follow our scent trail back."

I hadn't thought of that.

As we continued, I began to feel despair. What if he really was lost to me? I had just figured out how much he meant, and now... Tears began to well up in my eyes.

Finally after far too much time had passed, a long, mournful howl split the sounds of the forest. Even the crickets stopped chirping as if they wanted to hide their presence. I turned my head in the direction it came from. "Devon!?"

"Oh good, it's my brother. This should be fun," Oliver said tersely, making me wonder just how bad it was going to be.

We walked in Devon's general direction, and my question was soon answered as a loud growl rent the air and the guard directly behind me slammed to the ground as Devon's large, snarling wolf landed on him. He didn't stop to finish him, thankfully, but instead moved towards me, pushing his body against me so hard I almost fell over. He swivelled to face Oliver and the others while baring his teeth.