The Chase

25 Luca

"What do you mean she gave it back?" I asked, while Evie looked like there wasn't enough oxygen in the fresh floral and herb scented air around us. "Evie?" Looked at her. Her eyes shining with tears she was barely holding back. Auris Helped me back to my feet, far stronger than his size would have made me guess. Dragon. I was surrounded by dragons here. I had always been a shifter in a pack, but dragons hadn't been real when I was growing up. No one on our pack had encountered one in so long.

I had met Auris twice now, and knew of his mates. Sky and Brydel; Along with Delia and Laurel, who had sounded like a very angry mom while she scolded her mates for scaring Evie. I think I liked Laurel, as a friend. She had never raised her voice or been harsh. She was thoughtful. I thought I had also heard that her husband won a night alone for behaving.

My head was clearing as each of Laurel's men apologized to Evie for scaring her. Auris doing a strange stilted and formal apology that sounded out of time and not English English. He waited until Brydel and Sky were a few steps away before he told Evie that he could help her with her magic, he had a school for magic users, before he jogged to join his family. Wrapping himself around Sky, before reaching over to take Bydel's hand. Not looking too disappointed that Delia and Laurel might both be occupied tonight. Finally someone else who's relationships just in number made things more complicated than even Evie and I had experienced.

I looked around, putting names to faces based on the gossip any regional wolf would know about this pack, I got back on my feet. We weren't strange here, we weren't scary to these people. This was a giant family, and I think Evie and I were being invited in. Sweet Evie was trying to apologize, telling me she didn't mean to hurt me. I wrapped her up in my arms and crushed her maybe a little too forcefully into my chest. She squeaked at the sudden movement. Then was stiff for a second before she relaxed, her arms wrapping around me in turn. Melting her body against mine. "I know you didn't mean to. They scared you. Don't apologize for something you couldn't control." She looked over at Laurel and her mates. Breathing deep before letting go so we could get up.

"I've done this before." She said. Looking away, her emotions were a rolling storm ready to capsize her. "Can I. Could I, just take a walk for a few minutes?" She said, and I could see and feel the urgency in her request. She wasn't asking to escape, she just needed to think. I knew she had been alone too long. Someday she would turn to me when she was troubled. I could be patient.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I offered. Just in case she wanted to start turning to me, and she shook her head. "I just, I want a minute. I need a quiet minute?" Wringing her hands together, Looking at me with the eyes I couldn't refuse, shaking her head no. "You have your phone? App working?" She pulled the phone from her back pocket, showing me the app was working. She had almost a full battery. Strong signal.

I used my own version of the app to set her into hazard mode and for alerts to go to me. "If you get near the border, the alarm sounds. Whatever you do, do not cross it ok?" She nodded, weakly. Eyes locked on a trail in the woods. "Ten minutes, and the alert will chirp. If you aren't back I will come looking for you." She didn't look at me. "Evie, I will always come and find you." I told her, and her eyes turned to look at me. Really look. She nodded again, something shifted in her storm fo feelings and behind her eyes that were now rolling with waves of tears waiting to fall. Walking slowly down the trail I knew only led to the main driveway, and not really near the border according to the map. A safe direction.

I didn't know if I had done the right thing. Couldn't yet make sense of her feelings. I hated watching her walk away. She turned twice to look back, before she kept walking down the trail and out of sight. I walked into the main yard, nearer to everyone. Ash came towards me immediately.

"She will be back." She said confidently. Before starting to talk about me at length about how much she loved these family dinners they seemed to have frequently. I tried to pay attention to Ash. Sipping the beer her mate, husband, Rhys had brought for me. I kept looking at the time. Looking in the direction I knew my heart was.