Run With Me

Chapter Seventeen

The trees blocked most of the snow from accumulating too much as Terri ran through the woods. If Colin had left the event, willingly or unwillingly, he would make his way over to the caves at the bottom of the cliffs. Whenever the two of them wandered off, they would hike to the bottom of the cliffs and spelunking a bit into the cave system there. Not many in the area knew about the caves, they weren't super visible and if you were in wolf form you would have had to do a bit of climbing to get into them. But on two legs with some well placed hand grips, a small human and a child could get into them with little difficulty. It was in the opposite direction, but Terri knew that Colin would make his way there, she just had to get there first and intercept him. Even if it meant climbing down the cliffs in a blizzard to ensure that she beat him there and could follow the trail he would take in reverse.

Terri ran at a full out sprint for almost a quarter of an hour before she reached the lookout point. She skidded to a halt because there was already someone waiting there for her. A thick hood and jacket hid the face and features of the person leaning against the tree there, hands deep in the pockets. As they noticed Terri, the figure moved and started to lumber through the snow towards her a few steps, but then stopped and waited. Terri paused, unsure who this was or what they wanted. A gloved hand came out of a pocket and gestured for Terri to come closure. Terri shivered as the wind kicked up another notch.

"Who are you!?" She shouted, her words swallowed by the wind and snow. The figure gestured more animatedly, taking a step back towards the cliff's edge. Terri tensed, bracing against the cold and the suspicion that this person was leading her to the edge of the cliff for a very specific reason. She wasn't going to fall for any of that, turning forty five degrees and starting to jog towards the path the lead down to the bottom of the cliffs.

Several growls emerged over the scream of the wind, as several shifter stepped out from hiding amongst the trees. Terri recognized the wolf forms of several members of the Petty Pack. Which means, the figure at the edge of the cliff must be Anna. Teeth snapped at Terri, causing her to step closer to the coated figure. They must have heard that she arrived with Kirk, they would have had no other reason to participate in this pathetic high school behavior. Stealing herself she stamped her foot in the direction of the wolf that snapped at her. What she wasn't expecting was another wolf to latch onto her prosthetic foot and engage in a violent game of tug of war.

"Shit!" Terri was thrown of balance as the red and brown wolf shook her head violently, the metal of the ankle crushing under the pressure of her bit. The foot was wrecked, even if they left the foot alone from this point on, it was useless to walk on. The cold from the snow slowly began to seep through her pants as another wolf joined the first and the foot was pulled free from her pants, tearing through the fabric. Another wolf stepped forward and grabbed the leg of her pants, and they started dragging her through the snow towards the figure. A high laugh emitted from the previously gesturing figure.

"You should have listened to our warnings," Anna voice rang out as Terri sat up and started beating at the two wolves dragging her towards the cliff, "I told you to stay away from Kirk, but a little birdie told me that you two have been extra chummy. So it's time to put an end to the shame of the pack." She flicked her hand, and the two she wolves, ignoring Terri's blows, doubled their efforts to get Terri to the edge of the cliff."Bye bitch," those were the last words Terri heard from Anna as she felt the impact on her spine, sending her over the edge of the cliff.

                                                                                                       ***

Kirk was tracking Terri, though her scent was faint. If he hadn't spent the last several weeks pursuing her, he would never have been able to follow her trail. Every other available wolf was looking for Colin, where ever the she wolves had lured him off too. His focus was on finding his mate in a snow storm. The snow was falling thick enough now that any foot steps or tracks were quickly erased and he was relying on the faint traces of Terri's scent to find her. He nearly fell off the cliff because he was so focused on following his nose that he almost missed the black expanse beyond. Her scent stopped there.

Circling around a few times, Kirk paced, wondering if she had fallen over the edge because of the weather. Why was she even out this way? Colin was said to have gone in the other direction. Sticking his nose in the ground, he caught fain traces of a couple other wolves, but he didn't recognize them. It was several minutes of searching before he threw his head back and howled. His mate was out in a blizzard and he couldn't find her. As he drew breath for a second mournful cry, he heard a shout on the wind. Or, he thought he did. Tilting his ears, he could have sworn he heard his name being shouted.

Terri. Hope swelled in Kirk as he stepped through the snow drifts back to the edge of the cliff. Once more, faint in the dark, was a desperate cry of his name. Kirk wasn't hearing things. Terri was at the bottom of the cliffs, shouting for him. Kirk spun in a circle, trying to figure out how to get down the cliffs. If he jumped he could inadvertently land on Terri. He didn't really care if he was hurt in the process, he just needed to get to her. If he was human, he could try to scale down the cliffs, but doing that naked in a blizzard was a guarantee that he would fail to reach her. So he looked along the edge of the cliff. There had to be a way down. But if he picked the wrong direction, he would have to go twice the distance. Looking back towards the pack house, Kirk steadied himself before taking off in the direction leading away from the pack's land and into the dark.He had been running for several minutes when he caught a new scent. Collin. Veering off, Kirk, sprinted towards the faint smell of the child, finding him laying down in a snow drift, shivering. He was not where everyone was looking. He was in complete opposite direction. Dropping to his belly, Kirk inched forward to nose Colin's face. The blue eyes opened and looked at the massive wolf. A small hand came up and gripped the fur on the side of Kirk's neck. The dilemma was worse than before. Kirk could either save Collin and continue to look for his mate, or he could abandon the child and find Terri.

Kirk shuddered that he had even had the thought cross his mind. Even Terri would have insisted on saving the pup before her. Stepping over Collin, Kirk lowered his body over the boy, turning his back to the wind and starting to howl. Someone would hear him and come to help them. Collin pushed his hands and face into the warm fur of Kirk's belly, still shivering, but finding warmth and comfort. Kirk threw his head back and continued to howl, no easy feat when half crouching over a small, shivering body. One his seventh cry, he could hear the answering call of another wolf. He had been heard. They were coming to them. After another couple of cries, Colling started tapping him, aware that help was almost there. The sound of a snow mobile was getting closer and closer.

"T-t-t-terri...." Collin stuttered from the cold. Kirk stopped howling and crowded even closer around the boy, "c-c-caves. Sh-sh-sh-sh-she's in the caves." His small hand pointed in a direction not far from the one Kirk had been running in. "I w-w-was g-going th-there bec-cause I was scared." He shivered violently against Kirk's fur. Colin and Terri must have discovered the caves as a safe place. And if Colin was going there and not to the pack house, it must have been for a reason. Kirk settled onto the boy, trying to shelter him from the elements even more, howling again, to let the approaching party know where they were.

Within minutes, a brown wolf came barreling into Kirk's side. Kayla. She was whimpering, pushing at him to get at her pup. Kirk could see that the Luna's wolf was in full control right now, so he leaned out of the way for her to see that he was alive. Cold, unsure of his injuries, but alive. The snow mobile bearing Darren and Michael arrived seconds later. Darren was struggling not to shift as Michael started stripping off his clothes, pushing Kirk out of the way and getting Collin bundled up warm and dry, then he shifted, allowing Darren to scoop his son and whimpering mate up and onto the snow mobile. A dozen other wolves stood and watched, most of them heading back towards the pack house, but three of them stayed with Kirk, all members of his pack. John, Nolan, and Zoe just looked at him as the storm continued to rage around them. A curt nod of his head, Kirk turned and started running in the direction Colin had indicated, the three wolves following close behind him.