Starblush Book 1 - Snaking Shadows

Chapter 1 - part 3

The murky shadows moved. Straightening and lengthening elegantly as he watched, until a tall, slender figure stood casually leaning against the tree trunk he had been glaring at only a few moments ago.

His pulse quickened, thumping uncomfortably, as his wolf sight drifted over the lean shape. A deep primal instinct told him that the stranger was a female of his own kind, he could feel that familiar thrumming of conviction in his bones. Something set him on edge though, and sent his mind scrambling for an explanation. The way she held herself, even while shrouded in darkness and a knee-length hooded coat, was sleek and graceful.

She was powerful, either that, or she was very confident in approaching an unknown male wolf by herself. Even high-ranking ones, he suspected. That left a bitter taste in his mouth – he had met more than one confident and opportunistic female like that in his short rein as alpha so far, but he didn't quite get "Gold digger" vibes from the way she watched him. Those eyes. Such a cold and eerie blue. They were calculating, but not in a way that made him want to hide the keys to his riches. He had seen them before.

This was no ordinary wolf, approaching him out of curiosity. He knew without a doubt – that she was his stalker.

Stiffly he got to his feet, feeling less intimidated now that he knew he had been tracked by a female, but only a little. Something bothered him about the aura she gave off. She wasn't reacting at all; she was just standing there – observing him in a way that made his skin crawl. Like a serpent made of shadow and moonlight was slithering over his grave. Shoving back the urge to shift, he sized up the female stranger who still stood leaning calmly against the trunk, seemingly unbothered by his roaming eyes or the fact that he now knew she was there. There was an odd glimmer in her eyes. Was that humour? He wondered. He could almost swear the corners of her eyes were tilted up as if they were crinkled with a smile, but he couldn't make out her other features, even with his wolf sight, to be sure. He wasn't sure what unsettled him more. The fact that she blended so easily and almost unnaturally into darkness and shadow, or because he now knew that she had been toying with him this whole time. Reluctantly, he met her eyes – she knew it had affected him; he was sure of that. What did she want? Was it a private audience, perhaps she had been one of the wolves at the meeting and wanted to discuss more of the plans with him? But then why not just approach him directly?

Anxiety swirled inside him as he thought, maybe this was a test set up by the wolves I had sought out, to see if I was worth my salt and so worth following? He was sure that he hadn't spotted those particular eyes among the crowd he had gathered though; he was sure he would have remembered if he had. So, who was she?

Anger rose up again, at the thought of how she must have seen him run in fear like a pitiful pup, and what she must be planning to tell whom ever had sent her. His muscles popped in protest to him holding back the change. Was this how my crusade failed, running in fear from a mere she-wolf? He had an urge to fight, to take her down and demand to know who she worked for – but for some reason, that urge was being warred desperately against by the instinct of self-preservation. What if someone hadn't sent her – what if she had sent herself?

He wondered what his next move should be. Should he attack or play it cool, and see what she did first? He tried to make himself relax, but all the night's anxiety blended along with uncertainty, and left him with an internal battle just to stay human. Despite all the possibilities he had been considering about who or what might be following him – he felt stupidly unprepared to handle this situation, and that by itself set off even more alarm bells in his ears. This is wrong, unnatural, this encounter is dangerous. His instincts screamed. Biologically he knew that a female should be no match for him if he decided to pounce, but something told him that shifting first and inflicting a physical confrontation would be a very bad idea on his part.