Moon Dancer - Hidden Wolf 1

Grayson

I ran through the woods, my paws scratched and aching. I forced my legs to pound faster and faster.

My wolffish huffs were filled with agony and desperation. When I crossed into the wildest and emptiest part of the forest between Ashwinter and Moonstone, I let out a long howl of solitude, putting my broken spirit into it. It was guttural and raw and the most pathetic sound I'd ever made.

Only about half way home and in the middle of the forest I knew I was utterly alone out here.

My pack had tried to link with me, but the internal forest I hid myself behind was damn near impenetrable. It had become this safe place I retreated to while I was in the under circle. It was my fortress.

They surely had left Ashwinter by now, and would be a little ways behind me as I ran a straight shot home instead of following the winding roads through the forests and mountains.

Slate had taken something from my soul that I wasn't sure I could get back.

If I just got to Grayson, maybe the mate bond snapping into place would heal me. She would heal me.

Hell, she would heal all of us.

More broken than ever before, I picked up my aching and heavy paws and trudged a couple of steps forward.

Would she even want me?

My wolffish head shook from side to side, knowing in my heart that could never be true. Grayson was the kindest, most gentle and loving creature I'd ever met.

I choked on a laugh. It didn't matter if it was a bunny, fox, or even a wolf. Whatever creature, she'd mend.

Moving my feet faster and faster, my determination to find my mate leading me forward, I broke into a full sprint. I didn't break my stride until I skidded to a stop outside our new home.

I couldn't stop the whine that escaped my lips, clawing at the ground.

Goddess it wasn't even dawn.

I growled as I turned, lurching into the woods.

The foundation and frame of our new house had been erected, but all of our belongings were still in the old house at the edge of town.

I'd beat my pack home, and be out with my weed before they'd be back.

I hated that our mate bond would snap into place while I reeked of skunk...

But something had to mask the smell of rape.

I knew I'd smell of vinegar, this time more potent than the others. The one true thing that I could do to mask the scent and numb my senses to the trauma I just experienced?

Get high as fuck.

I tucked myself against the trunk of the tree, balanced on a wide branch. There was nothing but miles and miles of trees around me, the emptiness calming.

Clumsily, I wrapped a joint and lit the end, savoring the first pull. And I didn't stop hitting it until it was ashes in my hand.

Then, I rolled another.

I relished in the absolute mind numbing bliss for as long as I could.

The cloud cover was thick and dark when the sun did finally rise. I groaned as I moved into a sitting position, my body stiff from spending hours on the tree branch and my mind spinning from the weed.

Only slightly clumsily, I dropped down from the tree branch and started making my way south.

Surely my pack had already been working for an hour or so.