A Touch of Scarlet (Wolf Secrets #1)

Chapter 15

Chapter 15
Annika

"Come on, come on, come on!" Kayleigh shouted. I put down my pen and got up. Trying to study was hopeless. After lunch, Nathan and I had talked politics, ceremonies and mates. Now that was an interesting conversation. Unfortunately it didn't leave much time for studying.

"Coming!" I answered. Nathan appeared in the doorway, smiling. "Is it always like this when you go running?" I rolled my eyes and pushed passed him.

"Whenever I go with her, yes." Nathan put his hand on my shoulder and I stopped, tensing. I knew what he was going to say. I didn't need it. Not now.

"Annika, someday you're going to have to at least try to forgive yourself." I clenched my jaw and pulled away. Easy for him to say, he hadn't been the reason his sister died. I caused Kyle's death. If I hadn't been weak, Kyle would be alive.

But what kind of life would he be living?

I never knew which aspect of my personality asked these questions. The cruel side? The side that was relieved by the fact that my little brother didn't have to suffer through a private school that taught human children how to live with disabilities?

Without realizing it, I had left the house. Kayleigh and Aunt Em was waiting for me in the car. Still in a haze, I got into the car's passenger seat. Nathan got into the driver's seat.

What kind of life would we be living if Kyle hadn't died? I could imagine Kyle and Kayleigh pulling pranks on me, like we had always done. I saw myself melting into a puddle when my brother pleaded for something. I saw Kyle living with his blindness. I saw a whole different personality for myself.

Kyle had been the final straw back then. I left the pack in my aunt's hands. For a year I trained with Nathan's elite warriors. I wasn't the best, even when my year was up, but I was different. I as an Alpha.

My eyes flickered over to Nathan's watch. 7:45. With any luck, we would be done in an hour. When we stopped inside the reserve, I had successfully gotten my head out of the storm clouds it had been in. I helped Kayleigh out of the car and she gave me a very cat-like grin.

"Race you to the tree line!" She shouted and took off running. I smiled and ran after her. As I ran, I shifted. My vision sharpened, my muscles became stronger. I leaped into the air. My bones broke and reformed, sending a burst of pain through my body. My clothes melted into my skin, fur sprouting from every inch of me. When I hit the ground, it was on four paws. I easily caught up to Kayleigh and reached the trees first.

"Unfair." She moaned. I stepped closer and licked her cheek. "Ew!" She pushed my head away, but couldn't move it more than a few centimeters. I huffed, letting her know she should shift. She stepped back and got to her knees. She wasn't as experienced as I was and it still hurt quite a lot when she shifted.

Nathan and my aunt joined us in wolf form. He was as sandy blonde in his wolf form as his hair was when he was human. Unlike most wolves, whose eyes stayed the same color after they shifted, his eyes were honey-gold. The sign of an Alpha. My aunt's black wolf with our family's trademark brown eyes brushed up against me. Kayleigh's small black form straightened and bounded toward me. I knew what they saw when they looked at me.

Silver eyes. Nathan had searched high and low for an answer to that, but hadn't gotten any answers. Well there was one place he hadn't bothered to check, but I would wait until we were truly desperate for answers before going there. My fur also wasn't your average color. Most Wolves had fur the color of their hair and while I mostly had brown fur, there was a golden undertone to it.

Without warning, I set off into the trees. My breath came out in short pants. My paws lifted dirt from the ground and sprayed it into the air. I felt powerful. Unstoppable. Free. The pressure eased out of me.

Nathan caught up to me and we ran side by side. Not as an Alpha and a Luna, a powerful man and a seemingly weak woman, but as two warriors who were equals. He started to pass me, but I pushed harder. It had always been this way. He challenged me to little things and I proved that I could do it. We ploughed on, going faster with each second.

The air changed. A scent drifted up my nose and I skidded to a halt. Nathan stopped too, but a few meters in front of me. Behind him, they stepped out of the trees. Two Hunters, male and female, and by the smell of it, Cade's parents. A feral growl tore out of my throat. Nathan came to my side, joining my growls. Cade's father had his palms up. His hair was close-cropped and starting to thin, but his eyes were a steely green.

"We mean you no harm." His voice was smooth and deadly.

Yea right. I stepped forward menacingly. Nathan had other ideas. He stepped in front of me and inclined his head toward Cade's father. I sidestepped him and glared down Jager with the most hateful expression I could muster. Cade's mother was next to him. She had curly hair that was pulled up into a ponytail and she looked at us with fear.

"I'm hoping we can end this peacefully. We have no intention of killing you or anyone in your pack."

Two Hunters. Two Wolves.

That's when I realised that I hadn't smelled them. I looked to my left and lunged. I intercepted the Vampire just as he was going to land on me. My momentum carried the two of us forward and he landed on his back. I ripped out a small part his throat without a second thought. If my claws hadn't gone too deep, he would heal in time. It was just going to be painful as hell.

When I looked up, the Hunters were gone and Nathan was staring at me with wide eyes. I grabbed the Vampire's shirt between my teeth and dragged him in the direction we came from. What were the other Vampires thinking, sending only one? I knew he was the only one, just by his scent. There were no others near here. At least we had something now. A Vampire that was going to spill his guts, or die a slow, painful death.