Howls of the Lost | Now Published!

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

I panted heavily as Logan landed on me for quite possibly the hundredth time in five minutes. With a deep groan I shoved him off me and hobbled to my feet. He quirked an eyebrow at me, his tail wagging slightly behind him.

"Are you doing okay, ma vie?" he asked.

Nodding, I took a deep breath to steady myself. "Just a little tired," I admitted, knowing it was useless to lie to him. He always figured me out.

A wolfy smile stretched across his face as he trotted over to me. He nudged my shoulder, attempting to move me to the edge of the clearing. "Go sit out for a few rounds. There's no use in beating yourself up," he said.

"No," I argued, shaking my head before sinking into a crouch again. "I'm fine."

He gave me a hard look before tackling me again. My breath left me in an audible gasp as my back collided with the hard ground.

"Torian, go take a break," he ordered, the slightest tinge of an Alpha's tone infecting his voice to show me just how serious he actually was. Beginning to shake my head indignantly, I stopped when I saw the glare that he had aimed at me.

"Alright," I huffed. "I'll take a break."

"That's my girl," he said with a wink.

"You're lucky I don't kick your ass for that one," I remarked, sinking down so that I was laying on the soft leaves near the edge of the tree line.

My eyes closed of their own accord, so I just listened to the pack for a while. Snippets of conversation carried to me as the wolves went at each other. When I caught a piece of Rikki and David's conversation, I couldn't help but laugh at the pair.

"C'mon, Red," David jeered.

A dull thud could be heard as Rikki tackled him. "How's that?" she asked, laughter laced through the words.

David grunted unintelligibly in response before I heard him knock Rikki off of him. "Good enough," he said, and I could almost see the smirk that would surely be fitting itself onto his face. "For now." And with that I knew they had resumed fighting.

The sound of nature drowned out the sounds of fighting, and I slowly slipped into the warm darkness of sleep.

❃        ❃        ❃        ❃        ❃

The scent of earth and stone wafted its way into my nose, causing me to scrunch it up. Raising my hand to my face, I rubbed my eyes to remove the sleep from them.

Wait, hands?

"So you're a Pierce?" his unnervingly familiar voice spoke.

Sitting bolt upright on the cot, I took in the cave as I searched for him. No matter which way I turned I couldn't locate him. The realization that I had fallen asleep as a wolf hit me full force and I glanced down and breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, I was wearing jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt.

"Where are you?" I snarled.

"Right here," Xander breathed as he seemed to materialize out of the shadows, a sly grin adorning his face. "Did you miss me, darling?"

"Not in the slightest," I scoffed, swinging my legs over the cot so I would be ready to run at any second.

Scowling, he began to make his way towards me. When I held my hand up though, he halted. When I met his liquid silver gaze, the fear started to take hold, and that's when I finally admitted it to myself. I was afraid of Xander. I was afraid of what he could do, and what he would do if I continued to infuriate him the way I did. My frame started to quiver slightly from a mixture of fear, anger, and exhaustion. Xander noticed and cocked his head to the side.