Hybrid

TWENTY-THREE

⫷ JAMES ⫸

In my father's meeting room, he points to a map laid out on the circular table. "Here." His finger slams on a part of the map. "This is where you will begin your search. I will send Liliana and a few men along with you and your..." My father's eyes flicker up to Brea, with a hint of a scowl, before looking over at me. "Pack members. It's known as 'No Man's Land.' Inevitably, it is the perfect place for rogues to gather."

"Fine." I glance at Finn and Brea, both already focused on me. "Ready?"

"Yes."

"Always."

My father glares at our exchange. "My men will be waiting at the front of the house."

Without so much as a goodbye, I lead the three of us out of his office and out of this damn mansion. Everything about it makes me tense; the dark colour scheme, the overpriced decorations, the relatively empty hallways. It didn't feel like home. It never did.

In the form of our wolves, we run for hours. Dad gave us Liliana and three other men. Again, proving my suspicions of just how close he is with his Beta; he'd never let a woman out on this sort of job. 'Women are meant to stay home with the pups, where they cook, clean, and tend to their man's every need.'

I scoff at that idea. If it weren't for Caleb being an integral part of my younger life, I may have grown up thinking my father's words to be true.

Day becomes night, and our only lighting relies on the stars and moon. It's been hours since we crossed my father's territory. Little by little, the trees lose their strength. In fact, the farther we run, the less vegetation there is surrounding us. That smell in the air... it makes my nose turn.

'Something doesn't feel right,' Brea, still in wolf form, says to me.

Finn, on my other side, spares her a quick glance. 'I'm with you on that one.'

Liliana leads the group a dozen feet ahead of us. Another as at our rear and the other two on either side of us, as if herding us forward.

'What is it?' I send a mind-link to my two pack mates.

'This place... it feels off. Doesn't smell right,' Brea comments.

I scan the area we run in, noticing many plants dead and shrivelled up. Ugly branches stick out of malnourished trees, and piles of dug up soil scatter across the land. We enter an area contested in fog.

'I can't see anything,' Brea complains.

'Alpha?'

I narrow my eyes through the fog. It's times like this I can communicate with a wolf outside of my pack so I can ask Liliana what the hell is going on. 'I'm going to guess,' I say to my pack mates as the smell of chemicals sours my nose. 'That we've made it to No Man's Land.'

'This blows,' Finn grumbles. 'Are we even still following the others? I can't see them.'

'Slow down.' I stop running, and the other two follow suit. I expect the wolf that had been running behind us to catch up. As time goes by, I realize he isn't behind us at all.

I scratch at the ground, trying to fill my nose with anything besides the chemicals in the air.

'Wait a second.' Brea walks in front of me, toward the right. 'I'm picking up another scent.'

'You can smell anything besides this chemical shit?' Finn growls.

Brea ignores him. She turns to look at me. 'Blood.' Despite the disdain in her posture, I trot up beside her. She's the better tracker out of the two of us, but I'm able to faintly catch what she means.