Looking To Belong (A Runt's Story)

Chapter 29

A glint of eyes in the fading light caused me to pause. With a sinking feeling, I slowly turned for a closer look. My heart started beating faster as the cougar stared at me, not at all intimidated by my human form. For some reason, I didn't have my bow on me. I was also missing all of the other weapons that I usually carried, other than a tiny pocket knife. I waited with growing fear in hopes that it would leave. It took a slow step forward, and I took a slow step backwards. My shoe cracked a twig, and the cougar charged.

I jumped to the side and shifted into my wolf shape so that the cougar's leap flew high above my now-tiny form. This shape was even worse; a cougar would have no hesitation about attacking it. There were no bushes or rabbit holes in sight either. The cougar turned and leaped again. I darted off to the side before shifting and grabbing a big stick. I hoped that the sudden change in my size would deter the creature, but it was a vain hope.

I backed against a tree as the cougar slowly stalked forward. I heard a whisper barely on the edge of my hearing. "Jade..."

The cougar growled at me as it kept advancing in a crouch. I was beginning to shake in fear as panic clouded my mind; I was cornered and had nothing more than a small knife and a branch. It was as if the forest was shaking as well...

"Jade!" Will's loud mind shout broke through the dream, and I opened my eyes with a gasp. My heart was still racing and my breathing was accelerated from the nightmare. Will was holding me tightly as worry radiated across both my senses and the mate bond. I relaxed somewhat as I realized that I was safe in bed with Will. I took a shaky breath. "Thanks for waking me; it was just a nightmare."

I could feel his intense worry and concern. "Just a nightmare?" he asked in disbelief. "You were terrified and panicking. It was strong enough that I could feel it clearly through the mate bond even though you were asleep." He took a deep breath as he tried to calm down as well. His voice was softer, and concern came to the forefront of his mind. "Can you tell me what it was about?"

My heartbeat was rapidly slowing to normal. With a weak grin, I replied, "I have a severe problem with cougars. They are obsessed with me, and I don't feel like becoming cat chow." I whispered, "The only four times that I thought my life was truly in danger was when a cougar was after me."

Will's arms tightened around me protectively with a low growl. "I will never let that happen. The pack members have always kept any big predators away from the town just as a precaution in case a child went wandering. Since you came, all of our fighters have been keeping an eye out for bears and cougars and chasing them off of the pack territory as well."

That was a relief, although the fact that I had stumbled across a bear the other day meant that I was not going to be traveling carelessly. I leaned my head against Will's chest. "I know. It is an old fear. It is about the only nightmare I get."

He lowered his head to my neck to inhale my scent slowly, and I sensed his worry disappear and his concern fade.

With a sigh, Will said, "Please don't go into the forest without me knowing. I will be forever paranoid if I think you might go for a run with me unaware. And we still haven't figured out where that rogue went or why it killed the other rogue." I could sense that he didn't want me to go anywhere alone, but was trying to not be too controlling. He was struggling with it.

I nuzzled my face into his hair to reassure him. "I already promised that I would tell you. Even if I did go out without someone with me, we do have the mate bond connecting us." I sent a feeling of humor through the mate bond before mindspeaking him, "In other words, if I yell your name in a panic, it means get your butt over here right now."

He chuckled weakly. "You have no idea how glad I am that you are so easygoing. I know far too many fighters who would ignore my requests and probably wouldn't let me know if they were in trouble until they were at death's door."

I leaned back to grin at him. "That is the difference between a fighter with an over-inflated ego and a runt who has spent a few too many years as a rogue."

I felt his relief and amusement. I cuddled up against his chest again and murmured, "Besides, you wouldn't have wanted to meet the rogue that was killed anyways. We actually picked up his old scent trail while picking mushrooms. We promptly headed back to the pack house, but his scent had an undertone of old blood. I also managed to catch a whiff of the one chasing him, and it was clean."

Will stiffened. "I don't recall any mention of this earlier..."

I sighed heavily. "I was told to save it until we were alone, and I really didn't want to kill the mood the last two nights."

Will relaxed slowly, but still had a mixture of varied emotions. He was not impressed that I had kept something like this from him. "Who told you to remain silent?"

"Tony. And the two guards agreed. They didn't feel like being near me if you overreacted and came running."

"I guess I know what they were keeping from me." Will sighed in defeat.

I rubbed his arm. "There shouldn't be any need to keep secrets like that now that the bond is completed and has stabilized. You may overreact, but you shouldn't lose control."

He sighed and dropped his head to my neck again. I contemplated a small dilemma for a moment. Will murmured, "What are you thinking about so hard?"

I spoke in a contemplative tone, "How badly will you react if I told you that I knew the rogue that evaded you?"

Will's breath caught as he stiffened again. I could feel his overprotective tendencies rising as he tried to restrain them. He succeeded in containing his reaction, although I could practically hear his thoughts despite not peeking into his mind through the mate bond. He knew that he had been my first, and with the mate bond firmly established, he was the only one capable of generating desire in my body. His jealousy had no real ground to stand on.

I waited, letting my amusement leak into the mate bond. Will took a deep breath before saying, "Can you expand on that comment?"

I traced my finger absently over his arm as I replied, "He was more like a brother than anything else. I met him less than a year after my pack was destroyed. I was traveling with the original group of rogues who found me. At one point, a smaller pack invited them in. They didn't want a runt, so I had to keep going. Jisk has issues with Alpha commands and would never agree to join another pack after what happened to him. He traveled with me for years. He was the one who taught me most of the survival skills that I have. Everything from how to smoke meat to masking my scent. He taught me any little trick he could think of when it came to eluding anyone who may pursue me.

"He showed me how to climb a tree to evade ferals and how to pick up as many details as possible from any rogue's scent. He killed a cougar that had me trapped in a rabbit burrow on two different occasions. He was the one who actually helped me join the Black River pack, although he had no way of knowing that the Alpha would suffer a massive heart attack. He travels a lot since we parted ways, but I see him several times a year. He is the type of rogue that tends to hunt down the unlawful rogues. I was somewhat surprised when I picked up his scent on our territory."

Will was silent for some time before he said, "Oddly enough, I think it would be interesting to meet him. I would be curious to hear his stories from when he traveled with you."

I snickered. "Oh, I am sure he has a few more stories than I would care to know about. I was quite clumsy when I was younger."

I yawned, and Will hugged me slightly closer. "Sleep," he said. "Tomorrow will be another day."