A Tainted Love

Chapter Fourteen

Russell's POV

Why did I come on this trip? I kept asking myself over and over again. I kept longing to be home with my mate, helping her through her pregnancy. Paige was filling my thoughts so much that I had almost walked into two trees. Garret had understood, but Brett had laughed at me. I growled at him and kept walking, shaking off my embarrassment.

We stopped around noon when we lost the scent once again. We had been going in circles. This wolf was really smart. Its scent kept backtracking and was making Garret furious. I stayed clear of him, for I knew how bad of a temper he could have sometimes. I would feel the same if it was my mate on the line and not someone else's. Paige was my main concern and she wasn't here with me. She was at home; ready to have her pups any day now. I wanted to be there with her, but she had demanded I come on this trip.

Garret changed into his human form and we all joined in. We were close to a town and I could smell it. Garret pulled out a pair of clothes for each of us from the string on the ground. We had stopped before and stole some clothes off a line near a house. Garret had tied the clothes together with a string before tying it to himself. It was a smart idea, one I had to hand to the guy.

"We'll go find something to eat in this town and listen to see if anyone has reported seeing a werewolf pass by here," Garret commanded. I nodded, though I thought it was a bad idea. These people could find out that we were werewolves and come after us.

My stomach growled so I ignored my sense and kept walking behind Garret. Brett was walking ahead, not really caring if we were following. Brett had been quiet this trip, but I knew inside he was crazy. I had seen heard glimpses of what had happened as he muttered under his breath to himself, but didn't the whole story.

The town was dead silent as we walked up the beaten path. There was an abandoned house on the right with the shudders about to fall off and the door completely gone. There was a rat that darted into the little piece of wood missing from the bottom of the side of the house. I shook my head and kept walking, ignoring the feeling that said I was being watched.

Garret stopped a few feet in front of me and turned to look around. I sniffed the air, but made it only slightly noticeable. I didn't want the neighbors getting any ideas of what we were. We were in uncharted lands and I didn't want to start any trouble. If they were human we could probably take them, but I didn't feel like fighting and taking that chance.

I knew instantly that my feeling from earlier was right. We were surrounded by humans. All of them stunk with sweat and unclean bodies. One stood out the most as it approached us from the side. Brett stood there calmly as the man approached him with a pitchfork in one hand and a shotgun rested on his hip in the other hand.

"State you business," he barked. I looked to Garret to see him still looking around. He either didn't hear the man or was ignoring him. I watched as his eyes darted to the side, watching as more humans came out from behind houses and out of the woods. How we fell so easily into their trap was questionable. We should have known, but we were all too busy in our thoughts and not paying attention to our surroundings.

My stomach growled reminding me of why I was here. The sound must have been louder than I thought because the man turned to look at me. He was only about three feet from me.

"Why are you here?" he spoke again. I had already forgotten his first question, but answered this one since Garret seemed like he wasn't going to.

"We were looking for board and food. We're just passing through." I said, lying through my teeth, but they wouldn't be able to smell that as humans. I smiled kindly at the man whose stench was filling my nose. I saw Brett's nose curl in disgust as the wind blew it more strongly toward our noses. This was one time I hated my enhanced abilities.