One of Runts

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty: Something's Off...

        I shake out my fur as I exit the shallow end of the lake, despite the rain coming down. "Where are you?" I hear Azrael ask through our mate bond. I slip into my bag that sat on the edge of the water as I bathed.

        I send Azrael a hazy image of the lake before allowing his conscious to slip into my mind and watch as I begin to head through the forest towards the camp. I feel his acknowledgment before he continues.

        "You might want to get here as quickly as possible, Sibyl and Tryn found something." At that I swiftly pick up my pace. This is the third time that someone thought they found something, but the day after when we check for something there is no trace of the rogues. It's very irritating.

        This is the first time that someone's actually found something during our morning run before we go out for the day. I run as fast as possible as I feel Azrael's seriousness throughout bond.

        Azrael and I haven't done anything other than spend more time closer together and the both of us are a team. And despite being mates, we're completely professional. The others find it odd how we haven't mated yet, but the truth is that we haven't felt that way.

        I duck under a branch as I enter the camp. The camp is hidden in a small valley cave that's surrounded by trees. In order to enter it, we have to duck under the branches or crawl under them as the larger wolves have to do.

        I shift as I shake off my bag. Azrael's pacing back and forth, looking at the map that's placed on our make-shift table, a hand-held candle lamp next to it. There are pins all over the table where we've found something and there are areas marked with red string where we've already searched.

        There's a triangle area marked with blue string where Azrael's marked the sightings. His brows are furrowed as he leans over the table and calculates the distance between the sightings and where we're at.

        I don't pay mind to Raven and Conan as they enter the camp. Seconds behind them are Seth and Conner, running full force and stumbling down the slight dip in the earth. They shake it off and swiftly shift, too.

        I stand beside Azrael, looking over the map. Despite not being in this area long, I've become very familiar with our surroundings and the sightings areas. So familiar in fact, that I can easily sense if something has changed.

        Everyone crowds around the table, waiting for Azrael to tell us what's going on. "You see this area?" Azrael asks, circling around the triangle. Everyone, including me, makes noises of agreement. "This is where the sightings have been located. And the safest bet is that the rogue's base is located in the center of this area, and or around it."

        I nod my head softly as it makes sense. "Sibyl and Tryn have been searching between the two areas here," he says, pointing to the two pins at the bottom of the triangle. "Early this morning the two of them decided to check out the area to the north of it and found this spot." He points to the top pin that creates the triangle.

        "And since they took this path," he says, running his finger along the right string of the triangle, "It means that they must be westward of the pins." He points at the left side of the triangle.

        "Are you saying that we have a potential base location?" Tryn asks, staring into Azrael's eyes. Azreal brings his head up for the first time and looks all of us in the eyes.

        "That's exactly what I'm saying," he says, his voice strong. "All of us will be separated in our pairs and we'll search along this line. Hopefully, we'll strike gold and find the rogue's base.