One of Runts

Chapter Forty-Two

Chapter Forty-Two: Trickery

        Azrael trails not far behind me as I sprint through the forest, barely picking up the faint of the wolf. I still cannot tell who it is, though I know they're familiar. I know I've scented them before. Talked to them before. My tail flicks in annoyance as the scent comes to a dead end.

        I close my eyes and circle the area where the scent dries up. I can feel Azrael's eyes on me, but I don't pay any mind to it. This is our only chance to find the rogues to take down Alpha Steros, as the rogues that follow him like to call him. He kills without remorse. He doesn't deserve to be called an Alpha.

        "Do you scent anything?" Azrael's voice says softly into my mind. I let him feel my annoyance and frustration as an answer, shaking my head as I circle back towards where we came from. My ear flicks to the side as I realize something, an angry snarl curling on my lips.

        "I'm becoming sloppy," I murmur to him, furiously scenting the air in hopes that I'm not wrong. I paw at the ground as I sprint back towards where the whole team split up. We had all decided that it would be more beneficial if we split up into our partnered groups. Everyone was still a little hesitant on letting Conner go, but I trust him, and apparently, my trust is good enough now.

        "What do you mean?" Azrael says, suspicion clear in his tone as he sprints beside me. I don't bother to hold in my speed as I sprint a little ahead of him. I know that he can probably run faster than me, but he's running behind me so I can easily catch more scent that I come across.

        "I should have realized it!" I hiss as I come across a stronger portion of the scent. "How didn't I scent it?" Feeling Azrael's building annoyance and confusion, I elaborate, turning my head to gaze into his eyes. "The rogue's scent isn't with this one. He wasn't traveling with them." I paw at the ground as I circle the scent, this part much more easy to smell than any other part of the trail.

        There's a little pack scent to it, but it's so covered by the prominent scent of pine, that I can't tell what pack it belongs to. I narrow my eyes. "Whoever this wolf is, they're a traitor." Azrael snarls lowly behind me in his anger. I can tell that since he and I are such loyal wolves, that those who are traitors do not do well within his presence.

        I whip my tail at him to make him stop growling, perking my ears up to listen around me. I know I heard something... I swivel to the right as a low snarl echoes throughout the forest. Azrael cocks his head towards that location and I know that I'm not the only one to hear it. We wait a few moments and when we don't hear an apology from any of the squad, we sprint in that direction.

        "It was a trap!" Azrael mentally snarls, him not wanting to let the wolf who snarled know of our presence. It's a high chance that the wolf thinks that we did not hear it's snarl, so we have to be as stealthy as possible. "How did I not see it?"

        "We were all tricked, too, Ace," I murmur to him softly, wanting to console my mate. The urge to protect and console your mate is a strong one, I'm coming to learn. "I'm just angry that I didn't catch it sooner." He nudges me softly and I hum softly in thanks.

        I slow down as we begin to rise. I crouch down as snarls echo throughout the area. This is a more isolated part of nomad's land, the land that no packs claim, and this particular section has a little valley. "One of the squad must have been drawn down there," I tell Azrael, sending him a hazy image of the valley. There are only two exits and it's easy to get caught down there. A herd of deer tends to migrate here during the winter as it's easy to defend. That also means, however, that it's hard to escape once you get caught in it.

        We pin ourselves to the ground as we come upon the ledge. I inch myself forward before Azrael's teeth latch onto my paw. I tilt my head to the side as I look into his eyes, curious as to why he's stopping me from looking at who's down there as their scent has yet to drift to me.

        "I don't want you to get seen," he tells me. I would feel hurt that he doesn't trust me to not be seen, but considering the concern in his pale green eyes, all I feel is a rush of soft affection.

        "Don't worry, love," I tell him softly. "I've done this more than a hundred times. I'll just get a quick peek before ducking back down." I know what he's going to say before he says it, so I give him a dry look. "You're too big, Azrael. You'll be seen. If it'll help, I can merge our link so you can also see?"

        Merging a mindlink is generally the same thing of sharing an image at the same time, but instead of you sending the image, the wolf who's link you are merging with will be able to see through your eyes. It's easy to do as all you have to do is let that wolf's conscious into your mind. Many wolves don't do it as they feel it's a breach of privacy. I'd never ask for someone to merge a link because I feel that way, too. But I trust Azrael and he's my mate.

         He pins his ears to his skull and looks away slightly. "You're willing to let me into your mind like that? You're willing to let me see what you see. Hear what you're thinking?" His voice is full of compassion and it's soft. I know that if I show any form of refusal, he'll be fine with it.

        Instead of providing him with a verbal answer, I close my eyes and search for his conscious. Whenever you speak with a wolf via mindlink or wolf-link, they're conscious will partially be in your mind. It's not like merging where you're completely sharing one mind as you're only allowing them in to show thoughts.

        It's easy to grasp the line of Azrael's conscious within a minute since we're mated and I give it a little tug. I can hear some of his thoughts and he can no doubt hear some of mine. I make sure to keep my mind calm as his conscious begins to merge with mine.

        Is she seriously doing this? I hear him think. I smile softly and I can tell he sees the thought as his conscious turns bashful. "Yes, I am." I shake my head and open my eyes as I look over to him. "This feels weird," I tell him despite the fact that he can easily hear my thoughts. It does, he agrees.

        I shake it off, and with one glance into his pale eyes, I inch forward. I brush off his concerned thoughts, not really trying to focus on what he's thinking. I dig my claws into the earth to give myself some grip as I crawl underneath a tree. Yeah, he definitely wouldn't have fit under here, I think absentmindedly.

         I heard that! he thinks loudly. I roll my eyes and focus on looking over the cliff. My lip begins to curl into a snarl at what I see. "Calm down," Azrael urges me, nudging my rump. I whip him in the face but he ignores it. "We cannot let them know that we are here."

        I mentally snarl into my mind at the wolf that stands in the center of the valley clearing, prancing around like he's a freaking dear. Azrael's anger-filled snarl echoes mine as he sees the wolf, too. "I should have killed him when I had the chance," he growls lowly, trying to inch further. I move forward for a better look as I know that he wants to see more of the situation.

        Kace is circling around Raven, Sybil, Conner, Seth, Conan, and Tryn, who are currently snarling for all that they're worth. Why aren't they linking us? I hear Azrael think. I let my eyes wander over the rogues standing around the rest of the squadron before my eyes still on the only individual that looks human.

        They're leaning against the far wall of the valley near one of the entrances, their fingers glowing dark gray as a mist circles above their hands. They're moving their fingers in a particular swirling pattern and my lip begins to curl again.

        "They've got a witch on their side."

Author's Note:

Hey, everyone. *chuckles nervously*

Sorry that I haven't gotten as many updates out as I promised! I'll try to get another one out this weekend, but I'm really busy with a lot of things.