Lone Wolf's End (McKayla Series Book 1)

Chapter 5~ Unspoken Words

           

Mckayla
~

We finally made it to Arizona, five miles from Nina's pack and all the nerves in my body tingled. Anxiety of how my wolf would respond to them in question, I kept my wolf at the edge, alert and well-guarded.

I hadn't been here in eight years and now it felt so foreign, it could have been longer. Everything looked the same but different somehow. It was a bit greener.

Nina wanted me to shift human once I reached her pack because they would see it as a threatening gesture. I told her I didn't care. I didn't come here to make friends or reconnect. This was a job. Just business. What they felt was irrelevant.

We ran in pelt all the way here. I had to admit Nina lasted longer than I thought. Her being a submissive wolf, she was used to the dominant Weres catching their game and eating what was left. I'd caught two game each time I hunted, trying to teach new hunting tactic for her, as we ate our own meal. Plus, I didn't want to share. I devoured my entire game each hunt.

Certain areas seemed familiar as I remembered places Nina and I use to go. Places where we would sit and talk for hours earning myself trouble later for being gone so long.

I could smell Weres a few miles up and I ended my stride.

Just up the desert path was a trail of cold chilling memory. This is where my father beat me and some of the pack watched free of choice.

Nina shifted and I pivoted backward giving her room. Once she was human skin, she curled her arms over her breast trying to cover as much of her as she could.

I was in wolf, but if I could talk, I would have told her to get over herself. I tilted my head to the side, looking at her for a long moment.

"You should probably shift now," she said. I made her wait and figure out for herself that wasn't going to happen. "You already look intimidating and very dominant human. Wouldn't it be better to save your more powerful look for another night?"

She had a point. It took me close to twenty minutes to shift. Once I was done, I tried to stand but found my balance weak and uncomfortable.

"You need help—"

"No," I hissed. "Give me a moment."

She nodded backing away. I could tell I made her angry as she tried to hide it. Too sweet and polite to speak her mind. I didn't give a shit if she staid quiet.

I wasn't going to apologize. I tried to stand again this time succeeding. "Let me make it clear. I'm here to do a job. Not share old stories, reconnect, or try to make nice with the ones who saw me off when your dead Alpha shoved me out."

Nina stiffened as if offended by the remark of my once father; her once Alpha. She bit at her inner cheek as she held in her tongue. I arched a brow warning her with my gaze to challenge me.

She still covered her breast and I snorted bemused.

'Can't be naked around me. Go figure.'

We walked up further, seeing in a far distance acres of clear grass land and trees lined about. No sight of desert. Last time I was here, that's exactly what it was. I used to try and convince my father to create some forest approach to our land, never enjoying the dryness. He always told me when I became Alpha I could do it myself.

"A year after...you were gone, he did this. He—"

"I don't care," I said quickly. If she was going to tell me something lame about him doing this for me, she could save that story for someone else. He was dead to me long before his actual death.