Redeeming the Lost (A Comforter's Tale)

Chapter 13

My legs ached, and so did my arms. Part of it was from riding a wolf for five days straight, but the majority of it was from being locked in human form for so long. I ducked under another branch, wishing they would let me shift and carry me by the scruff of my neck or tie the duffle bag on the top of Liam's harness. I had ventured the suggestion a few times, but Carson refused to even consider it.

From the position of the sun, I guessed we would probably go for several more hours before setting up camp. I already knew Carson was going to have to lift me down – there was no way my legs were going to hold me today.

With a sigh, I chewed another small strip of jerky to try and distract myself from the slowly passing time. I ducked under yet another branch and saw Carson slide to a stop as his hackles went up. Liam stopped so suddenly that I actually rolled over his shoulder. He lowered himself as I fell, so I didn't drop so far, but I still landed with an inelegant and painful thud.

Rodger barreled past us, and Liam urgently nudged me with his muzzle, trying to get me to stand while anxiously glancing toward his companions. I ended up grabbing a handful of his neck fur to pull myself up, groaning as my legs protested. He kept pushing me back until I stood against a large tree.

Spitting snarls came from Carson and Rodger, and I looked up just in time to see three other wolves attack them. Liam left me and charged over to help his friends. The sight of their red eyes made me gasp. They were ferals.

Turning around, I began climbing the large tree as fast as I could. My feet occasionally slipped off branches, but I didn't stop my hasty ascent. Snarls, yelps, and growls came from below as I climbed as high as I dared. Then there was silence. A very eerie silence.

The leaves blocked my view, but I wasn't about to climb down in case the rogues were leading the ferals on a wild goose chase. I hung onto the branches and strained my ears to hear anything. Even the birds were silent or had fled.

I waited. And I waited some more. A few birds chirped in the distance, but there was still nothing but silence. Cautiously and carefully, I climbed down a few branches so I could see something besides leaves.

A gasp left my lips as I covered my mouth with my hand. The grass below was covered in blood and tufts of fur. Sprawled on the grass, ripped to pieces and disembowelled, were the bodies of the three rogues.

My body shook, unable to believe that the three rogues who had taken out an Alpha and Beta had been so easily overpowered by three ferals. I knew ferals were extremely dangerous, but knowing that and seeing dead people covered in their own blood were two very different things.

I closed my eyes and swallowed hard, suddenly glad I hadn't eaten much, or it might have made a reappearance. Taking a deep breath, I looked at the gruesome scene again.

Carson was in his human shape with various glass vials and body parts scattered around him. It took me a few seconds to spot his arm on the other side of the clearing.

The necklace with the wooden token was still around his neck.

I scanned the forest as best I could from this angle, but I didn't see the ferals. Unless I joined another pack and got the Alpha to issue a command to override Sorrin's, I needed that token to shift back. I waited, constantly looking around for any motion.

Weren't there supposed to be other rogues in no man's land? I really wished some of them would smell the blood and come check the area, although the ferals might have already scared them away. Rodger and Liam were in their wolf form, so I had no camping supplies. An empty water bottle and three strips of jerky weren't going to get me far in the middle of the forest.