An Alpha without a Pack

Chapter 22

I ran until I found it beyond difficult to breathe. Then I ran a bit farther, only stopping when I could no longer go on. I leaped into a large thorn bush, causing some small cuts, and listened for anyone that might have followed me. Once I was positive that no one did, I changed into my human form and noticed the strange glow around my neck. Flinching from the poking and the tabbing of the thorns all around me, I look off the silver chain before opening the dirt-covered satchel.

In it was small bits of paper so worn and damaged that it was hard to read what any of it said and one small key at the bottom glowing a soft teal.

A branch snapped in the distance causing me to drop the bag and hunch into an attacking position. I quit breathing so I could listen better. There was no other sound other than the flutter of a bird flying off.

Suddenly, a large animal busted through the shrubbery causing my soul to jump out from my skin. Slowly my soul made it's way back to me as I realized I was staring into the brown eyes of a doe. I watched in awe as she just looked at me, assessing if I was a threat, her ears twitching this way and that. Then, just as quickly as she had come, she ran off disappearing.

I snapped out of my daze and loosed a breath that I was holding before focusing on the task that I needed to take care of.

I reached into the bag, pulled the small key out, and began taking the glowing feathers off the chain to put them on the key. As soon as all three were on it, everything had a brighter glow and had a pulling sensation in the direction of north. I slipped the now complete onto the silver chain before grabbing my brother's old bag and chucking it in a different directing. Then I burst from the thorn bush and began sprinting in the direction the key was pulling me, the opposite direction I threw the bag in.

As I was running, I debated with myself if I should shift into my wolf or remain human. Not only was I slower and naked now, but it was extremely difficult to run through the overgrown forest. I stepped ono sharp stones, consistently snapped twigs, and kept getting slapped all over my body by bushes or low hanging branches. Just when I was about to give up and shift, the key suddenly jerked to my right almost choking. Catching my breath with my hand on my throat, I looked in the direction the key was now pulling. It felt like it was almost vibrating.

About ten feet away stood a large boulder. It was about the size of a door with moss and vines growing on it, making it look like a normal, simple boulder. I let the key pull me towards it. As I was getting closer, a warm welcoming feeling enveloped me.

The feeling reminded me of being in bed under thick blankets with a fire crackling in the room on a snowy night.

Soon I was close enough that the vibrating key touched the rough surface of the large rock.

"Great," I sighed out loud. "What am I supposed to do now?"

I placed my hand flat on the surface of the boulder and felt not the rough surface someone would expect a boulder to feel, but the smooth wood of a door with paint. Dumbfounded, I ran my hand side to side, up and down, and felt slight rises and falls like worn wood. I slid my hand to the right near my waist and felt cool mettle. After grasped what felt like a doorknob, I quickly took off the glowing, vibrating key and felt for a possible keyhole. Once found, I stuck the key in and twisted. Almost instantly the boulders surface sunk in about two inches and slid down. I put the key around my neck, noticing that neither they kept itself nor the feathers were glowing anymore. I stared into the dark doorway.

Instead of being intimidating and scary, the darkness felt warm and seemed to be calling to me. There was even a hint of a rose scent in the air. Taking a deep breath, I stepped in. As soon as I stepped through the threshold, a faint glow ahead that seemed to light the walls of the cave very faintly. It was all just like the dreams I had when I was held captive by Drake. I walked further into the cave inching closer to the source of the glow. When I was further in, I could tell the glow was coming from a dream catcher hanging on the back wall. I picked up my pace almost tripping on the uneven ground.

Soon the cave itself had opened into a round room made of stone. The walls were no longer in arms reach but instead surrounded me like a dome. The dream catcher, made of wood, wool, and feathers, just hung on a simple nail that was hammered into the wall.

The Catcher.

My hands felt clammy and it was suddenly hard to breathe.

On their own, my feet moved closer to the magical thing. The closer I got to it, the warmer and more nervous I became.

How does this work? Will it even work? What am I even supposed to do when I have it?

Question after question invaded my mind with each step I took. Soon I was right there in front of it, all I had to do was reach up and grab it. I swallowed the thick lump that formed in my throat and reached up slowly. Just before I grasped the glowing dream catcher, I heard what sounded like claws on stone and a blood-curdling growl.

"Don't you dare, little rabbit," Jake's voice rumbled from behind me.

I spun around so quickly that I almost feel to see him, naked from shifting, stalking towards me. Not only were his eyes glowing a bright red, but he was also in a mid-shift, looking even more terrifying than before. His back was hunched over with patches of dark fur.

His hands were long and ended in sharp claws dripping with gore. His face looked very canine with elongated fangs and pointed ears.

"If you think you can take this away from me, take away the chance of bringing him back," he growled in a disgruntled voice, "then you have another thing coming. Do you even know how to use it?"

Jake stalked closer, slowly like he was approaching prey. In some sense, I was his prey. "Even if you were able to a hold of The Catcher," I said in a voice much smaller than I would have liked, "it will disappear and relocate because you are not a Silver wolf."

He just smiled sinisterly, showing white sharp teeth.

"I only need to touch it once to get what I want."

I watched Jake as he crouched down, preparing himself to lunge for me and the Catcher. Just as his body tensed and he leaped off the ground, I turned back to the glowing dream catcher and grasped it.