The Hunt is On

Pushing Borders

"I hate this place." I whispered to Ember.
"I've been here all of fifteen seconds and I have so much adrenaline, I feel like I'm going to hurl."
From across the rock we were on and behind, she hushed me.
"Just chill, okay?" She whispered.

We were about a hundred feet into the Phalanx territory, and my heart was pounding in my chest. Right now, the two of us had hidden behind a huge rock, still in our bathing suits and soaking hair.
"I wish I didn't have a bright yellow bikini on." I mumbled, frowning.
Ember smiled. "Think in advance."

I ignored her. "So, what's the game plan?" I asked. She nodded. "Right. From the things I've heard and seen, the pack house is like, a mile and a half from the west border, which is where we came in."
"And you think we can actually make it to there?"
She shrugged. "Let's find out."
Carefully, we moved from behind the rock and crept forwards, listening carefully for anyone nearby.

I almost couldn't hear anything else, with my pounding heart, but I took deep breaths.
'This was my idea' I thought. 'It's going to be okay.' At least I hoped so.

Ember and I went about a quarter of a mile before we heard anything.
As soon as we did, we stopped and crouched down behind trees, a few feet apart from each other.
It had only been a small branch snapping, but it wasn't by an animal. So whoever it was, was in human form. Which was good, as their senses weren't as strong, they would have trouble hearing or smelling us.

After five minutes, I looked to Ember, and she nodded to keep going.

"For now on, no talking."
She said through our pack mind link.
I nodded in agreement.

"What if we need to shift?"
I asked.

"Then we shift. And run like Hell."

Another nod, and we focused on moving forward carefully and quietly.
In a way, I was having fun with this. I found it exciting and enthralling to be sneaking around somewhere we could get in trouble being.
But I knew someone would find us soon.

And sure enough, it wasn't long before we heard branches snapping underfoot, as if someone wasn't trying to be quiet.
Ember and I quickly hid ourselves behind another rock, pressing together, trying not to make a sound.
The footsteps were probably twenty feet to our right, and there was more then one person.

I scooted to the side of the rock, trying to see who was there, but Ember grabbed my arm and pulled me back.
'No' she mouthed, shaking her head.

"If we shifted then we would be able to smell them."
The voice stopped us short and made our blood run cold.
It was the person we had heard walking, and like I had guessed, he wasn't alone.
"Alpha said they probably came in by the west border." The second person told the first.

They were both males, one most likely the Beta, the other maybe third or fourth in command. But they had been notified of us, we hadn't gone undetected.
I thanked God they hadn't come with the Alpha, we would be found by now.
Looking to Ember, I saw the glint in her eyes.

"How far in do you think we are from the border?"
I heard her voice in my head.

"Maybe a mile at most. Probably less."

She smiled.

"Carefully look out from the rock, see how far away they are."

I did as she told me, looking out for a quick second, then pulling back.
There were two of them, both tall and muscular, looking ready to shift on a moments notice.
One had dark hair, the other had lighter hair, but it was longer, and they were both extremely good looking.