Mate Mysteries

Chapter 51

Francis truly thought she would die. It felt as though hours passed that she laid on the floor among decaying leaves, covering their autumn gold in red.

Pip had left on the back of Rogues. She failed not only Pip, but her Alpha. She hadn't expected Debra to be carrying a knife, but she had suspected something, and wished she hadn't been so scared.

She wished she had grabbed Pip and dragged him away, but knowing the Southern Alpha, Rogues had most likely always been close enough to catch them. Debra was now their Southern Alpha, and always seemed one step ahead.

I deserve this for being so careless, she thought, thinking of Pip.

The pain in Francis's side was sharp with each inhale. She wanted the ground to swallow her when she finally heard the footprints of more wolves. She recognised the scents. A big brown wolf with black patches was first to hover over her, staring with frantic red eyes.

"I-I've failed you, Alpha," she croaked and Krey furiously sniffed around as other wolves leaned over her, smelling her wound.

Krey then shifted, as did a few other Omegas who could help Francis. Krey pushed them away from Francis and cupped her face, making her open her eyes. "Where is he?" he demanded. "I smell his blood."

"Debra and Rogues took him-" Francis then frowned. "You smell Pip's blood? But he wasn't hurt." Against the Omega medics orders, she struggled to prop herself up onto elbows. She sniffed the air and could indeed smell someone else's blood. Then she saw the knife. "Oh Pip, you clever boy."

"What is it?" Krey snapped with wild red eyes.

"He must have cut his hand to leave a trail for you to follow."

Krey breathed heavy. "How could you let this happen?" He crouched and shifted back to his wolf form before she could reply. He sniffed the air, then pelted south and towards deeper woods. Omegas hurried after him. Krey was too scared that the Rogues would somehow outsmart them, and he would lose Pip. He had no time to fret over Francis, all he could hope that she was still alive when they returned.

Stop thinking. Krey stayed vigilant. Every few metres, he smelt a drop a blood and followed it to the next, hating that he smelt his mate's blood, but glad he had something to follow. He could also smell the lingering stench of Rogues. For once, he would love to sink his teeth into their disgusting fur.

* * * * *

Any minute now, they'll catch up, Pip thought, but every time he tried to look behind them, he had to grab the wolf's neck with both hands, and the blood on his cut eventually dried up. Pip had lost all sense of direction because the Rogues turned this way and that way and up hills and through streams. One by one, a wolf tapered off to run in a different direction to throw the scent.

Pip lost hope when they had been running for more than an hour. Multiple times he was tempted to roll himself off the wolf's back and down a ditch to try and escape, but he couldn't outrun them, and couldn't risk hurting himself. He also couldn't risk a punishment for trying to escape. He would have to think of something better.

But right now, Pip couldn't think. What he had done was very stupid. He had risked his life, and Krey's life because Krey had always said he wouldn't live in a world without Pip.

At least Francis might live. She was like a sister to him and would've done the same thing if the roles were reversed. Pip couldn't ponder on what he had done, all he could do was think about how he was going to survive.

Soon, they arrived at huge boulders that rose all around the trees. Plants sprouted through the cracks, moss covered any overhangs, and the air hung cold as the wolves split into three groups to weave in and out of the rocks. Some rose as high as a house, some boulders balanced oddly on others, and some were half buried into the ground; half consumed by nature.