Finding Course

5

Katherine.

"I'm going, he is my uncle and I have every right to be part of the search party," I demand, taking a step closer to him. At my forwardness I could see his eyes dancing with their green fire. He opened his mouth to respond, but stopped himself. I swore he almost smiled, but his furrowed brow was quick to return.

"You are staying here. I'm not arguing about it." He spoke to me as if talking to a child, and my anger flared.

"Yes you are, because I'm coming with," I countered, grabbing at his bicep as he turned to leave. He froze, his eyes lingering on my hand.

Slowly, he turned to face me again. "Don't be stupid or ignorant. If the hunters do have Daniel you would be an added distraction, probably used as bait. Stay here," he explained with a serious voice. I recognized that he had a point, but I was still angry. His mind was focused on how to achieve the end goal: find Daniel. He didn't have nearly as much emotional tie to the situation like I did, but that was why he was Alpha and called the shots.

"You can't d-"

"I can. And I will." He raised an eyebrow, daring me to argue back at his repeated command. His voice was confident and clear. I took the moment to notice how calm and unbothered he seemed by my frustration. It irritated me to no end. He didn't give me much of a chance to respond, because he was gone a second later.

Left behind while others went out to find my potentially kidnapped uncle, I was fuming. I angrily ran my hands through my chocolate hued hair and almost pulled it from its roots I was so frustrated. How the hell was I supposed to just sit still twiddling my thumbs while everyone else was out on a rescue mission? He was my uncle. I should be part of the group searching for him, right?

I heard the crunching of leaves from behind me and I whirled around to find Sophia. Her face was lined with concern but she still gave me a smile. It wasn't a genuine smile, but one of pity.  "Hey. Ordered to stay put, huh?"

"Apparently so," I crossed my arms over my chest. I paced back and forth in the grass, studying the different colored leaves that littered the ground. "Zane send you to make sure I didn't run off?"

"Yeah," she guiltily answered. "It's probably for the best. They have a system and they're usually successful when they're out hunting. If Daniel is still in the area they'll find him." Her voice seemed so confident. It almost made me more upset that she was acting so calm.

"For the best? I don't know if you missed the newsflash, but my uncle could be captured by those psychopaths that shot at us back at the lake!" She took a step towards me but I held up my hand. "Sophia I know you're trying to be helpful but I'm really starting to freak out. Stuff like this didn't happen in Utah; yeah maybe there was the occasional hunter scare nearby but nothing like this! Do you have any idea how much guilt I will have if something bad really happens to Daniel because I was up camping, drinking, and having fun?"

"Katherine, calm down."

"I can't," I blurted and my eyes started to shift. I was working myself up.

"If you want to go, you better leave now so you can catch the pack's scent," she smiled as she looked towards the tree-line.

"Wait, what?"

"I agree, you shouldn't feel that guilt. Hurry up before you lose their scent. Go, join the search party," she encouraged and nudged me a bit.

"Really?" I questioned, a little stunned that she didn't put up more of a fight.

"You're not a prisoner, you're pack. You're also my friend. If you want to help search for him, I support you. I'll cover for you here in case he sent anyone else to keep watch."