Wolf Tracks

Chapter Thirty One

I awoke sputtering and coughing when someone splashed me with a bucket of ice-cold water. Oh god...my head. I blinked the water out of my eyes and shook my head to get my messy hair out of my face, trying to remember what had happened. It hit me all at once: the crash, the giant and the madman, Terra...Terra. These bastards killed her. I didn't feel grief yet. No, instead I was furious. I didn't get to know her that well, but she was the only human I'd met since I'd first Shifted that didn't want to kill me. She was irritating and stubborn, but she seemed to be a decent person who fell into the supernatural world after someone close to her was killed, and now she was dead. And it was because I failed to protect her.

I was tied to a chair with my hands behind my back and there were thick, heavy chains wrapped around my chest and arms that bit into my skin through my henley. My lips had healed from where my teeth cut into them and my side had stopped bleeding but still hurt like hell; I guessed that I hadn't been unconscious for more than a few hours. My entire body ached as a result of the electroshock treatment from the lunatic at the warehouse, and my muscles were sore and tired. It had been a very, very long day.

I looked up and found myself outside in a clearing between two log cabins. I guessed that this was one of the old resorts outside the city, where you could rent a cabin for a weekend or summer for camping. The place shut down when most of the city's businesses did, their normal vacationers no longer living in the area or having the money to stay there. It seemed that Dallas and his pack had taken this one over; it was smart, with no risk of witnesses and no one to come across a werewolf by accident. It was seriously unlucky for me though; no one would know where I was, and anyone who would care was either dead or also held captive.

There was a chill in the air, the first frost of the season having already arrived and snowfall soon to come. I could see my breath in the air in front of me, and I wasn't sure even my wolf's blood would keep me warm during these cold nights without being in my full wolf form. Frigid water from my less than friendly wake up call soaked my hair and shirt, and the heavy metal chains crisscrossing my body felt like ice. I started to shiver.

Dallas stood in front of me with a smug smile. I longed to get my hands free so I could wipe the expression from his face. He stood flanked by the two men who had captured me, and half a dozen others who I could only assume were his packmates. I recognized Pretty Boy and his weaselly faced friend in the crowd and guessed that Dallas had gathered them all to view the spectacle in front of them. Were they waiting to see what would happen? Or were they just wanting to take a look at the skinny little girl who somehow became a True Alpha? If I had to guess, I would say that Dallas had sworn his friends to secrecy regarding the fact that I had bested him when he came looking for a new plaything. He wasn't the type to admit defeat nor, I realized as I sat watching him, was he the type to ever forget being slighted in such a way.

At this location, where I was close to where I suspected he would've kept my friends, I still could not feel them. It was as if the bonds between us had never existed in the first place, and I was starting to fear that they were dead. I didn't know enough about how pack bonds worked to know if I would be able to feel if they were killed or hurt, or whether there was some way to block the connection between us. Was there something wrong with me where I just couldn't feel them anymore? What if I wasn't an Alpha anymore? There was still so much about this world that I didn't know, and I cursed myself for not learning more about it when I could.

I struggled against my binds, but I wasn't able to move more than an inch, the chains pressing into my skin tight enough to bruise. So breaking free isn't a likely option. Maybe I could turn his friends against him. If they saw how weak he truly was, would they take the chance to be free of him? Or were they just as cruel and vindictive as he was? I wasn't sure how or if I would ever get myself out of this situation. I had a terrible feeling that my luck had finally run out. If I were to die tonight, permanently this time, I would make sure that I went out swinging and that his pack knew the kind of worthless coward he truly was.