The Half Mutt Mate

Chapter 10: The Chase

Grace's PoV:

I pulled my friends closer to me and pressed a finger against my lips. Kayden and Ella were frantic and they didn't understand what was going on; I gestured wildly for them to be quiet.

"We're being tracked," I whispered, closing my eyes so I could focus on the tracker's scent. I took a deep breath and concentrated on clearing my mind. I fought through the foggy mess of my head, sweeping errant thoughts away and cutting through the noise of my memories. I could smell the moist air around me, all the fern trees and little animals crawling around them. The smell of damp leaves below my feet was strong, as was the strong, familiar scent of my two friends. Somewhere behind me there was a deer.

Since awakening my wolf with Jamie and Alex, my senses had gotten stronger and stronger, even if they hadn't been around to help. Now, more than three months later, I could smell strong scents from up to a mile away, further if the wind was blowing in my direction. I focused, searching through the smells of the forest to explain what I'd smelt only a moment before -- nothing. I slumped back in exasperation but continued to try. A slight breath of wind drifted over, revealing just the tiniest hint of an unusual smell.

I gulped. "They found me," I said. "We're being followed by a wolf. Maybe more than one."

Kayden gasped while Ella just stood there in shock. It was suddenly hard to move, but I knew what we had to do.

"Judging by the smell it's in wolf form, so it's fast. It's at least a mile and a half away though, so we have a head start." i tried to reassure them. "If we run by the highway and get to the nearest town we can blend in among the humans, it won't risk following our scent in wolf form and it'll probably assume we just ran through the town."

Ella nodded, as brave as always, while Kayden had started to shake.

"Are you okay?" I asked. "We haven't got much time."

Kayden sighed but tried to give me a smile. I took his hand and held it firmly in mine.

"Come on, we need to hurry!" I took off running, dragging Kayden along behind me. Ella was hot on our heels, adrenaline pulsing through all of our veins, and we ran as hard as we could. Hopefully the wolf didn't know we'd sped up yet, so it wouldn't speed up to match our pace.

We crashed through the undergrowth, pushing aside the branches and leaves that came to whack us in the face. We didn't have time to weave through the forest or avoid puddles so we ran right through them, the water splashing up and spraying our ankles. Faster. I yanked on Kayden's arm, trying to speed us up. He was scared, too scared to think properly, much less run at full speed. Nonetheless we kept going, our muscles burning beneath us.

Ella was panting heavily just behind me, a combination of no sleep and a lack of food leaving her breathless. Her legs were shorter than mine and Kayden's, meaning she had to work twice as hard to match our pace, though she was somehow managing it. Faster. there was something electric pulsing through my body, I could feel it's energy course through my arteries and into my bones. I was hot. I was dizzy. I was scared. Faster. My skin itched all over and the tendons connecting my bones ached. I felt like I was about to explode into a million different things. Faster.

I pushed my legs forward, desperately trying to move even a fraction of an inch further with each stride. Kayden's hand was clammy in mine. I cried out desperately -- something didn't feel right. Behind us, there was the sound of something else crashing through the forest. The wolf knew we were running. I panicked.

Faster.

Faster.

Faster!

With a lurch I led us out of the undergrowth and next to the highway, praying that the extra visibility would be enough to slow down the wolf. There was a town on the horizon, probably only a few minutes away if we kept going at the same speed. The sun was just beginning to cast its light around the landscape, meaning the werewolf would be fully visible to anyone who cared to look. Surely it wouldn't dare risk being seen?

My throat felt like someone had rubbed sandpaper all over it and my lungs burned. Faster. My tongue was swollen and heavy in my mouth. How long had we been running? It felt like eternity. If we could only make it to the town, if we could only get there fast enough that the wolf wouldn't know where we went...

"Come on, we're nearly there!" I said, my voice hoarse.

Just a final push...

We darted into an alley, ducking behind a wall. I let out a sigh of relief, but we weren't safe yet. Stumbling along with barely any strength left, I led us round and round in circles through the streets, confusing our scent to make us harder to track. In front of us the town was just starting to wake up, the smell of coffee being brewed was carried over to us by the chilly autumn wind. 

We were panting loudly, but made no other sounds as we slipped through the streets, looking for a place of refuge. I couldn't imagine what any of the locals would think if they saw three dirty, ragged kids wandering around in the early hours of the morning, so we stuck to the shadows. Hurriedly, we went deeper and deeper into the town, hoping the lack of cover for a big wolf would dissuade it from coming through, at least as a wolf. If it shifted back to human form then we could more easily hide or out run it, as its senses and speed would be weaker. 

I spotted an empty looking shop with its door open. The sign on the front said it was closed, but apparently the owner had forgotten to lock up the night before. I pointed it out and we snuck in, grateful that no one was around to see. There was something weird about the town and the empty shop -- it was too easy. But I wasn't thinking about that, I was thinking about how tired and scared I was. With a happy, near hysterical yelp, I sank to the floor, falling asleep almost instantly.