A warrior's song

CHAPTER FOUR

Needless to say, my first year in this realm was completely useless because there really wasn’t anything to learn, so I got them to kick me out of that pack because it’s a lot better for them to kick out the human than for me to sneak away, and then they get suspicious and warn all the other surrounding packs.

After they kicked me out, things were so bloody hard. I might be a witch, but I don’t get everything I need with a snap of my fingers. I had been living from hand to mouth for a little over a year before another pack took me in.

Things honestly did not get much better than they were in the last pack I was in. Were they different? Yes, they were definitely a lot different, but they were just as useless to my cause.

Unlike in the last pack, where the alpha was a power-hungry fool, this one was the opposite. He never caused trouble with other packs and always maintained peace within his own pack. Apparently, his mate had died years ago, so he just lived peacefully with his daughter and son, waiting for the day he could die and be with her, but again, luck was against him, and it seemed like he was going to live a very, very long life with his kids.

It was so peaceful there that it made my skin itch. I couldn’t bear to stay there longer than six months, and I had been roaming their territories since then. I honestly had no idea why it was so hard to get into another pack since then, but I don’t know how long I can continue roaming.

It had been over two years, and I guess the animals around here had a meeting or something because it gets harder to hunt every single day. Victoria had been appearing in my dreams a lot recently, and it helped with the loneliness, but if I did not complete this task soon and get back to the coven, I might lose my s**t.

I straightened my spine and looked at my surroundings. I was surrounded by tall, imposing trees; it looked like something straight out of a nightmare, but I was used to it by now. You get used to a lot of things when you live in the wild for a couple of years.

I ignored my aching muscles and pushed through the burn in my thighs as I continued down the path I was on, but a little slower this time. One useful thing I had learnt from these wolves was that running helped to calm the mind.

It was honestly an incredible feeling. There was just something about going on for miles until your thighs burned, and your lungs were struggling to catch up with your heart that was calming, fulfilling even. It made me remember that I was still alive and breathing. These past two years away from other beings, these runs were one of the things that had kept me sane.

Another thing that had kept me sane was gardening. Being a witch, I had always been very in tune with nature, so growing herbs and stuff wasn’t new to me. It brought a sense of familiarity that I didn’t know I would miss so much.

I finally reached the rundown ‘house’, if you could even call it that, where I had been living in the last two years. It was right in the middle of the blooming garden that I had taken so much care of these years. With a sigh, I went in to freshen up.

ELIAS’ POV

This trip was going to be one of a kind. We were meeting with the alpha of Blood Moon Pack. From all I had heard about them, they were ruthless and had the worst temperament. Not to mention, they were cunning as foxes. I still didn’t understand why Cal insisted I follow him. It was the alpha’s duty, but somehow, he always found a reason to drag me to one of these events.

We were already pretty far away from the pack's borders, and for some reason, Bruno could not settle down. He kept on pacing in my head, and it made me restless as hell. I kept bouncing my left leg up and down, trying to get him under control, but it didn’t work out. With every distance we covered, he grew even more restless.

It wasn’t until Cal placed his hand on my thigh that I realised how loud I was. He looked at me with obvious concern, and I took in a deep breath to calm my nerves. Big mistake.

The familiar scent of pinecones and raisins wafted through the air. The scent was enough to make my mouth water as an intense desire to find its source overcame me. “Stop the car.” I was so distracted that I didn’t even know that Bruno had taken over, and I had unintentionally given my alpha an order, but none of that mattered to me right now. The one thing I could not get out of my head was that scent, and my burning need to find its owner.

I guess he also sensed the urgency in my words because he told the warrior who was driving the car to stop, and I immediately hurried out of the car and followed the trail of the scent. The closer I got, the more restless Bruno was.

It was the same scent from that night five years ago. The one I sensed when I was on my way to the pack house to begin my gamma duties. Something told me that there was something important about this scent, and I shouldn’t lose it again, but as soon as that thought came into my head, it vanished.