Big Red and the Little Wolf

Chapter 7

Echo Pov

“Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked Derek. If anyone other than me had questioned his orders, they would’ve been tried for treason. Instead, Derek had brought me to his office for me to be honest with him as his closest friend.

“What choice do I have? It was because of our border patrol’s negligence that you were injured.” Derek sat across from me, behind his desk with his face in his palms.

“For the millionth time, I’m okay.”

He lifted his head from his hands to meet my stare. “I don’t think you understand me, Echo. Both you and Violet were out in the woods unaware of the potential threat. I could've lost two of the most important people in my life.”

“You’re right. I don’t have a desire to go out there again any time soon if I’m being honest.”

“Exactly. I have to set stricter rules in place, at least until the threat of the hunters is gone, to keep all of my pack members and their loved ones safe. No one is allowed to go into the woods unless they are the guards on duty.”

I nodded. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“I’ve already sent for some men to go around and make the announcement. From there on, the guards will be able to enforce the new rules and keep pack members out of the woods. I don’t even want anyone shifting unless it’s life or death.”

“Do you think people will accept that? Some might go stir crazy if they aren’t able to get physically in touch with their wolves for a long period of time.”

Derek shrugged but began tapping his fingers on the desk. The presence of hunters unnerved him with the history of his father. He was extremely protective of his pack, but I could tell he would prefer if he didn’t have to make these hard decisions. “If they have a problem abiding by the rules, they can happily shift in the safety of a cell.”

“Fair enough,” I said in a quiet voice. It was times like these I wondered how we made our friendship work despite being so different from each other. I couldn’t be further from a position in power, whereas he was entrusted to make all the decisions. At times, he had no choice but to be harsh with others.

“I know it seems like I’m being extreme, but I don’t want those hunters catching a whiff of us. There’s no telling what kind of damage they could do. So until it’s clear, we need to try and wait them out.”

A knock at the door caused Derek to groan. It was rare that he was able to focus on one thing at a time as an alpha. The person at the door didn’t wait for a response before entering.

It was the pack’s beta, Josh.

“We’re in the middle of a conversation,” Derek tried to tell him.

This did not deter Josh from continuing to move closer towards the desk. His breathing was shallow as though he had rushed over here.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

Josh spared me a quick glance. Though Josh had never been outright mean to me like some of the other pack members, I could always tell that he wasn’t my biggest fan. I had a feeling that he cared less about my canine abilities and more about the fact that I was closer to the alpha than him.

“One of the guards on the southern border was just found dead.”

Derek shot up from his seat. “Are the hunters responsible?”

Josh nodded. “We found a silver bullet embedded in his pelt.”

“If the guards haven’t started taking the body to the morgue already, give them the all clear to do so.” Derek turned his attention back to me. “I’m sorry, but I have to go investigate, Echo.”

I stood to argue against being left behind. “Let me come with you. I can help you find evidence of the hunters.”

“I don’t want to put you at risk again.”

“There’s nothing to worry about if I go there with you. I know you wouldn’t let anything happen to me.”

Derek’s jaw ticked in reluctance while Josh watched the exchange in annoyance. “Okay. But you are not to leave my side.”

I simply nodded before the two men took off. I quickly followed suit so that I could trail behind them. As we walked, they continued to talk about the patterns of the hunters in the past years. It had been a couple of years since there had been any sightings, but that didn’t mean they would ever be gone for good.

We made our way through the hallways of the pack house, attracting stares from any members passing by us. Most of their stares fell onto me as I walked closely behind the alpha and the beta. Their judgment didn’t faze me in the slightest. I was used to everyone thinking I wasn’t good enough for their pack.

Before we could make it out of the pack house, two girls turned to each other after seeing me. It didn’t take long to figure out they had just heard the announcement about Derek’s response to the hunters. I could hear them whisper about how it was my fault they wouldn’t be able to shift. They believed that if only I could have handed my own, Derek wouldn’t have banned them from being in the woods.

If Derek heard the girls whispering about me, he didn’t show it. Normally he wouldn’t let anyone get away with speaking about me like that, but he was dealing with much more pressing issues now. I shrugged off their words. When the news came out that a guard died, those girls would realize that the hunters were a danger to everyone and Derek’s decision had nothing to do with how well I defended myself during their first attack.

Ahead of me, Derek listened to Josh explaining the border patrol’s actions to losing a warrior. His posture was rigid and his jaw so tense he couldn’t offer more than grunts in response. While our positions in the pack couldn’t be more different, I realized how we were under the same pressure. The pack counted on him to make the best decisions possible for all its members. He couldn’t falter underneath his responsibilities. I, on the other hand, couldn’t risk any mistakes either unless I wanted to be blamed for more.

We began to enter the southern woods, which were rarely used by the pack members. The forests on the surrounding sides of the pack were much more popular as they were more spacious for running. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been in the southern woods as the wolves in them were usually only the warriors. Not only was it necessary for us to guard the pack from all sides, but the southern border was also good for training as the warriors became accustomed to moving through the obstacles.

Not even fifty meters into the woods, a fallen tree blocked our path. The two men climbed onto it with ease, but as I was smaller than the both of them, Derek lowered his hand for me to take. With his help, I pushed off of the ground and was lifted the rest of the way onto the trunk.

Though Josh stepped down from the trunk and continued on, Derek looked back to steady me as I jumped down onto the uneven ground. While Derek didn’t seem to mind helping me, it was clear Josh felt that I was only slowing them down. He made every effort to move at a pace that I couldn’t match. When Derek and I got too far behind, he would look away and roll his eyes.

Just as I thought I couldn’t take being in the woods with him any longer, the scent of blood hit my nose. We had finally come up on the place where the warrior was killed by the hunters.

“This is where it happened,” Josh gestured to the matted leaves that were coated in blood.

A couple jagged rocks stuck out of the ground in front of me. I braced myself on a nearby tree as I stepped over them to get a closer look.

Derek had reached where Josh stood and crouched to the ground. “This whole spot reeks of those vile beings.”

Among the strong scent of blood, the hunters had left a fragrance of sweat and ale behind them. The stench was undeniable, but there was something else that Derek didn’t mention. There was a hint of cinnamon and bourbon that reminded me of sitting next to a cozy fireplace.

The scent drew me in as though it wanted to be found by me alone. I followed it to a fallen branch that was just behind the men. I squatted down closer to it, sparing a glance to see that neither of them were paying any attention to me.

Beneath the branch, a glint of red caught my eye. Reaching down, I pulled back the tiniest scrap of crimson fabric that measured no larger than my index finger. It carried the scent of the hunter that compelled me to get closer. I tucked it away in the pocket of my jeans before Derek or Josh could see it. Then I brushed off the top of my shoe as if I had just been inspecting it the whole time.

I had wanted to come with Derek so that I could help him find out more information about the hunters. In that moment, however, I cared about nothing more than understanding why I felt so connected to the scent on the fabric.

“Maybe we could dispose of these leaves. Burn them or something.”

“I agree. There’s not much else we could do to clean up the area. It will be at least a few days before their scent fades away,” Josh commented.

“And that would be if they don’t come back.”

“Will they be back?” I asked. The two men turned towards me as though they had forgotten I came along with them.

“Why wouldn’t they?” Josh countered as though he was tired of catching me up to speed.

“Well they got what they wanted, didn’t they? A wolf?”

“Chances are that they’ve been doing this long enough to know that we reside in packs,” Derek explained. “Hunters are rarely ever satisfied with taking only one life.”

“I guess that means we will be seeing them again,” I added solemnly.

Derek shook his head. “You will be secured in the pack house so that you don’t ever have to face those killers again.”

At the word “killers,” I could’ve sworn the piece of fabric was lit aflame. Derek and I didn’t ever keep secrets from each other. There was no telling exactly what the fabric could mean for us, but I had to find out before he took it into his own hands. It was clear this problem with the hunters would not go away anytime soon.