A Pack Divided (Cascade Storms Book 1) Page 10

  Tracking the chase was easy enough. Haley knew nothing about covering her tracks and even less about hiding her scent. The path of churned snow was easy to follow.

  The accompanying path of the hunting party was also easy to track. The party was careless, following her without taking time for strategy or stealth. They were too eager and taking their prey for granted.

  That was unlike his best hunters.

  Daelan scampered down the steep side of the mountain where it plummeted almost 1500 feet below the den's level. Still no sign of blood or remnants of clothing.

  His heart raced from exertion and the glimmer of hope.

  His ears caught the faint sounds of others approaching fast from behind. Turning and bracing for the confrontation, Daelan saw his hunters as they raced to catch him.

  Daelan stood his ground. They would not get a chase. They would have to kill him where he stood, face to face, like men not like wolves.

  Lowell's wolf shifted, then Mingan, Kenyon, and finally Rek till his best hunters stood facing off against him as men. Daelan's ears pulled back against his head and his lips curled as his wolf growled menacingly.

  "The kid tracked them down to the river," Lowell said, "that means she made it atl least that far."

  "If we can head them off by going over the knob, we have a chance," Mingan added.

  "But we have to move fast," Rek was already back in his wolf and out of sight.

  "Com'on," Ken called back to the stunned wolf behind him before joining the rest of the party.

  Daelan watched his best hunters, all but Ruelle, as they covered the distance down to the river valley at the base of the mountain.

  It took him a minute to realize they weren't after him. They weren't after Haley, either. They were going after the party that was hunting his mate.

  Daelan's wolf sprung to action and ran to catch up.

  23

  Haley was wet and cold-- again. She almost laughed at her predicament. It seemed like she'd spent more wet and cold in the snow in the last few days than she was sure most people did in their entire lives. At least this time she had decent clothes on.

  By some miracle, they had decided to leave her alone over night. She knew there was a guy outside her door, but they'd given her some privacy to sleep. She'd been standing by the window all day and it hadn't taken long for her to realize that it would be pretty easy to open and slip out.

  It was two stories above the ground, and the ground wasn't exactly level behind the portion of the big house that her room was in, but it was covered in at least 6 feet of snow. All she had to do was manage to jump out the window without being heard by the keen ears of a house full of werewolves hungry for human flesh, fall 20 feet onto what was no doubt a bunch of rocks under all that snow without breaking a bone or making any noise, and then run down that mountainside until she came to civilization. In the middle of the night.

  Easy peasy.

  And once she managed to do all that, she had to figure out how to get back into the den, find Daelan, kill his family and friends, burn his home to the ground, and get away Scott free so they could live happily ever after.

  Yeah. That was going to go well.

  Much to her surprise, the first 2 steps of her plan went swimmingly. She'd landed with a quiet “oomph” in a pile of soft snow and managed to scramble down the slope behind the lodge under the very helpful light of a nearly full moon.

  At the bottom of the mountain she crossed a river. It wasn't too bad, wide but the water where she crossed was only up to her ankles. Ice cold, of course, but if anything she'd ever heard about outsmarting animals was true-- the river crossing should help mask her scent so it was harder to follow her.

  She'd run out of steam after half running/half crawling through the water upriver for several yards before heading uphill and into thick forest again.

  Haley watched the sun rise from under a big rock. A spot where several house-sized boulders had been left piled on top of each other by a previous ice age. It wasn't exactly a cave, but it provided shelter from the wind and kept her hidden from plain sight.

  She'd gotten a little sleep. She couldn't help it, her body was exhausted. Every tiny crack of a twig or the soft slushy sound of snow falling from a tree jolted her out of it as she strained to hear the approaching wolves that she knew would catch up to her any minute.

  She remembered her mad dash to make a getaway back at the cabin. How she'd thought she had a chance. How she'd been so very very wrong. And that had only been 3 of them. Now she was trying to outrun and entire pack of werewolves on their home turf.

  Her head rested against the granite of her hiding place. She dug deep into her emotions, looking for anger to spur her on and give her strength to keep running. It just wasn't there. She loved Daelan. She felt like she'd been waiting her whole life to meet him and the mere hours she'd gotten with him had felt like coming home.

  For all she knew he was dead. Wasn't that how it worked? Challenging an alpha meant a fight to the death, right?

  Her gut turned. Rek was the alpha now. It was one thing to think that Daelan's best friend had betrayed him but knowing that probably meant he'd also killed him was a hard truth to process.

  No. Mingan would have known if Daelan was dead. He said that Rek chose the room she was in because he didn't want her in “the cell with him.” She hadn't asked him to clarify who “he” was but she was pretty sure he'd meant Daelan.

  Something about “keeping him rational” and how having her there wouldn't be conducive to that.

  That mean Daelan was still alive. That's what mattered. Even if she didn't make it out of here alive, at least that would free Daelan to go back to living among his people.

  The possibility made Haley feel better about the mess she was in about the grief she'd caused Daelan. None of this was his fault. She was really starting to see how the whole "fated mate" thing worked...and how it could work against you.

  The light grew strong as the sun rose in the sky. Haley listened to the birds begin to sing around her as her surrounding came into view. It really was beautiful out here. Too bad she was cold and tired and sore and this was probably the last day of her life.

  Except for the birds, the mountains were peaceful and quiet. She heard the river rushing to get where it needed to be down in the valley that she'd climbed out of but no sounds of anyone coming after her. She really needed to get moving while she had a head start on them.

  Holding her breath to listen, she forced herself to leave the shelter of the rocks and continue her pointless trek.

  By the time the sun touched the highest peaks of the west range, she was still alive. There'd been a few close calls a couple of times when she was sure she'd heard the crunch of snow under paws or boots, the distant sound of human voices being carried on the wind, and the occasional howls and yips of wolves calling back and forth to each other.

  Of course, she had no idea if those were wild wolves or werewolves. It occurred to her that she needed to be weary of both.

  Just before nightfall, in the fading visibility of twilight, she found another place to hide. A little divot of a cave that had been hollowed out of a huge rock probably millions of years ago. It was deep enough to get her out of the wind, with a little turn toward the back that kept her hidden from anything-- or anyone-- that might pass by.

  She had crossed 3 more streams today. Well, 2 really, but she crossed one twice. She'd walked through the water where one stream was shallow, hoping to hide her scent.

  She still had her boots on and at least they were waterproof-- until water and snow got in over the tops. Even in the snow, she'd worked up a sweat from hiking all day. That had kept her warm until she stopped moving. Now her feet were so cold she couldn't feel them.

  Being a nurse meant she knew a thing or two about hypothermia and she was starting to worry about frostbite. She pulled her boots off and peeled the wet socks off her feet. There was no way she was going to get them dry by morning but she l
aid them out beside her anyway and tried to massage some circulation back into her toes.

  She wished she had a fire. And a bed. And Daelan beside her.

  She fell asleep with her hands still on her feet and dreamed of making love to her mate on a sunny beach in the tropics.

  24

  People were yelling outside the hut. Tourists, probably, shrieking over a shark sighting or some shit.

  Haley tried to block out the noise and rolled over to wrap her arm around Daelan's waist, hoping for just a little more sleep.

  More yelling, then barking. Lots of barking.

  Someone's dog was not enjoying the surf.

  Growl. Yipe. Bark. Curse.

  Haley's eyes popped open.

  This was not a private hut on the beach of a tropical island resort.

  And Daelan was certainly nowhere within reach.

  It all came back to her in a flash as the sound of a dog fight waged somewhere nearby.

  Not a dog fight. A wolf fight. A werewolf fight.

  The sounds of snapping jaws and ferocious growls were interspersed with angry curses and scuffling noises that sounded like fists and footsteps.

  She curled herself into a tight ball and huddled against the farthest nook of the little cave. She was pretty sure she was hidden back here, but she felt vulnerable. She had a clear view to the outside and she was sure that if she could see out, someone else could see in.

  The fight sounded like it was still in the distance. She forced her breath to remain calm and low so she could listen to the voices, straining with hope to hear her mate.

  "She went east and that's the way I'm going too!" The voice sounded familiar.

  "Her trail is dead and for all we know she is too."

  "If she was dead, we'd have found her by now."

  "Or parts of her."

  "Her trail isn't dead, you're just too old to smell it."

  "I'm not too old to rip you apart."

  The sounds of a new fight broke out. A fist hitting flesh, the involuntary cry of someone being hit, a snarl, a yipe. Another wolf adding to the scuffle and then a woman's voice, "You boys keep fighting, I have prey to disembowel."

  Then the voices faded. It sounded like they were headed in a different direction.

  Haley let go of the breath she'd been holding.

  She waited to make sure they were really headed away from her and then she reluctantly rolled the still wet socks onto her frozen feet and began lacing her boots. She hadn't eaten. She was most likely hypothermic, she didn't know where she was or where she was going, but hell if she was ready to give up.

  She crawled to the mouth of the tiny cave and began to climb out into the snow when a new noise startled her.

  Something was moving through the snow ahead of her. Flashes of tan fur were visible through the bare branches of whatever shrub grew up here on the exposed east face of the mountain.

  Haley's hope dropped. She hadn't seen all the men as wolves but she was sure that's what she was seeing. The only thing that was keeping it from discovering her scent right now was a strong breeze in the wrong direction.

  The animal stalked along the ridge, still not quite visible between the shrubs and the rocks. Haley saw something following it. A tail! A very long, thick tail that bobbed and twitched as the creature moved.

  Haley never thought she'd be so relieved to see a mountain lion that close in her life.

  She sank back and sat on her heels. Waiting for the big cat to go on its way while only vaguely aware that having it discover her wasn't likely to end any better than if it was one of the wolves.

  A sound above her caused both had and the cougar to freeze.

  Crunch. Crunch.

  Those were footsteps. Up on the rocks over her little cave. Something was up there.

  Haley instinctively ducked.

  The cougar crouched, its eyes trained on something above Haley.

  Suddenly the big cat pounced. Moving past her in a blur of golden fur and claws.

  Whatever it spotted above her was about to get a nasty surprise.

  Haley heard the cat collide with another heavy body. Snow came down in big clumps from overhead and fell in front of her cave. She shrunk back and listened to the sounds of combat above her.

  Whatever the cat had attacked was fighting back. She heard the cat growl and hiss, then she heard the telltale snarl of a wolf.

  She was really getting tired of that sound.

  Shrinking back against the interior of the little cave, Haley waited for the fight to end. Hopefully the cat won. The cougar would drag its kill off to enjoy. It would have a full belly and move on without bothering her.

  The wolf would find her and the cougar wouldn't be his only prize for the day.

  The sickening sound of flesh ripping filled her ears. The sound of an animal in excruciating pain echoed through the canyon and blood began dripping off the overhang above her. She watched in horror as the snow outside her hide out was dyed a vibrant red. There was the sound of something heavy hitting the rocks above her with a limp thud and then silence.

  Haley stared at the dripping blood for a long time, afraid to move. She hadn't heard anything else for a while and she didn't know which beast had won.

  Then something moved above. A creepy sliding sound of something being dragged through the snow and over the rock. A wet slap. A drag. A whimper.

  Cats didn't whimper, did they?

  The sound of an injured dog tore at Haley's heart. She knew it was stupid. That this thing had only tangled with the mountain lion because it had been out hunting her. Whichever pack member it was that was slowly pulling itself down the rocky embankment to get off the exposed rock was likely to kill her if it got the chance.

  Haley waited, pitting her survival instincts and all her good sense against the nurse's need to come to the aid of whoever needed it.

  She crept to the edge of the cave and peered around the wall that would have shielded her from sight. To her left, a badly injured wolf was slowly dragging itself toward the shelter of the wall of rocks that contained her cave.

  It pulled itself forward with one front paw, digging its claws into the ground and pulling its otherwise limp body forward inches at a time.

  It was matted in blood, one eye closed and its mouth was hanging open while it panted hard and quick.

  Haley clenched her jaw and watched the thing give up its fight to keep moving as it reached its one working paw forward again and then lay still just outside her cave.

  It wasn't dead. Its chest was still rising and falling in quick breaths. It was a black wolf. It had some tan on its paws that ran up its legs and made it look like it was wearing boots but mostly it was black and even though everything rational in Haley's mind screamed at her to take advantage of the opportunity to get out and run as far away from the dying animal as possible she crouched beside it and laid her hand over its heart.

  The heartbeat was strong and steady. It was possible that the wolf's injuries weren't as bad as they appeared. She began running her hand over it, checking for open wounds and broken bones. Faint whimpers came from the wolf when she applied pressure over its hip but it didn't wake up. Ribs were broken, she couldn't tell how many, and a deep gash on one shoulder appeared to have nearly severed one of its front legs.

  Those were the worst. There were a number of less serious gashes but they would heal without much problem if he didn't die from the more serious wounds.

  Haley rolled her eyes, "I am so going to regret this," she told the unconscious wolf as she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into the safety of her little cave.

  Clouds had blocked out the sun again and an icy cold wind was whipping through the canyon.

  A new storm was on the way.

  ***

  There were no more signs of wolves that day. Whoever he was, he had split from the hunting party. Maybe he was a scout, maybe they were waiting for him to return with news, maybe they would come looking for him. She didn't know
. She'd have to deal with that when it happened.

  Right now there was another storm blowing in and they were on the exposed side of a mountain with not much to shelter them but the small cave. Quarters were pretty cramped for two but Haley realized as soon as she got the unconscious wolf inside with her that he put off a lot of heat. Heat that she desperately needed if she hoped to survive much longer.

  She had spent some time trying to clean the congealed blood of the wolf's fur with handfuls of snow until her hands were numb and she had a good view of the wound.

  It was bad. She didn't have any veterinary training but she knew bad when she saw it. She positioned him so that his nearly severed shoulder was facing up and did her best to stabilize it. She couldn't do much for the broken ribs or whatever was wrong with his rear hip.

  The wolf didn't have a chance. Maybe if she had a first aid kit. Needle and thread, antibiotics. At least some morphine or-- she frowned as she stroked his fur to comfort him. Is it OK to give dogs morphine? He'd part human too, right? What's the deal with that?

  Haley looked outside and noticed that rain had started falling. Well good, she thought dryly, that's something different after all the snow.

  The sleeping wolf put off a lot of body heat. She remembered thinking Daelan was warmer than the average human too, but for as beat up as this guy was she'd expect his body temperature to be falling not rising. No doubt a fever from infection setting in. He wouldn't have much longer at this rate.

  At least she could use the extra warmth right now. The air in their tiny space had already warmed noticeably. Haley pulled her shoes and damp socks off again and stuck her feet under the wolf. She told herself she was just doing what was best for herself but she kept petting his head where he seemed to have the least amount of damage.

  She wanted to make sure he knew he wasn't alone.