Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 126030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
The Jay didn’t regain its voice, a sound like a frog dying in a murky pond. Or so he’d always thought. Bird chatter took on a different personality when you really listened to them all. Some were pretty and some needed a tune up. Or to move out of his neighborhood and find someone else to disturb.
He glanced up as a familiar feeling started to encroach on his awareness. He took note of his surroundings and leaned hard into his intuition. He didn’t feel any specific presences, so his watchers weren’t checking in, but something else existed in these wilds that didn’t belong. That hadn’t been here before.
A wave of goosebumps covered his skin as he delicately balled up his little whale work-in-progress. There was no point in rushing. If the presence hadn’t come crashing through the trees already, it wasn’t likely to. It was stalking him, whatever it was, like a hunter. Treating him as prey.
He wanted to laugh as a trickle of adrenaline wormed into his bloodstream. He’d been many things in his life, and continued to evolve, but no matter how relaxed he allowed himself to be these days, there was one thing he would never become: prey. This creature—or creatures—would learn that the hard way before they met their untimely demise.
He tucked the arts-and-crafts into the little bag it came in before straightening from the worn-in seat on the naturally felled log. He stepped lightly around his camp, practiced in avoiding making noise but now being careful. The feeling sank down into his middle before solidifying in his gut.
Whatever was out there was hanging around, growing in danger. That probably meant more of them, covering more ground. Spreading out around him, probably, but not upwind. They had experience and they were likely here for a specific purpose. Him, obviously. No one else would be so stupid as to invade these woods. Not with what lurked within them. Except him, of course, but that was out of necessity. He’d had to fight for the right to be here.
The pressure around him continued to build. No sound filtered through the dense forest. He didn’t catch even a thread of a scent.
He stripped out of his clothes to make shifting easy and took a trail toward one of the presences he sensed was out there. As he moved, everything moved with him—the presence in front of him, as well as the feeling of others to the sides. They perfectly kept their distance, synchronized with each other and flitting through the trees like ghosts. Wolves, probably. They were good at this sort of thing.
These wolves, however, were expertly trained and very well led. This wasn’t a glory seeker situation. This smacked of an established alpha.
So be it. He’d taken down a great many of those.
The pressure continued to build. More must’ve joined. They’d sighted their target and were collecting their force.
And then the pressure turned into a throbbing drumbeat, a serious warning of a battle imminent. There was some serious power in these woods, he could feel it with the sixth sense that had kept him alive thus far.
He continued to move, not shifting yet. He was better at this internalized warning system in his human form. It had the most practice. He’d shift when he was ready to kill.
The drumbeat anchored in his gut, a fight or flight reflex.
He didn’t run. Hadn’t, ever. He wouldn’t start now.
Still his lurkers hid from sight. They tracked him, operating around the outskirts of an invisible bubble. They were very well trained and clearly experienced. Someone had called in the best to finally get rid of him.
A scent caught him. He snapped his head in that direction, fully upwind and not one of his watchers. This one was foreign to him, and he was being obvious, making his presence known. His people might sneak, but he did not plan to.
Was this a trap?
He moved in that direction carefully. As he did, the bubble moved with him, changing formation. The lurkers ran ahead of him, circling until he could scent them all, in behind the first.
Not a trap, then. The intruder wanted a face-to-face.
Would these alphas ever just focus on their own territory and build their profile the old-fashioned way? They were exhausting.
He sped up now, feeling all the danger in that direction. Up ahead, light glowed around a few of the trees. Beyond was a little clearing and a beautiful waterfall. He traveled that path often.
He did so now, head high, wanting a look at the challenger before he shifted and made a bloody mess of them all.
The second he stepped through the trees, though, he looked straight into the eyes of death itself. He could’ve been looking at a mirror with all the wild, ruthless scars sparkling on the surface.
He did not hesitate, knowing action might give him the edge. He shifted in a heartbeat and burst forward.