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But I also did have superior tracking skills – for a human at least – and was often able to sense when I wasn’t alone At this particular point in time it was all I could use because, without the shifters’ superior sense of smell, I had little else to rely upon to find John as quickly as I could I was pretty sure at thein the darkness and shadows though

Carefully checking the enveloping darkness around h the worn forest path I heard other shifters call out to each other in their ani The overhanging branches of a nearby tree caughtso leon the leaf-strewn ground I bent down to take a closer look before using the cuff of my jacket to scoop it up It fell into my palm and heat started to rise in the pit of my belly A wichtlein stone Was this the one John had found earlier or was this one destined for me? I rolled it into my hand It felt the sa whether that was usual or whether it really was the sa it up tosound when I realised it felt unpleasantly daer and brought it closer It looked like blood I sniffed cautiously, then reached into ed through its contents blindly I kept my eyes trained on the stone

My hand finally found what I was looking for when it curved round a cold metal canister It never to hurt to coen peroxide, twisting it so the nozzle faced the stone, and sprayed a tiny portion onto the black surface As soon as the chean to foa heat insideto burn The feeling of panic matched the bloodfire but I did ht now I put the stone carefully into a side pouch where it wouldn’t get lost

The st the heavy trees I could hear the distant hooting of a night owl out searching for prey and the skitter of a snored thens I could see atinto ain, I found my torch, and clicked it on to look closer

He had been this way John was light on his feet and left little trace of his presence but I knew hiht, brushing past it as he ran And judging by the distance between his steps, he’d been running fast, as if so had been after him I frowned and arced the torch over the area, first close by then further along the path There was so forward, I tried separately to sense what it ht be, but I was no shifter and caen peroxide nozzle again and began to spray liberally on the ground in front ofit wouldn’t work All I could sht air, with the deep s and holding my breath The peroxide foamed in a few spots More blood It didn’tto any kind of wild anihts, the ever–present fire inside of an to heat up evenup the sides of my sto that so was different

Was that…? Julia?

Yes It’s s buckle under me Only alphas could use the Voice to communicate and if Julia had found hers that ulped in air and felt the pain blosso howl and followed by caterwauling began They were swiftly joined by others as the pack hunters carief I couldn’t breathe and fell forward ontothe da from my mouth It couldn’t be true, it just couldn’t

No

I forced ht still be okay

I pushed forith the torch in front ofto ignore the hard knot of tears for heavier and the tracks were beco to recognize the heavy gait that slightly favoured his left knee But if he was bleeding and in danger, why hadn’t he shifted? Then he could have fought, he could have regenerated…

Until I saw it forto believe he was dead

A cobweb brushed my cheek but I didn’t even bother to liftdoards the beach and away fro had been chasing him, this creature that left no trail, he’d eted by it too He was a weretiger though He was powerful enough to beat off alh to Cornwall It didn’t , up over the final rise that led to the dunes

And that hen I finally smelled the iron rich stain of blood h quantity for my weak human nose to pick it up I took another step and saw him Or rather as left of hilistened darkly and wetly in the gloo out froly realized were his intestines trailing away from hiht eyes were open, glassy and staring A un to form over his pupils His ht that he was laughing at h It was a scream

I collapsed then and there, unable to en peroxide canister dropped fro cohly out of the way I barely registered the shape of a bear taking a step forward then clu back Part of me realised that it was Anton but I couldn’t even move Others came up from behind but none of therabbed ed on the ground Everything went dull and the air itself seemed to pause There was silence while the world slowly spun into a black nothing

When I ca some distance away fro blood, however I gagged and retched, sitting up to eested cheese sandwich Before I’d even finished, a hand cuffed round

A nearby wolf snarled