Greykin Valley

| 32 | Hounds

⥐ ⋞ ☽ ⋟ ⥐

| Jackson |

Jackson's heart raced in his chest. A thousand horrible thoughts raced around inside his head, and he couldn't fight them. What if the hunting party were dead? What if cadejo got them? What if there were still more of Riker's hunters out here? He scowled in dismay, racing behind Damon between Wilson and Julian as the pack hurried deeper into the woods. What if they didn't get there in time?

"How far are they?" Jackson asked worriedly.

But Damon didn't answer. The concerned look on his face thickened, and he sped up.

Something was wrong.

Something was really wrong.

And then Jackson caught it—that scent. The scent that everyone seemed to catch, adorning the same terrified expression as their Alpha.

Blood.

Jackson's fear and anxiety skyrocketed. His chest tightened, and his legs started trembling. But he had to fight it. He had to keep himself composed.

He did his best to shove aside his angst and followed Damon as he navigated the way through the thick forest. But when they passed a boulder...Jackson's heart dropped into his stomach.

There was blood and fur everywhere.

Ezhno, Lalo, and Lance lay bloodied and wounded in their human forms, and Enola—the only one still in their wolf form—lay by a tree with huge chunks of her fur missing, and the snow around her was red with blood.

"What the hell happened here?" Julian exclaimed.

Lalo suddenly coughed.

"Lalo!" Tokala called, hurrying over to him with Rachel.

Leon transformed into his human form to roll Lance onto his back and then started carefully pressing snow into his wounds.

Damon and Julian went over to Enola, and Jackson slowly followed Wilson to Ezhno.

But Jackson's feeling of trepidation started to feel like a compass in his head. His fear and angst weren't pulling him to Ezhno. He turned his head and set his eyes on Enola; he watched Damon nudge and try to wake her, and when both he and Julian adorned horrified stares, it felt like a knife was plunged through Jackson's heart.

"Enola?" Damon insisted, nudging her neck with his muzzle.

"They...they came out of nowhere," Lance breathed.

"Who?" Leon questioned.

"En...Enola?" Lalo called weakly.

Jackson gawped at the unresponsive Enforcer. There was something strange about her. The look on Damon's face made Jackson think that Enola was dead—it looked like everyone was waiting for Damon to say the words—but her body...there was something wrong with it.

"Chief?" Tokala asked sullenly, stepping forward. "Is...is she...?"

Damon shook his head, backing off. "I...I don't under—"

"Get away from her," Sebastien barked.

"Why didn't she leave her wolf form like the others?" Wilson questioned. "Don't all lycans turn back into their human forms when they're knocked unconscious?"

Jackson could feel something else. Alongside his angst and dismay, there was a warning. His instincts started screaming, urging him to move away from Enola. And her ethos...he could feel it...changing. Enola was changing.