Lone Wolf (EDITING)

Interrogation

Seren was very conscious of how much she was slowing the group down. What might have been a two hour lope had turned into an agonizing three and a half hour ordeal.

Hopping on one front leg only jarred her torn up shoulder and made her good leg tired. Seren wondered how much farther they had to go because she wasn't sure that she could make it.

However, it was clear they were making a point of having her walk on her own, even if she was injured. They wanted her to know they were unsympathetic to rogues and Seren got the message loud and clear.

A few more painful steps and her supporting leg simply gave out beneath her, making her collapse with a yelp on the ground. Her vision was swimming from her head injury and though she struggled to get back up, her legs shook beneath her too hard to put any weight on.

Alpha Liam growled and turned around, filling Seren with anxiety and embarrassment. One of the other wolves took a few steps towards her as if to force her to stand, but another cut him off, Seren recognizing her scent. Kate. She seemed to communicate with her alpha and then the beta left her side, sprinting away the direction they were headed.

Seren swallowed nervously, panicking, suddenly very conscious that she was lying in the open, completely vulnerable. She didn't move a muscle as she waited in the thick silence, feeling Liam's gaze on her back. Perhaps if she had not been injured, she might have tested the alpha's speed, though she knew if he caught her the consequences would be disastrous.

None of the wolves said anything to her, but a few of them sat as they waited. For what?

Soon, Seren could hear human footsteps crunching heavily over the leaf litter and she turned her head, concerned. The beta had returned in human form wearing a pair of jeans, a thin sheen of sweat on his tanned skin. His hair was brown and shaggy just like his wolf- typically most wolves had fur matching their human hair and his eyes were a pleasing green.

He nodded to Liam who promptly turned and left. Seren exhaled in relief. The beta moved back to her side and she worried that he was going to do something to her. She stiffened as he crouched and zip-tied her front and back paws before he slid an arm under her chest and around her back legs, swiftly scooping her up. She had been walking too slowly and instead of stopping to interrogate her out in the woods, they were determined to get her back to their house one way or another.

She felt pathetic that she couldn't walk, ashamed and weak. But as her head pounded, she also felt grateful to not have to limp along, even if his forearm pressed painfully against her shoulder.

He strode confidently onward, the four other wolves trotting ahead knowing that their prisoner was safely secured. Seren must have drifted off, because it seemed only a second later that her eyes opened to the crunch of gravel underfoot. They were approaching a huge three storied stone house, with bright windows framed in mahogany. Window boxes with yellow flowers hung below them, but it was the people standing around that drew her eye. At least fifteen teenagers, children and young adults were playing in the yard, lounging on the screened in porch or standing by the many parked cars, observing the arriving members and her with curiosity.

Seren was so uncomfortable and her heart beat faster with every step he took toward the door. Being in that house would be like being in a cage with all those faces leering in at her. They would want to see the rogue. She had to prepare herself for the beating she would get, for them to take turns taking out their vengeance. She could almost feel the sting of the silver blade nicking her arms and legs and face.

The Wind Runners would want answers, but if Seren wanted to keep herself safe, she could not say anything, not a single word. If they heard her voice, they would be able to recognize her when she was human. She would just have to hope that they didn't have some way to force her to shift because her human form was now her last and only means of freedom. Freedom. That could only happen if she could get out of the house and off the grounds before they noticed she was missing.