His Saving Grace (Book One: The Redemption Series)

Chapter One

Breathe in.

Don't stop.

Breathe out.

Keep going.

Breathe in.

Everything hurts.

Breathe out.

So tired.

My mind was screaming at me to keep going, but all I could focus on was the excruciating pain in my paws as I ran across the frozen ground.

My body was exhausted. I had considered whether I should shift or not, give my wolf Micah a chance to rest since he had been going non-stop for two days now. But if Micah was this exhausted, I worried I wouldn't even be able to stand in my human form.

Shaking my head, I focused my blurry eyes on what was ahead of me. Between Micah and me not having any sleep for two days, our senses had been severely dulled.

It didn't matter, though. All that mattered was my pack. I didn't care if I passed out from exhaustion, or even if I died. No matter what I had to go through. My pack's survival was all that mattered.

My pack had been ambushed by Rogues. We had been heavily outnumbered, at least half of our pack had either been wounded or killed.

Baren, my Alpha, had given me an order to go to our neighboring pack for help. So naturally, I followed his orders, but when I left, I didn't realize that the closest pack to ours was a two-day trip, if not further.

Now here I was, deep in what seemed to be a never-ending evergreen forest that I wasn't familiar with. Running in what felt like below zero temperatures. Trying to sniff out anything that could give me the littlest indication that I was at least heading in the right direction. It wasn't an easy task, especially with all the fresh snow that had recently fallen. It was almost impossible to pick up any scents.

I slowed until I was in a light sprint, trying to catch my breath. My lungs ached from breathing in so much of the brisk air. If I didn't have such a thick coat of fur, I'm pretty sure I would have gotten hypothermia by now. I came to a complete stop. Shaking my body, getting rid of the snow that had begun to layer upon my fur.

Just when I was about to leave, a mouth-watering aroma filled my nose, awakening my senses. Lifting my nose to the air, I breathed in the heavenly scent, ignoring my aching lungs. I couldn't get enough of the addictive fragrance. Before I knew it, my paws started moving me in the direction of where the smell was coming from.

It didn't take me long before I had finally reached my destination, but what I found surprised me. In front of me stood a girl. She had caramel-colored hair that hung down in perfect ringlets around her waist. She was kind of on the shorter side, and even under her thick winter clothes, you could tell her body was curvy, she was beautiful.

I think the thing that shocked me the most was that the scent I had been following belonged to her. I could feel my heart rate pick up as I stood there staring at her. I hadn't expected to find my mate just yet, especially not like this.

"Go to her Casey, she can help us," Micah finally spoke up.

I started to walk towards her, but stopped when I realized I was in my full form. When I was in my full Beta form, I was taller than a car, and just about as big as one too. No doubt if I went up to her in this form, it would scare her. I looked over at her to see her back was still towards me. I took that moment to shift into my more normal-looking form. I guess you could call it.

Ever since I was little, I had two wolf forms, where most wolves only had one. One form was a puppy-like form, then my other form was huge. I was close to the size of an Alpha. Once I was through shifting, I cautiously made my way towards her. I accidentally stepped on a twig, causing it to snap. I watched as she quickly spun around, frantically looking around till her eyes landed on me. The once scared and panicked look was now replaced with a warm smile.

She took a step towards me, as I took one step back. I wasn't sure if I could trust her yet, not only that I wasn't sure of what she was yet. I couldn't pick up the scent of a wolf, but that didn't mean she wasn't one. Some wolves chose to hide their scents. She smelled more like a human, but what would a human be doing out here?

"It's ok, you don't need to be scared of me. I promise I won't hurt you," she said, her voice soft as she took another step towards me.

I hesitantly stayed where I was, examining her every move. Well, that was, until my nose picked up on another delicious scent. This time, it wasn't coming from her. I took in a deep breath, trying to figure out where the smell was coming from. Looking around, my eyes landed on the backpack that laid only inches away from where she was at.

The girl's eyes followed to where mine had landed. She turned her gaze back towards me before she walked over to her backpack. Unzipping it, as she pulled out a Tupperware bowl.

"Are you hungry?" she asked, pulling the lid off of the bowl.

My stomach started to growl when the smell of the food reached my nose. I didn't know what was in there, but it smelled so amazing. I let out a whine, not knowing what I should do. My stomach was telling me to go to the food, but my brain kept telling me it was a trap.

"Go ahead, Casey, go to her. If she wanted to hurt us, she would've done it already," Micah growled out in annoyance.

Sighing, I finally gave in. I had only gotten halfway to her when my vision began to go in and out. Black dots clouded my surroundings as my body started to sway, as my head started to pound.

What's happening to me?

My legs gave out. It was as if they couldn't support my weight anymore. I collapsed to the ground, my breathing slowed and my eyes grew heavy.

Am I dying?

"Casey, you need to stay awake. The pack needs you," Micah pleaded with me.

"I-I can't. I'm just so tired."

I could hear Micah somewhere in the distance, trying to keep me awake, but all of his attempts were unsuccessful. I could feel small, warm hands gently pick me up from the snowy ground before my entire body was engulfed in warmth. I took a deep breath, my body going from stiff to relaxed, as that delicious scent filled my lungs once more.

"You're okay now, just rest."

Those were the last words that my ears heard before I let darkness finally consume my exhausted body.