Redeeming the Lost (A Comforter's Tale)

Chapter 11

The smell of campfire smoke and roasting meat slowly woke me up. My body felt heavy and weird. When I opened my eyes, I saw tree branches and stars overhead. I stirred sluggishly, trying to wake up more.

"Looks like she's finally waking up."

The gravelly voice wasn't familiar, although I knew I'd heard it recently. I turned my head and saw two heavy-set men and a thinner one sitting on the other side of the campfire.

I tried to sit up and saw my hand press against the blanket. My hand. Not my paw. I blinked at it, my wandering mind not comprehending how I was human. What was I doing in the forest with strangers? Especially at night? Where was the rest of my pack? And why wasn't I in wolf form?

I tried to shift back, and my muscles trembled, but nothing happened. Something else seemed to be missing, and it took me a moment to realize that it was the packlink. Even if my Comforter abilities disappeared when I was a human, my mindlinking shouldn't have been affected.

Then I remembered.

With a gasp, I struggled to sit up and finally managed it, although my arms shook, still not fully recovered from my involuntary nap. There was a tree right behind me, and it prevented me from trying to shuffle away from them. I stared at my kidnappers in shock and fear, not sure how to react or what to do. The lanky man watched me, although the other two remained focused on roasting some skewers of meat.

My mind slowly began working again, and I looked down, still trying to get over my shock. Oddly enough, I was sitting on several blankets while the men sat on logs. The ropes on my wrists were gone, although one was still tied around my ankle. My eyes followed the rope, and I realized they had tied the other end to a tree to keep me from running away.

I looked around but nothing was familiar. Not that I had expected to recognize any landmarks. My forest skills were about as good as my sewing skills. In other words, non-existent.

"We ran hard today and didn't stop until the sun began to set," the lanky man told me idly, "so there's no chance of you getting back to the ashes of your packhouse. I probably don't have to point out the odds of you escaping three rogues in the forest. Even if we don't find you, something else will."

I wrapped my arms around myself, shivering, although not from the cold. "W-why?"

My voice was raspy and faint, although he still heard it.

"Some packs will pay a lot for a Comforter. Or Omegas. Normally, we watch the less tolerant packs and help Omegas escape if the pack or leading members become abusive. Or if they just want to join a different pack and their pack doesn't agree. Doesn't happen often, but it still occurs. We escort them to a distant pack that'll treat them better, and the pack pays us for guarding them along the way."

That didn't match what I had just gone through, and I just stared at him.

He saw my disbelieving expression and elaborated, "Your case was a bit different. That young Alpha was about to get himself into deep trouble. Not only was he trying to sell you, but he was also trying to hire assassins to take out the Alphas in neighboring packs. He would have gotten the entire pack killed for his stupidity."

"If you killed him, why didn't you leave me there?" I just wanted to go home. I could only imagine how hard this would hit the pack.

"There was no one else in line for the Alpha title, and to the best of our knowledge, those assassins were coming. We arranged for the Alpha to clear out the packhouse, although he wasn't aware that we planned to burn it. No one else should have died, so they'll scatter and join neighboring packs. Those packs either wouldn't have let you in, like the Delvier pack, or they already had a Comforter. I know it's mean to tear you away from the people you've known all your life, but we know there are packs wishing they had a Comforter."