The Omega's Savior

38

As soon as Kegan stepped out of the cave, he felt his senses grow stronger. The scent of the grass, the flowers, the North River pack looming over it all. It was obvious they'd been running around, looking for Kegan.

He needed to be extremely careful.

Kegan wandered into the trees, trying to pick up Calix's scent. The potion made his senses so much stronger, not just his sense of smell. He could hear everything around him, feel the leftover paw prints from wolves searching for him.

His ears twitched as a howl broke through the woods. Instantly, he crouched down, sniffing the air for another wolf. The scent was familiar and somewhat comforting.

Kegan ventured out and nearly howled in joy when he saw the wolf. The beige and rust colored wolf was Tali's, he knew her patterning from all of their training. He ran at the Beta and tackled her to the ground, but she pinned him to his back seconds later, teeth bared.

Then, her eyes softened and she climbed off of Kegan, realizing who it was. She sniffed at his neck, confirming it was her Luna before she yipped joyfully.

"Ask her wolf how far Calix is," Kegan told Jade, who instantly obeyed and purred.

"He's close, Tali will take us back toward our pack," Jade said excitedly, and they followed Tali off in a sprint.

There were sudden howls behind them, making Kegan pause in his tracks and turn. He noticed Tali slow down, but she didn't stop, growling at him to keep going.

"Keep running!" Jade cried, terrified they'd get caught and not be able to find Calix.

Kegan huffed and ran with Tali. He was with a pack mate in unclaimed territory; why couldn't Leon's pack just leave him alone? Why did he have to hold the blame for the death of his mother? Why couldn't he have just been born in the Blood Moon pack and found Calix right away?

Tali seemed to sense his sadness and irritation, slowing down and running next to Kegan. She would glance ahead for a few seconds before turning to look at him, trying to understand his feelings.

The howls behind them didn't sound close enough for Tali to panic, but she still pushed harder to get to wherever Calix was, Kegan trailing as closely as possible.

Kegan didn't even want to fathom the idea of being caught again, because Hallie was right. Leon was not stupid enough to make the same mistake twice and Kegan didn't want to deal with one of his punishments again. He still had scars on his legs from the first one.

Another howl rang in the air, this time in front of them.

Kegan stopped dead in his tracks.

Growing up, he was never allowed to shift with the other wolves during the full moon, so he didn't know how read howls the same way other wolves could. When they were pups, most wolves learned the howl of their packs, and as they got older they could recognize more specific howls, like those of their mates and parents.

Tali walked up to Kegan, noticing how he froze, and pulled at his ear to gently encourage him. She whimpered softly, trying to show him that it was safe to keep running, but Kegan tensed and crouched to the ground, terrified of being caught by an enemy.

Tali glanced around, trying to see if she could see any enemies. When she didn't, she sat down beside Kegan and tilted her head back and howled.

Kegan instantly pounced on her, hissing and looking around wildly. "Is she trying to get us caught?!" he asked Jade, but his wolf didn't respond to him. "Jade?"

Jade remained silent, his own terror overwhelming him and making him fall into an unwanted state of fear, causing him to not want to respond to his counterpart or speak with Tali. With the howls coming from in front of them, Jade felt as though they were surrounded, causing him to fall into silence, unsure of what to do.