Chapter 21

The more they walked towards the direction of the trees, the more their attackers filled everywhere. They came from all directions, shooting from all directions. 

Wolfariane caught the bullets from all directions, his movement fluid, sharp and fast. 

As they stepped further into the trailing edges of the forests and walked through the woods, his pace fastened further, and that the same time, he threw a command at her. "Climb onto my back. I am about to run."

Instantly, she threw herself at his back and wrapped her arms around his wide shoulders and her legs around his wide midriff. Her arms couldn't meet each other, likewise her legs because of the huge width of him and the smallness that was her, but she held on as tight as she could. 

His furs... She was suddenly encompassed in the softest thing she has ever felt in her life. So fluffy she wrapped her arms around it—him—tighter.

He took off in a dead run, with her piggybacked behind him. So fast, he was a blur of movement.

Ismena felt dizzy, but she held on anyway and closed her eyes tightly. 

The Alpha King could have been even faster if he shifted completely, but there's the non-changeling behind him to consider, so he stayed half-shifter, but kept his pace fast.

He ran for hours. Fought for hours. Dodged flying knives for hours. At one point, he climbed a tree and waited for the diversion he created to work, and when it did, he jumped down and kept running. 

Ismena fell asleep on his back.

He knew when she first fell asleep because her arms loosened and she began sliding off his back. That was when he shifted completely to his animal form so she wouldn't fall off.

He took the wolf form, knowing that he'll protect her better in wolf-form than the form of him that despises non-changelings.

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It was early hours of the morning by the time he arrived at the borders that separated their home from the world of non-changelings.

All the runnings, diversions, and long routes he took to arrive at these borders aren't only to protect himself and the female behind him, but also to protect their home from Wolfhunters. Beasts in human forms.

Wolfhunters have been trying for centuries to get their home, but they haven't been able to manage it...the Changelings make sure of that. 

The sets that managed to discover the border two decades ago were killed before they could go home to spread the news or even before they could penetrate the borders.

"Alpha King." Degar already arrived hours ago at the border and was only waiting for his Alpha King worriedly. The worry dissolved when he saw the huge seven-foot tall, white werewolf emerging in slow majestic steps through the trees with a small female hanging on his back sound asleep.

The Alpha King shifted into his male form with the female in his arms as he got closer to the bloody-looking leopard Alpha, "I am glad you are alright, Degar." 

"Thank you, Alpha King. My solid guess is that they came for the female. The bullets are normal without a tinge of silver. They did not know that we will be there."

"That is my guess too, Degar. But those hunters they sent are too many for just one simple female. I think they expected at least one of us to come for the girl too because of the ring." He stated, staring down at the girl in question.

She is still sleeping so peacefully. Black long lashes protected her eyes in sleep, her pale-white beautiful features relaxed in sleep, her breaths coming steadily.

Degar nodded curtly, "Yes, you are right. They started shooting when they suspected we will be in there. If not, they would have just kidnapped her to question how she came into possession of the ring and torture her badly to give useful pieces of information about the owner of the ring. Then, she would have become another experiment."

The wolf snarled and bared his teeth in rage inside him just at the tongue of his mate being used in those experiments. 

The man shoved down his instincts and started past Degar, "We get home first, then we make plans of what next to do. It is obvious the Wolfhunters have my ring."

"I just hope they weren't able to trail to our borders." Wolfhunters are only able to hunt them once they step out of their lands into anywhere in the world, but they do not know how to find their lands, which is a good thing because that means their people inside Naturiah are safe.

"When I am the diverter?" Was all he asked calmly as he kept walking.

The leopard Alpha's worries disappeared like the wind. Of course, it's not possible, when Wolfariane is the diverter. Their Alpha King is not only a god in battle but also in creating diversions and misleading the enemies.

"You took a hit." Degar's eyes caught on the blood that laced his shoulder blades.

"It's just one. It's already healing because of the run. Nothing a good sleep or a good séx won't heal completely." He replied simply.

A changeling's body heals faster and quicker than humans, once their body is 'well-fed'. They don't require treatments unless it is a very fatal injury, then they result to the healers and 'doctors' of Naturiah.

As they walked through the borders, they passed so many landmarks, landmines, and booby traps that surrounded their borders 

They can smell all the Changelings on morning duty to protect the border, they were all in their positions hidden from human eyes just in case of an attack anytime. 

The borders are heavily guarded and protected because it leads to the very heart of them.

Long minutes later, they passed the borders and entered a clearing. Then, they shifted back to animal forms in order to be faster in getting to their homes. Wolfariane took the wolf form. 

In the darkness of the early morning, the stars twinkling and the Halfmoon still bright in the sky, two huge figures were seen running through the woods in power and agility, a small pale-skinned woman sleeping safely and protectedly in the back of the huge wolf.

They were well into the wild forest when Ismena stirred awake...

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