18

Chapter 18 – Caught
The wind had a chill that promised flurries of snow this evening. Lia was in control and running through the dense mountain woods heading north. She only stopped twice for water.
There’s no way Ranger’s trackers could find us now; Lia was so fast compared to other wolves. Her super speed made the scenery blur by fast. The further north we went, the colder it got. A few more hours of running and the sun was setting.
“We should find a place to sleep for the night.” I told Lia.
“I can keep running Lucy, I’m picking up a faint smell of rogues and want to make sure we’re safe.”
I didn’t think there would be many rogues this far north because winter is coming. The snow tends to move rogues further south, towards warmer weather and more resources. We continued to run for a few more hours and the snow flurries started to come down. Lia had thick fur to keep us warm, but I could feel her getting tired after running all day and we both needed sleep.
We stopped at the opening of a small cave and sniffed around. “There’s a hint of mountain lion, but I think it’s long gone.” Lia told me.
Lia had great night vision, but we still needed a fire to light our way into the cave and warm it up, so I shifted back to my naked self. I flipped the zippo lighter on and was mesmerized by the flame. There was a deep connection that radiated through me. I imagined the ball of fire in the palm of my hand and suddenly it was there, sending a warmth through my body. I closed the lighter shut and the flame in my hand remained.
I looked in the rock cave and it was vacant. I went back out and stood at the opening of the cave. I imagined the flame in my hand burning the inside of
the cave walls to heat it up. In a matter of seconds, the cave had become a burning inferno radiating heat.
I willed the fire gone and it disappeared. I slowly entered the cave again and it was warm and cozy, the rock walls would retain heat for a few hours. I shifted back into my wolf to stay warm and curled up to sleep on the soft dirt floor. I felt Lia purr as we drifted off.
A low angry growl pulled me from my sleep. I looked around and heard another growl at the entrance of our cave. Lia bared her teeth back and returned the growl. Before I knew it, we were dashing out of the cave and chased a mountain lion up a tree.
The big tawny cat was perched on a branch, it spit and hissed down at us while Lia considered kitty tartare for breakfast. “Maybe we should try and hunt something a little smaller, that won’t gouge out an eye.” I suggested to her because we had zero experience hunting.
“I’m good at catching fish.” She reminded me.
“Let’s run a bit more and stop to fish when we get through the mountains.” I told Lia and she agreed.
She picked up the zippo in her mouth and started running again. Dawn was breaking and the ground was dusted with a little snow. I could see the white puffs of our warm breath in the air. I was so thankful to have Lia and her warm fur coat.
A few hours later and Lia was stalking fish in the ice cold river. She stood on the riverbank with large rocks and boulders, her eyes locked on the fish below. In a flash she plunged her head into the water and came up with a fish flapping in her mouth. Before we could even move, there was a howl ripping through the air, and we heard a stampede of wolves heading towards us from all directions.
We dropped the fish and looked for a place to hide. I couldn’t let Lia be seen and she was too big to hide somewhere out here. I shifted back and crouched my small frame down between two big boulders in the riverbed. My legs were still in the water and I suddenly remembered that I couldn’t swim in human form.
I peeked out between the boulders and saw wolves with red eyes. Rogues! They were met with fierce looking pack wolves who pounced on them. Did I cross over to pack lands? I wondered. I held my breath and stood as still as possible watching things unfold.
The fighting continued as rogue after rogue was torn to shreds. Maybe I could slip away before anyone noticed me. “Grab the zippo.” Lia reminded me. She had set it down on top of the rock next to the bolder I was hiding behind when she was fishing.
I reached for the zippo with my shaking hand and could hardly move. My legs had gone numb from the icy water I was standing in. The fighting was almost over, and I stood frozen behind the boulder, clinging to the zippo. I peeked out again from the crack between the boulders, I saw a huge black Alpha. He had the same silky shine to his coat as Ranger’s wolf. The sheer power radiating from him could be felt from where I was hiding. He ripped the head off one of the rogues as if it was a sport. There must have been at least a hundred warriors and they all looked formidable.
“I don’t think we could slip away from them without being noticed now.” I told Lia.
“If you shift, I could outrun them.” She suggested.
“They would all know you’re a golden wolf. Even if we are strong, we don’t have any training or fighting skills. I don’t think we could take them.”
“Maybe we could torch our way out of here?” She said.
I don’t like the idea of killing innocent people, but I was running out of options. I was standing in a river naked; my legs are numb; my hands are shaking and I’m sure my lips are turning blue.
I don’t belong to a pack anymore, so technically I’m a rogue now. Any rogue who trespassed on pack lands is usually killed with no questions asked. I’ve heard of female rogues being captured and turned to pack slaves or sex slaves for unmated males. What if they tried to send me back to Ranger?
One of the warriors grabbed a rogue who was still alive and shifted back to human form. He threw the rogue on the ground before the Alpha, who was still in wolf form. “Why have you trespassed on our land rogue?” The warrior demanded.
“Someone thought they saw a golden wolf yesterday and we’ve been tracking it.” The rogue told them.
“Sure, and I’m a unicorn!” The outraged warrior growled. “Take him to a cell,” he ordered, and the rogue was dragged away into the woods.
“Someone must have spotted us yesterday and moved all night to catch up with us.” Lia whispered to me.
“Alpha, I’ll send the crew over to dispose of the bodies.” Someone said.
“RATS! Now what are we going to do? It’s going to take a while for them to dispose of the dead bodies. I’ll die of hypothermia before I can climb out of this river.” I told Lia.
“You missed one.” A deep husky Alpha voice said as he shifted. “A female rogue, and she’s hiding behind those rocks.”
They all turned towards my hiding place. “Come out now and I’ll make your death quick. Stay in that water and you’ll be dead soon enough.” The warrior called out to me.
He was right, I was going to freeze to death. I flipped open the zippo and imagined the ball of fire in my hand. As it grew bigger, I felt the warmth radiate through my body, thank the Goddess. I could feel my legs again.
I stood for a moment unsure of what to do. If I could create a distraction long enough with fire to shift, I might be able to run before they could catch me. A few warriors started walking towards my hiding spot and I willed the fire to create a ten foot wall of flames between us.
The river was only about thirty feet wide. I started wading to the other side of the river to make a run for it. I looked over my shoulder and saw my wall
of fire was extinguished already. In a panic, I hadn’t realized how deep the river was. I was being swept away by the current as my bare feet slipped out from under me.
My arms started flapping around and I couldn’t swim. My body crashed with a big boulder under water and I was sure my shoulder just broke. I dropped my zippo lighter in the water and was completely defenseless. I was thinking about shifting and letting Lia swim us to safety. Suddenly, I was lifted in a big bubble of water out of the river. I was levitated over the river and dropped on land with the water bubble splashing all around me.
I was naked on the ground, choking and coughing up water. My head was spinning, and I was struggling to breath. I was surrounded by naked male wolves with no way to escape. My shoulder was burning with pain and my eyes seemed to be leaking tears. I looked up and to my surprise a familiar face with beautiful blue eyes was staring down at me.
“Ranger!” I uttered as I slipped into darkness.