Wolfsfoot (Kingdom of Wolves #1)

“Come on, let’s get to bed, we’ve got to be up early in themorning. It’s our patrol and we don’t want to be late.”

“Yeah, just let me grab a bottle of water, then I’ll be withyou.” Hearing feet running towards the kitchen, I stay where I am, keepingstill as I know there is still one standing next to where I’m hiding.

Hearing something drop my heart flips when a wallet hasfallen on the floor next to me. Whoever it belongs to squats, picks up thewallet, and empties what I guess is a couple of hundred dollars. Thrustingtheir hand towards me, I hear a whisper. “Take the money, head for the westborder. Run Tatiana and don’t look back.”

I take the money slowly because I’m not sure if this is atrick, but hearing the footsteps from the other male returning, I stiffen andwait for what I think is going to be me being found. Surprisingly, the onewho’s given me the money shouts, “Come on, let’s get moving!” and heads upthe stairs with the other one talking about patrol shifts and he needs a dayoff.

Only waiting a few minutes, I sling the backpack back onafter tucking the money into the side pocket with the certificate and moving tothe back door. Slowly opening it, I wait long enough to be sure no one isoutside waiting for me. Thankfully, this is the opposite side of the buildingto my bedroom, so the male that was pacing under my window won’t smell, see, orhear me.

I run quietly to the tree line, look back over my shoulder,and see Gabriel Goldman looking out of an upstairs window. He tips his head andgives a flip of his hand in a wave before turning and moving away from thewindow. Oh my, he’s the one who gave me the money. I would never have guessedthe Beta’s son would defy the Alpha.

Running quietly through the woodland, I keep my eyes andears peeled for any movement or sound. Twice I drop to a crouch behind a treewhen the patrol passes, but I’m lucky the wind is blowing my scent away fromthem at this point. I may not be as lucky once I get near the pack border.

Two hours it takes for me to reach the border, and I take adeep breath while feeling a mixture of panic that I’m going to be a rogue, andrelief I’ll not be in this pack any longer.

Pausing, one foot in the pack land and one foot out. “I,Tatiana Winterstorm, reject Alpha Torrance as my Alpha and the Blackshadow Packas my pack.”

The pain that rips through my chest brings me down to oneknee, but the buzz that I’ve lived with through being blocked with the otherpack members fades. I welcome the silence because the insistent buzz is worsethan constantly hearing others speaking to you. Something I’ve not heard sincemy parents died.

A loud howl rips through the night, and I know I have tomove further from the pack border. Hearing growls, I don’t wait to see who itis; I jog a few paces before Connell, and three of his sidekicks emerge fromthe trees, coming to a stop at the border.

“Get back here Tatiana.” Connell snarls, but I raise aneyebrow and look him directly in his eyes. Unheard of until this night and theshock I see on his and his friend’s faces show me that.

“I rejected the Alpha and the pack. You no longer have a sayin what I do or what I become. But if you or your Alpha ever try to hurt me,I’ll kill you all. I swear it on my being an Alpha female.”

Not waiting for them to respond, I turn and run from theborder, leaving the pack behind. I know they can’t cross the border without thepermission of the Alpha. I also know there is not another pack within fivehours, so I can find somewhere to rest in safety before I move on to whatever comesnext.

Chapter2

TATIANA

Walking away from the pack is nowherenear as hard as I expected it to be, but I have a sense of loss sitting in themiddle of my chest. I don’t know if my mate would have been in the pack, and asI doubt I would accept any of the males as a mate, I don’t want, or need toknow who it would have been.

The woods are quiet, apartfrom the birds singing and rustling from other wildlife. I keep my ears openfor any signs of a rogue shifter wandering, or large wildlife such as a bear.

I’ve been walking for over anhour and my legs are getting tired. This is the effect of never having enoughto eat. My body just doesn’t have the energy that it should have.

Looking around, I see a treewith a fork in it, it’ll suit my purpose, and making sure my backpack is tightI climb up the tree and straddle the fork, take off my backpack, and fasten itto a sturdy branch near enough that I can grab it if I need to.

Leaning back, I close my eyesto rest awhile. I can’t afford to sleep or I may fall out of the tree, but Ican just rest my legs and recoup some of my energy.

I watch a squirrel in anearby tree scurry up and down; it has somewhere to go and you can tell it’s ona mission. I can’t help but smile to myself and hope the squirrel has a familyto go home to.

Hearing voices, I scramble tomy feet, balancing on the fork, quickly grab my backpack and put it on. Lookingup, I see a thick cluster of branches with more than enough leaves to hide meand hopefully cover my scent. Scrambling with as little sound as possible, Iclimb.

Kneeling against the maintrunk of the tree, I press myself tightly against it and wait. The voices aregetting closer, but as yet I can’t tell if I know them or not.

“Do you think she came thisway?”

“Don’t know, and to behonest, I hope she can get away. It’s fucked up is what it is. We don’t hurtfemales, ever. That is the one law a shifter should always abide by, and if thecouncil knew what was going on, the pack would be investigated and the Alpha’ssecret would be uncovered.”

The first voice I heardresponds. “What do you mean the Alpha’s secret?”

“Don’t tell me you haven’tnoticed he’s going feral? He lost his mate years ago, so you tell me how hedidn’t fade as we all do when losing our other half? Something wasn’t rightwith that mating in the first place and when you see how Connell acts it isobvious he’s been pushed to be as big an asshole as his father is.”

Peeking through the treebranches, I watch the two shifters, obviously from the pack, walk under the tree,but before they walk much further, the first speaker comments. “Can you smellthat?”

“Smell what?”