10

Ranger

After rechecking the printed maps in human form, we made our way deeper into the White River National Forest traveling as a pack of angry beasts. We'd only passed one hiker the entire day. The bird shifter took flight after one look at us, leaving his binoculars behind.

Our muscles were burning, but we were running on pure adrenaline. This pace wasn't sustainable for long. Alpha instincts had me wanting to slow down and check on the wolves at the back of our herd, but I forced myself to focus on what lay ahead of us.

These wolves are not my concern.

I know.

My wolf was on a mission. Some primitive drive had taken control. He saw this as a test. A way to prove his devotion and earn his mate. I'd call his devotion "sweet" if every mile we traveled didn't make me want to kill every single production member of this show.

The drones were a pest that refused to die. I'd assumed they'd run out of batteries or range, but it was like they were fueled by magic.

I wouldn't put it past the show to have paid off some witch to spell their recording equipment. Which got me thinking. Ivan could…

I shook my head, trying to dispel that thought. I'd already pushed him too hard. As Alpha, I demanded a lot of my pack, but I knew when to back off. He'd either expose the footage or he wouldn't. And if I couldn't get more out of Chad, I wouldn't stress. There were other ways to deal with pricks like the Tulias. Right now, my only goal was Aspen.

I had to get to my mate.

Foster yelped behind me.

His pain caught my wolf off guard. He whipped around, growling at all the wolves to stop as Foster tumbled over himself, rolling down the hill from the overgrown path we ran.

"What happened?" My beast was panting with spittle dripping from his jaws as he trotted to Foster's side.

Jones' gray wolf laid down beside his mate in the tall grass, whining as he licked his ears. "Let us see it."

"It's fine," Foster whined.

"It's not fine." Jones nipped his ear.

I shifted into human form and reached for his front paw, not wanting to waste precious time on their back and forth when as their Alpha I could sense his pain.

Foster's wolf bared his teeth and scooted backward to hide the injured limb.

"Give it to me," I growled.

His paw inched forward as Jones' wolf nudged him encouragingly.

I caught his paw and turned it over. Cursing idiots, I pulled out the green piece of a broken beer bottle that had gotten wedged between the second and third pads.

"Thank you, Alpha." Foster breathed a little easier as Jones started licking his mate's paw in relief.

I nodded; glad we caught it before it healed over. Shifting with a piece of glass embedded in the skin hurt like a bitch. It took magically altered metal to keep our piercings during a shift and even then, I wasn't as tough as some of my guys who liked their bars in sensitive places.

I took a second to look over the three members of my pack and make sure they were okay as the wolves gathered on the hilltop above. They were all coming in now, giving the slower beasts at the back a chance to catch up.

Beau had burrs matted all over his fur. Shifting would knock most of them out, but he'd still have some splinters in his skin and pieces threaded in his beard. Jenna was going to be pissed.

Worry snaked its way into my gut.

How is Aspen handling this?

She was so soft and delicate. There was an innocent wonder in her eyes. And she needed her rest. The woods were harsh with it being early spring. Nights were still cold. Was she getting enough sleep? Did she have anything to eat?

We're wasting time. The rumble of my wolf in my chest grew louder, more frantic.

I stepped back from Foster and Jones, making sure they were ready to leave, and prepared to shift.

"What's the holdup?" John came naked with his dick swinging down the hill.

"Nothing," I growled, still not sure how to address him now. I'd figure that out once I spoke with my sister.

"Ranger, wait," a male voice panted from up on the path.

I froze mid-shift as more human male faces stared down from the woods and the hill. If you could call them human that is. Eyebrows were longer with tuffs of fur and cheekbones were thicker under some monstrous blend of human/wolf bones. Even my own skin was rippling with my beast fighting to take control of our form.

This was not good.

"What?" I bit out, looking for the voice who called to me. But I hadn't been around them long enough to have memorized each tone.

"We need to know how this is going to work," Tucker Jones said as he slid down the hill with Colton Penobscot and Landon North not far behind.

"How what's going to work?" I looked to John for clarification. He might be on my shit list, but he was still the only other real Alpha here. John returned my look with a shrug.

Fuck him.

"They want to know if you're going to continue to lead the run." Trenton snuck up on me, coming through the field like he'd been hiding.

I bared my teeth, sending him stumbling a step back. Served the punk right. "This isn't the run."

"No, not yet." Colton Penobscot was trying hard to lower his eyes in respect, but ended up with a thousand-yard stare promising death to anyone who crossed through it. "Our beasts need to know if we're going to stick to ceremony."

I glanced up at the sky and the bright sun overhead. "You still have until tomorrow to figure it out." Even as I said it, I wondered if it was true. Everything felt so different this time now that I had my own mate to chase.

"I guess that's a no," Trenton smirked, turning his back on me as he started up the hill.

"You're damn right it's a no." I started laughing at the balls on this runt. "I'm taking my mate and getting off this show. Good luck to you idiots though."

There was a chuffing in the woods as Chad and his team came closer. They were still in wolf form, but I could see the human gleam in his eye.

"I thought you were the Alpha here," Trenton tossed back over his shoulder as he melded in with the rest of the males, making himself a harder target.

I will get him to break his own neck from how hard he'll bend it. My wolf was growling.

I pulled him back, knowing a mocking challenge from a lesser wolf when I heard one. But I couldn't understand why he was baiting me.

"I am not your Alpha." There was enough bark in my voice to make the men closest to me whine as a camera drone buzzed closer to my face. I turned my fury on the device. "I owe you nothing."

They could tear each other apart for all I cared. This show wasn't getting any more from me.

"They're just as lost as we are," John said as I marched past him. He didn't seem to know what to do about that either based on the defeat in his tone.

"It's not my problem."

"Mine either." John sighed as he walked back up the hill. "Hopefully I can get my girls to leave."

His girls… Was my sister included in that statement now?

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye. "And what if they don't want to go?"

"Guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it." He shifted where he stood and shook out his massive brown coat.

Behind me, the other Alphas were closing in and hanging on my every word. I growled, sending them back a few feet to give my beast room to take over. Screw these stinky ass males. They could take care of themselves.

John was right.

We had a girl to worry about.