Chapter 5: Jamie

5

JAMIE

T he steady stream of shifters trickling across Reynolds pack border finally comes to a stop at dusk.

One lone guard mans the bridge, clipboard in hand, a bored look on his face as he crosses a name off his list and waves the last big male to arrive across. I’ve lost count of the number of wolves now invading Dean Reynolds’s territory, but it must be close to a hundred. And they’re pretty much all males.

That’s a lot of wolves to be around for a rogue like me. And while Dean’s acting like this is nothing more than an inconvenience for him, I didn’t miss how his hands stayed fisted at his side all day. This is bothering him more than he’s willing to let on.

With one last glance down the now empty road, the guard leaves his post to point the contestant in the right direction, laughing and chatting amiably. Technically, midnight is the cutoff to sign in. Leaving it that late and dragging people out of bed to greet us certainly won’t create the positive first impression we would want, but arriving alongside everyone else was never going to work, either. Not for wolves like us. Not when it was sure to start a fight.

“Ready?” Wyatt asks. We already know we won’t make it over that bridge without being stopped and turned back. Our entrance needs to be a bit more attention grabbing to force Dean’s hand and announce Wyatt’s arrival.

“No, but let’s do it anyway.” Nervous excitement bubbles up inside me, and adrenaline floods my veins. My heart beats faster and my wolf paces, ready to enter the fray. Like when we saw the wolves compete at the launch party, my wolf is prancing, relishing the idea of pitting herself against the others.

After being looked down on for so long, she’s got a point to prove.

“Come on, let’s get this over with.” Wyatt’s less excited and more worried as he jogs down the hill, footsteps silent. He moves swiftly through the trees, away from the bridge that’s skirting the edge of the river on the far side.

Closing my eyes, I feel the peace, the quiet, and the solitude, for what will hopefully be the last time. Used to being on your own isn’t the same as enjoying it. And it’s time me and Wyatt took our places within a pack once again.

Smoothing a hand over my hair, I take my position, watching from the brow of the ridge as Wyatt wades into the icy grey water and swims to the far side. I refused to let him attend the launch yesterday, and in turn, he’s banned me from going across at his side until he sees how they react. Fair’s fair.

In the gathering gloom, he creeps up the bank, his back to me, officially across the border now, and battles his way through the tangle of briars and low branches. I wait with bated breath as he makes it to the top of the muddy slope. It’s eerily quiet. Too quiet. There are wolves out there. I can sense them, but I can’t see them. It’s unnerving.

Wyatt glances from left to right, before making a run for it. As we expected, even when he puts on a burst of speed, and he’s fast, he barely makes it fifty feet before the growls begin. I can’t watch, fear clutching at my throat as Wyatt’s race through the trees turns into a pursuit.

While they’re distracted chasing my brother, I slip into the shallows and follow silently across the water. My ripples send tiny waves through the shimmering surface bathed in silver moonlight, and if it weren't for the sound of snarling beasts crashing through the undergrowth, it would be a beautiful night for a swim.

As quickly as I can, I clamber from the water and trace his path up the side of the riverbank, using his footprints to avoid sinking into the mud. When I reach the top, I squat down, only lifting my head to scan the forest in front of me.

In the distance, barely visible through the trees below, I watch as Wyatt slows to a stop, hands raised in surrender, complying with the growling wolves that circle him. Unbelievably, he’s smiling as he turns around and untucks his wet shirt from the back of his waistband, showing the two animals edging closer that he’s not a threat and carries no weapons.

“I just want to enter the competition.” Wyatt assures them.

They sniff and assess him before shifting to human form and consulting with each other while the rest of the wolves watch Wyatt with suspicion. We continue to wait as the moon disappears behind a cloud, and the sky turns inky black with barely any moonlight to illuminate the tense scene unfolding below.

“Where are you? Where are you?” I mutter to myself, scouring the surrounding woods for any sign of Dean Reynolds. He has to come. Surely, he won’t pawn this decision off on some young warrior. He seems like the kind who would want to handle this situation himself.

As time ticks by, I start to fear the worst. He’s not going to come and investigate. These warriors are just going to toss us off his land without giving us an audience with their alpha, and we’ll be back to square one. Homeless, chased from every place we try to settle down, and with no hope of a happy future.

Damn it. And damn Dean Reynolds. What kind of place is this?