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Erena's paws landed on cold hard ground with every stride as she ran, fleeing the heartache and the pain. The pain couldn't be escaped, though—it was inside of her.
She ran past the cairn, past the waterfall. She splashed through the stream that ran along the edge of their territory. The frigid water was a shock to her body, but she appreciated it because it gave her something else to think about. Cold water was better than a broken heart.
On the other side of the stream, she was out of the RCC territory. She shook the water from her fur. She wanted to keep going, keep running all the way to northern Idaho, maybe even Canada, but she was tired. Everything hurt. Her lungs sucked in air, but not fast enough to comfortably breathe after that run. With her limbs shaky from spent adrenaline, she reluctantly sat down on her haunches. She wanted to curl up in a ball, but stopping for long meant thinking, and she didn't want to think.
Even as a fox, her chest hurt. Fuck Matt. Fuck him and his beautiful, lying mouth.
It was too painful to think about, so she tried to focus on her breath and the scene around her. While she looked around the unfamiliar woods, the winter wind brought forth a new scent. It was sharp and dangerous like a forest fire. She searched the sky for smoke, but there was nothing.
Erena stood up. She didn't know whether to be alarmed or not, but a new scent generally wasn't a good thing.
A shadow came barreling out of the trees. Large, brown, hairy. Erena started, then leaped to the side. The shadow was a bear, and although it was huge, it was still nimble on its large paws. Erena dodged just as he raked his claws at her.
Who was this guy and why was he after her? She'd never seen him before, and he was nearly as big as Jameson. There was no time to puzzle it out—she had to escape, get back to the territory, and warn the others.
The others—including Matt. Anger flared while she ran, because she'd bet her workshop that this interloper was his fault.
Propelling herself forward with her powerful legs, she aimed for the stream.
A wolf raced around from the back and landed in front of her, four gray paws splayed on the frozen ground, lips curled back in a snarl. Erena didn't take her eyes off it, but the blood in her limbs was pumping out a warning—don't forget the bear behind you.
The wolf lowered its head, readying for a charge.
Erena could hear the bear behind her, getting closer.
She didn't allow herself to think—she let her instincts take over. She stepped forward and growled once at the wolf.
As soon as the wolf charged, Erena darted to the side.
It took the wolf a moment to change course—Erena had the benefit of being smaller and lighter on her feet. She careened around its trajectory and splashed through the creek.
Now she was back in the Rock Creek territory, but did that mean she was safe? Not necessarily. Her pursuers likely didn't care about territory boundaries, not if they were this close to the RCC's border.
She raced forward, straining to hear whether or not she was being chased. A smaller stream stretched across her path and she could bound across it, but her scent would be easily tracked. Instead, she plunged in, shivering and following its path upstream for a few yards before climbing out on the other side.
No time to shake away the water. The wolf and bear could show up and see her. She darted around a boulder and raced farther into the RCC territory. Her chest felt like it was going to burst, but she couldn't stop, she wouldn't stop until she'd reached her clan.
As she careened around a large tree trunk, though, a mountain lion appeared in front of her. She skidded to a halt, ready to fight if she had to.
But it was Matt. The clan had let him go? No, he'd probably escaped. What was he here to do?
She didn't have to wonder for long, because he was already shifting back into his human form.
"Erena, there are others, Bronson was sending some of them in."
She cocked her head at him. No shit, she tried to convey.
Footfalls sounded behind her. Matt looked up immediately, his gaze going past Erena. "One...two...where's the third? Bronson always sends three. It's dangerous, I need to be in my lion form."
He dropped to his hands and knees and started to shift, but a large animal catapulted itself down from the branches above. Erena let out a yip of warning, but she was too late.
Matt jerked away, falling to his side even while the shining light of the shift enveloped him.
Erena had to squint to see through the bright light.
Grayish white coat spotted with black, a thick, fluffy tail. The animal latched onto his back was a snow leopard.
Matt twisted and writhed, but between forms, he was more vulnerable than ever. His bones were cracking and re-forming, his skin and organs were undergoing a massive transformation in just a matter of seconds. The snow leopard held tight to him, gripping tightly with its claws.
Erena couldn't stand it. She had no weapons, and her teeth were no match for a snow leopard's. But she couldn't let it hurt Matt. Whatever anger and hurt she had for him now, she still couldn't handle the idea of a world without him in it. Without thinking, she threw herself at the leopard and sank her teeth into its ear.
The leopard yowled and tried to shake Erena off, but Erena clamped her teeth down harder.
Suddenly, the leopard was gone. Erena fell onto Matt's side, her fur against his. He'd finished his shift. Good. Scrambling off of him, she backed up and looked around. Where had the leopard gone? It was there, and then it just...disappeared. Impossible.
Matt stood up. He was bleeding badly from the back of his head, but it seemed the leopard had missed his neck, so that was a relief. Erena scanned the trees. The wolf and the bear were somewhere nearby in the forest, growling threats. Erena didn't know how she and Matt would take them—he was already injured, and she was just a fox, not built for fighting larger animals.
Pine needles swished against the ground behind them. Erena turned to see the snow leopard. How had it gotten there?
But behind it came several more animals. Erena recognized Rex's gray and black wolf, Nolan's polar bear, Nina's mountain lion, and more. Her clan was here to help.
The snow leopard turned to see where Erena was looking. Then it flashed out of view.
Erena stared, puzzled. It hadn't run off, it had simply vanished. This made no sense.
The Rock Creek Clan were all here, other than Gemma, who was probably pissed about being left behind again, as the only human in the clan. Erena turned to look at the grizzly and the wolf, who had stopped their progress and now took hesitant steps back.
The leopard flashed into sight on the other side of the creek. How the hell was that possible? It gave a chirping call, and the wolf and bear spun around and ran toward it, retreating off the RCC territory.
The entire Rock Creek Clan waited, watching the creek. Erena didn't trust that the leopard wouldn't flash into the trees above them and drop down—it must have done that earlier, when it had launched itself onto Matt while he was shifting.
Margot, in her fox form, came over to stand next to Erena. She nudged her nose into the fur on Erena's neck, the question unspoken but clear all the same—are you okay?
Erena gave a low huffing sound. Yes, she was fine. Mostly. Physically, she was uninjured. Emotionally, she was a wreck.
It seemed their enemies weren't coming back. After another minute, Matt shifted into his human form, likely in an attempt to speed up the healing in the wound behind his head.
Jameson shifted to his human form next, and he glared hard at Matt. His alpha power washed over the entire clan like a hot, heavy breeze. "I need an explanation. Now."