Becca ran and climbed as fast as she could toward the spot that she thought Erin was heading toward. She slipped once and clobbered her knee on a rock, then scraped her palm on another. There had to be an easier way to do…whatever she thought she was doing. Once she found Erin, what was she going to do, apart from apologize for doubting her? Or not doubting her exactly, but leaving things open to the possibility that maybe she murdered a bad dude and stuffed him in the trunk of her car? Or…
She almost stopped running so her thoughts could catch up, but there were noises behind her and the ghost of scent before her and she couldn’t bring herself to turn back or stop. At least she’d be with Erin while they confronted Kari and Jim or Annie. Or all of them. She shouldn’t have to do that alone.
Wolf, wolf, wolf, her brain helpfully howled, throwing itself, in spirit at least, toward the moon that was slowly rising above her. She sucked in a deep breath, then another, crouching on all fours to climb faster, willing her hands to change into claws for easier climbing. Erin was somewhere up ahead of her, their enemies were behind her, or so she hoped, along with the rest of the Pack, and now it was all about the catching up.
It no longer mattered why she needed to catch up. Protect Erin, confront Annie, fight off Jim and Kari once and for all, it all roiled up inside her, weaving itself through the anxiety and terror and frustration for the last few weeks. Becca’s heart raced faster and faster, her body shifting just a little, then a little more.
She barreled up the cliffside, dimly aware that someone behind had fired a shot at her. The bullet ricocheted off a nearby rock and she outran it, nearly at full werewolf speed now. She charged up and over the next ridge and onto a long ledge. And into a semi-familiar figure. She and Annie rolled dangerously close to the ledge before the other woman twisted free. Becca faced her in her half-changed state and Annie snarled, fangs gleaming in the moonlight. They circled each other, oblivious for the moment to everything around them.
A second shot echoed against the rocks and Annie growled, eyes narrowing to slits as she looked past Becca. The enemy of my enemy is probably not my friend, not this time. The thought flashed across Becca’s brain as she scrambled behind the shelter of a nearby rock. Or, at least, what she hoped was shelter.
Annie backed up, then charged forward, leaping over the cliff. Becca yelped in surprise, torn between risking the bullets and satisfying her curiosity. Was it a sheer drop below the ledge? She couldn’t remember. She hadn’t heard a body land, but then, she wasn’t hearing anything else either.
Becca drew in a slow, deep breath and felt her body shift slowly back to human. Wait, what was happening? Don’t I control this? Her body stretched and twisted, the fur disappearing. Becca looked down at the tattered remains of the clothes she’d been wearing and swore softly. This night just kept getting better and better. What the hell was she supposed to do now?
A sound nearby caught her attention and she glanced around, trying to see what or who it was. If it was Jim and Kari…or even Annie, then a middle-aged nearly-naked lady werewolf with no protection didn’t stand much of a chance. Her pulse raced as she tried to locate a hiding place or an escape route. She crouched further back into the shadow of the boulder, hoping that whatever it was would pass by.
The rabbit that bolted past her hiding place would have been pretty surprised to find out just how much emotional turmoil it had caused. Becca slumped back against the bolder, heart pounding, eyes closed and hand clutched to her chest. Why had she run after Annie all by herself like that? Oh yes, Erin. Who was probably somewhere else by now. Her heartbeat slowed as she sent out a prayer to whatever might be listening that Erin was safe and that what she had smelled on the trail was an old scent, maybe left over from Erin and Carla patrolling around the cave.
Something big crunched its way through the bushes downslope, and she was instantly alert again. For a moment, she wondered about his scent, a mix of human and bear. Did he have some way of controlling his changes? Unbidden, Leroy’s face popped into her mind. Had they been working together? It made sense. That had to be the connection: they must have met Leroy after he fled the valley, or maybe they knew him before then and reconnected with him. He must have told them about the Pack or let enough details slip that they figured it out.
Maybe they got fired from their jobs, or maybe the whole reality TV werewolves thing was just a weird get rich scheme. Had they killed Leroy in some argument over money or something else? They must have done, right? Because it couldn’t have been Erin. But then, how did they get his body in Erin’s car? And what had they done to Erin to make her forget?
It took a moment to realize that she was being watched. She looked up to find Kari standing on the lip of the ledge and smirking at her over the barrel of a gun. “I thought you gals would wear more clothes for hiking. Oh, but you shifted and went back, didn’t you? Aren’t you the clever one, managing that? Clearly, we picked the wrong one before, didn’t we?” This last comment was directed to the gigantic bear that clambered up to stand at her side.
Becca bit back a groan of horror. There was nowhere to run and no way she could fight anything that size. Her wolf snarled in the back of her head, its rage futile. At Kari’s gesture, she stood up slowly, hunched over to hold what was left of her shirt and pants together. Then she slowly followed the bear up the mountain, hoping that the Pack was able to follow them, while Kari walked behind her, gun in hand.