Pathways

I don’t think Darren was to comfortable with being out in the woods any longer. Before I had a chance to pull away from him he was already ripping his flesh into his wolf form. I followed, still pushing through my stinging side. We didn’t take off running though, we walked slowly, Darren seeming to check every corner and my wolf following him shamefully. I honestly knew he was angry at me for coming out here, even though he pretended that he was perfectly fine with it. I’m not as ignorant as I look, and honestly it would be nice if he would acknowledge it.

Darren threw his head back. Stretching back his thick neck back and bellowing a howl towards the moon. It was a deep howl, I’m unsure of what he meant by it but it still sent shivers down my already shaking spine. I swear it shook every pine tree, and sent everybody in these woods running. He turned back to me then, nudging me with his warm nose, forcing me ahead of him. Understanding his urgency I took off, bolting towards the village as fast as I could. Digging my claws into the deep icy snow, pushing as hard as I could. I could care less about my aching side, or even if Darren could keep up with me. All I wanted was to get home at this point, I wanted to reach out bedroom where I could hide my shame.

Not to my surprise Darren kept right up behind me. He was the alpha after all, even if he wasn’t I’m sure he wanted out of here just as bad as I did. These beautiful woods glistened with wonder, and excitement but they were also filled with danger. It seemed to me that every time we were in them something bad such as this happened. I loved running as my wolf with all my heart, but I didn’t want to put my mate in danger while doing it. If I had to research all of the dangers of these woods, I would. Its not like it wouldn’t benefit me to learn about them anyway, it sucks to admit it but Darren wouldn’t be here to save me all the time.

Another bear roared not to far from where we were at. My heart jumped inside of my chest, I have already been attacked at one point tonight, I don’t know if I could survive another one. My ears twitched at Darren’s worried huff. Could he be thinking the same thing I was? We were still quite aways from the village, and it wasn’t uncommon to see bears out here. My legs pushed harder, running as fast as I could through the trail. I was panting so hard that I wouldn’t have been able to pick up a scent if I wanted to. All I could rely on was the odds that I probably wouldn’t make it back to the village without seeing another one.

The cuts on my side stung more and more with every thrust. These movements of dashing around trees were defiantly not helping them, in fact they almost felt like they were ripping open more. Not to mention the smell of my blood was more then likely attracting the bears. Darren began to run beside me, panting himself. I was terrified this would get us killed, this was probably the worst decision I have ever made.

Within the next 40 paces is when everything went wrong. My paw dug into the deep snow, crunching against something hard and metal. A hunters trap from our village, meant to catch bears for feeding. It set off, snapping hard and jerking me to a stop. My body slammed into the snow hard, knocking the wind out of my already tight chest. A loud yelp left my mussel. Without a pause I had changed into my human form, desperately trying to release my bleeding wrist from the metal teeth. By the time I had it half way open Darren was over top of me, prying it open with me.

“I’ll check it out when we get back!” He demanded, pushing me up and demanding I changed back.

I darted forward again, ignoring the pain. Running and running until I reached the fences of our village. It was still really early in the morning so no one was out and about yet, which I viewed as good because I knew I’d be in deep shit for this. Glad that we were back I turned to see Darren, but my alpha was no where to be seen. My heart just about stopped, I panicked and without thinking darted back into the woods.

What had happened? How in the hell had I lost him!? I darted past towering trees, forcing myself to run on what was sure to be a broken wrist until I found my mate. He was a little less then a half a mile back, being slammed against a tree by a giant grizzly bear. The bear almost seemed to be using him as a chew toy. All I could see was the blood dripping from Darren’s mussel, I didn’t know if it was his or the bears but I didn’t give myself time to react. Before I knew what I was doing I had pounced on the bear, digging my fangs into the side of his face. The taste of its copper blood landed on my tongue, I was going to get this bear away from my mate if it killed me.

I was tossed to the side, slamming against the ground I quickly faced it again. Crouching and barring my teeth. A low growl inside my throat. It charged me, shaking the ground and roaring itself. I forced past the fear inside my chest, knowing I had to do this. Darren’s life was worth more then mine. The bear’s paw slammed down on my back with enough force to slam me against the snow once more. Darren’s worried cry echoed through the trees again, distracting it enough to give me the window of opportunity I needed. Without thinking I latched onto the bears throat, jerking hard until it cried desperately. I had dealt the fatal blow, and that all hard worked out in my advantage until its two ton dead body slammed down on top of me, knocking me out.

Everything was cold where I ended up. I couldn’t feel any pain, but I was freezing. All I could here was Darren’s voice, it almost sounded like tears. Was I dead? Has he died to? Please don’t tell me that I failed to save the one person I would ever love, at least I fought until my death.

“Rose!” He cried, suddenly I felt a strong jerk. My eyes shot open out of shock, my wolf retreating into my body leaving me naked. I found myself still pinned underneath the bear, yet my hand was free and I could feel Darren’s hand desperately yanking at it. I gasped sharply, letting out a whine of pain when I realized that I was having a hard time breathing underneath all of this weight. “Rose hold on!” He cried again.

My fingers tightened on his, I could almost feel his shock when that happened. Has he thought I was dead as well? I began kicking at the bear’s dead weighted body. Shoving myself deeper into the painful ice so I could pull on Darren’s hand enough to at least free my body up to my shoulders. Once it was out that far Darren was able to pull me the rest of the way out and into his shaking arms. He gripped me hard, his bloody arms holding me painfully tight. I twisted until I could see him. His face was covered in scratched and blood. His beautiful chest was sliced deeply with three gashes, claw marks.

I tugged away from him. “Are you okay!” I cried. He looked terrible, how could I have left him without realizing it!? Tears welded up in my eyes, I had almost lost him to that damn bear.

He looked dumb founded for a second, clearly in as much shock as I am. “ You…You just killed a bear, Rose. A grizzly bear.” He demanded quietly. “How can you ask me if I am okay?”

I glared at him. “I just watched a bear slam you like a rag doll against a tree! Are you okay!?”

It was unsettling to see a wolf as big as Darren be tossed so easily like that. How had I beat that bear? Darren couldn’t even get a hold of it, and I had killed it like it meant nothing. Like it was easy.

He gripped my shoulders hard, jerking me into a kiss. The kiss tasted like blood, a mixture of his and my own. I know that I am hurt, but I still can’t feel it yet. The adrenaline is two high, I feel better then I ever have before.

“I’m okay.” He whispered when he pulled away. “I would be dead if you hadn’t shown up though.”

I leaned my head against his warm shoulder, allowing my eyes to close. “You would’ve done the same for me.” I hummed, feeling his arms begin to scoop me up. He was so warm and soft, I couldn’t help but begin to feel my head swim into unconsciousness.

“Don’t go to sleep, Rose. We have lost a lot of blood, especially you…” He warned, starting to run towards the town. “Just stay awake, darling. Talk to me.”

“You are so warm, Darren.” I purred, tucking my face closer to his neck. Against his whishes I dozed off. I couldn’t help it, he was so comfortable and I was beginning to become so exhausted. The next thing I knew I was against a soft bed, hands were prodding me and I was in so much pain that I could barely sit still. I felt Darren’s hands hold me down some what. “I don’t know!” He demanded in an annoyed voice. “She just attacked it, she seriously took it down like it was nothing. I was terrified it was going to kill her and I watched it slam her so hard that she should be dead. For heaven’s sake it landed on her! It should’ve crushed her, but she was only unconscious for maybe three minutes.”

A woman’s voice spoke then, she seemed to be the one binding all of my wounds. “She is fine though, she doesn’t have any broken bones and I only had to stitch up her wrist. These cuts just need some gauze and some pain killers but she is seriously fine. Honestly Darren she probably is just mentally drained, if I seen my mate being ate by a bear I probably would be to. The only way she beat it was because of the adrenaline, but the good news is she just provided the village with food for a long time. I guarantee that they will accept her now, and she will be able to leave your house.”

“I don’t care!” Darren snapped, tugging my body back into his arms. “This is my mate, and they should accept her no matter what! I want patrols out, these bears are gaining in numbers and I’m not comfortable. No one leaves the village until this is taken care of!”

“Yes sir!” A male’s voice stated, and we began walking again. I was back unconscious before I knew what was happening.