It was a short walk to the cliff Rush brought us to in the middle of the forest. The lake wasn’t large, and I could see all the borders. The cliff was a sudden drop from the lush forest that surrounded the packhouse.
We sat on the edge of the rocky ground as our feet swung carelessly against the open air. I felt weightless. Rush placed his hand on my leg, somehow worried that my moving feet would propel me over the edge.
“Stop doing that,” Rush growled as I took my hands off the ground and reached over to touch my outstretched toes.
“Why, are you nervous?” I teased, singing my words.
“Yes.” He grabbed my waist and pulled me to his side, flush with his chest.
“Fine, I’ll stop,” I grumbled, biting a piece of fruit from the container.
“Thank you,” he murmured quickly sometime later, shyly.
“I didn’t expect it to feel like this,” I said and tilted my head so that it touched his shoulder lightly.
“Feel like what?” he asked, oblivious.
“Mating.” I sat back up, reaching the fork with a piece of watermelon up to his lips. “I didn’t expect to feel like this so quickly.”
“Feel like what? Do you have a fire that needs to be extinguished?” His eyebrow wiggled as he bent closer to me face. I tried to yank my hand away, but his hand wrapped around mine and bit the piece of fruit off the fork.
“No,” I sneered. He didn’t take my words seriously. “My mom always said it would happen fast, but it’s only been a day, and I feel like I’ve known you for years. I mean, I pretty much got to see every side of you, too-sweet, annoying, brutish, romantic,” I joked.
He grabbed my wrist and secured it to the ground, forcing me to lay back against the rocky terrain as he leaned over me. “Is that all you think there is to me?” he asked, quickly and simply pressing his lips to the curve of mine. “You still haven’t seen grumpy,” he paused and kissed me again. “Or goofy.” He kissed the arch of my cheekbone. “Or horny.” He sifted his nose through my hair, and his lips danced around the area where he would mark me.
“Rush,” I breathed out happily. My hands came out in front of me, grazing his cheek and shoulder as I struggled with my mind, do I push him away or do I pull him closer? Has it been too short of time to give myself to this entirely?
He made that decision for me and sat upright. I closed my eyes and took a steadying breath. The scent of the water, Rush’s warm chestnut aroma, and fresh fruit cleared my senses.
My nose twitched at the smell of something else, something foreign.
“Rush,” I called his name, eyes squinting but still closed.
“Sloane, stay still,” he demanded, voice filled with hostility.
“What-” Rush’s hand flashed over and covered my mouth with his clammy palm. I attempted to speak, but his tight grip only allowed me to breathe out of my nose.
His ears were alert, listening to something in the distance, eyes unwavering. An unsettling feeling crept into my stomach, and I fought to stay calm. There was a moment of complete silence, mere seconds before the birds sprung from the trees in one loud shutter.
Something flew past my head, inches above Rush’s hand that held my mouth still. Rush threw his body on top of mine, crushing me under the weight. His hand moved from my mouth and cradled my head gently.
“We’re under attack,” he panted angrily. My eyes widened.
“We need to get out of here,” I said frantically, wiggling underneath him. He pressed himself more firmly on top of me, stopping my movements.
“I can’t tell where they are, the direction of the scent keeps changing,” he said, face contorting angrily and then frightened.
“Well, if we stay here, we might die.”
He waited for something, most likely mind-linking someone in his pack. “Sloane, when I tell you to, I want you to shift and run as fast as you can back to the packhouse and find Beckett, he’s my Beta, tell him what happened and that he needs to assemble the Warriors,” he spluttered in one breath.
“I can’t leave, I don’t even know where I’m going.” My words were frantic and loud.
“You have to, you’ll sense the pack better when you shift. Run back the way we came.”
I didn’t want to fight him, but I didn’t want to leave him behind with whatever was trying to attack us.
“Do it, Sloane,” he barked, shifting off me. I froze at his aggressiveness. “Now!”
I scrambled to get up, and in one smooth motion, I shifted from my human form into my wolf. At no point did I look behind me, but I heard Rush’s loud growl from his wolf as I ran. The trees all looked the same, and I wove through them the way a heat-seeking missile finds its target; fast and frantic.
The packhouse came into view as I broke the tree line. I shifted back as I ran through the front yard, completely ignoring the fact that I was naked.
Someone paused as I ran up the steps of the packhouse. It was a gardener, and she threw a small towel at me. I grabbed it and wrapped it the best I could around myself as I kicked the door open.
Rush’s mother, Cordelia, was resting her arms comfortably on the kitchen counter.
“Who is Beckett?” I screeched, knowing I sounded like a wounded animal. She straightened herself, and her eyes narrowed defensively.
“Why do you need Beckett?” she asked skeptically.
“Rush,” I spat. “We were out in the woods, and someone tried to attack us. He told me to come here and get Beckett and tell him to assemble the Warriors. So, where the hell is Beckett?”
My
