1 - Camp Blood Creek

~Dex’s Point of View~

The sting of the cool air hitting my face feels like heaven. It feels like freedom. But it's all a false feeling, only temporary. I’m far too disciplined to allow myself any indulgences, but this one I’ll hold onto for the moment. It’s allowing me to ignore the blood pulsing in my ears, the hairs on my arms standing on end since I woke up this morning. Today could be the last day of my life. Or it could be what makes me a legend. 

My gaze moves to the sky, trying to get a glimpse of the moon that has brought me so much comfort. It's the only real constant you can count on, especially for a werewolf. 

*I feel its electricity! Almost like its alive I swear,* my wolf shouts, as if I will struggle to hear him from within our brain.

“Coming up ladies! Man up or go crying home to mama,” someone yelled. I just caught it over the tornado whipping into the train car. I had no idea if we were at camp yet, but something told me we were. 

*The smell has definitely shifted. It’s just something in the air but I feel it. This is it,* my wolf said, pushing through my eyes. I couldn’t make out much from the trees flashing by. But I more than trusted my wolf to keep us safe and on track.

Before I knew what was happening, the “handler” began shoving bodies off the fast moving car and I sure as hell wasn’t waiting around for a push. Everything is on my terms and this won’t be any different. 

I lean back with my full weight, draw a deep breath and then hurl myself out into the dark abyss. I could fall onto a rock and die instantly, but I guess that’s their plan. If you’re scared of the jump, you shouldn’t even be here.

*I got this,* my wolf shouted, as he pushed through my skin, moving and shifting our bones. We’ve got shifting down to less than ten seconds and there’s literally nobody I know that can do it that quickly.

I give him full control, retreating in my mind and allowing him to move us. Our legs stretch out looking for land just a split second before we hit it. Once our paws are in the dirt, we move with urgency and purpose. We don’t show that we’re even the least bit phased even though that was a damn hard landing and our legs are feeling it. 

I had only a name to go by in the darkness: Dakota. No physical description, no scent. Just a name.

He would be my partner for the next month, we’d have to lean on each other for survival. We’d have to learn each other in every way: and if we made it to the end, we may very well be forced to kill each other. Because that’s what they all want. 

A show.

The royals that run the shapeshifter world are nothing but selfish assholes. They don’t care about individual packs, they don’t actually care who runs them. Because they own us all and they won’t let us forget it. So here I am, showing up to play their game. To win the right to do what I am already going to do anyhow. 

Be Alpha of my pack. 

It’s my birthright and I’ll be damned if some jerk I don’t even know takes that from me. But, every twenty-five years the royals want to shake things up. Weed out the weak.

*This way,* my wolf insists, shifting his weight and pushing forward. There’s zero room here for ego, for arrogance. We’re confident and there’s a big difference. 

A leader doesn’t wait for direction and this is no different. Even though I’ve never set foot on these lands, for the next month this camp is mine. I own it, I run it. Everyone will answer to me.

They just don’t know it yet. That’s not me boasting, it’s a fact.

*Me too! Me too,* Kent answers, making me smile. 

I’ve never been more proud of what my wolf and I have accomplished to make it here. Nothing is given to anyone. You earn everything you have regardless of your family name, regardless of your pack. It doesn’t matter that I was born for this, I still had to put in the work. No fewer than ten males challenged me, and two didn’t get to live long enough to be pompous another day. 

Training to be Alpha of Shadow Cove is all I’ve ever known and I will end anyone who stands in my way.

*Let’s find this Dakota quick, I want to hunt before we starve. This will be a good test to see if he can at least manage that,* I say, as my wolf continues to run at full speed. 

The sounds of the forest fill our ears quickly and it relaxes me. We’d already lost the dozen others that had been on the train with us. I could care less if they broke both legs when they landed. 

Less competition. Not only will winning camp elevate my Alpha status to the next level, it’ll open the door to me adding to our packlands. Potentially adding more guardians and more resources. It’ll ensure the long term survival of my people. All of that rests on my shoulders. It's not just my future, but everyone I hold dear.

When Kent stops abruptly and opens his ears, we pick up a faint heartbeat maybe half a mile away and it is definitely a shifter. There’s a very distinct difference if you know how to listen between a real animal and a hybrid human. The number of beats per minute is relative to the size of the creature and we’ve been trained extremely well. 

*Let’s go toward it. If it isn’t our partner I’m getting dinner without them,* Kent snarls, pushing on.

After about two minutes a sweet scent suddenly wafts into our nose and I swear my heart nearly stops. My head immediately swirls with confusion and that can be deadly out here. The heartbeat is also moving toward us, and fast.

*What the hell is that,* Kent shouts, abruptly stiffening and pausing. Our eyes close as if involuntarily, and we draw a deeper breath to take in the foreign smell.

Honeysuckle? Even if that grows naturally out here, we’re months from it being in bloom.

I draw in another breath and the distinct combination of jasmine and vanilla fills my lungs. Our eyes burst open as a sweat seems to break out all over our skin. Kent begins to pant, but I try to reign him in. When our heart beats a bit louder, my very female deprived wolf can’t help but lick his lips.

*No! Hell no! There can’t be any females out here. There are no females at camp, period!! Not even the workers are female,* I say, matter of fact. 

I haven’t even been around a female that wasn’t my immediate family for the past month just to get the urges out of my system. My only focus was eating clean and training. 

But suddenly the smell is even stronger, and I’m not totally sure anymore. Every hair on our body stands on edge and without a doubt we know this heartbeat is a female. A true she-wolf. Our eyes pop open and suddenly our head is jerking left to right. Right to left. 

It’s a trick, it has to be! This is bullshit!! 

My wolf lets out a low growl to assert his dominance, and to let this creature know that we are not going to take the bait. It’s actually a brilliant idea. There’s literally no chance any males would expect this kind of trap. So dangling a sweet smelling and likely beautiful she-wolf in front of us makes sense.

Only there’s nothing else out here. Nothing at all. Where the hell is even the wildlife? And surely there are some camp people out here to witness this? Not that I think anyone would physically hurt a female but…

They wouldn’t be dumb enough to throw her literally to the wolves would they?

*Incoming!! Split,* Kent shouts, as a gust of wind zips by us. 

We immediately side step and go limp and let our body pancake in case something is trying to land on top of us. Kent quickly rolls on his side then jumps back on his feet just in time to see the white of a wolf with a large dark mark on the side of her face.

Definitely a she-wolf! 

*Stay alert! Ready for anything,* I shout, as Kent growls. 

She cocks her head to the side, as if she’s confused too. We both stand defiant, locked in a staring contest. I have three older sisters who made my life hell, always testing me. Maybe they were preparing me for this exact moment and I just didn’t know it.

But this female… There’s something seriously different about her. She’s … already hypnotic.

*We could growl, grit our teeth but I don’t want to go that route. There’s literally no one else around here for at least a half mile,* Kent says, though our stomach slightly rumbles in protest as he sits down. A tingle in my brain tells me he’s trying to impress her.

*That’s it? You’re just going to act unphased,* I scoff. 

Kent lifts his paw and licks the back of it, trying to show he can’t be bothered. Part of me wants to chuckle, the other part says she need to figure out what the hell she’s--

As if out of nowhere the pidder-patter of little feet hits our ears. The she-wolf hears it too, and within a split second we’re both running toward what I’m certain is a rabbit. 

At this moment I tell myself that if she gets that critter, I’m already done for. I’ll never live it down. How it is possible my entire life, all my hard work is going to boil down to me getting this fucking rabbit first?

My heart thumps in my ears, my blood practically boils. The very second my eyes see the brown fur ball jump into a bush, I’m practically salivating for the taste of his flesh. 

I can’t spare a second to look at what the she-wolf might be doing. I have to have this rabbit in my mouth in the next five seconds or my life is ruined. Kiss it all good-bye. I’ll be thrown out of my pack, disowned and made rogue. 

I cannot lose to her. It’s not an option!!

Without a second thought Kent presses our paws deep in the earth and thrusts up and forward. We soar through the air, the cool air hitting our face. Kent lets out a practically earth shattering growl, letting anything with a pulse know that we’re not fucking around. We’re hungry in more ways than one.

When thorns and twigs hit our body, slightly stabbing our belly, we ignore it. Kent opens his mouth and begins chomping at anything he can. That damn rabbit is in this bush! I MUST HAVE HIM!!

Before I know it, our mouth is full of leaves, twigs and who knows what. But no rabbit. The smell of blood fills my nose and tells me we’ve got some little cuts. Kent growls and rolls himself out of the shrubbery, and onto the cold hard ground. 

A light mewl fills our ears, and we jerk our head left. There sits the white she-wolf, smacking away on some brown fur. She looks completely at home under the dim moonlight, enjoying her meal.

How could I be so fucking stupid?? Now she’s made a total fool out of me and there’s only one thing I can do!

*We’re not killing her,* Kent says, matter of fact. He cocks his head to the side and draws a deep breath of her enticing scent. 

Heavy footsteps hit our ears and we immediately jump to our feet. If they see her chomping away and me with nothing, I’ll never live it down. Bested by a female who literally had to do nothing but watch me be stupid. I let my wolf react instead of using my human brain.

*Shut up! If she wasn’t here we’d have gotten him,* Kent shouts.

But there’s no time to argue. I force myself through Kent and begin to growl, the white wolf quickly takes notice and gets to her feet. She’s sure of herself and her body language tells me she isn’t going to take my shit. 

I lunge at her with all I’ve got, but it takes several strides to reach her. She growls in return and bares her canines in defiance as she too runs. I’m focused on nothing but jumping on her, fighting her!

BAM!

We hit each other mid-air in the same second, and instantly I feel as if someone took a baseball bat to the side of my head. Kent retreats and I feel my bones shifting and moving just as we hit the earth. Once in my human form, pure anger fuels me and I roll to my side as she too starts to shift. My ears simultaneously tell me that company will be here in seconds.

I grab one of her partially shifted arms and hold it down. I climb on top of her and use my free hand to spring claws, ready to slash her throat.

Rage blinds me, and while I see her perfect creamy skin, her beautiful brown hair filling in and her body taking shape, I can’t focus on it. Then I realize she's unconscious. 

*See? We don’t have to kill her. This is enough,* Kent insists.

“I knocked her out cold,” I say, just above a whisper as her perfect tits form in front of me. Regret fills my heart, a feeling I haven’t felt in years. I can’t look away from her, she’s a damn angel. 

*She’s our mate,* Kent says, saying what we’d both been thinking but couldn’t quite understand. Did she get it? Did she know??

“I knocked her out,” I repeat, still not comprehending much of anything.

Suddenly, big green eyes are staring up at me in confusion. 

“You knocked me up,” she asks, tilting her head to the side.

The forest immediately fills with the sounds of laughter, easily half a dozen males in a chorus. 

*Shit,* Kent yells, and I quickly roll off of the female. 

“No! I knocked you up!. Not… No… uhm, OUT! I knocked you out,” I say, in defiance.

But it’s too late.