Chapter 5

Izan

I was about to drink my cup of coffee when Ralf, the Delta of my pack, came in unexpectedly. The man looked tense, so I had no doubt that he would give me very bad news.

“So what's going on now?” I asked immediately, and Ralf sighed before answering.

“We have a problem with a group of guys who just had their first shift,” Ralf said, and I frowned. “They made a silly challenge that involves crossing the magical barrier to the south. They want to prove who's faster and braver.”

“Sounds like they want to find out who is the stupidest,” Bella, my housekeeper, said humorously.

 “I sent out a tracking party, but no sign of them,” Ralf said with concern.

I immediately knew what that meant and cursed through my teeth.

“Go, Izan, I'll put your coffee away,” Bella said as she took the coffee cup out of my hands. “Don't go being so hard on those fools; remember, they are just kids.”

“They are already 18; they should have a sense of responsibility,” I said, annoyed. “Let Gabrielle and Marco know about the situation.”

“You know, they sent me with you,” Ralf said.

“Good, we'll set up a larger tracking group. The guys must not have gone very far. They haven't broken through the magic barrier, or else I'd know, so that's a plus.”

Ralf nodded, and Bella gave me a serious look.

“Be patient,” she said, and I smiled sarcastically before leaving the house.

I hurried to get into the truck where Ralf was, and it didn't take us more than ten minutes to get to the training center. Gabrielle, my Beta, and Marco, her mate and Gamma in command, were going over the border maps and checking the tracking points.

“Where did you lose track of the boys?” I asked earnestly, and Marco pointed to the eastern part of the south.

“Here, near the warm forest,” Marco said.

“How long ago did this happen?” I asked with annoyance.

“Since last night, but we were just notified two hours ago,” Gabrielle said with a clenched fist. “The parents became aware of the situation an hour before, and since the younger brother of one of them knew about the bet, he told his parents everything so we could look for them. Seeing no trace, I sent for you. You are the only one who can look for them beyond the limit.”

“Well, let's go to the point where the trace is lost,” I said earnestly. “If they're in a warm forest, rest assured they could have fallen into the trap of some magical creature.”

Ralf cursed between his teeth, and I braced myself for the worst.

There was no one with a better nose like mine in the Eclipse Pack, nor in the whole world.

That was a blessing as well as a curse.

We prepared three groups and divided them into sectors.

Gabrielle led one group, Marco led another group, and I moved with Ralf.

I smelled the footsteps of the wolves moving deeper into the warm forest and immediately shifted into my beast form.

I need you to track those scents, I asked my wolf.

Sirhan growled, and we began to sniff gently.

The moment we distinguished the main scent of each of the five wolves, we started running in a hurry. We entered the warm forest and followed the trail of the river. Ralf and a couple of wolves were following us, but we were much faster. That's how we found a cave near the river.

Sirhan growled loudly.

This is a den of wild gnomes, my beast said.

What's going on, Alpha?

Ralf's question about the mind link didn't surprise me.

This is a den of wild gnomes; it is possible that the guys were caught in a vulnerable moment. We have to offer the gnomes something to ask for respect, I said immediately.

Ralf grunted and went hunting with the other two wolves.

I returned to my human form and looked around the cave calmly before drawing the symbol of the gnomes, a spiral, and summoning their leader.

Suddenly, a blinding light made me close my eyes, and then a growl made me open them.

“Who is the fool that has dared to summon me?” Asked Ada, and I looked at her seriously. “You are the Alpha Savior.”

“I don't like to introduce myself that way,” I said earnestly.

“You guarded this forest during the war; you are the savior of us all. That is a truth,” Ada said with a smile. “What do you wish for? You respect our space and never disturb us; if you are here, it is because you need something.”

The gnome was very wise.

“Some guys in my pack were foolish and went into the forest; now he is locked in that den,” I said to the gnome and pointed to the cave. She looked at the den with a frown. “I would like to give you an offering in exchange for the guys being released. They will respect the ban and never set foot in the warm forest again.”

Ada frowned, and her little nose twitched gracefully.

She was a very pretty woman, but with a strong temper and capable of making everything burn, yet she was a wise leader.

“I'll find them and bring them here, but if they did anything worse than meddle where they shouldn't, I'm afraid I'll have to teach them a lesson,” Ada said, and I nodded.

I respected her own rules.

Ada disappeared with the snap of her fingers, and five seconds later Ralf appeared with the other two wolves. They were bringing a large deer.

“Do you think this deer will do?” asked Ralf, and I nodded.

“They already went to get the boys,” I said, and Ralf sighed in relief.

A minute later, Ada appeared with four of the boys and with a look of utter annoyance on her face.

“The idiots crushed the bean plantation, and one of them got locked in the pit,” Ada said. “The wild gnomes want to eat him, while the other gnomes are trying to get him out alive. They're idiots who didn't know how to control their instincts.”

“Sorry, Alpha, we didn't know that—”

“They knew what they were doing,” I said firmly. “Apologize to the leader of the gnomes and ask for mercy.”

“We are sorry,” the wolves said, and Ralf handed the deer to Ada.

She looked at the deer in surprise before disappearing.

“I'm going to let you in, Izan,” said Ava. “Help the foolish boy who fell into the pit and put him out of his misery.”

Ada held out her hand, and I gave it to her.

A second later I was inside the cave, many feet underground, and there were a handful of gnomes trying to throw a rope across the pit. The wild gnomes were growling thirstily to enter the area to hunt. When they smelled me, they went crazy, so I flashed my eyes and claws.

“I'll keep them at bay,” said Ada, who went to scold them.

I looked into the pit and saw the guy with broken legs on top of a filthy puddle that smelled really bad. The image was terrible.

He must have broken his legs during the shift, and that's why he doesn't heal on his own, Sirhan said immediately.

Not knowing how to control the shift, some wolves had problems and suffered the consequences. That's why I jumped into the pit without hesitation, and the boy, seeing me, sighed in relief.  

“I'm going to carry you,” I said to the boy, and when I lifted him up, he cried out in pain. “You have to be strong until we get to the pack.”

“Sorry, Alpha,” the boy said fearfully.

I jumped back in as high as I could, and we emerged from the pit completely drenched in debris. Ada, seeing the nature of the wounds, carried us out of the cave.

The wolves were disgusted when they smelled us.

“Let's get the guys to the medical center,” I said to Ralf as he helped me carry the injured man. “He needs to be checked out before his leg gets infected. I'll come after you.”

“No,” Ada said with amusement, and her little ears twitched, a sign of mischief. “I'll take everyone to your herd hospital. You go get your muck out of the river first. You need it.”

“Thanks, but I—”

Ada didn't give me time to say anything to her; she walked over to the group and snapped her fingers at once.

The whole group disappeared, and I was stunned.

I didn't think much of the gesture because the gnome liked to play pranks, and if being the butt of some joke served to get the boy medical attention sooner, the sacrifice was worth it.

I went to the river, so I bathed carefully and washed as much dirt off my body as I could. I didn't see any gnomes or other forest creatures, so I decided to go towards the pool near the spring.

What I least imagined was to see a woman completely dirty and full of sulfur.

She was drinking water as if she was thirsty, and I approached her carefully.

“Who are you?” I asked firmly.

The woman raised her face, and her imposing blue eyes paralyzed me.

She was startled, and I noticed the tension in her body.

She looked scared and disoriented.

I saw her take a deep breath and carefully get up; however, she began to walk backwards away from me and did not see the log behind her. She fell, and her head bounced hard on the ground.

I immediately went over to her to help her and saw her lose consciousness.

I bent down to carry her, and it was at that moment that I could smell her well: her scent was lavender.

My body immediately warmed up, my nostrils flared, and my heart began to beat wildly.

Mate!

Sirhan's scream gave me dread, so I carried the woman carefully and fearfully.

I saw the blood that had fallen on the floor and feared the worst.

I need help. Come to the river, near the spring. If you are with Ada, tell her to bring you, I said to Ralf with dread as I saw the amount of blood my mate was losing.

Ada appeared seconds later and looked at me seriously.

“You finally found her,” she said before transporting us to my pack.

I had never known the worst of my fears until I saw my injured mate.