Chapter 5 – The Intruder

Nathan’s POV

The wind whips through my pelt as I carve my way through the trees, my wolf relishing in the freedom. I feel weightless, each stride tearing up tufts of dirt and debris. My heart pounds with excitement, the raw edge of anticipation boiling up my spine.

I wasn’t lying to Carter; the need to run infects every nerve, but today, it’s more than that. A vibration, a call, an itch beneath my skin that not even the shift can ease. It’s like my wolf is looking forward to something.

My wolf and I are one, but it’s times like this that I can’t help but feel like it’s a different entity from me, because I can understand how I’m feeling, but I can’t understand the why of it. Is there something my wolf can sense that I can’t?

Regardless, I don’t stop. The only way to curb the restlessness inside me is to follow the path I’m on to the end.

I lope over roots and through shadows darker than ink, scenting every wild thing the woods produce. My wolf acts like an excited pup, curious about everything. This is part of why I love running the woods alone.

Even though we’re on our territory, it’s not entirely safe. Aside from the enforcers, members of the pack are discouraged from running around alone. I can because I’m the Alpha, and because while alone, I don’t have to care about acting like a dignified Alpha in front of my pack members.

But beneath the usual scents I find in the woods, like a thin thread woven through the deeper notes, is something new.

And it makes my wolf go wild.

My human mind can’t understand, but I’m infected by the excitement, and without second thought, I lower my head and dig my feet deeper into the soil and dead leaves and branches as I run faster, chasing after the scent.

Then sound reaches me, and I halt, digging furrows into the dirt. It sounds like a large animal stumbling through the woods. I tilt my head upwards as the wind shifts and — there, the scent is coming from that direction. A bitter spike of fear, overlaid with that peculiar, elusive scent I’d been following, strikes a sharp feeling of discomfort in my chest.

I follow the scent, keeping my ears perked up to track the sounds as well until it sounds so close, I could find the source in a handful of leaps.

Then I see her, a girl, slip and roll down a slope, landing on the ground just in front of me.

She’s the source of both the noise and the scent.

I stare in shock at the girl that shouldn’t be in front of me right now. I take in the scents around me, ignoring the distraction that hers brings, and I’m certain. This is my land. Crescent Ridge territory. We don’t normally run this way because it leads to a different pack’s lands, but it’s definitely within our borders.

Which means, she crossed the boundary.

My foot shifts, and I accidentally step on a branch. It snaps beneath my paw, the sound as loud as a gunshot, and I see her freeze and slowly turn until our eyes meet.

Then, her scent slams into me full force. Fierce, irresistible. Like wildfire lit in my lungs.

Mine.

I’m nearly knocked right off my feet as a fierce wave of possessiveness waves through me.

I startle. The word echoes through every part of me, uninvited but undeniable. I want to reject it, but I don’t have time to think over this strange discovery, though, when the girl's eyes roll back into her head, and I jump forward instantly, shifting as I go, and catch her limp body in my arms as she sinks to the ground in a dead faint.

The warmth in my arms makes me shiver. I normally don’t get this close to others if it’s not for a fight. I adjust my hold on her and peer into her face.

She’s small, for a wolf at least. I can’t tell if she’s an adult, but she shouldn’t be, because I can scent wolf on her, but not within. Which means she’s from a wolf pack, but she hasn’t shifted yet.

She’s definitely not from Crescent Ridge. An intruder, but obviously no threat. Although, regardless of threat level, we take trespassers very seriously, but the very idea of handing her over to the enforcers to handle makes my stomach turn.

I look in the direction she’d come from, and I frown. She’s likely a wolf cub from Crescent Hollow. But why is she in the woods by herself? Did someone leave her out there? She had been running, but I can tell that no one is chasing or following her, so she was by herself and scared.

The idea makes me angry, though I really shouldn’t be. After all, she’s a stranger to me, and no matter what strange ideas my wolf has, she’s also far too young for us if she hasn’t even had her first shift, though she looks fully grown.

She doesn’t belong here, especially not alone and this far across the line. But I can’t just take her back, either.

I make up my mind and rearrange her in my arms so I can pick her up. Then I turn around and walk back. My heart pounds with each step, the weight of her both light and heavy in my arms. My thoughts are a tangle, warring with my instincts as I consider what to do with her.

I have to send her back to Crescent Hollow and make their Alpha take responsibility for her trespassing. I ignore my wolf’s possessiveness, because there’s no way I can let her stay within the territory. If anyone finds out my strange reaction to this girl and it gets back to the elders, there’s no saying what they’ll do to her.

My wolf doesn’t want to let her go, but keeping her is impossible. She hasn’t even shifted yet, so even if she were a potential mate, no bond would form until she shifted, and she would only be a juvenile then. Maybe I can look for her in a few years.

I get to the edge of the trees, and with a glance at her, let out a howl. Thankfully, she doesn’t wake up. Soon, Carter appears in the distance, jogging toward me. He stares in shock when he sees me holding someone in my arms.

“Alpha, what’s…?”

He starts to question me, but I’d been eyeing him as he came closer, and when I felt like he was a little too close, I bared my teeth in a warning growl. His words trail off as his eyes widen even more at the uncharacteristic reaction.

I don’t have time to explain it to him.

“Follow me to the cabin. I need you to do something for me.”

The seriousness in my voice and expression alerts him, and he snaps his mouth shut and gives a sharp nod. As I turn, walking along the tree line to my private cabin, he follows behind me.