Page 37 of Blood Pearl
I can see Aztec is sitting up and yawning, and can’t help but smile at her because she’s such a sweetheart and I’m very lucky to have her as my wolf.
Sneaking out of the packhouse was far easier than I expected. I came across no one, yet the doors were unlocked when I reached them. They are large double doors at the main packhouse and you would think they would be locked with the threats we are and have been facing. It’s something I’ll have to speak to the pack about later.
Halfway to the territory's border, I meet with Gerry, who has Sharon and Aggie with him. “Did you get away easily?” I ask.
“Too easy, Alpha Aurora. You need to set up some security for the packhouse because anyone could walk in or out without you knowing,” Sharon states, giving me a cringe when she realizes she was being critical to an alpha.
“It’s okay Sharon, I thought the same when I saw the main doors were unlocked too. I’ve made a mental note to address it. Now, while we are not in an official capacity, you can drop the Alpha.”
“Okay, that’s good, as it gets to be a bit of a mouthful. Are you ready?” Sharon turns to look at Aggie and Gerry, who are both clothed in black as well. When they give her a nod, we turn toward the border and start running.
Stopping while the border patrol passes, I am pleased to notice they both stop and listen to any noise, sniff the air and try to detect anything out of the ordinary. We, I’m sure, all used something floral in our body wash this evening to counteract our natural smell. The less attention we attract to ourselves, the better.
Moving from one area to another, we stay undetected by any passing rogue. They are very few and far between, much less than the last time Gerry and I came through. Maybe something is different now?
Stopping behind a large hollowed out oak tree, we wait for the two rogues we hear talking to pass. Aggie gives me a tap and as I turn to look, she points at a single figure in the shadow of a tree. I’m squinting and not sure I’m even seeing a person!
‘Am I seeing someone in the shadows of the tree, Aztec?’
Yes. Male, sneaky, but clever. Staying in the shadows.’
Shadows! Now I wonder if that is Xavier the shadow warrior? If it is, he has caught up with us well before we wanted him to. I nudge Gerry with my elbow and give a head signal for him to look.
Mind-linking Gerry, I ask, ‘Gerry, do you see a person in the shadows near the tree?’
‘I thought I saw something earlier but figured I was seeing things. But I’m now thinking we have a shadow warrior on our tail.’
‘Yeah, my thoughts too. Let’s ignore him for now and move on.’
Giving me a nod, we tap Sharon and Aggie to get their attention and move on. Shifting into our wolves, we move swiftly toward the camp. We don’t waste any time either, and Aztec is enjoying the run alongside Asher.
Reaching a few minutes before the camp, we shift back and listen, but not a sound. Everyone is asleep, or they have gone!
‘Can you hear anything, Aztec? Any breathing, sniffling, anything?’
No, nothing. I can’t sense anything human or wolf.
“Aggie, you come with me, Sharon, go with Aurora. Circle the camp and keep alert. There may be an underground area and you don’t want to get caught,” Gerry whispers, and giving him a thumbs up, we move out.
Sharon stays one step behind me, and I weave through the trees on the outskirt of the camp. But nothing, not a sign of anyone. Something has caused the rogues to move, and I’m not convinced it was their hostages getting away.
Meeting with Gerry and Aggie back where we split up, I give him a questioning look. “Anything?”
“Nothing. I reckon they’ve gone or gone underground, as we suspected.”
“We can’t risk finding the entrance to the underground because we’d be tempted to enter. Let’s report back to the council and see what they want to do.” Sharon turns to look behind her, and we all look too.
A deep voice, kept low, has all of our attention. “You all go back. They have gone underground. I’m Xavier and you need to get away from here before I do what I have to do to get the information we all need.”
I would like to argue with him, but I know that we are lucky to have him assisting us, so keep my objection to myself. I check him out and he’s all in black, black hair and he’s blacked his face for concealment. I have no idea what he actually looks like, and would pass him and not realize who he was.
Aggie steps forward slightly, and keeping her voice low, asks. “Do you need someone to stay and keep watch? It can be done from the trees.”
“No, I want you all gone because I don’t have time to worry about what you are doing, or if you have been found.” Xavier gives Gerry a look and when Gerry nods, Xavier turns and disappears into the shadows of the night leaving us watching his retreat.
“Come on, let’s get back to the packhouse. We’ll have been missed by now.” Gerry turns and starts to walk away, but I stand a few moments thinking this has been a total waste of time.
“We know that the hostages escaping has caused them to either move to another location or they have gone underground. Xavier will get that information. But we can go back and let the council know the camp is empty, and the patrol seems to have disappeared, too. We’ve seen six rogues since we entered no-man’s-land, and I would think that is an extremely low number,” Sharon murmurs to me.