“Why is the engine light on?” I asked, furrowing my brows, and sent Xavier a dirty look.

He made a face and shrugged.

“It's nothing. The temperature of the engine is fine, the dashboard too.”

Mikah groaned from the backseat and I glanced at him.

“You didn't take it for a check-up as Casey asked, did you?” He glared at my boyfriend, his dark skin making his teeth look even whiter than usual. His braided locks fell over his forehead as he leaned forward.

I smirked at him and turned my attention to Xavier. We were going to have a talk after we reached the hotel. He never listened to me and I was always right. But his stubbornness was starting to get to me and I wasn't going to keep silent. Lately, everything about him was annoying me. The way he talked, looked at me in displeasure, like now, and the way he never listened when I confronted him about our problems.

“Trust me, the car is fine. I've been using it for years and-”

His words were cut off by the smoke coming out of the roof. The jeep started coughing and shaking us with its (I hoped not final) efforts.

“Really?!” I exclaimed and bent forward, my irritation on the brink of an explosion. “What were you saying about the engine and the temperature?!”

Xavier pulled over on the empty, full of trees road, and slammed his fist on the wheel.

“Damn it!” he cursed and jumped out of the car.

I clenched my jaw, tracking him with my eyes.

“Is he ever gonna learn?” Mikah sighed behind me and opened the door.

I followed.

“So, what's the prognosis?” I put my hands on my waist, staring at the open engine compartment. Smoke was still coming out of it, so we had to step back and keep our skin away from it.

Xavier looked at me, his blue eyes shallow. His shoulders slumped.

“We'll have to continue on foot.” He turned to the forest on our left. “And if we want to reach our destination faster, we'll have to go through the woods.”

“Woods?!” Mikah exclaimed. “Are you crazy, man?! We came here to investigate the human disappearances and if they were really caused by the turned! What if our assumptions are correct and they are hiding somewhere in the forests?! We are only three, we won't be able to handle a whole pack, or packs, for that matter! You know what these beasts are capable of!”

Xavier rubbed his palms on his face.

“Casey, you say what you want us to do. You're the scouts' leader.”

I nodded in thought. I knew what my boyfriend was suggesting was risky, but we were in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of winter, with an almost dead road. We usually used these roads to avoid humans because some of the werewolves had started holding a deep grudge against them. They were guilty our kind was nearly extinct.

I took my phone out of my jeans' pocket and glanced at it. No signal. It had been like this for more than two hours. If we had to walk by the road, the possibility we'd get noticed by the wolves was much bigger than it was if we were in the woods. And also, if we took the more dangerous route, we would reach the hotel faster.

“Let's take the shortcut.” I nodded, examining the thick trees on my left.

“Casey!” Mikah exclaimed in horror and pulled at some of his braids. He was dramatic, as usual.

...

Only if I'd known how his concerns would turn out to be true. My heart ached for my lost friend... And Xavier...

Sharp pain made me snap open my eyes and my lungs expanded and shrunk in it. It was making my whole body struggle. My vision focused, and instead of clouds or trees, I saw rocks. It was a very cold place that, combined with my soaked clothes, made me quake.

Clenching my jaw, I shuffled and lifted myself on my elbows. My eyes widened when I saw the wolf lying a few feet away from me, breathing heavily. Small whimpers were echoing through his throat as he lay, staring at me with his head between his paws.

I bit my lip, restraining my cry of pain, and examined the place that was torturing me. My leg. The view made me want to throw up and my chest constricted. My right leg was twisted in an unnatural position, pointing outwards. My jeans were ripped and bloody, and for once, I cursed at my regenerative abilities. It had tried to heal in a wrong position and now it was killing me.

“Why didn't you fix my bone?” I breathed out, talking to the wolf. I needed the distraction and I needed to get my mind off the thing I had to do. I also had to evaluate the condition of my mate and see if I could escape without having to fight him.

My back ached as I shook my arms out of the backpack's straps. I slumped back on it with a loud exhale, but when the wolf stood up and started approaching me, I shot back up. Other than a small limp, there was nothing else that signaled he was hurt. Well, shit, just my luck.

Glaring at him, I put my hands on my leg. I focused my anger on the beast and mentally multiplied it. He was like fucking glue. When adrenaline shot through my veins and reached my muscles, I twisted to the right direction, breaking my leg on my own. It was the first time I had to do it and I hated it. But extreme situations required extreme measures.

I screamed out in pain and a tear slid from my eye. My entire leg was burning. I collapsed on my back with a heaving chest and saw black spots appear in my vision. I couldn't lose consciousness. I didn't even have any idea if I had placed it back in its right position.

Warm puffs of air teased my cheek and nose and with my last bits of strength, I glanced in that direction. My mate was sniffing at me, probably making sure I wouldn't die. I wouldn't. I wasn't giving up so easily.

...

Opening my eyes again, I groaned as pain made its presence known. It was much lighter than before, but this time there was something different. I was burning up. And something smelled bad next to me.

I frowned and looked at the direction of the smell. A dead rabbit was lying close to the right side of my head. My hand shot out and shoved it away. This was a nasty way to wake up, considering my state. And where had it shown up from? I lifted myself up and glowered at the wolf. He was still here, lying next to my broken leg. He was a part of the reason I was burning up, but I was pretty sure I had some kind of inflammation. The water had been so dirty and even though my immune system was strong, it had affected my open wound.

I had no idea how much time had passed since I tried to fix my leg, but now I could see the beginning of the cave and the darkness surrounding it. It was night.

The wolf growled and lifted his head, his ears perking up. He eyed the rabbit and I held my breath.

“It's too old, I won't eat it,” I said in a gentle but still annoyed voice. Even if he couldn't understand me because he was just a shell that operated on instincts, I had to somehow get on his soft side.

But if he was still here and some time had passed, then he wasn't the Alpha of his pack. My heart raced both in horror and relief. Horror because probably he wasn't going to get out of my sight, relief because his pack wasn't here. They weren't going to accept me and there was a chance they might try to kill me. They weren't very picky on that subject. But that was how they had been programmed by the human organization that stole them from their families two years ago. They killed the humans inside and left only the rabid beasts, turning them into soldiers. Too bad for them we, the remaining living werewolves, stopped them and got rid of most of their killing machines. Now we had to deal with the turned that had somehow evolved into a whole new fucking kind.

My mate growled, turning his weird amber eyes to the dead animal, and my skin prickled. Don't anger him, don't anger him. I slowly twisted my body towards my backpack, keeping my eyes on him. I was glad my clothes were dry now, but I had totally lost sense of time.

“I just need to find something, okay?” I cooed, unzipping it.

He rose on his feet, his ears bending, and I gulped. His enormous figure was looming over me, rooting fear in my core. My hand quickly shuffled through my backpack and when I thought I reached what I needed, I took it out.

“Look!” I exclaimed, raising the waffle. “Food! I want this.”

He slightly tilted his head to the side and I opened the wrapper, hoping my food was still intact. I bit into the wafer and my mate's ear twitched in curiosity. His eyes widened. Just like a puppy. After I ate it, I dragged myself back to the wall, tugging on my backpack with me. The wolf followed me and I regretfully realized he was completely healthy now.

When the stench of the rabbit entered my nostrils, I made a face.

“Mind throwing that out?” I kicked it with my healthy leg and winced in pain by my rushed action.

The wolf growled at my disrespect and I stiffened. He had caught it for me. I couldn't just refuse it for no reason. Well, no reason according to him. I clenched my jaw and stuck my hand in the backpack once more. My burning state made my every move heavy.

Wolf lowered his front and his tail shot in the air. Oh, fuck.

“Mate, mate! Wait!” I waved my free hand at him as he came face to face with me. Next time, don't show disrespect, Casey. Why didn't I ever learn? Was I like Xavier?

I found the croissant and got it out, unpacking it. My snarling at this point mate stared at it as I lowered my head and pushed my only real food in his muzzle. He sniffed it and I felt some of the tension disappear.

My lips pursed as flashes of its taste and the fact I was starving conquered my thoughts. I lowered my head and stared at my lap. I couldn't allow myself to trigger him further and fight for dominance. Not yet. Mate made a small sound of displeasure and pushed the croissant with his nose to me. My head shot up and I gaped when the croissant fell off my hand on my lap.

Our gazes collided and my skin prickled. Anger bubbled under his eyes.

“Th-thank you!” I stuttered as I grabbed the food and stuffed it in my mouth.

I knew back in the ages, when the mate bond was still heavily respected, werewolves could feel each other's emotions to a certain extent, but... that was no more. At least for my kind. Now, his that had just started evolving into something else was a whole other thing. A mystery for us. Something we still had to study. Or just destroy. Chewing, I stared at the wolf next to me as he sat on his hind feet and watched me eat.