k********g the Alpha's daughter

Chapter 6

Sue heard Rick mumble his excuse and exit the house. It was the first time the man was leaving her presence. And she gratefully welcomed his absence.

She had sat in silence all afternoon, consumed by guilt and shame. Going through all he had told her and reanalyzing her actions that had led to the problem. She was even more disappointed with herself now that she had time to critically see the role she played in it. She was amazed how much things looked different when observed from a different perspective.

To make matters worse, Rick’s presence in the room had not only been a constant reminder of her sins, but also an unwelcome assault on her senses. His scent had intensified the more distressed she had become.

It was like his wolf responded to hers and began feeding off each other’s scents. Such a complication was absolutely the last thing they needed.

He had gone out the back for some fresh air. Sue knew Agnes was long gone to sleep by this hour. Old age had not been kind to the old wolf. She slept early, and she slept like the dead.

Sue eased herself from the chair she had occupied all day and headed for the front door. Once she was quietly outside, she quickly stripped off her clothes and laid them down by the door.

She stepped out into the night air, naked. She knew her human form would make less noise than her wolf. When she was sure she was far enough to shift, she leaped into the air and transformed before her foot touched the ground again. Then she ran full speed into the trees.

By the time Rick ran to the front of the house and found the clothes, he knew she had a good head start on him.

The second he had caught her scent in the breeze dosed with adrenaline, he had known it would not be good.

Rick took off running in the direction he could smell she had gone. His clothes ripped off his body and fell off into pieces as he shifted to his wolf on the move.

It felt good to release his wolf and run hard as only his animal could appreciate, but in that moment the only thought and emotion that went through his mind was to find Sue and return her to her home before Agnes or anyone else found out she had even left in the first place.

Sue pushed herself hard as she ran through the forest. She was not very familiar with the area, but the plan was simple. Sue had to get as far away as possible. She knew he would be on her trail by now, but she wasn’t giving up.

Running so fast on unfamiliar ground, Sue broke through the trees and unexpectedly plunged into a stream. The ice cold water was a rude shock to her body, but her wolf quickly shook it off and kept going.

She decided to use the stream to kill her scent and tracks. Although the water was cold, she forged ahead with determination.

Rick stood still on the edge of the stream. He could not pick her scent anymore. He knew she must have gone into the water. But what he could not figure out was which way she went. If he picked the wrong direction, he would be taking himself further away from her instead of closer.

He tried to use his hearing to get a telling sound in either direction, but heard nothing. The rush of the water consumed any other sounds. This cannot be happening, he thought angrily.

Sue had covered a long distance through the stream before the cold water got to be too much to handle, and she stepped out. She sniffed the air to get a hint of her location, but nothing smelled familiar.

Giving little thought to the options, she randomly picked a direction and started walking. After all, a wolf can’t get lost, she thought.

She had no actual plan when she had left the house. She had just wanted to get away for some time. Thinking about it now, she thought she could use this to her advantage. When she got back, she would show her father how she can take care of herself and did not need a guard, hence relieving Rick of his duty over her.

She did not want to be responsible for the death of another wolf. And she feared the longer she was with Rick, the higher the possibility he too would end up dead. Even just the thought of harm coming to him had her wolf getting agitated.

Rick was not like the others. With the others, she had only wanted friendship and to annoy Agnes, but with Rick, she wanted more than friendship. She wanted his respect and trust. She wanted his bite on her shoulder, and that was dangerous.

Shaking her head out of her musing, she looked around the unfamiliar landscape. She sniffed the air and still nothing to help her locate herself. Her hearing, too, did not provide any help.

She did not know where she was and how to get back. She began to realize her terribly devised plan was even worse than she thought.

Rick had been walking through the ice-cold water of the stream for almost half an hour and his paws were going numb, but he had yet to pick her scent again. I must have picked the wrong direction, he thought.

Stopping, he began going through his options. He could backtrack and head in the other direction. That would mean he would have wasted a full hour searching in the wrong direction, and that would also mean more time in the water. Just the thought of the water. His wolf was not pleased.

He could head back to the house and organize a better search with some help, or even find her back home comfortably waiting for him with a smug look on her face. He thought of this, then concluded if he returned and she was not there, it would alert the Alpha Kurian that he had been careless and lost his daughter. That would surely mean his end, without a doubt.

Even if Kurian did not kill him, Jakes would ensure he did not go unpunished and he would lose his position. His wolf shook its head, dismissing this idea.

The water was getting too cold. Rick stepped out and stood on the edge, still thinking through his options. Which he was fast realizing were few and not so great. He transformed back into his human form and sat on the ground. If thinking was what he needed to do, he might as well think in the appropriate form.

Sue was still wandering around, trying to get her bearings. She was beginning to panic. It would be daybreak soon, and Agnes would surely notice her absence and Rick’s. And if history was anything to go by, she knew the old hag would conclude the worst and call upon her father. Sue may just have signed Rick’s execution with her bare hands.

She was so consumed by her terrifying thoughts; she did not notice it until it was too late. First she smelled it, then heard it. By the time she was seeing it, it was too late for her wolf to run out of the way.

Bang! The sound came out so loud and she flinched seconds before she felt something hot pierce the skin on her shoulder. Her wolf did not give her time to register the pain and just launched toward the threat.

The second bullet caught her while she was still sailing in the air. Its impact was enough to throw her off balance and she landed with a thump on the ground. That was when she registered the pain. It tore through her shoulder and hip, where she had caught the second bullet.

Wolves healed faster than humans, but that did not mean they did not feel pain. If anything, it was believed, because of their heightened senses, they felt everything more intensely. And in that moment, Sue would agree the elders had been right. Pain tore through her body, paralyzing her wolf to the ground.

She had no strength to shift back to her human form. And she did not think it would be wise to do so even though the transformation would partially heal the wounds.

She was panting for breath on the ground and could feel warm blood flow out of her wounds. But her concentration was on the human now walking towards her. The portly man stood over her proudly and regarded her like a prize trophy.

Sue felt her blood run cold. He was a hunter, and he meant to kill her. She had wandered too far from the Pack lands and found herself in human territory.

The man smiled and lifted his gun once again. Sue watched helplessly as the man reloaded the shells and aimed for her head.

Rick had been seated on the ground, still in thought, re-evaluating every possibility when he heard the first gunshot go off. Within a heartbeat, he had stood as his wolf and was ready to fight.

The second gunshot had given him the direction, and he had taken off running as though he was being chased by the devil himself. He was certain Sue was in danger. He felt it in his bones. His wolf was enraged and could not be contained.

He ran past trees and thorns hooked into his fur, but he gave them no thought. His mind fully focused on Sue and the danger she was in. His heart raced and all his senses honed to pick up every trace, scent, and sound.

Within seconds, he caught her scent in the air and the smell of fear was so strong it nearly knocked him to the ground. He could also smell a human and gunpowder. Rick had a pretty good idea of the scene that awaited him.

He tried to reach Sue through his mind, “Am coming, am on my way,” but he got no response from her. He feared he may already be too late.

When he broke out of the trees into the clearing, he saw exactly what he had been dreading. Sue’s wolf lay on the ground, motionless, but he could hear her rapid breathing. She was panicking and scared. He could feel that through her scent. But most importantly, she was alive.

A portly man was standing over her and taking aim for another shot. Rick saw red as rage like he had never known before consumed him. He jumped and threw all his weight against the man.

Both Rick and the hunter tumbled to the ground, and the gun flew out of sight. The impact had been enough to knock the hunter unconscious. The hunter’s body lay motionless at Rick’s feet. Rick growled and looked down at the man that had nearly ended Sue’s life. He wanted nothing more than to rip his throat apart.

Reluctantly, he walked away from the hunter and headed for Sue. A vicious death of a human in these woods would only draw more attention and questions. Rick was not willing to be a part of it.

He changed back to his human form when he reached Sue, so as to properly assess the situation. He could still hear her breathing, but her eyes were closed. Rick could see a large dark pool of liquid around her and the smell was unmistakably blood.

He ran his hands through her soft fur, checking for the wounds while desperately calling her name. “Ms. Daniels?… Sue?” Only silence met his frantic calls.

He decided to speak directly to her mind, “Sue, you need to shift back… you will bleed to death. Shift back now.” He held her in his arms and waited and still, nothing happened.

“Sue! Listen to me… focus on me. Change your form. I know you can hear me.” He had spoken out loud this time, his voice breaking and pleading. He had laid her wolf’s head over his lap and was holding on to her tightly, as though he could somehow give her his strength to shift back and heal.