“No! This is the perfect time!” Nicolas raised himself out of the water and jutted a pointed claw at the Tracker. “You’re tainted Charles! The Shadows have marked you. There’s no telling when you’ll go all ‘zombie mode’ on us and just walk off in the middle of a fight again.”
“That’s enough Nicolas,” William said calmly.
Charles had his head lowered, his snout dipping into the ocean water. “No, he’s right William. I don’t know what happened back there. I really don’t. Maybe I am ‘tainted.’ I can’t jeopardize my pack again. I thought I was cured and that I was ok, but today just proved how strong the taint of the Shadows really is. I am a danger to you and myself.” He looked at Aceso, “Leave me here. As my Alpha, you’re the only one who can release me from the pack.”
Aceso leveled her eyes at her Tracker, “No.”
Nicolas exploded, “Oh, you’re crazy! You’re absolutely nuts! I can’t believe I’m listening to this. If Charles wants to kill himself out here then let him! Better we know who we can rely on then waiting for the knife to sink into our backs!”
Aceso eyes hardened on the Scout and moved slowly towards him. Nicolas eyes met hers with a fierceness that William had seen only a few times before. Aceso moved toward him and, raising herself out of the water much like Nicolas had a moment ago, she struck out at him with a lightning-fast claw swipe that ripped into Nicolas’ snout and jaw.
She turned to look at the rest of the pack. “I would sooner cut off my own arm before losing any of my pack, this includes you, Nicolas.” She glanced down at Ansuya’s unconscious body, then turned back toward the rest of her pack. “I won’t hear any more of this! Do I make myself clear?” The rest of her pack nodded like a bunch of chastised children.
In a much calmer tone she nodded toward the west and the sun that was drifting down on its afternoon curve toward the far horizon, “We have a long swim ahead of us. What supplies do we have?”
Nicolas shrugged, “I didn’t see Ansuya’s back pack when we got to her.”
Katherine lifted a backpack out of the water, “I was able to grab one of their back packs.” She laid it on the ocean surface as Charles helped her keep it afloat as she carefully opened it and rummaged through the contents.
“Well, there’s some canned food, and about 10 bottles of water, some rope and a change of clothes, some soap, not that we’re going to need that,” she added under her breath. “Some waterproof matches, tender, and some solid fire fuel still in its baggy so they’re still dry.” She looked up at the group. “That’s about it though.”
Aceso nodded, it could have been worse, they could have had no packs but right now the rope was a gift from heaven. “Katherine get some of the rope and tie Amanda to William’s back. Make sure that her head will stay above the water.” Katherine nodded and took the rope out as Charles carefully retied the pack making sure that its precious contents were secured and put the back pack on his back.
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“When you get done, I’ll need your help with Ansuya, I’ll carry her first,” Aceso said as she took Ansuya from Nicolas. But not before she bit him on the ear. Nicolas hissed quietly at the sudden pain but it disappeared quickly, just as the pain he felt from the battle, and the claw swipe she had given him, disappeared quickly as well.
Aceso moved the unconscious Elder towards the rest of the pack, healing her pack members as she went. She gently bit Ansuya’s and Amanda’s ears as well. She didn’t really understand what the Shadows had done to them. No one really did. But her healing abilities seemed to help them breathe easier at least. Katherine lashed Ansuya to Aceso’s back and they all headed back west.
The tides were calm and the water was smooth for the most part. The salinized water made them all more buoyant than normal, but the going was a lot slower than she would have liked. She struggled at first to find a rhythm. She wasn’t used to swimming at all. Plus, the added bulk of the unconscious Elder on her back made her very conscious of the water that lapped up and over her shoulders.
Soon she was able to find a workable technique, pull with her arms then kick out with her legs and bring them back together, pull, kick, pull, pull, kick. It was a lot harder than she had imagined. She would never make fun of the humans who found this fun as an exercise ever again.
Her werewolf body kept her strong for the long hours of fighting the water and the distance that they still had to travel. It was her mind that was starting to despair. She looked around her. Her pack, her responsibility, they were all struggling with their own thoughts and the water all around them.
William’s face was locked in determination as she had expected. As an Enforcer he was the strongest of all of them and his human will power was something that she had come to rely upon since they met. He carried Amanda with a solid stroke. She wasn’t sure if he had ever swam before, but he wasn’t going to complain about it even if it was. She would have to watch him and make him switch out with someone at some point. He would never admit that he was getting tired.
Nicolas was not a bad swimmer, all things considered. He had every right to be angry at Charles. She almost agreed with him. She hadn’t seen what Nicolas had been talking about with what happened with Charles, but the Tracker didn’t deny it either. It was troubling. And something that they would have to talk about later, when they were out of immediate danger.
Katherine was gliding through the water easily. She looked like she had done this all her life. She was a little envious of the Sage. But she had a responsibility and she tried to copy the other female’s movements. It was a little easier to do it this way, but the body on her back prevented her from slipping through the water the way Katherine did.
Charles’ face was twisted with sorrow and shame. He bore the weight of the back pack like a man carrying a cross, was that the term Ryan had used? Her teacher and mentor Ryan Yamamoto had taught her many saying that sounded odd to her. He had explained that during the period of ancient Rome, the accused would be forced to drag their own cross through the streets, till they were outside the city. Once there, soldiers would crucify them to the cross that they themselves had dragged through the streets. Charles face bore an expression that she imagined someone in that circumstance would have had.
He hadn’t been himself in the fight. But she hadn’t seen it either. All she had to go on was Nicolas’ word and Charles’ confession. She wanted to scream. Of all the problems that she had anticipated on the long dangerous trip through the Whyte Plain back to America, this wasn’t even on the list.
She looked up ahead. The sun was already close to dipping into the ocean in front of them. All they had to do was follow the sun. How many days that would take? She didn’t know. She only hoped that they reached land before exhaustion, or sharks, or both, claimed them and made this ocean their final resting place.