“Keva!” Soter yelled, “We can’t keep this up for too much longer!”
The pack was running blindly northward, deeper into the Whyte Plain but the Shadows pressed them from all sides. Keva knew that they had to get as far north as possible and had elected to run instead of getting out of the Whyte Plain sooner. They had been able to hold off the flowing forms, but they had been running for a long time. The Shadows nipped at their heels and they pressed in from the east and west.
Huan Li had silently accepted the Alpha’s decision to stay in the Whyte Plain. Keva was beginning to wonder if they shouldn’t get out now. They had long ago shifted into werewolf form and being weighed down by their packs, they were a half step slower than they would have been. It was a dangerous game of chicken that she was playing.
Her leg stopped moving and she almost fell to the ground. Without looking she knew that a Shadow had grabbed her. She cursed and swiped at the tendril that held her. Her claws passed through the gaseous form and her leg was free once more. She ran in a full sprint to make up for the lost seconds.
“Soter,” Keva called out, “How far away are we? Are we close?”
The mostly silver furred Scout called back over his shoulder, “I can’t really tell at the moment.” As he flung his free arm out to his side, slashing out at a Shadow that was trying to attack him. “Being that we don’t really know exactly where we’re going. It’s hard to tell.”
Keva kicked out at another Shadow that was trying to grab her foot. “That’s not helpful Soter! Like, at all! I need an answer now!”
Soter called back as he nimbly jumped over a Shadow as it tried to trip him. “I’m pretty sure we’re in Sweden right about now. Or we might be a mile or so away. So, we could risk it and maybe have to take a swim.”
Keva closed her eyes in silent thanks, “Michelle! Get us out of here!”
The almost pure cream furred werewolf called back, “It’s about time!” She skidded to a stop and closed her eyes. Suddenly the whole pack found themselves in three feet of ice-cold water. The shock took Keva’s breath away before she realized what had happened and where she was. She quickly shifted into human form while trying to stumble forward to get out of the frigid water.
Waves licked up their legs as they struggled in the soft sand of the surf. They kicked salt water up onto their chests and hair as they rushed forward against the surf.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Keva finally made it to mostly dry packed sand and was able to look around. The beach that they arrived on was covered in large rocks and small boulders. There was no one to be seen which was good. It would have been pretty hard to explain a bunch of monsters coming out of the water and suddenly becoming human again.
She looked to her left. She saw her three wolf born pack mates, Hysminai, Soter, and Erato. They had shifted into their wolf forms and were struggling to drag their back packs up onto the beach in the rough surf. She went over and grabbed two of them as Huan Li had already grabbed Soter’s back pack and carried them out of the water.
Throwing the backpacks down onto the rocks the pack grouped themselves against a large boulder and rested for a bit. The sun shined, but its light gave off very little heat and the ocean breeze was chilling their wet clothes. They needed to get warm before hypothermia set in. But right then all she wanted to do was rest. They had been running from the Shadows trying to get here, wherever here was.
“Michelle?” Keva asked.
The four foot, eleven-inch blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman looked over at her Alpha as her teeth chattered from the wind and cold wet clothes that clung to her body from her breasts down. “Y, yes Ke..eva?”
“Ok, you’ve answered my question, you’re doing worse than I am.” She looked to her Enforcer. “Javier, we need to get out of this wind and get out of these wet clothes, before we freeze. Michelle isn’t doing too well, and neither will I before too much longer.” She looked to the east up the beach. “Do you see anything or anywhere we might go?”
The six foot two, brown eyed Hispanic scanned their surroundings. He shook his head, “I can’t see anything from down here. We need to move up the beach maybe there’s some buildings around or at the very least some natural shelter.”
Keva nodded and looked to Huan Li who was leaning heavily against one of the boulders, resting. He acknowledged Keva’s glance but wasn’t in any rush to add his counsel to what they had planned. Not that Keva needed his approval, but it was nice to be allowed to lead her pack when, as an Elder, he could have taken charge at any time. He seemed content to let her lead. Maybe the old man wasn’t such a stuck-up bastard after all.
The group moved up off the beach. Michelle’s teeth were chattering loud enough for Keva to hear them and the short woman was clutching at her body to preserve warmth. The sudden exit from the Whyte Plain into the bitter cold ocean water was bad enough. But the wind from the ocean wasn’t just cold, it was freezing. That coupled with their wet clothes, made the wind slice through their bodies like cold steel, robbing their bodies of much needed warmth.
Keva and Javier were carrying two back packs each, while Huan Li carried two as well. Michelle showed a little improvement as she walked with them up the beach but her lips were turning blue, almost before Keva’s eyes, and the only thing she could think of was that the woman needed dry clothes and warmth, now.
They moved slowly up the beach. They passed a roadway that ran perpendicular to their path. There was hardly any traffic so crossing the road was easy. On the other side, was a dense wooded area. Keva thanked whatever Gods looked out for them and led them into the forest.