The Mating Rules

Jamie-Lee’s POV

My legs are scratched to hell, my hands bleeding from dragging myself through the forest, using tree branches and shrubs to pull myself up the muddy inclines that litter the area.

In my head, Skarla is growling angrily, ‘just shift’ she snarls, ‘I can get us out of here quicker than your ridiculous human legs.’

‘We can’t’ I mutter back in agitation, ‘it’s a human area, if they see you they’ll shoot you!’

The wolf snorts derisively, ‘please, I’m a werewolf, their weapons are no match for me, they are not silver.’

I roll my eyes as I drag my body up the side of yet another ditch, smearing mud all over my jeans and ripping yet another a gash in the knee from a vine of thorns that is hidden in the leaves underneath me.

‘A normal bullet would still kill you Skarla’ I grit out, ‘if they hit our heart you won’t be able to heal us before we die! An these humans are supposedly a really good shot, let’s just not draw attention to ourselves OK?’

My wolf turns her back on me with a huff and sits down in my mind, swishing her tail angrily. I’m too tired to deal with her attitude right now, I’ve been running for over three hours and even with my wolf strength, I’m exhausted but I don’t dare stop, if whoever has my mate and took out our guards is following me, I need to keep going.

A scream leaves my lips as my foot lands on absolutely nothing and is swallowed by the ground, landing oddly in the covered hole I’ve stepped in as pain shoots through my ankle.

‘No no no no no’ I g***n, dropping onto the ground and gingerly pulling my foot out, gritting my teeth against the pain. Stretching my leg out in front of me, I untie my lace and inch off my trainer, pulling down my sock to see a huge purple bruise already forming. I hesitantly wiggle my toes and breath out a sigh of relief when they move despite the throbbing caused from the movement. Not broken, well that’s something at least, I drag my sock back up and try to get my shoe back on as my ankle swells up. I need to get it back in there before it’s too fat to fit!

Biting down on my bottom l*p until I can taste b***d, I force the shoe on, blinking tears away and use a bush beside me to drag myself to my feet again.

One step on the injured ankle is enough to tell me that I’m not going anywhere, my foot won’t bear any weight at all. Glancing around, I try to figure out a plan, I need to find somewhere that I won’t be found easily. Dropping to my hands and knees, I crawl across the exposed earth, flinching as sharp objects cut into my hands and knees but refuse to give up.

Thirty minutes of crawling and I spot a small opening in some foliage, it looks like the opening to a fox den or similar. Weighing my options, my throbbing ankle gives me my answer and I drag myself to the opening, Skarla pushing forward slightly to use her wolf hearing and smell to find out what we are dealing with.

‘Empty’ she growls in my head, ‘no scent of animal other than rabbit which is faint.’

I nod, dropping to my stomach and pulling myself into the hole, following the crushed twigs and vines until I reach a tiny room of compacted earth. There is just enough room for me to lay down if I keep my legs bent, and I can sit up if I stay hunched. It’s not comfortable but it’s warm, dry and hidden from anyone who might be looking for me.

Wriggling around I manage to bring my foot up and remove my sneaker again, rolling up my jeans so I can see the extent of the bruise that now decorates my ankle.

‘Dammit’ I huff, moving my toes experimentally again, ‘Skarla, can you fix it?’

My wolf rolls her eyes at me, ‘of course’ she replies like I’m an i***t, ‘it’s kind of what I do, human.’

I bite back my retort, now is not the time to get into it with my sassy wolf, ‘how long will it take?’ I ask instead.

Skarla pushes forward so she can see, and studies the damage, ‘few hours’ he mutters before pulling back and laying down, tuning me out.

Pulling my bag over my head, I open the zip and pull out some candy, figuring I might as well take the opportunity to refuel whilst I’m stationary.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

Taking small bites, I savour the few mouthfuls before tucking the wrapper into a pocket and leaning back against the dirt wall behind me.

I must fall asleep as I’m jolted awake by the snap of a twig outside of the den I’m hiding in. Stiffening, I hold my breath listening to the silence, wondering if it was just an animal or someone looking for me.

No sound follows the noise but I don’t dare move, my fingers curled around my bag beside me, waiting.

‘Come on’ a whiny voice suddenly growls, ‘she’s long gone, I told you she wouldn’t hear us.’

A second voice scoffs, deep and sullen, ‘don’t assume that you know what the girl is thinking’ he retorts. ‘She gave us the slip already, we don’t underestimate her.’

The first voice grumbles under his breath as footsteps start to move again, coming closer to my hiding place.

‘The boss sent us’ the second voice snaps, cutting off the first man’s complaints.

‘I’m just saying that Bryce would have made more sense’ the first voice replies, a tinge of nervousness in his tone that I’m not sure is because of his companion or this boss they are talking about. ‘He could smell her, we’re hardy built for tracking!’

The boots come to a standstill again and there is a scuffle before one of the squeaks in fear.

‘Do you want to ring the boss and tell him we f*cked up and she got away?’ the second voice asks menacingly. ‘I have the phone right here, he’s on speed dial, all you got to do is press one button and he’ll know all about how we disappointed him.’

The first voice whimpers and I assume he’s shaking his head, ‘no, no, your right Frank, we need to find her and bring her back. We don’t need to inform the General right now, he’s got his own problems to deal with.’

‘Exactly’ the second voice grinds out, ‘that mutt is giving him trouble from what I heard, he doesn’t need to be dealing with this sh*t show as well.’

My heart rate picks up, what mutt are they talking about? Is it Caden? Hadley? One of our warriors? I have no idea if they were all killed or only the female warrior that was guarding our door.

I don’t even know if they are even talking about one of my pack, they could be looking for someone completely different.

‘We need to head west’ the second voice is muttering, ‘she’ll head for civilisation if she’s got anything about her, lose herself in the crowds, and find a way to contact her people.’

‘OK, let’s head that way then’ the first voice agrees quickly and there is another scuffle before footsteps start again, walking away from my hiding place.

When I can no longer hear them, I slowly release my breath, moving slowly until I’m lying on my stomach and sniff deeply, searching for a trace of human or supernatural scent that will tell me if they are just playing with me and hiding nearby.

I can smell both of them, but it’s getting fainter with each passing moment, telling me that they are moving away from me, and I gulp back a sob of relief.

‘Skarla?’ I whisper, turning my attention to my wolf who has remained silent through the whole thing.

‘Yes Jamie-Lee’ my wolf replies tiredly and I stamp down on the guilt, she’s obviously been working as fast as she can to heal me and is suffering for it.

‘Do you recognise the scents of those guys?’ I ask

My wolf sits up, pushing forward and sniffing around as I sit back, allowing her control.

‘It’s odd’ she mutters under her breath, ‘it’s not Vampire but there is b***d scent, not human, not wolf, not smelt it before.’

I nod as Skarla recedes again, obviously needing to rest, ‘yeah I couldn’t place it either’ I agree, equally confused. ‘It’s like . . . a rogue but not wolf? Has that dirty smell but why would we scent b***d? It’s not like a wolf that’s eaten recently, the b***d is . . . old?’

My wolf nods, ‘I don’t like it’ she replies, ‘something is weird.’

I move around until I’m sat up again and check my ankle, the bruise is now a yellowy colour and gentle pushing on it tells me that though it’s still sore, it should now bear my weight.

‘You should get some rest Skar’ I say to my wolf, ‘regain some of your strength.’

My wolf nods, flopping down in my mind, her eyes closing immediately, leaving me alone to wriggle out of our hideout.

Dragging my exhausted body up the small tunnel, I push back out into the forest, standing up slowly and wincing as my ankle is forced to hold me up.

Taking a deep breath, I listen carefully, picking out each sound around me before heading in the opposite direction to the one I thought the two men had taken.

Limping slightly, my progress was slow, but I grit my teeth, forcing myself onwards. Caden and Hadley need me to stay alive and out of reach of whoever might be chasing me.

‘I’m coming boys’ I murmur to myself, ‘I’m going to find you both and take down this a*****e who’s after me once and for all.’