Chapter 3 WHAT IF IT’S A TRAP?

— Kaden — I began to panic. We were heading to battle, but I smelled my mate. I smelled my mate! I tried to track the direction the smell came from but it was so faint I could hardly notice it. I moved in circles half in a daze. I found a line, a line she must have been traveling, but I couldn’t tell which way she came from and which way she was going. And I tried to sniff both ways to see which seemed the strongest, the freshest. Sam noticed my change in behaviour and got closer. When I noticed him, I raised my hand to make him stop. I was afraid his sheer presence would make me lose her scent. It wasn’t completely irrational either as my own scent on her tracks was enough to nearly destroy what little clue I had. I went in further. I followed one side of the track all the way to a small stream, then I lost her. I checked all over, on the other side, everywhere. The track ended here. My best guess was she walked in the stream for a while, the water masking her scent. I didn’t realize I had bolted in that direction, until I heard Sam running to catch up. We were far now. The noise of my men, faint in the distance. “What is it?” asked Sam worried. “I found her,” I said in desperation. “I lost her.” “Who?” he asked confused. “My bloody mate.” “Fuck! Now?” “Yeah.” “This is not a good time for this.” “I know,” I growled in frustration. I walked for a while, following the stream. I still couldn’t pick up her scent, so I stop. “What now?” asked Sam. “I go the other way,” I said. I went back on my track. It was easier to go by the scent I just left than try and pick hers again. I went at a dead run, Sam could barely keep up. When I reached the clearing again I slowed down. “What are you doing?” I was back to where I was when I found her. “Here,” I said, drawing an imaginary line in the air with my finger, going from where we just came from to the opposite side. “This is her track. I don’t know what direction she went from but I know this side leads nowhere.” I pointed at where we went. “Which means this is my only chance.” I pointed in the other direction. Sam looked back at the direction of our convoy then back at me, worried. “I know,” I said. “It’s the worst timing in the world, but if I don’t give this a chance—.” I didn’t dare finish the sentence. “I know,” he said. “I can catch on quickly,” I said. “I just need to know if this leads somewhere.” Sam nodded. “There is still time until nightfall,” he said looking at the sky. I looked too. There was time, but not that much. I nodded. “Keep this quiet. Just in case it leads nowhere.” He nodded. “Wait…” he said. “You’re going on your own?” It just dawned on him as I turned to leave. “Keep things tight here,” I told him. “No one moves alone. That’s your own rule.” I looked in the direction I had to go. “What if it’s a trap?” he asked. “I—.” I hesitated. I shook my head. “I don’t know, but I think I need to do this on my own.” “You don’t make sense.” “I know,” I said in frustration. “Go,” I told him. He looked like he was about to argue. “I said go,” I insisted. He looked like he wanted to defy me on this. I turned and followed the scent. I took my phone out and waved it at him behind me. “We keep in touch.” And I disappeared through the brush. I gained pace as I followed the track. After a while, the smell got a little stronger and my heart did a backflip. This was the direction she went in. I kept running at the highest pace I could maintain in the wood. I covered a lot of ground and I was probably kilometers from my men now. Judging by the increase in her smell and my pace, she was probably walking, which explained why I was catching on, the track being a few hours old now. It was not a well-traveled path. I was far in the woods and the mountain, it was hard to believe someone would travel here. A little further, there were some paths that would be far easier to travel. Was she lost, or was this deliberate? The word of Sam resonated in my head. What if this is a trap? Was someone trying to get me away from civilization, from my men, from any resources or backup. I should slow down, think about this, but my feet didn’t seem to connect with my mind. I kept running. There was now the growing sound of water. Another stream? A river? Had she walked deliberately into the water to erase her tracks? The stream had been small, easy to cross, so why risk getting her feet wet far in the woods, otherwise? Then was she doing the same thing here? Would I lose her smell again? The tracks were probably minutes old at best now. Would I lose her now that I’m so close? The sun was not visible anymore, the orange glow slowly turning to midnight blue. I was running out of time. Even with my wolf eyes, my vision was getting limited in the thick forest. I was close, I knew it. I suddenly stopped. If she was hiding her scent, she didn’t expect to meet someone so far in the forest. I had run relatively silently, but at this pace, I would have sounded like an elephant to anyone with heightened senses. I slowed my trek to a walk, silent, undetectable. The wind was coming from behind me, no one would get my scent. As I got closer to the river, the forest cleared, the wind pick up speed, and I smelled her just before I could see her. There was this light exotic flower smell again, but it was richer now, softer, it reminded me of playing in the dead colourful maple leaf on the autumn ground as a child, of the feeling of strawberry juices running on your tongue, of a stormy night of April, of a warm blanket in front of a fire in the dead of winter, of the silkiness of a woman’s skin on mine, and there she was. A dark outline, barely visible at the edge of my vision, but I knew it was her. She was maybe fifty meters from the river. Because of the large rocks ahead, she probably couldn’t see it and was guided by the sound. I picked up speed, still silent. She was headed to the river. It was not a large or deep river. She could probably walk through easily, maybe even up or down the river. I could see the faint undulations of water moving around rocks that were close to the surface. A few minutes more, and I would’ve probably lost her for good. As I got close enough, I slowed my pace, not to jump on her, and I deliberately made my steps audible. I doubted sneaking on her was a great strategy, especially given the effort she was making to stay away from anyone. I saw her shape tensed on the third step. She heard me. She was wearing dark clothes—pants, and something with a hood covering her head. She was probably five-six or five-seven. She turned around slowly, carefully. She stopped as her eyes landed on me. Her breathing accelerated. I got closer. She took a step back, so I stopped. Her breathing was still picking up speed and she put a hand on her chest. She was probably feeling that same pang I was feeling. This tightness as if gravity as doubled only not on my skin, just my organs. I raised one foot to get a little closer. She raised a hand, palms up, stopping me. So I did. “What are you doing to me?” she whispered, confused. What did she mean? As another rush of wind brought her smell to me once more, I understood. She couldn’t smell me. She probably could barely see me in the growing darkness, especially at this distance, she could feel something, she just didn’t know what this meant. I dug in my pocket and took out a black bandana, I took a pebble on the ground and wrapped the bandana around it to give it mass, then I showed it to her, and threw it her way. Her body language was that of confusion, but she caught it. It took maybe three seconds for her to get the smell to her nose, and her body became a pure statue. I looked patiently, and waited for her to process the information. It took a little while, but she took the bandana closer to her nose and inhale deeply. Her cowl rose back to facing me. She understood. She knew.