Branches of Life

My relieved groan filled the air of the now pristine bathroom. I'd been hoping that was the case, thinking a bath was in order. Not only was I tired of having blood still in my hair, but I hoped to cool my still heated and sensitive skin.

The floor of the bathroom was a gleaming black and white tile. Not a single stain remained on the sink, toilet, or clawed-foot tub. Folded on the sink were a couple of clean and fluffy towels, along with a small bottle of shampoo. My hair could benefit from some serious conditioner, but beggars couldn't be choosers. It was better than nothing.

I went with taking a bath, wanting to avoid the risk of having a Psycho situation happening. Despite how warm my body was, I couldn't stand the thought of sitting in a cold bath and compromised by having lukewarm water. By the time I was done with my short bath, said water was now a muddy grayish-red. How Koa had been able to touch and look at me the way he did was beyond me.

Either Koa or one of the others had been thoughtful enough to bring my bag into the bedroom. An act I was thankful for, because there was no way in hell I was putting those filthy clothes back on.

After putting on an assortment of undergarments, a light gray tank top, and a dark wash pair of jeans, I left my bag in the bedroom and went in search of the others. Following Koa's distinct scent to the right, I ended up coming across the library not even a couple of minutes later. In the library I found Ari, Harmony, and Starling sitting at the table we sat at earlier. Each of them wore clean clothes, their faces and hair free of dirt and blood. Rowan lifted her head from her paws in greeting, before continuing with her nap. She lay on top of one of the other tables. A weird place to nap in my opinion, but then again I wasn't a spirit familiar.

"Have a nice and refreshing...nap?" Ari asked a smirk curling her lips. Harmony wagged her eyebrows at me, while Starling tried hiding her smile behind her hand. It didn't take a genius to figure out they'd heard me. I hadn't even tried toning down my moans and screams.

"It wasn't the worst I've had," I said nonchalantly, plopping into a chair. Total fucking lie. He barely even touched me and was able to have two orgasms nearly back to back. While remaining fully clothed at that. I couldn't wait to find out what else he could do. Preferable naked.

"I'm sure my brother would love to hear that." Starling snorted, leaning back in her chair.

"Has Wyatt given any useful information?" A change in subject seemed in order; why not get information while doing so? That damn sorcerer knew way more than he was letting on.

Starling rolled her eyes, heaving out a long sigh. "No, he's wandered off somewhere, talking about how he needed some peace and quiet to think." Starling brushed her curls from her face, and I realized this was the first time I'd seen them loose and not pulled back in a ponytail.

"Isn't he a little young to be this antisocial and grouchy?" Harmony asked with a frown.

Pressing my face into my hands, I gave an incredulous laugh, shaking my head. "I can't believe we just followed some strange man into a dangerous realm." It wasn't like I hadn't known what I was doing at the time, but the reality of it all was now sinking in.

"It's no more stupid than agreeing to go on a mission, that we knew nothing about. With secretive assholes who wouldn't tell us anything." Ari gave Starling a pointed look, but the smile playing at her lips marred the expression.

"Yeah, my brother isn't what you'd call trusting," Starling said after cringing ever so slightly.

Ari snorted as she sat on the table and rested her feet on the back of the chair she'd previously sat on. Ignoring Ari completely, Harmony said, "Ander's the exact same way."

"You don't say?" Starling rolled her eyes, her tone dripping sarcasm and derision. Apparently, Ander's immediate dislike of her wasn't one-sided. I didn't know if it made the situation better or worse. It definitely limited our options of splitting up in the future. Not that I thought it was an acceptable move, I was team stay together all the way.

Starling reached for her neck again only to pull her hand back and lace it with her other one on the table. "So, I've just about figured out your group's dynamics, but I can't figure out where the other one fits. The redhead from the training room?"

"Care to share what you think our dynamics are?" I asked, cocking my head to the side.

At the same time, Ari answered her question. "That's Reed. He's the smartass of the group."

"How did you guys even end up being friends?" Starling asked, resting her elbow on the table and her cheek on her hand.

Over the next few hours, we shared stories of how we all met each other. Some of the crazy bullshit Ander put us through, under the guise of training. Starling laughed so hard that her face turned red when we told her about some of the awkward situations we got into the first few times Reed had girls over. The few times we ran into those girls in public, they'd immediately turned in the other direction, while we doubled over laughing. Good times.

Starling shared stories of the times Koa was an overbearing big brother. And I thought Ander had been bad. Although now my theory that Ander and Koa should be friends was cemented. Starling had also been willing to tell us about what she could remember from the process of switching animals. Which hadn't been very much. All that she really remembered was the unbearable pain, so much so that she ended up passing out.

Switching animals wasn't all that uncommon. Whenever a summoner would switch clans, they were required to switch animals. A process I didn't know much about, because I never wanted to switch animals. I loved my wolf and couldn't imagine life without her, or trading her for a new spirit animal. Something either Koa or would have to do if we went through with our mating. Summoner mates had to be the same species, with only one exception. But I was refusing to even think of it. Because reasons.

Ander being the big brother he was, eventually came around with some food, that he was smart enough to pack at some point. Clearly, he was the smart one of the group.

Starling and Harmony eventually left the library to take a nap, while Ari and I explored the library for a short while. When we didn't find anything new or useful, other than getting a slight headache from trying to read those damn scribbles, we joined Harmony and Starling in the bedroom they shared. The moon was still high in the sky, not looking like it was going anywhere anytime soon when I settled in between Harmony and Starling, while Ari lay in the open space beside Harmony.

While I slept, I could’ve sworn a conversation between Ander and Koa, somewhere in the room, had found its way into my dream. But when I awoke, I was unable to remember any of what had been spoken. There was only this suspicion it had been about me and it was important. Since I wasn't even sure if it had actually happened, I didn't pry too far into it. Ander and Koa having a conversation, alone, without fighting seemed unlikely.

The others woke shortly after I did because apparently, I was the only heavy sleeper of the bunch. We must've slept for a while because when I checked out of the balcony door, I found the sky lightening from pitch black to dark gray. The moon was sinking into the horizon, much like the sun does at sunset.

No surprise, the guys were in the library, studying those damn vases again. Without looking up from the vase in front of him, Wyatt said, "We'll head out once the moon is gone.

* * * * * * * *

A half-hour later, we were once again following Wyatt through the dark forest. When we exited the hotel, I noticed an illusion of a door at the end of the hallway, with iridescent symbols written in the deity code. Even I was able to feel the swirl of multiple types of magic overlaying the door.

The path Wyatt had unfortunately chosen was more closely packed. It hadn't taken us long to discover the asshole trees were just as active during the daytime. I'd learned this hard way when a root wrapped around my ankle, and I would've face-planted had it not been for Ander catching me at the last second.

Koa didn't say anything the whole time Ander helped make sure I was steady on my feet. But I could practically feel and taste the anger radiating from him up ahead of us.

I hoped his temper remained in check. It'd slow us down if he went through with his threat and chopped off Ander's hands. He'd grow them back of course, but the process took several days and that was with the help of a healer.

A suffocating silence settled around us, as the only sounds were the crunch of the dead grass, and the occasion thwack of tree branches. Even during the daytime, the unsettling feeling of being watched settled between my shoulder blades, feeling like an icy claw dragging down my spine. When I slowly spun around and stared into the shadowy spaces between the trees, I found absolutely nothing.

I hated this fucking forest.

Close to an hour later, I heard someone following us. The entire time I had felt unseen eyes watching us, but hadn't heard a single sound apart from us. That wasn't the case now. I was ninety percent sure our new stalker and the creepy feeling had nothing to do with each other. Not with how ungraceful they were. Seriously, it was almost like they weren't even trying to be stealthy. They snapped twigs left and right, and don't even get me started on how poorly they hid their labored breathing.

What lame-ass stalker was this out of shape?

An icy breeze blew through the trees, bringing with it the scent of our pursuer. Seriously? They stood upwind of us? Rookie move. But what else would you expect from a fucking werewolf? One that was in human form no less. His scent was different from those we met last night, with less of a canine twang to it and more human. At least this explained why he was doing such a poor job at following us undetected. Werewolves only had heightened senses and strength in their wolf form. When they were human, they were as weak and vulnerable as any normal human.

Which made this stalking attempt all the more pathetic.

Ander caught my attention, subtly inclining his head in the direction of our pursuer, and then ever so slightly shook his head. I dipped my head in a hint of a nod and continued following Wyatt, pretending I didn't hear the obnoxiously loud werewolf following us.

It was almost impressive how the werewolf waited over twenty minutes before making his move. He somewhat kept up, even when we quickened our pace "to avoid being out here during nighttime." His breathing was labored to the point he practically hacked up a lung several times, and did a shit job at muffling it. How he thought we wouldn't notice was beyond me. Even humans, with their weak senses, would've been able to hear that shit.

We paused to take a water break we didn't need, when he finally attempted his clumsy attack on Starling, who had purposefully stood a little ways from our group. Before he could even lay a finger on her, she whirled around, grabbed his arm, and flipped him to the ground. Maintaining her grip on him, she twisted his arm and wrenched his shoulder in a painful position. A garbled scream broke free and disturbed the eerie silence as it echoed through the trees.

The whimpering man wore a formerly red flannel shirt that was now in ribbons, and a pair of jeans, which weren't doing much better. His hygiene was questionable, with his long and tangled brown hair, and dirt-covered skin. Which was pale in the way one was when they were sun-deprived.

"Why are you following us?" Starling twisted his arm even more as she spoke, earning more howls—ironic—from the werewolf. She was definitely bad cop in this scenario.

He gritted his teeth once he was done screaming, eyes burning with unkempt rage as he stared up at us. Making zero attempts to answer Starling's question. His lack of response pissed her off enough to jerk his arm again, to the point I heard bone crunching. And still, he refused to answer. It was actually amazing to me, how much arrogance humans had. Here he was in his weak form, barely able to follow us for more than thirty minutes without coughing up a lung. And for some reason, he thought he could subdue a Mythic, with all of us not even twenty feet away.

It didn't take us long to conclude he was useless. Starling dropped his arm and stepped back, allowing him to slowly climb to his feet. The guy's arm was bent at a weird angle, his breathing more uneven than before, and still he tried attacking us. Rather than realizing he was at a disadvantage—even without his injury and obvious exhaustion—and attempt running away, he lunged at Harmony this time. She effortlessly deflected his clumsy strikes, pulled a knife from her belt, and killed him in one clean blow.

If werewolves in their human forms were all we had to face the rest of our trek through this forest, we'd make it out of this region unscathed.