Winter: A time for love and revenge

We left in the late afternoon the next day, with twelve of us going to Lake Placid, but we’d be split up into smaller groups when we were there. The group I was in consisted of Aspen, Cass, and Aaron. He was in his early forties and wasn’t the least bit bitter about being grouped with a bunch of college kids, checking out a coven of winter witches as a favor for a witch.

Nope, he didn’t sulk the entire car ride or grumble under his breath about how Alpha Mitchell never would’ve insulted him like this, making the six-hour car ride even more uncomfortable. No, he would never start doing the kids these days don’t respect their elders speech.

The fact that only twelve of us were sent to New York was proof enough that Sebastian and Haden didn’t see any merit in this coven being involved. In the other groups, the minimum number was thirty. Although, I was pretty sure half of them were only meant to be backup in case the coven or pack proved to be involved.

Aaron insisted on being the one to drive, and we were inclined to let him. Not only because he would probably bitch and sulk more, but because who the fuck wanted to drive for six hours? Not me. As a result, Aspen and I ended up in the backseat, making the already awkward car ride even more uncomfortable. I know this is a cliché saying, but you could cut the tension in the car with a knife.

Things had been off with Aspen ever since our sparring session the other day. Not only was he watching me more carefully—as a result, I began acting like a rambling idiot to overcompensate—but there was that strange moment in our meeting with Sebastian when he put his arm around me. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was staking his claim. But what if that wasn’t his intention, and he was doing that in a comforting friendly gesture? What if I only wanted to believe he felt the same and was looking too deeply into his actions?

It was shit like this that proved to me I needed to woman up and tell him how I felt. Let the chips fall where they may. But after we get back from New York. I didn’t need to distract him while we were looking into winter witches. Was this just an excuse to keep putting this off? Maybe.

We were a little over an hour away when Aaron pulled into a gas station, announcing to the whole car he needed to take a piss. I hadn’t needed to know that, but I was glad to get out of the cramped car and have a chance to stretch.

Aspen went into the gas station after asking if we needed anything, leaving Cass and me leaning back against the car.

“You seem off lately and don’t say it’s just because of the attack. Are you okay?” Cass asked after a minute of silence as we breathed in the fresh, crisp air. The sun had almost completely set, which was why we’d left as late as he did, wanting to do our reconnaissance in the dark. We’d rather not alert the winter witches of our presence.

“I swear, if you follow up that question by asking if it’s that time of month, I’ll punch you.” While I appreciated his worry for me, I didn’t like how perceptive he was—how all my friends were. It probably didn’t help that I was the definition of an open book.

Cass gave me a sidelong look, his deep blue eyes taking in my expression that hopefully was neutral. “See, that answer right there proves something is up. You always try to deflect when you’re trying to hide something.”

This was one of those times it sucked having friends who knew me so well.

It seemed Cass had forgotten an important detail: I wasn’t the only one hiding something. “Two can play this game, Cass. I could ask you about Adalind’s human roommate and why you guys were arguing about her.”

Cass gave me a bland look that had my lips twitching. “You’re deflecting again.”

“Stones and glass houses, Cass.”

“You only said it like that because you forgot how the saying goes,” Cass guessed, crossing his arms as a grin curled his lips. At least he wasn’t laughing at me the way Finn would be if he were here.

I fought my answering grin but lost the battle. “Possibly.”

Before Cass could try questioning me again, Aaron came out of the bathroom around the back of the store, having taken a long time for a fucking piss. When Aspen came out of the store not even a minute later, we got back on the road.

When we got to the forest, we drove as far as we could in the snow, and I now wished one of us had fought Aaron to drive because his car just wasn’t fucking cutting it. What fucking werewolf drove a vehicle that wasn’t fit for off-road. Even if the ground wasn’t covered in snow, this car wouldn’t have been able to go much further. At least Aaron had thought to bring a white tarp to cover his car. While it wasn’t the best camouflage, it stood out less than the black vehicle against the white snow.

We left our clothes and supplies in the car and quickly shifted into wolf form. I didn’t think it was possible for it to be even colder here than at home, but it was. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise with how we were almost ten miles outside winter witch territory.

Our group was to the east of their territory while the others searched the north and west.

The air smelled of freshly fallen snow and pine trees, the scents more intense in my wolf form. The snow-covered forest was picturesque and beautiful, looking every bit the winter wonderland that could easily be the setting in a fairytale. But we weren’t in a fairytale: we were on the outskirts of winter witches’ territory, who were known for creating snowstorms for fun and stranding the poor humans who dared to—unknowingly—come near their territory.

When we were within five, maybe six miles of the witches’ border, we found symbols carved into the trees, not only warning us to stay clear, but they probably were some sort of alarm for the witches. Since none of us were familiar with witches’ symbols, we stayed clear of them, not wanting to let them know we were here.

One of a werewolf’s biggest strengths was our incredible sense of smell, which was arguably the strongest out of all supernatural species, even vampires—well, in our wolf form. As we moved through the forest, I’d been careful to catalog the scents, noting the animals, even the different types of trees just in case that helped. I mainly paid attention to the comings and goings of the witches when I caught their scents.

It was because of this that I immediately noticed when a new scent made an appearance, causing me to freeze in my tracks and do a double take. One that shouldn’t be here but at the same time, made sense: shapeshifters.

Sebastian and Haden had been wrong. This hadn’t been a low-risk mission. This coven had been involved.

Even though I thought he was a whiny asshole, I still told Aaron my finding first. ‘There’s at least one shapeshifter here.’

Each of us had at least twenty feet between us as we patrolled around the border, with me the furthest away and Aaron the closest. While the shapeshifter could’ve just been passing through, with no connection to our Alpha’s murder or the winter witches, it was way too big of a coincidence.

‘How recent?’

‘Within the past hour, maybe two.’

Aaron came over to smell it for himself, and I tried not to take that as an insult while I told Aspen and Cass.

We followed the scent for several miles, noting it had grown stronger when several other shapeshifters joined them, cementing my theory. Their tracks were nearly covered with the falling snow, but their scent was still easy to track. Eventually, their trail led in different directions as they split up.

Having a conversation between four wolves when not everyone could hear the conversation was frustrating as hell, especially when we were arguing about whether or not we should split up. It wasn’t like we had to worry about losing contact with each other. Our telepathic communication as wolves didn’t have any distance limitations. It was how Aaron was staying in contact with the other groups, letting them know to be on the lookout for shapeshifters. He’d also told someone back home what we’d found so far.

Aspen and Cass were against the idea of splitting up, while Aaron and I were all for it. Unfortunately for them, Aaron and I ended up getting our way, mainly because Aaron had seniority on his side, but a win was a win.

Aaron and Cass took the path heading southeast, while Aspen and I headed northeast.

The only words spoken between Aspen and me for the next hour, or that was what it felt like since I didn’t have a watch, were about how two more scents had joined the trail from the west. The snow had picked up, but not by much, certainly not enough for us to fear that the witches were controlling it.

‘Aaron said he thinks the shapeshifters are retreating, and we should head back. With their head start, we’ll never be able to catch up to them,’ Aspen said, having slowed to a walk as he closed the distance between us.

As much as I hated to admit that Aaron was right, I’d been starting to wonder that myself. ‘Okay, we’ll—’ My words cut off when I noticed something that I hadn’t seen the past couple of hours: fresh tracks.

‘Aspen, do you see that?’ I asked as I moved closer, getting a better look at the multiple sets of paw prints. Their paws appeared to be around the same size as ours and were barely covered by the falling snow, their scent even stronger than before.

‘We should turn around, or at the very least, wait for backup.’

Aspen’s response floored me and had me whipping my head around to face him, even though we couldn’t display emotions on our features like in our human form. Was he seriously suggesting we play it safe when we were so close to hunting down some shapeshifters that I was pretty sure plotted against our pack? He wasn’t a throw caution to the wind type of guy, but he certainly wasn’t one that liked to play it safe.

‘Would you be suggesting to wait for backup if Cass were here instead of me?’

Even in wolf form, I was able to see surprise and then something akin to hurt flash in Aspen’s glowing yellow eyes. ‘You know I’ve never doubted your abilities, but I count over five sets of prints, and we don’t know if there’s more or if this is a trap. The entire time we’ve followed the trail, we’ve been over an hour behind them and have yet to find any fresh prints, but now they’re suddenly here.’

At the back of my mind, I knew Aspen hadn’t been doubting my abilities even before he answered, but I guess I had a few insecurities that I had yet to get over. Even though I always said it didn’t bother me, it always irked me how I’d always been sidelined on all the contingency plans.

‘You’re right. We should retreat—’

I wasn’t able to finish my sentence, not when Aspen plowed into me, knocking me out of the way of an incoming shapeshifter that was taking the form of an arctic fox. My pride was a little wounded that I hadn’t noticed or had any inkling that anything had been sneaking up on us. Here I was, trying to prove I could handle more responsibility, and I hadn’t realized a shapeshifter was nearby.

If this happened around anybody else, I would’ve been embarrassed, but I knew Aspen wouldn’t judge me for this. When I was with Aspen, I was safe, not just physically, but emotionally. With him, I could breathe and be my full self, which I think was part of the reason I began falling for him.

To make matters worse, the Arctic fox wasn’t alone. They had friends in the form of two more foxes and two polar bears.

Aspen was right. We just walked right into a trap.