When I arrived at the beginning of the course, Davis, Sam, Tommy, and Rick were standing there appearing bored while they waited on us. I glanced up at the sky to see ominous clouds looming up ahead, giving me pause for the trek ahead. I could hear a summer storm brewing off in the distance, and I hoped it would hold off long enough for me to complete the task at hand. Not that the rain would hinder me, but I didn’t need any of them wussing out on me and claiming the storm was to blame.
“Taya.” Davis nodded in greeting. “Are you going to be able to keep up with the big boys today or should we take it easy on you?”
I laughed so hard my sides ached. Davis must not have been keeping as close of an eye on me as I thought. I’d run this course plenty of times, and they’d soon be eating my dust.
“I’m sure I won’t have a problem with whatever you throw my way,” I said with a grin.
I stretched out my sore muscles as Augie gave the instructions for the course. I was glad he hadn’t let the others know we’d done this together several times before. Men always underestimated me, and I loved showing them how wrong they were in doing so.
“First part of the trail is a series of switchbacks straight up hill. Once you get to the top of the hill, there will be a short obstacle course. You must complete every obstacle without error to pass on to the next section. Following that, you’ll enter into a pitch-black cave where your sight and hearing will be cut off. You need to make it from one end of the cave to the next. You may do this in your wolf or human form.”
That was the part of the course I hated most. I didn’t like losing any of my senses. My wolf hated it even more, but she was more equipped to handle it than I was, so I’d definitely be shifting for that part.
“Lastly, you’ll be faced with three routes to get back down the mountain. Since some of you have done this course before, different trail options have been selected this time. Choose wisely. Whoever gets back first wins bragging rights.”
Damn, Augie couldn’t even give me a little advantage. Whatever. I didn’t need his help. I’d be winning regardless. The power of positivity went a long way if one truly believed they could accomplish something.
The five of us lined up at the base of the mountain and Augie counted down. When he got to one, we all pushed through to be the first on the trail. The path was only wide enough for two people and, unfortunately, Davis and Tommy made it first. Sam was next to me with Rick behind us.
Tommy looked back when we were coming up on our first switchback. “See you pups –,” Before he could finish the sentence, a branch that was sticking out on the path smacked him in the head, and he face-planted into the ground.
“What was that?” I laughed as I jumped over him. “Watch out for the trees? I’ll be sure to do that.”
I could hear his grumbles and curses even though I was now several yards ahead of him. All I needed to do now was figure out how to ditch Davis, and I would be feeling pretty good.
The longer I ran up the switchbacks, refusing to slow my pace, the more my calves burned. I tapped into my wolf strength sooner than I liked, but I couldn’t fall behind in the first part, or I’d never catch up.
After what seemed like hours, but was probably only thirty minutes or so, we finally made it to the obstacle course. I wanted to cry at all the hurdles before me. When I’d done this for fun before, it wasn’t so daunting, but I felt like so much more was on the line now. I needed my pack to have faith in me, especially since I was going to be the new alpha-in-training. If I failed the course, I risked losing that faith.
I charged toward the first part and didn’t stop as I reached for the rope I needed to carry me across the mud pit. If I fell in the mud, not only would I have to try again, but it would make the rest of the obstacles a hundred times harder.
Thankfully, my feet landed hard on the wooden deck, and I avoided the sludge. I climbed down the wooden ladder, skipping every other rung and jumping off about halfway through. Davis was still ahead of me and smiling as if he was enjoying himself.
I made it through the next two obstacles without falling behind, but my entire body was screaming at me now. The last hurdle was about balance. Usually this wouldn’t phase me, but my muscles were shaking, and I wasn’t as sure of my stability as usual. Davis went through it first, and I turned around to see Rick had caught up and wasn’t too far behind me.
I took a few deep breaths and jumped on the first beam. I wobbled some but kept moving forward. I had one more beam to get across and then I’d be in the clear. Rick was now hot on my heels, and I was breathing harder, trying to move as rapidly as possible. I leaped for the next beam but came down too hard and rolled my ankle.
Damn it! I fell to the ground and, as I looked up, I saw Rick finish without breaking a sweat. I got up as fast as I could, hoping my wolf healing would kick in quickly. I did a partial shift to expedite things and had to hold my girl back from completing the change. You can take over during the cave portion. Let me finish this one. I needed to do this for me. I might have been acting a little stubborn, but I didn’t think too long about it.
My wolf nodded her compliance, and I jumped back up on the beams. The partial shift gave me more energy than I thought it would and I made it through the obstacle the second time with no issues.
Once I landed on the ground, I quickly undressed and let my shift happen, slower than the previous time I had. I let out a sigh of relief as my bones shifted and changed with ease and my wolf came to the surface. She was me, and I was her. We both had strengths and weaknesses that complemented each other, making me unable to imagine living without her.
I shook out my silver fur and took a deep breath. I couldn’t smell Davis, so he had to be in the caves, but Rick didn’t make it too far ahead of us. Tommy and Sam were halfway through the previous course, but I wasn’t worried about them.
Without another thought, my wolf snatched up my pile of clothes from the ground with her mouth and raced on all fours toward the cave entrance. All the while, I mentally prepared my wolf for the loss of sight and hearing. She didn’t like it, but I needed her sense of smell to get through the cave as quickly as possible.
“Shit,” Rick mumbled as he saw me coming around the corner. He had been pacing in front of the cave, probably arguing with his wolf over who would go in. He made a split decision when he saw me, and it was the wrong one. Rick headed inside in his human form.
I hurried in after him and sucked in a breath as everything went dark. Our pack used to have a witch named Zarai who would help us. She put magical barriers around our property to deter the humans from trying to hunt on our land, and she also added useful things like the enchanted entrance to the cave that took some of our senses away. It made for excellent training, but it made for a long ass day if a pup went snooping around up here and got himself lost. It had happened on more than one occasion.
When one of Zarai’s coven members was almost killed many decades ago by some rogue wolves that launched an attack on our pack, she was forced to leave. Her coven said they would cast her out if she didn’t withdraw from our pack and its dangers.
An agreement was made that her protections would stay, powered by her coven, but we wouldn’t call on her again. As long as we kept our end of the deal, we would remain concealed. Since then, witches have separated from the wolves, and rarely reveal themselves to our kind anymore.
My wolf shook her head, trying to orient herself and focus on what smells might lead us out of here. I pulled my thoughts back and let her do her thing. Even though we were technically one, we each had our own ideas and, after years of training, I could keep mine separate from hers for the most part.
We worked like a well-oiled machine nowadays. It was the advantage I knew we’d have. Men were often too confident and had a problem letting someone else guide them, even if that someone was their own wolf. I trusted my wolf fully and had a feeling we’d have no problem catching up.
While I relaxed and let my wolf do her thing, my mind wandered to the shifters I had seen on the wall the other day, particularly Liam. Stupid guy. I couldn’t shove his arrogant smile out of my mind for some reason. Hopefully, I could avoid him during the gathering. I decided I didn’t need any distractions that might cause me drama.
Breaking my train of thought, my wolf howled and began barreling through the cave. I readied myself to take over for the last part of the course. She was getting us out of the cave much faster than I anticipated.
A bright light shone through the darkness we had been in as I shifted from wolf to human. I covered my eyes and waited for them to adjust to the sun again. When I could finally see without spots in my vision, I noticed I was the only one out here. My heart sank a little knowing Davis had likely already made it down the trail. My clothes had been dropped on the ground during my shift back to human, and I quickly picked them up, dressing again.
I let my wolf peek through as I went over the trail options on the sign before me, wanting her opinion as well. One appeared to be a straight line down, but I doubted that was the case, so I dismissed it quickly. The other two were pretty similar in length, but one had a stream running through it. I had no idea how vast the stream would be, but something told me it was the one to choose and my wolf agreed.
Without another thought, I took off down the trail, hoping I could catch up. I battled tree branches and rocks the entire way down. I had sweat dumping out of all my pores, and I probably looked like death. I heard the stream before I saw it and couldn’t wait to take a few seconds to sink my body into the cold water. When it finally came into view, I noticed there was a small waterfall and knew precisely where I was. I was only minutes away from the bottom of the mountain now.
The stream was shallow, so instead of trying to jump over it, I decided to wade through it and let the water cool my aching body. I spent an extra minute I shouldn’t have in the water, but it felt too good not to.
I heard noises from behind me and swiftly jumped out of the stream. My energy perked back up, and I pushed myself with everything I had to finish and at least make second place.
I made my way around the last corner, and Augie’s big grin was the first thing to greet me. He swooped me up in his arms and promptly put me down.
“You need to shower and put on dry clothes before I can give you a proper congratulations hug.” He grimaced.
“Huh? Where’s Davis?” I was so confused.
“I’m right here.”
I turned around to find Davis approaching, looking rather pissed, and I couldn’t stop the happiness bubbling up inside me. I had been so confident he beat me.
“How’d I get in front of you?” I asked, trying my best not to gloat too much.
“Stupid caves,” was all he mumbled before walking away.
Tommy and Rick appeared next, laughing and pushing each other. They each gave me the appropriate high five to congratulate me.
“You guys mind waiting for Sam?” Augie asked. “Taya’s training isn’t over yet.”
I groaned as they laughed and agreed. Augie tugged me along as I dragged my feet. “I don’t wanna.”
“Don’t worry, this part is easy. You get to sit while I quiz you on all things wolf history.”
Ugh. That was so much worse than I imagined, and he knew it. While I whined the entire way, Augie laughed, and then I punched him in the kidney. Our relationship was awesome like that. I just had to hope his training didn’t take up too much brain space and I didn’t become a nerd like him overnight.
I knew the essential parts of our wolf history, but I needed to know more about the individual packs before I met them. It would likely make or break how successful we were in gathering information at the Decennial meeting. I wasn’t going to leave anything to chance, not when there was so much on the line.