Pull Back
Darius‘ p.o.v.
Camus is near the surface as we both look at our mate, who is still Holding the brunette on the ground by her throat.
Like Dallas, I can’t understand why a Guardian would be so disrespectful of their Queen or the Mate bond. A Guardian is selected after a lengthy trial of tests and even then, they are still on a year’s probation for the position.
“What the hell is wrong with women?” Daxton asks through our mind–link.
“They refuse to put in the effort to find their connection, afraid that they will be disappointed with their Mate’s rank. There are also many women who get spoiled rotten and never face consequences for their actions.” Dallas answers out loud.
Daxton chuckles at her response because she knew why he didn’t ask the question out loud.
“I don’t care if they agree with me or not. We all know I’m telling the truth, but most would never say it out loud. Probably afraid to get an Elder on their case.” Dallas continues.
Dallas is right, though. Most Shifters won’t comment on bad behavior when it concerns a family member of a High–ranking Shifter. Too afraid of the repercussions and no one can really blame them. I have seen it happen during my travels with Preston and never understood why they could get away with it.
“Tammy is still young and I am sure that she will never do anything like this again. You just need to understand that youngsters these days are under a lot of stress.” Elder Jeff says.
What the hell is that Idiot babbling about? If I had to guess, I’d say that Tammy is older than Dallas and she hasn’t shown any disrespect to anyone so far. So, why would he use that as an excuse for Tammy?
“Elder Jeff, that has been your excuse the other two times she disrespected her Queen. At the age of twenty nine, she is no longer a youngster and should be able to understand the protocols she needs to follow as a Guardian.” Uncle Vaughn says.
Oh, this just got more interesting. I’m looking forward to attending that meeting this afternoon, even though I have no idea what it’s about. Just knowing that Elder Jeff is involved is enough for me and Camus will front and center that entire time.
“Joshua, take this Bitch to the dungeons. Place some guards near her cell and don’t allow anyone near her, especially not Shithat over there.” Dallas says.
I chuckle as she dumps Tammy unceremonially onto the ground, getting myself some dirty looks from her relatives, but I don’t give a crap.
Tammy is screaming and kicking as Joshua drags her off the training grounds and Elder Jeff tries to follow them, but gets stopped by other Squad members.
“Okay, now that Tammy is being dealt with, it is time for the main reason we came here.” Uncle Vaughn says and every Squad member starts cheering.
“There are trails you can follow through the forest, marked with different color posts. You will be following the orange posts; it is the longest trail we have. First one back here is the winner.” Aunt Eliza says.
Uncle Vaughn points toward the forest and I can see a post with three colors on it. White, yellow and orange. Camus is looking forward to running through the forest and having our Mate chase us.
We know that we will win this race, because no one has ever been able to beat us and we both doubt that Dallas will be able to give us a run for our money.
“Dallas, Darius.” Uncle Vaughn says. “You are not allowed to shift into your Lycan, they can, however, assist you by lending you, their speed. Are the rules clear?”
We both nod our heads and after Daxton has kissed the hell out of our Mate, she steps next to me with a smirk on her face.
The moment that Uncle Vaughn says go, Camus lends me his speed and we run toward the forest at full speed. It takes us a
1/3
minute to realize that we have missed a post with the orange color because the first post we see has a yellow color and we need to double back to find the right post to follow.
Camus listens for any sounds in front of us, but we can’t pick up the sound of footsteps or the scent of our Mate. It seems as if we didn’t lose any time at all and are still ahead of Dallas.
We miss a few more orange posts along the way, but each time, there is no sign of Dallas in front of us and we keep looking for any sign that she might be in front of us anyway. Not once do we hear footsteps or smell her scent, but the further we get, the more restless Camus becomes.
“Where is that Mate of ours? She can’t be that far behind.” Camus says in my head and I lose my footing as I look behind me to. see if she might be behind us. After all, we were concentrating on the path before us and not behind us.
I start to stumble and try my best to stay upright, but I fail the moment I see a tree in front of me. I crash into the tree at full speed and as I break off a branch, the stump opens my left arm.
Camus roars in pain as I see the forest floor coming closer, real fast I don’t even have time to brace myself for the impact and hit my head as I collide with the ground.
“You still able to run?” I hear Daxton ask through our mind–link and Camus pushes the pain to the back of our mind, not willing to give up on the race. As I get up, I can feel blood running down my neck and arm, but Camus will have me healed in no time.
“Fine” I growl back at my Brother, not planning on losing any more time than I already did. There is still no sign of our Mate and when I try to find her, I come up empty. No indication in which direction to look for her and I growl as we run down another path with a red post instead of an orange post.
“Dallas, where the fuck are you? Camus and I can’t sense you anymore.” I call out through our mind–link, but she doesn’t answer me. “Dallas, answer me.”
“She is not going to answer you; she is smarter than that.” Cyran responds and for a moment I am stunned. He is right, though. I wouldn’t answer myself either.
Camus forces me to take a left because I almost missed another orange post. I run down the path we are on and can already see the training ground appear through the trees in front of me. I force Camus to speed up even more and run out of the forest victorious or so I thought.
Right there in front of me is Dallas, sitting in Daxton’s lap while chatting with Aunt Eliza and Quinlan.
“How the hell did you pull that off?” I ask as I slump down on the ground next to her. She smiles at me as she places a hand on my cheek and leans forward to peck my lips.
I grab her neck when she tries to pull back. I gently bite her lower lip to get access to her mouth and deepen the kiss the moment she allows me in. With my other hand, I scoop her out of Daxton’s lap and pull her close to my chest.
