The rumble of the engine kept me company as I watched the landscape change outside of the window. Forests covered by thick fog left the place to gentle green hills, then to congested highways and to green hills and forests again.
The journey to the Red Claw pack was long - seven hours long - but fortunately we were in the second half of it with only two more hours to go before reaching our destination in Idaho.

I turned my eyes off the window and focused on the man sat in front of me. Robert's head was bent backwards, resting on the headrest; by the reflection on the rear-view mirror I could see that he was fast asleep with his mouth slightly hanging open. I fought my willpower to let my gaze remain fixed ahead of me and not to search for the male next to the doctor, but it was a lost cause. My eyes were drawn to Hercules like a moth to a flame.
He was driving, a hand on the steering wheel and the other on the gearshift. He had driven all the way from Seattle, always refusing any offers coming from me and Robert to take over.
He was focused on the road ahead, but sometimes his eyes would search for mine in the rear-view mirror. Every time I would cast my eyes away.

There was tension between us and not the sexual kind. It was awkwardness.

Ever since the H-Day - yes, I nominated it that way - things had been strange between us. At least even stranger than before. For once I didn't know what to do. Or how to feel. I was out of my comfort zone and I was damn confused. That morning, I had woken up alone in my bed. The sheets had been cold and empty, no proves of his previous presence if not only for his faint scent still permeating the air. I had been confused and disoriented, trying to recall what had happened the night before. Then, I had found a note. If I closed my eyes now, I still could see his neat handwriting and recall the words. Yes, I had stared at it so long that I had memorized its content. Pathetic I know.

Lara,
I would have loved more than anything to stay, but I forced myself to get up and go away. It's best for both of us. I know you wouldn't have reacted well if I stayed the night, so I'm giving you space. Return to the pack when you feel comfortable enough.
H.T.
Ps: there is coffee in the pot. Hope you don't mind.

I had been torn about how to feel about it. Honestly, I still was.

Part of me was grate for his sagacity because I knew I would have reacted badly had I found him with me in the morning, but the other part of me couldn't help but being dejected that he left me. We had kissed. We had been intimate, even if we didn't go till the end. And this awareness brought another flow of thoughts to my mind. He didn't take advantage of me. He could have and he didn't. I was pleading him to fuck me and he restrained himself, knowing it wasn't completely me who was begging him. He helped me go through the night without being too intrusive, he gave me what I needed without breaking too many boundaries and without asking anything in return. And I couldn't help myself from respecting him a little more for that.

Fuck, I was starting to respect him. Just because he hadn't fucked me. The irony.

His eyes found mine in the mirror. I had seen his eyes countless times before, but every time their shade of blue would hit me hard in my gut. So deep, so beautiful, so expressive. I had seen lust in those eyes, I knew how they would darken and how those golden specks would shine like they had a life of their own. I couldn't forget the look in his eyes that night. I feared it was impressed in my mind forever. Before I could avert my gaze, he spoke.

"Everything ok?"

I nodded and then turned to look at the landscape.

"I saw you went to check on Sarah before leaving."

I nodded again. Cowardly, I didn't want to talk to him. I was becoming a pathetic coward.

"How is she?"

I sighed. That was not a pleasant topic.

"She finished her third round of chemo. We need a few more before I can examine her and see if her cancer reduced. I went to check if everything was fine and to see if she was okay with being alone for a few days."

He nodded, his eyes again on the road.

"Any improvement with your research? Did you find out something else?"

Another not so pleasant topic.

"Unfortunately no. I am still convinced there is something preventing her from healing, but I have no idea what it could be. I studied the journals I retrieved from the library, but I didn't find anything useful."

"Hopefully we will find something in the Red Claw pack. Maybe you will be able to discover something that could help."

I watched as the sky turned cloudy and dark, hiding the sun behind clouds heavy of rain.

Yeah, I hoped that too.

_____

The Red Claw pack turned out to be situated in the deep part of Boise National Forest, where the environment was too hard and strong for humans to adventure themselves.

When we crossed their boundaries I felt, rather than saw, the presence of wolves running along our vehicle in the forest. It seemed like they were accompanying us through the territory, out of curiosity or wariness was up for debate.
When the pack house appeared in the distance, I found myself comparing it to the Silverblood one. The Red Claw Pack house was big and entirely made of stone bricks. It resembled a huge cottage. It was...curious.
A little crowd was waiting for us in front of it, three figures emerging from the back when our car entered the driveway. Hercules was the first one to get out, followed by Robert and then by me.

I stretched my legs and my neck while my eyes scanned the crowd gathered in front of us; a group of both men and women was there and most of them were looking at us with a mixture of curiosity and expectation, but some had another look in their eyes. Mostly females. They had hunger and lust in their gazes and the object of their desire was none else than the Silverblood Alpha. They were looking at him like he was the fattest stag during a hunt and that was making me feel uneasy. Something clenched in my stomach and I had to suppress the urge to snarl at them or worse, bite their head off. My wolf, on the other hand, wasn't so secretive about hiding her feelings. She curled her upper lip, showing her teeth, and a low rumble exited her chest. I thought Hercules caught that because he threw me an inquisitive glance before addressing the Alpha in front of him, unaware of the group of females salivating over him.

"Alpha Thaddeus."

Alpha Thaddeus was built like a wardrobe. He was taller and burlier than Hercules, with legs large enough to resemble tree trunks. Dressed in a pair of worn out jeans, a checkered flannel shirt and mountain boots he seemed more of a lumberjack than a werewolf. His looks didn't help either: long blond hair tied in a man bun on the back of his head, light blue eyes and unkempt blond scruff on his jaw. His attitude screamed "don't fuck with me" and the power he emitted wasn't far behind; his aura called to me, to my submission, but it was more of a silent call compared to the loud song that was Hercules' power.

"Alpha Thorne. Thank you for having answered our call of help." His voice was a deep baritone, very deep and throaty; his eyes shifted from Hercules to Robert, who was standing on his right. "I'm glad you could come with your two physicians. Welcome to the Red Claw Pack. I hope your stay will be.." When his eyes found my face he stopped speaking, his pupils dilating. He took a whiff of air before his lips curled in a smirk. "...indeed pleasant."

The way he was looking at me was rubbing me off in the wrong way. Even my wolf wasn't pleased. I didn't want to make enemies with this Alpha, but if he wasn't going to stop looking at me like I was a snack he was going to taste later we were going to have a serious problem. Like my teeth deep in his throat or my foot up his ass. Or both.
I raised part of my upper lip, flashing him my teeth as a warning. He may be the Alpha of the pack we were currently in, but I was still a dominant wolf. And this dominant wolf wasn't appreciating the lascivious gazes he was throwing at me.

He had the courage to smirk.

"If you'll follow me, we will talk business in my office."

——-

Awkward.

We were in Alpha Thaddeus' - whose name I learned was Logan - office with his Beta and Gamma, while he was explaining to us what happened to a member of his pack that required our help. Well, my help exactly. But his eyes never left me, if not to briefly looking at the other Alpha in the room before returning to me. Hercules was pissed. Hell, he was furious. I supposed both by the disrespect Alpha Logan was showing him by ignoring him and both by the fact he was eyeing me like he wanted to devour me. I knew Hercules wanted to say something, staking his claim on me, as I could feel the tension surrounding him, but he didn't and I was thankful for it. I needed to have a little chat with not so little Logan after this meeting.

"So you are telling us that Henry, your pack member, was abducted a couple of months ago and than discarded in the forest? Seemingly unharmed? And then he began showing signs of illness?"

"That's correct Dr. Crawford."

The drawl with which he said my name made my skin itch in discomfort. I turned to look at Hercules who, despite the fact that he was nearly shaking in anger, nodded his head at me. With his permission to disclosure facts about his pack I began explaining to the Red Claw leaders that the same happened in Silverblood.

"I would like to visit your pack member as soon as possible. The sooner we get to the bottom of this question, the better for everyone."

Logan watched me through heavy hidden eyes, stroking his lip with his finger. Was he trying to seduce me? Pathetic. My wolf rumbled in displeasure, turning her back towards him and throwing imaginary dirt at him with her rear paw. I wanted to laugh at her blatant disrespect.

"Sure thing Doc. You can visit him first thing in the morning, but now I will show you your accommodation for the next days. Don't hesitate to contact me for anything. And I mean anything."

I was torn between puking at the innuendo or jumping on the desk to cut his tongue off. My thoughts were interrupted when I felt a wave of dominance slam into me from beside me, followed by a threatening low growl. Hercules was loosing his composure. And he was a very collected man. I placed a hand on his knee and squeezed, preventing him from doing something he would regret later. We were not on best terms- or even speaking terms -, but he had comforted me when I had needed him the most, so I was returning the favor. I squeezed again and he relented a bit. There was more at stake than a inappropriate Alpha with death wishes. We were here to help and to try to gain information to solve even the situation back home.

But one thing was certain. Sooner or later, Alpha Logan Thaddeus was going to taste my foot in his mouth.

———

Hello dear readers! 😁
It's not much, but I wanted to publish something for you!! Life had been hectic and I have less and less time to write! Next update will be better I promise!!

Anyway, I am still overwhelmed and deeply humbled by the response this story had in the latest period. We reached 32k reads! Heeek! I had never thought it could reach such number or reads! So thank you ♥️♥️

Anyway...
What do you think is going on??
What about Alpha Thaddeus??
What is he up to??
What do you think about what Hercules did after the H-Day?🤪

Let me know what you think!!
xx
Kate