Finding Shadow BOOK ONE
Deja vu

The journey to Howling warriors had been arduous. Any single wolf, like herself, was driven mad by the constant rushing off to bushes, tandem toilet stops, feigned tiredness, and the many other excuses the newly mated couples used to slip away and have sex.

Adrian, an older married wolf, took to running a lewd commentary every time someone would break off, more than once uttering words that Isabella didn't care to repeat.

The convoy finally reached the pack borders, late in the evening, hours after they were due, only to be questioned and then held up, as a suspicious guard mind linked the pack Beta.

So here they were, standing in the dark, on the far reach of town, waiting for Camille to turn up and wave them through.

Not much had changed from the little that Isabella saw, the houses were uniform, grass, etc. still growing the same way, and she knew that if she just looked to the left and up a bit, she'd still be able to find the old hideout, not that she had any desire to return, that pain just had to stay buried. She wouldn't survive it rearing it's ugly head while she was working, and this drop off was a duty, nothing more.

After a day's rest, her team would be on their way again, and the Howling warriors will be nothing more than a sad memory.

A light brown wolf came bounding up through the thicket and disappeared behind a tree, seconds later, Camille appeared, in human form. Isabella guessed that the pack was still stashing clothes in certain places as Camille was fully dressed when she came up to greet the weary travelers.

"Follow me." She commanded brusquely, and the tired wolves complied, glad to be heading to a place where the beds could ease their travel-worn bodies.

The closer Isabella got to the township, the stranger, her wolf, was becoming, making the 18-year-old a little nervous; Mazlyn was yipping incessantly in her mind, dancing on hind legs and scratching to break free of the confines of her skin, but Isabella grimly maintained control, her violet eyes flashed with temper when the Beta wolf wouldn't give up, slamming her body against Bella's mind over and over again.

As the traveling party drew closer to the street where the Alpha's family house was, Mazlyn was in a mindless frenzy, and after tripping over a rock, Isabella had to stop.

"What's wrong, Beta?" Camille asked, halting the rest of the troop, and Isabella bristled at the condescension evident in the older woman's tone.

For some reason, Camille had taken an instant disliking to her, not even bothering to ask for her name and insisting on calling her by her title for the entire walk.

"Nothing's wrong." Isabella snarled through clenched teeth, forcing her body to continue moving, and after a poorly covered snort, Camille motioned for them all to continue.

Isabella only managed a few steps though, before Mazlyn broke free of the hold, she had on the wolf's mouth and howled the words Isabella never wanted to hear from her.

Her mind was assaulted by the Beta wolf's elated sounds 'MATE MATE MATE! OUR MATE IS HERE!!!'

''No way in hell, Bella thought a big back yard and a creek running through it. Shadow and she had spent many a summer catching crawlies and racing boats there, while Alpha Tarakona and Luna Abigail sat in the house drinking tea with her parents; his younger brother Lucien would always lead Mikhail and Raeann off on some grand adventure, more often than not getting them all into trouble with the older wolves.

'I wonder if Lucien is back from reform school?' She thought briefly before her eyelids closed and the weary warrior fell asleep.

SHADOW

His home seemed so quiet, the doctor had already been by and given his father his sedative for the evening, allowing the old wolf to sleep and let his body rest.

Although Tarakona hadn't died after his mate and young son were murdered by the rogues, his grief had been too much and the strong Alpha took to staying in wolf form longer and longer, until one day he just seemed to lose the ability to phase back. He rarely spoke to his son, and when he did it was through mind link, sounding more wolf than man, any semblance of his father long gone, only his wolf remained.

Shadow liked to believe that his father's soul had found his mother's and they were happy in the Moon Goddess' realm, but the fate of his wolf was a sad one.

The wolf was hanging on to sanity by a thin thread, telling Shadow he would join his human skin when he killed the wolf who killed his mate, and that was all he focused on, every second of every day.

The sedatives were needed to subdue him long enough for his body to rest since he spent all day every day roaming in the badlands hoping to come across the mate killer.

Camille had mind linked him to let him know the new wolves had arrived and been shown to the quarters for the evening. He made sure to let her know that he wished to have a handover from the Beta in charge of the party, and would meet her in the sunken gardens at noon before the Shadow Moon team headed back.

Deciding that that was as much as he could do for the evening he turned off the lights and headed to bed.

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