Gone (Book Two of the Dark Lycans Series)
Chapter Thirty-Four: Surprise

As soon as Shade stepped foot on the territory, I could sense she was nearby. I sprung up from my bed, scaring Hailey who was laying down.

She yelped in surprise and fell to the floor. I ran over to help her up.

"What is it?" She huffs, brushing herself off.

"Shade's back," I say. Her eyes widen and we both run out of the room.

We run down and out of the guest house, and I head straight for the forest where I found her scent. It is getting stronger as she moves closer.

I feel my anger building, we have been looking for days, and now she shows up, I think angrily. My body feels like its about to explode when I sense she is only a few feet away, but we still can't see her.

Suddenly, several shapes drop from the trees, startling some of the pack members that were starting to gather.

Shade stands fully, and I blink at her. She is different, more muscular and confident. She stand sup straighter, and I take a step towards her.

I take another step, and the next thing I know, I am running directly at Shade. She crosses her arms and blocks her face, but I crash through the barrier and take her up in a tight embrace.

"I thought you were dead! They told me they hadn't seen you in two months!" I say hugging her tight.

Shade slowly puts her arms around me and pats my back rather akwardly. Then I push her away and punch her.

"Don't you ever do that again! I dktn know what I would do if I lost you!" I yell angrily. She holds her arm and stares at me in surprise.

"Why won't you talk?" I ask giving her a worried look. Camryn beside her answers me.

"We never had a reason to. We used hand signals for talking and communicating," Camryn tells me.

"I have not talked in months, it made too much noise. We needed to stay quiet when we attacked, we could not be yelling to each other," Shade explains. I nod, and think about how nice it will be to have Shade back.

"But we got the piece we needed for the map, we are leaving tonight to go take down the main center," Shade says reaching into her bag. She pulls out a piece of a map, and I feel my anger rising again.

"But you can't!" I shriek.

"Watch me," she shoots back.

"I won't let you," I say, and my canines sharpen and my eyes start to turn red.

"Then why don't you come with us?" She sighs, rolling her eyes. I stop and look at her confused.

"Well?" She asks in a 'duh' tone. I smile and nod my head. She let's out a heavy breath, and her eyes glaze over as she talks to her wolf.

I sigh and hope that everything goes okay during the attack.

***********

I sit beside the bonfire next to Hailey. We were talking and laughing like we did almost every night.

I see Shade out of the corner of my eye, and throw a little wave. She ignores me and keeps walking to her house, making my heart break a little.

I tell Hailey that I'll be right back, and follow Shade. I was sad for a moment, but now I am just straight up pissed off.

As Shade is about to walk through the door, I grab her hand and yank her back.

"What the hell happened to you?!" I scream at her.

"I'm sorrt but nothing happened, what are you talking about?" She growls.

"You've changed and not in a good way, we want the old you back," I snarl slapping my hand across her face.

"I'm sorry to tell you but that Shade no longer exists, so stop wasting your time. I lost that part of me once I saw what was happening beyond my packs borders. So just go home and forget about me Raven, you'd be better off if you would just do that. And what happened to your face?" She asks suddenly. She was a little taller than me now, and she leaned down running her along the scars.

"Nothing, just leave it alone," I growl lowly, swattkg her hands away before stomping away angrily. I knew I was being childish, but I felt so helpless and useless now.

I stalked back to the bonfire, grlling angrily under my breath. Hailey was still sitting there, waiting for me.

I sat down next to her, and when she realized I was upset, she left me alone.

I had made sure she understood that I had to be alone when I was angry, or I could end up hurting someone. So whenever she saw I was angry, she made sure I was alone.

I sat staring at the fire, taking deep breaths to control my anger. From the edge of my vision I see Shade walk over and sit down next to me.

She silently hands me a stack of clothes, before standing and walking away. I look at the clothing and see it is fighting gear.

I start to get changed, and mind link my brother.

I will be gone tonight, maybe for tomorrow as well. Just make sure Haile and Jace know as well, I tell him.

Okay, be careful sis, he says before cutting off our connection.

I sigh, and pull on the rest of the new clothes, but take my dagger and gun with extra silver bullets from my original outfit. I put them in their places on my gear, and turn to see Shade was gone.

"I am going to murder her," I growl and start to walk into the forest. Suddenly, my eyes catch on a dark trail.

I smell it and realize it is Shade's blood. I shrug and follow it, it thins out into drips after a few miles, but then becomes a thick line once again.

It was dark when I suddenly hear gunshots. I run forward, and it quiets down again. I see a light in the forest, and realize it was a fire.

My footsteps were nearly silent, as I walked to the edge of their little camp. I see Shade close her eyes, and they had fallen asleep.

I walk over to a sturdy tree near the fire, and climb up onto a low branch. My eyes close and I fall into a light, fitfull sleep.

*************

My eyes open for the dozenth time that night, and I determine sleep will not be happening. I sit up and see that the sun will rise in a half hour or so.

No one is awake so I jump down from my tree, and creep over to Shade quietly. I search through her bag until I find the map.

I take it back to my tree and analyze it. Rustling tells me that Shade has woken up. I see out of the corner of my eye, everyone else waking up as well.

"So you're all up," I say, jumping down from my tree. They all nod and I sigh.

"Guess you guys don't talk when you are out like this,"I say raising an eyebrow.

"No, most of the time we listen to orders and hand signals," Shade tells me. She motions for everyone to get packed.

"We leave early so get ready. You'll get used to the hand signs, give it time," Shade says. I nod and start to get ready.

Well this is going to be fun.

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