~ Stella's POV ~

My ears twitch slightly as the four graceful beats of a gallop and lupine barks pierce through the gentle sounds of nature. Lifting my head from the luscious grass, I shift back into my human form and keep my gaze on the forest.

"Do you hear that?" I whisper to the wolf behind me. Footfalls nearby are followed by the two shifters emerging from the dense foliage, a few leaves strewn in their hair and a worried expression on their faces.

"Guys? What happened?" I ask.

"Hunters, that's what." Kirsten says, taking the leaves out. "They nearly caught us, luckily we were able to get away before anything too bad happened."

"The downside is, they know where we are now." Colt adds, a seriousness in his tone that I've never heard before. "It's only a matter of time before we can't get away."

"That's not happening any time soon." Alex says. "Not on my watch."

A loud squeak gets our attention, and the four of us look up to see a small vampire bat gliding down, a note clutched in her claws. She drops it in front of Alex before flying into the forest, probably to shift. He reads it under his breath and tilts his head curiously, glancing at her as she walks out as a human.

"MJ? What's going on?"

"Umm - nothing much - I just wanted to let you guys know that our group will hanging back for a little bit." She says nervously, dusting off her clothes.

"What do you mean?"

She pauses for a moment, as if wondering how to say it. "Caleb went for a walk this afternoon and we haven't seen him since."

"Oh no... " Alex says, the danger that we are all in becoming painfully clear. "Colt and Kirsten were just found by hunters, they must be in the area now."

"Do you think..." I say, "...they captured him?"

"I doubt it. Somehow things would have been worse if hunters were involved. Being his soulmate I felt what he felt and fell unconscious with him. That said, I know that he fell unconscious due to lack of air - like a rope cutting off his windpipes."

"That's not good at all." he says. "Do you happen to know what form he was in when he left?"

"Probably in his horse form. I've tried to reach him multiple times but he's probably busy putting up with his captors."

"Maybe wranglers got him. We passed a stable a while back." I recall.

"That's one new possibility." she sighs.

Alex notices her pained expression and suggests, "Maybe I can track him."

"That could be a good idea. Do you remember his scent?"

"Yes, there's also hints of it on you...So I can track him."

"We can meet up tomorrow morning and I can take you guys to the trail head of the scent." MJ seems a little happier at the hope of finding her mate.

"Sounds like a plan." Kirsten says.

"It's getting late so I'm going to head back to camp. We'll keep in touch." She waves a goodbye before shifting, flying off into the moonlight.
~~~
The morning sun rises, awaking the birds who sing their melodious tune. I flick my tail and glance at Alex, his ears twitching at any sound that may be alluding to danger. Kirsten stays in a stance where she could fight at any given moment, while Colt...well...he's just Colt.

A grey wolf pads into the clearing, barking at us once, shaking out her fluffy pelt. Kirsten does the same, recognizing her as none other than Crystal. Walking up to her, she shoots us a grateful glance and turns tail, trotting into the forest. The four of us follow at a steady pace, taking the scenery all around while watching for hunters.

Finally we arrive at a clearing, Crystal letting out another bark at her group. MJ sees us and smiles, a glimmer of hope in her eyes at the thought of finding her soulmate.

"Thank you so much for the help, guys. He went that way yesterday." She motions toward west; Alex nods before beginning the search. His furry black tail begins wagging as he picks up the scent, and his gaze falls upon west. Sniffing the ground like a trained bloodhound, he continues to head in that direction. After a few more minutes, he lifts a paw and barks at Kirsten. She shifts back to human, and the rest of us do the same while Alex stays in wolf form.

"Okay, he says that Caleb was definitely here." She seems to keep mind-linking him. "So were humans, but they didn't carry wolfsbane. So not hunters."

"Where did he go after? What happened?" MJ asks nervously.

"There's a faint scent of leather, probably coming from a saddle or a bridle. It must have been wild horse wranglers. He says that the scent continues southwest, which is where the stable was. My guess is that we have a real-life Spirit situation going on." I flinch at the thought of wranglers catching horses - they are the reason that my herd and Colt's disbanded.

"Yeah. Now where did he sneak off to..." Crystal says, a hand on her hip.

Kirsten suddenly looks worried and glances around. "He says that there are humans nearby."

"Then let's go!" she hissed before shifting into her wolf. We all follow suit, running back into the clearing where hunters haven't been yet. Crystal stops moving, her ears twitching at the sound of leaves crunching, assuming a defensive position, canines bared. She looks at us in a way that signals to prepare for a fight. Alex lets out a low growl, standing in front of me protectively.

A black stallion steps out from the trees, sweat dripping down his shiny fur and seeming exhausted. The wolves cease their growling immediately, realizing who it is. Colt whinnies cheerfully at the sight of the unharmed horse-shifter, to which Kirsten snarls at him in reply. They seem to mindlink each other, each one having a delighted expression on their face. Heading into the privacy of the woods to shift, they come back out as humans - we do the same. I notice the scratches littered across Caleb's skin.

"Oh my goodness, Caleb!" I exclaim, excited that a fellow horse is safe but also worried about how the humans treated him. "What happened?"

He shrugs. "It wasn't that bad..."

Crystal shoots him a 'yeah right' look. "Whatever the case, MaryJane was worried sick for you. Though I can't see why." she adds sarcastically.

"Haha." He rolls his eyes at her playfully.

"How did you escape?" Colt asks. "I know how good these wranglers are..."

"There was a stable boy that didn't really want me-" he air quotes the word, "-snapped and helped me get out."

"That's awesome." Colt smiles.

"It's not just awesome, it's nothing short of a miracle." Crystal remarks. "How did you know you could trust the kid though?"

"I didn't, but it got me out, didn't it?"

"They don't know you're a shifter...right?" I ask.

"Not that I know of, but who knows for sure?" Out of nowhere, MJ tackle hugs Caleb, bowling him over and landing on top.

"You idiot! Do you have any idea how scared I was?!" She holds onto him tightly, sobbing. "You're such a reckless idiot!" She hugs him, probably both worried and extremely grateful. Alex chuckles softly at their reunion, his eyes meeting mine. The expression on his face makes me feel something I've never felt before and I can sense our connection growing stronger. What is it? How are we connected and does he know?

Kirsten glances around and says, "They're getting closer. About a few miles south. We should probably keep going..."

MJ sits up quickly and wipes her tears, blushing profusely. "Y-yeah...Sorry about that..." She gets out of Caleb and doesn't meet his gaze, but it's pretty obvious that he's smitten with her.

"Let's go quickly..." Caleb says uncomfortably.

"Yeah..." I agree.

"Thank you guys again for everything." MJ says.

"No problem, stay safe." Alex smiles.

We then head out of the clearing and back to the path, ready for whatever comes next on this journey. I can tell that there's something he wants to say, but neither of us are brave enough to speak first; we walk in silence for a while, simply listening to the nature and watching as the sun rises higher into the sky. Colt and Kirsten get into a deep conversation about their favorite fandoms, I stop listening after fifteen minutes of endless chatter.

"Hey, umm..." Alex says, getting my attention. "Can we...can we talk?"

I nod, and he smiles. I can tell that it's something important, exactly what is unsure. Whatever it is, though...

I'm ready for it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another amazing crossover chapter with my amazing friend EclipseReaper07!

What do you think Alex will tell Stella?

We are about 50 reads away from 700 on TPTF, so thank you to all of my readers!

Until next time, have an amazing day! 😘