~ Alex's POV ~

The moon peeks out from behind light clouds in the sky, its silver light drenching my midnight black fur. A gentle squeak pierces through the peaceful nighttime sounds, followed by the flapping of wings. I turn around to see a small vampire bat clenching a note in her claws. Wait, is that MJ?

She squeaks again, dropping the note, before flying back to her group presumably. I shift into my human form to pick it up and read it.

We ran into hunters today, better get moving fast.
~ Caleb

I hold the note tightly, and look at the three sleeping peacefully on the grass. Guess they'll have to wake up sooner or later. I gently shake them and whisper, "Guys, wake up."

Stella's eyes flutter open, and she looks at me sleepily. "Hey. We need to keep moving, the hunters are nearby." She nods and stands up on her hooves, tapping Colt with her muzzle. He lets out a half-awake snort, rolling over on his side. Kirsten wakes and gets up quickly, barking at the tired horse. Finally he gets up, and shifts back to his human form.

"Come on, I need my beauty sleep." he yawns.

"There's no time. Caleb just wrote saying that he and the others were attacked by hunters last night. We need to keep going so that they can't find us. Take your stuff and let's go." I say.

We quickly grab the few things that we brought along on this journey and leave the small clearing, making our way back to the path. Four more days of traveling until we get to our destination. Four more days of resisting my primal instincts and my inner wolf. It may not sound like that long, but when you're basically in a mental battle with yourself, it feels much longer than it really is.

My gaze drifts over to Stella, her figure a perfect silhouette in the moonlight. Dante begs to be with her, longing in every word. There will come a time when I'll allow him to. Someday soon, I'll tell her everything. But not now. All that matters right now is that each and every one of us makes it to our location, alive and safe. Emphasis on alive.

My thoughts are interrupted by Kirsten's voice. "I'll be right back." she says, about to shift.

"Wait, where are you going?" I ask.

"If I can't get sleep, I at least need food. Or else, somebody might get hurt." She quickly turns into her brown wolf with golden rings in her fur, scampering off to look for prey. Colt follows after; those two are inseparable. Which is actually kind of adorable in all fairness.

I look up at the sky which is slowly filling with color, light hues of pink, orange, and blue amongst the darkness. Stella walks a little closer, her hand brushing against mine, sending sparks through my body. That feeling, that sensation is irresistible. My wolf side and my human side are fighting each other for dominance, but there's one thing that both parts of me need. Our mate. When she looks into my eyes, Dante asks me one question.

When?
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~ Kirsten's POV ~

My body crouches low to the ground, absolutely silent as the small rabbit nibbles on grass, not knowing what's about to happen next. I take a step toward it, seemingly invisible hiding in the tall grass. Reaching another paw forward, its floppy ears twitch, but the rabbit returns to their food. Pretty ironic if you ask me. Just a few more steps and–

"Whatcha doing?" Colt asks all of a sudden, making me leap into the air in fright. I turn around to face him with my fur standing up and my ears pinned back. Looking back at my prey, I quickly discover that it's gone. A deep growl escapes me.

"COLT!" I grumble, shifting back to my human form. "There goes my breakfast."

"Think about it this way. Somewhere," he says, placing a hand on my shoulder, "a vegan is thanking you."

"And somewhere, a horse-shifter is getting his butt kicked." He lets out a hilarious girly scream and runs, shifting into his horse. I quickly turn wolf and dash after him, pouncing onto his back. He whinnies and we both tumble to the ground, giving me the chance to hold him down with my paws. Laughing as a wolf sounds more like a dog choking, but I do it anyway.

Suddenly the whites of his eyes show, a sign of fear in horses. I look behind us to see a group of hunters, holding weaponry chock full of wolfsbane and silver. They shout something to each other, a signal to get us. I leap off and bark for him to follow before making a run for it. He gets to his hooves and gallops faster than ever before, his eyes a glowing brown. I let Athena take over as well, running side-by-side with the palomino stallion. Their voices and footfalls become distant as we get farther ahead. Once we are in the clear, the two of us shift back to our human forms, panting heavily. A worried glance is exchanged; they now know where we are, meaning that our lives are - yet again - in danger.

"Kirsten...what are we going to do?" Colt says at a whisper.

"The only thing we can do. Keep going." This'll be an interesting one to explain...
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Something big will be happening on the fourteenth chapter, can you guys guess what it is?

Have an amazing day, everybody! 😘