She sucked in a breath. Great. Now they were back to that. She almost preferred talking about that old chestnut, parents giving up on their children.
She gazed about the peaceful scene, so at odds with the turmoil inside her. Hell, what to tell him? She didn’t want to take him to the den—she couldn’t take him to the den. Not only because it would put her pack at risk, and she never wanted to do something like that, but also because her pack would never forgive her. She already had one sin, one shame darkening her standing within the pack. She lived in hope that one day they’d forgive her, that one day they would look at her, really look at her, and smile kindly.
But if she did this she’d be cast out of the pack, if any of them remained after a skirmish with the Alpine guardians.
“With Jax, and your wounded guardians, about three days trekking,” she lied.
His eyebrows rose. “That far? Why were you training the pups so far from home?”
Oops. Good point. It had only taken them a few hours yesterday to reach the Alpine camp. “It’s a Woodland tradition. When they turn four we do a training mission.” Well, that sounded lame, even to her own ears.
Matthias looked at her for a moment. Please buy it. Please buy it. He finally nodded. “Fine. We’ll head out after breakfast.”
He’d bought it. Great. Now she just had to figure out how to lose them.
* * *
Matthias trudged alongside Trinity. She’d set a grueling pace, and they’d been walking along the base of the ridge.
“When we get to the break in the hills, we’ll set up camp,” he told her, eyeing his guardians. Some were helping the injured, and while they were all fit, he didn’t want them tired if they met up with any Woodland guardians. They’d set up camp early and continue the next day after a full night’s rest. Like in the mountainous Alpine territory, the sun set early here in the Woodland mountains. It was already getting dark, although not once had Trinity complained about the hours they’d spent walking through the forest. It was almost as though she was used to day-long hikes in the woods.
She nodded and kept on walking, her eyes on the trail ahead. Well, he couldn’t see a trail, but somehow she managed to follow one through the trees. He looked back at Zane. His second-in-command looked pained as Jax chattered along beside him. The boy hadn’t stopped talking all day, unless it was to eat or drink. They’d each taken turns carrying the child, and the boy wasn’t shy with any of them. Matthias hid his smile. Hearing the young boy’s chirpy comments made him realize how much he missed the babble of a curious kid. His lips drooped. He couldn’t think along those lines, though. There was too much pain.
Speaking of pain...he glanced sideways at the tracker. She’d seemed so caring, so nurturing with the boy, yet her harsh remarks that morning about Jax’s mother had surprised him. He frowned. Could she really be that young, that inexperienced that she could think one could easily get over the death of a mate? Her words had ripped open old wounds for him. He could totally understand the desolation, the heartbreaking loneliness Jax’s mother must be feeling, the emptiness that had taken root in her soul at the death of her mate. How could Trinity not understand? Or at least empathize?
He frowned. Since when did he care about caring, for crud’s sake? What did it matter to him how naive and foolish the tracker seemed? He wondered, though, if she would have said the same things to him if she’d known of his history. He glanced around the guardians who marched along with him. Most of them knew, but even so, none of them knew all of the details, all of the tragic consequences. Even Jared hadn’t known the full story.
Would they view him differently if they knew? Would they still follow him so loyally, trust in him so blindly? He ducked his head. Would they think he wasn’t fit to be one of them?
Trinity stumbled a little, and cried out in pain. In a flash he reached for her, clasping her arm, and she startled, looking at him over her shoulder.
“Are you okay?” he asked, trying to keep the concern, the care out of his voice.
“Uh, yeah. I, uh, I have a rock in my shoe.” She waved him on. “You go on. I’ll catch up. I just need to take my shoe off and tip it out.” She sat down on a fallen tree and slowly started to unlace her boot. He hesitated, and she raised an eyebrow. She gestured to the group of guardians following. “I’m not going to run, not with all you guys around.”
He shot her an exasperated look, then turned to lead on. Jax ran up to the tracker, his expression curious, and Zane tilted his head in relief as he caught up to Matthias.
“That kid is exhausting. He talks, and talks, and, well, talks.”
Matthias nodded as they approached a rocky outcropping. “It’s good that he feels comfortable to do that,” he told his guardian quietly.
Zane sighed. “Yeah, I guess. He’s so young, though. He wants to play a lot.”
“He’s a pup. That’s what they do.” He remembered a pup just like Jax, with sandy hair and a cheeky grin. They rounded the rocky edge, stepping into the gloom cast by the mountain’s shadow. Night was coming. A movement caught his eye, and Matthias put his hand out, halting Zane.
Deep in the shadows cast by the trees and the mountain behind them stood four men. All tall, all wearing dark clothes, with pale skin and the faint yet unmistakable scent of death.
Matthias’s lips curled. Vamps.
Matthias narrowed his eyes as one of the vampires stepped forward.
“You’re trespassing,” the vamp said, baring his teeth. His incisors lengthened, and Matthias clenched his teeth as he looked up at the sky. The sun was setting, but here, in the shadows of the mountains, the night had already crept in.
“This is Woodland territory,” he growled at the vampire. “You’re the ones trespassing.”
The vampire smiled, his pale blue eyes lightening with satisfaction. “Actually, no. Woodland ends about two miles back that way, near that great big line of Douglas firs,” he said, waving toward the curve of the ridge. “After that, it’s Nightwing.”
Matthias glanced over his shoulder, frowning. But Trinity... There was no sign of the tracker, or Jax, and his lips tightened. That damned she-wolf. She’d led them into an ambush. They were trespassing. He hadn’t trusted her, and had suspected she was leading them astray, but he hadn’t expected her to employ such an effective strategy.
Zane growled next to him, and Matthias shook his head, holding up his hands in a nonthreatening manner. They were in the wrong, but they could salvage this, and walk away. Hopefully.
“Apologies. We thought we were still on Woodland. Don’t worry, we won’t stay. We’ll get out of your hair.”
He took a step back, but the lead vampire shook his head, making a tsking sound.
“You think that’s going to finish this? A bunch of mutts march through Nightwing, and you think you can just...walk away?” He gestured casually, rolling his wrist. His smile widened. “I don’t think so.”
Matthias frowned.
