For once, Ayla didn't know what to do.
The brush ahead swallowed the path.
Ayla's pulse kicked hard.
Thoughts slammed into her, too many, too fast.
Instinct screamed to bolt.
Reason told her to stay quiet and think.
She knew what she usually did.
Her heart and mind were telling her to do two different things, and it was tearing her apart.
Normally, she'd already be gone—running until her lungs burned.
But Alexander was beside her.
Her fingers found his—then hesitated.
This time it was to reach for Alexander's hand, then to run, fast and far.
Was he worth the risk—or just another liability?
She'd survived this long alone.
So why did staying feel harder than running?
She was releasing his hand as she started to look around.
If it was who she thought it was, then it wasn't just one person.
Were the lust pheromones of the cave finally airing out and exiting her system?
Was she able to think clearly again?
He had to have put some spell on her at some point to make her act the way she had since he started chasing her.
'Wait...when was. Where are we...? How long ago was that' she thought to herself.
Had he effectively trapped her without her realizing it?
Her mind started racing in panic.
Ayla's eyes started darting from side to side as she made her best attempt to see if anything was within her visual field.
Ayla didn't know how long she had even been in the cave with him.
It was like her head was cloudy as she went to peer toward him in confusion.
Alexander knew something wasn't right instantly.
He gently shook his head and placed his free hand in front of his face, pulling his index finger over his lips in an effort to ensure she knew that it was not the time.
Neither of them could afford for her to have a panic attack at that moment.
She needed to keep quiet so as not to give away their location.
He wasn't sure what was running through her mind, but he knew whatever it was, it wasn't to his benefit.
Unsure as to whether she was going to follow his lead or not, he took a deep breath.
Closing his eyes, he prayed for the best before looking back at the beautiful woman who was no longer holding on to his hand.
It was obvious she was in a state of fight or flight, and she was afraid of him, too, again.
Ayla didn't have that same feeling in the pit of her stomach about Alexander as he had about her; she was terrified.
The young woman was on the verge of fleeing.
To him, the conflict was clear on her face for him to see.
Alexander felt he didn't have much choice when it came to what he needed to do.
He had a feeling that his time was running out.
There was a sliver of guilt behind her eyes at the thought of her letting him go to do what she needed to do.
Neither of them knew the right answer, but they both knew something was about to happen as they heard a branch snap.
He had no clue where she was going to go, but he had to trust their instincts.
They hadn't been wrong so far.
All he could do was accept the fact that he didn't really know anything about her except that she was a runner.
Alexander had to have faith that letting her run would ultimately bring them back together again in the end.
He couldn't hold her hostage any longer, as they heard another branch snap even closer that time, so he let her go.
If holding her tight was going to put her in danger, he had to set her free.
For years, she protected herself and managed to stay safe, and it was what she knew to do.
Now, he had to trust she could continue to do just that.
As she began to turn away from him and head off into the distance, they both knew it was the right choice.
He promised that he would protect her, and he realized how he could do it in that moment.
She only knew how to run.
Self-preservation.
For her to stay would go against her nature.
He watched her disappear as a scent crossed his nostrils, and he knew someone was close.
It was time for him to head off himself.
Instantly, he knew he had made the right choice, because they were so close he could smell them.
If he had insisted on holding her hand and making her stand by his side, it would have caused a ruckus, and they would have been found.
Instead, to best help her, he quickly decided to distract whoever it was to give her the best chance at escape.
Giving her an even bigger gap of space, he threw several large logs in the area between where he heard the men and where he was, then ran as quietly as possible in a diagonal direction he hoped would intercept Ayla.
After a short while, he managed to do just that.
Run into the girl who had hidden amongst some brush until she realized who was approaching her.
Ayla stood there for a moment, cocking her head to the side, confused and unsure of what the hell he was doing.
As he started to walk toward her, the idea of what he was doing crossed her mind.
Her mind knew what to do, but her legs didn't want to carry her.
She paused, looking at him for just a moment longer before he looked into her eyes and gestured for her to follow him.
The thick brush was all around them, as the moonlight snuck through, allowing her to watch him as he stepped toward her.
Slowly, she started to back away, getting lost behind a tree.
Out of nowhere, there was a loud commotion that startled her.
Alexander could be heard yelling, and he sounded like a one-man army in the deep, thick forest.
Even though he was one man, he was loud as each foot landed with a domineering sound.
One foot after another landed heavy, running toward whoever lay hiding in the brush they were headed for.
Ayla held her breath as she concealed herself behind a tree.
Holding her breath wasn't intentional as she watched, without him realizing her eyes never left him.
She wanted to make sure he was okay; she had to.
It was like she didn't have a choice.
Yes, her body refused to leave the area without making sure that the man standing, who was now acting like an idiot, didn't harm himself or get captured to save her.
Ayla was worried about him.
Did she just jeopardize her safety for once because of someone else?
The young woman hiding behind the tree would have never done that before.
Her heart had a sense of acceptance toward this man.
What was happening to her?
She still wanted to make sure that he wasn't setting her up or working with anyone before she put her full trust in him.
That made more sense to her.
Her brain was able to process that.
She worried about her safety in that aspect.
If she couldn't trust him, she would find out shortly.
He came out of nowhere, and trust didn't come easily to her.
Things were not adding up for some reason.
Not just that, what if he got captured?
Her eyes widened when the thought crossed her mind.
'Oh no, what have I told him?' she thought to herself.
Thinking back to the minimal conversation and all the sex, she got distracted for a moment.
'Nothing. I don't think I told him anything he can use. Did I' she continued to think.
Alexander would be tortured if he were not a bad guy.
Hell, even if he was a bad guy, they could decide to torture him for information.
He didn't know much about her, but he knew enough that it could help the bounty hunters catch her more easily.
There was option two: she could run, or she could wait and see what happened.
There was also a third option.
"AHHHH," she yelled, falling backward as he did.
Her bottom landed firmly on the soil, her hands along with it.
Suddenly, a large deer with a beautiful, full rack of antlers on top of its head came jumping past her without warning.
As its two front hooves landed beside her, Ayla's heart nearly exploded from her chest.
Just as quickly, its back hooves landed, and then she could see its white tail flipping behind him as he fled the unsettling scene.
"I thought I told you to be quiet and run," a familiar voice came from behind the tree.
She would look around it, but she was currently sitting on her behind as the deer almost scared the life out of her, causing her to fall there.
All she could do was sit there and roll her eyes.
"Yeah, you did. I'm so thankful I listened. I wouldn't have gotten to see you charge a fully grown, majestic deer if I hadn't," she sneered.
"I was talking more about the quiet part."
He leaned down and extended a hand to help Ayla up.
He couldn't help but notice the slight hint of a citric pine smell mixed into the tree smells as he did.
It almost seemed to come from her as he continued talking.
"If you had just kept running, you would have never had the living daylights scared out of you from said deer".
She rolled her eyes again and mimicked him before deciding to take his extended hand for help.
Alexander was just grateful to have her touch again so quickly, but he was worried.
"We really should not dilly-dally. After that scream, they will be on their way here. I don't want to stick around. It gives us an advantage if we are quick enough. What do you say? Let's get out of here before they come," he said in an asking tone.
Ayla nodded in agreement.
He was right, too.
Not long before the duo decided to leave the cave, Alpha Theo's guards informed him that they were officially headed out to sweep the area and look for signs of the Alpha's supposed daughter.
Dominic followed his orders, like a good soldier, but he had his suspicions.
They weren't hopeful, but their alpha still appeared to carry enough hope for all of them.
With that in mind, they were taking their time and looking everything over, making sure not to miss anything.
At that point, they had essentially accepted that Ayla was either not going to be found or didn't want to be found.
They knew from experience that if she didn't want to be found, it would be nearly impossible to find her.
After hours of searching, they couldn't find a single sign of her after the dramatic show at the top of the waterfall.
The three knew either she perished at the bottom and never came back up, or the young girl knew what she was doing.
Either way, she didn't have a scent, or it hadn't caught them again yet.
Without the hint of a scent, they weren't sure where to look.
That was until they heard the logs land that Alexander had thrown.
They knew they weren't alone in the woods then, at least.
They were somewhere around half the distance between the logs hitting the ground and Ayla when they heard her scream.
It caught them off guard at first.
Unsure of what they heard, they looked at each other in an attempt to process the sound that met their eardrums.
After a moment, it clicked.
"Was that her?" Dominic asked.
His voice sounded odd as it broke the silence that had surrounded them for so long.
Phoenix and Raphael looked to each other before the Lieutenant spoke.
"It had to be. Who else would be out here? I can't think of anyone else stupid enough to come into these woods alone at night," Phoenix said and then laughed.
"She isn't alone...or she wasn't alone," Raphael said.
His expression changed quickly to one of worry.
"Maybe he didn't make it, and she's been out here all alone. Did we make a mistake in thinking that they were together this whole time?" he asked with real concern in his voice.
Phoenix had a different concern, "What if he was another wolf from another pack? If he tricked her into trusting her because we were chasing her, then she could be in trouble."
Raphael knew it was his idea to give them time to bond.
Alpha Theo asked for his suggestion for the first time, and that was it.
What if it was a mistake?
The young major was starting to panic over his first decision to the Alpha and Luna.
Their Alpha would have his head for sure.
"No. If she made it, then he did. Did you see him? Both of you, calm down. Maybe she screamed because something happened to him just now. What if they are both in trouble, and you two are coming up with stupid scenarios? What if she needs us because someone is trying to kidnap her right now?" Dominic added.
Dominic was trying to make his men focus.
Just then, the majestic deer crossed their path before fleeing from them.
It only made their questions increase in regard to Ayla's safety.
"We need to go, NOW. Could you tell where it came from?" Raphael asked.
Dominic was already leading the way as if he could smell a trace of her scent, or a scent.
Phoenix and Raphael refused to ask, following silently.
This time, Dominic felt like his life really was on the line.
If something happened to Ayla, he would have to answer for it.
Their alpha wouldn't accept any excuse, only his head.
By the time they reached the vicinity where the scream came, it was quiet.
Eerily quiet.
The odd part was that he couldn't pick up anything.
There were no footprints anywhere, not really any strong scents to track, which was odd.
The deer had the faint scent of a scent that was familiar to Dominic on it, but just faintly.
Then, there was one tree, and a small area that very faintly had a random scent, but that was all he could pick up.
When he reached the tree that he could just barely pick up any smell from, he looked around and saw what looked like a butt imprint and two hands on the ground.
He was running not only what he found, but also what he couldn't find through his mind.
NO tracks, NO smells, not hers or his
The only place he could find a trace of smell, really, is where it seems she was on the ground for some reason.
She had to have been scared or have a high level of fear.
That's it, when her emotions are high, her scent leaks out.
Why is that the only time her scent seemed to come off of her?
She must have been extremely scared at the moment she hit the ground.
"Tracking her is going to be nearly impossible without our senses and the short amount of time. I think I have it figured out, though, how to track and catch her." Dominic said.
His voice startled his men when it found them again.
Appearing amused, he continued.
"That is partly how she has evaded us. We rely on our senses too much. It's time to change up how we go after her".
Dominic started thinking.
'She doesn't know she is a werewolf, so she lives like a human' was his first thought.
"We should track her like a human. Maybe we even act like we are human", Raphael said.
"Men, I think I have a plan. Unfortunately, we are not going home tonight. I'm not explaining any of this to Alpha Theo. We will stay in the human city, like humans, tonight. How can we act like humans without knowing how they act"?
He finished his thoughts and laid them all out for the other guards, and it seemed to make sense to them.
They weren't sure how humans tracked people, but they had a pretty good idea how to figure it out.
The best part about staying in their city was watching the human television shows.
It would give them the insight they needed, as well as a little time off to potentially interact and mingle a little.
Honestly, what was the worst that could happen? Right.