With everything calm in Scarlet Crest and the town all sleeping, it was easy for Dominic to finally call it a night and do the same himself.
Worry was something he couldn't turn off, not with Ayla and the group in the woods so far away, but he did his best.
If he knew what was truly happening at that exact moment, he might not be able to even attempt to rest.
His number one rule was to stay together at all costs.
Yet, despite that, Ayla was off in the woods, away from the group, sleeping with a stranger watching over her.
That was the one thing that Dominic told them not to do: separate.
As long as they were together, they had a fighting chance.
Well, that, and steer clear of witches and packless wolves.
Then, there were the others, finally running through the dark, headed as fast as they could toward Ayla, with Moon Goddess only knew what behind them.
It wasn't that the creature was still close to them, because they had been able to put a great bit of distance between themselves and the noise that they heard.
What spooked them was the noise in general.
Not knowing what exactly had found them at their previous campsite.
Worse was knowing that creatures were out there, and Ayla was alone.
They were finally gaining some distance on her, though, pushing harder and faster to get to her.
It was imperative to find her and be together again.
After a couple of hours of running, Phoenix picked up on it.
It was faint at first, but his wolf caught it.
His wolf was on high alert, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up.
Titan, Phoenix's wolf, could smell another dominant wolf, and then fear crept in.
Ayla wasn't one to back down, and he knew it, as well as the rest of the group.
"Do you smell that, Raphael?"
He made sure that only the two of them could hear each other.
"Yeah. The others are new, so maybe they won't pick up on it all. Just go to the lead and guide us to it. Let's hope she still has it. If not, Alexander will break."
The group could tell something was up as Phoenix moved to the front and took the lead, but none of them questioned it.
Phoenix was the best tracker in the pack, even though he didn't boast about it.
He typically chose to sit back and just exist.
Not this time.
This time, it seemed that Ayla might actually be in trouble, and he couldn't take any chances.
Raphael knew that the closer they got, the stronger the scents would become.
Eventually, the other wolves would figure out what was happening, but he would deal with that when it happened.
For now, he wanted to get as close to the situation as he could before all hell broke loose.
Just as they were beginning to approach the area where the attack occurred, Alexander caught wind of it.
"Is that blood. Do you guys smell that? That's blood, isn't it? It's Ayla's, right? That's why you went to the front, because you could smell it earlier."
Phoenix and Raphael exchanged an extremely quick glance before Raphael handled the group.
"It is blood, but we don't know whose blood. There is another male wolf scent, too. Stay calm and alert. keep moving."
Alexander didn't like the sound of that.
Ayla was alone in the woods with a male wolf, and then there was blood.
Without a second thought, he hoped she had killed the other wolf.
Then, she would be safe, and there would be a reason for the blood.
Alexander hated that he was wishing that way of thinking on his beloved Ayla, but he was.
The main goal at the moment was to find her, no matter what had happened, and help her navigate through whatever situation she had found herself in.
She had to still be cursed and running off from the fear the witches caused without the others' help.
As the pack got closer, Titan's senses picked up on them.
The hair on the back of his neck rose with the detection of the threat coming within his region.
"Ayla! Ayla! Wake up. Someone's coming. We have to move. It isn't safe. Wake up."
Ayla became alert without hesitation.
She knew that Titan was a strong wolf with impeccable instincts.
If he sensed something, then clearly, it wasn't a mistake.
Without a second thought, she jumped into wolf form after him, and they began to flee their shelter from that night.
"Moonlight Shifters. Let's go. Quickly. I'll be safe there. I hope."
"What business do you have there?" Titan asked as he led the way.
"I have a friend who needs me there. I was told I would be safe there while I attempt to talk with him."
"I see. I promise I won't leave your side while you're there. Moonlight Shifters, it is. Your other friends, the ones you're traveling with, will probably meet you there then?"
Ayla hesitated before answering, "What danger did you sense when you woke me?"
Titan didn't think before he spoke, "There's a male wolf, at least one in the area. I picked up on his scent. Why?"
It was obvious that Ayla was now filled with thoughts, but she was reluctant to say them to Titan, as her pace slowed.
"What has you holding your words back?"
Ayla waited a bit more and processed her thoughts a few seconds longer before she responded.
"How can we be sure that you smelled a threat? What if it was someone from my party?"
Titan was now the one slowing the pace down a little more.
He was fully aware that it was possibly a wolf from her party, and it was the last thing he wanted.
For this prized wolf to be reunited with her friends so quickly, but if he did anything to stop it now, she would run from him and never look back.
Titan was now left with a limited number of options.
So, he decided to play dumb.
"That's a good question. You don't have a scent, so I didn't think about that wolf being one of your friends. What do you want to do?"
He had now brought them to a stop.
Single-handedly, he had given himself the upper hand without ever really giving up any of his power.
Ayla was so used to running that it was her first instinct in this situation, and Titan could see it.
Secretly, he hoped that was exactly what she would choose.
After everything she had already endured in the woods, there was a slim chance it was her group, and she knew it.
The longer they stayed in one spot, the closer whoever was chasing them got.
Thoughts of Mason kidnapping her crept into her mind, and she almost started to run, but then the idea that maybe Alexander and the others had finally caught up to her won.
"What if we hunted the scent and spied on whoever was nearby. Is there a way for you to get close to them with me without them finding you? I can do it. Is that something you are capable of?"
Now, she was just insulting him as much as she was challenging him.
Was he capable?
Titan was the champion of his pack.
"Of course I can. Follow me. Let's see just who is in these woods after you. Clearly, they aren't after me, if they know what's good for them anyway."
"Still cocky, I see."
"Still Stubborn I see."
Ayla wasted no time following Titan as he picked up the scent and followed it through the woods.
The sound of paws hitting the ground didn't take long to find their ears.
Ayla and Titan decided to shift into human form so it would be harder to smell and track them.
As soon as they did, Titan decided to do something that he promised he wouldn't do unless she wanted him to do it again.
It was to protect her, so in a way, she really couldn't be too mad at him.
When the sound was close, and the scent was strong, he grabbed Ayla by the arm and pinned her behind a tree with such force that it stole the breath from her.
In another way, it had a deeper meaning.
If it were her groups, he wanted to make sure his scent was embedded all over her for the others to smell when they found her.
Just as quickly as he did, he moved a hand from one of her arms and threw it over her mouth, stopping her from making a sound, and shielded her body with his.
Not even a minute later, a group of five wolves came running through.
They were on a mission.
The five wolves were hunting, but what were they hunting?
Titan turned his head and looked at them with fire in his eyes that Ayla wasn't able to see.
It wasn't clear to him which of the three males it was, but one of them carried that scent that lingered on Ayla when he first bet her.
In that moment, he felt an overwhelming feeling of protectiveness, jealousy, and anger.
All he had to do was figure out where to put all those feelings.
As he and Ayla say the pack of wolves run by them, it sank in who had just crossed their path.
The five of them hadn't detected the pair hiding behind the tree, but the lost wolf's heart was instantly full as she stood there, pinned behind the tree.
"STOP!" she mumbled from under Titan's hand.
All five of them came to a screeching halt.
They all began looking around, and that didn't help Titan, who had now confirmed that he would have to deal with the other males in the group.
Fighting for Ayla's attention and affection.
A smirk came to his face, and they all seemed to be looking around, unable to find her, as she was still hidden behind him, and she squirmed to break free.
She finally managed to pull his hand away from her mouth.
"You can let go now. They are my friends. If you actually want a chance of coming with us, I suggest you let me go now."
Titan didn't care for the tone or the way she was insinuating that she could control him.
For the moment, she indulged her.
He was more curious who all was with her, and what all they would let slip.
Surely, it had to be more than she had.
"Ayla. Oh, my Goddess. Dominic would have had our hides if we hadn't found you. How the hell did you get this far?" Raphael said as he came running to give her a huge hug.
Phoenix was his usual self, "I knew these guys were worried for nothing. It's you after all. Nothing can take you down. Invincible, I swear. After all, you dealt with us for how many years," he laughed.
"But the blood. We all smelled the blood. Was it not yours, Ayla?" Rhea asked as she attempted to look her friend over.
"I'm fine. I promise. Like Phoenix said. Invincible. You know me. Barely a scar," she said as she raised her arm and showed the faded lines.
The reaction that caught Ayla off guard was Alexander.
He wasn't running up to her to hug her or even saying anything at all.
His focus was on the man standing directly next to her.
Titan looked over to the wolf, who had been nameless until now, "So, you're the famous Ayla. Nice to meet you."
Ayla didn't know what to say.
"I get it. Why didn't you want to tell me your name? If I were you, I wouldn't tell anyone my name either. I've never hunted you, though."
"I know you haven't," Ayla whispered back, "I would have recognized you if you had. I knew when I didn't know your face that you hadn't hunted me yet. Not until you did yesterday, that is."
Alexander was still standing there, staring at the two as they talked.
Phoenix and Raphael had never seen him so quiet.
Finally, Phoenix had had enough of the awkward silence.
"Bro, are you okay. You've been all about finding her, and now you haven't said one word, let alone hugged her. What's your deal?"
"Who the fuck is he?"
Five small words that finally brought the whole group's attention to the man who was standing with Ayla.
The whole area now oozed the scent of danger.