The angry voice of his Alpha brought his attention back to the group of men in the middle of the clearing.
"How dare you steal from me?" Alpha Kegan Wallis's hard, icy tone caused the fur on the back of Declan's neck to stand on end.
Declan could finally recognise the man currently being held between the angry Alpha's two Betas, Gregory Stone and Barry Stuart. Nigel Cummings stood slumped over and Declan believed the only reason he remained on his feet, and not on the ground, was due to the two Betas holding him up.
Nigel looked like shit, Declan had no idea what he'd done to piss the Alpha off so much, but whatever it had been he was copping a beating for it. His eyes looked to be almost swollen shut, blood steadily oozed from a split lip, and his right cheek seemed to have split along his cheekbone.
"I didn't take anything. I swear, Alpha."
"Liar!" Declan watched Kegan Wallis punch Nigel in the stomach. Nigel doubled over, the air expelling from his lungs before the two men holding his arms, roughly grabbed him and pulled upright.
"Do you have any idea how much a kilo of coke is worth on the Australian market?" Alpha Wallis snarled at the bruised and battered man.
"No, sir, I don't do drugs" Nigel pleaded.
Alpha Wallis sneered. "You cost me upwards of a hundred grand. All because you wanted to be cool and fit in with some fucking humans."
"I didn't, I swear. I don't do drugs. Please," Nigel begged, struggling against the men holding him.
Declan wouldn't have thought Nigel the type to steal or try to impress what sounded like a bunch of drug fucked humans if they wanted a kilo of coke.
Declan watched in utter horror when his Alpha pulled out a gun and pointed it at Nigel. "You really shouldn't have fucked with me Nigel."
"No please, it wasn't me. You have to believe m—"
Alpha Wallis cut Nigel off in the middle of his struggles when he put a bullet through his head. Declan whined quietly and quickly backed up, wanting to get away as fast as possible. Unfortunately his back leg came down on a twig and snapped it clean in half.
"What the bloody hell was that?"
Declan didn't want to hang around and find out if he had been spotted. It would be easy enough for them to know who had seen everything as soon as they caught his scent.
He took off into the forest. He had speed—probably the only thing going for him. So far, the only wolf who'd ever kept up with him had been his old Alpha, one of the fastest wolves Declan had ever met.
Declan knew the exact moment they caught his scent. Three howls ripped through the night. He didn't head back to his car. Declan kept on running. If he stopped or got caught, he would be dead before the sun crested the horizon. No way in hell his Alpha would let Declan live after he'd witnessed him killing a pack member in cold blood. Let alone overhearing the information his Alpha and Betas were apparently selling illegal drugs.
Declan heard them, chasing him through the dense forest trees. He'd never been so scared in his life. Not when his parents had died and he'd found himself responsible for raising his younger brother, or when he had packed up their lives and moved them both across the country. He started to think that particular move had been a bad idea. But seriously, who would have guessed his new Alpha would turn out to be a drug dealing murderer? Declan wouldn't have.
Declan raced through the trees, his heart pumping, the adrenaline flowing, and he could only think about being caught and never getting to see his brother grow into the man Declan knew he could be. Tommy currently walked the fine line between teenager and responsible adult at the tender age of nineteen. Declan wanted to witness his brother's journey into manhood.
Would anyone tell Tommy what happened? Or
would he go the rest of his life without being aware. Would he believe his brother dead or would he think Declan had abandoned him? Declan didn't know which option would be worse.
Silently vowing neither of those things would happen, Declan put on another burst of speed and ran.
He had no idea how long he'd journeyed, but it had to have been several hours. The sounds of pursuit were distant, but still there. He stopped for a moment to rest and catch his breath. Listening intently, he could just make out the echoes of those following him. It sounded like there were only two of them now. More than likely the Alpha had sent his Betas to do his dirty work. Kegan Wallis wouldn't want to be involved in a long drawn out chase through the forest. Plus, he had to get back. What would the pack say if the Alpha and both betas suddenly disappeared?
Deciding two should be easier than three to outrun, Declan took off again. He had no idea in which direction he headed. He hadn't had a great deal of time to visit the area surrounding Cairns so didn't know any of the landmarks, not that he had come across any yet.
Declan stopped every time he found a stream of water, not only to drink, but he also walked through or swam across the cool water in hopes of losing those following him.
The sun had risen and resided high in the sky, meaning he had been running all night and well into the next day. Declan lost count of the number of streams and rivers he had crossed in the forest covered hills. He stopped hearing sounds of pursuit some time ago, but wouldn't stop and rest in case Gregory and Barry were still on his tail. He hoped he'd lost them but didn't want to risk it just yet, so he trudged on.
Fatigue barrelled through him, the adrenaline long since gone. Exhausted and hungry, his paws hurt from travelling for so long and not being able to rest properly, and even with his thick fur coat the constant in-and-out of frigid waterways made him cold; he hadn't had a chance to dry completely which caused the numbing temperature to seep into his skin.
Nothing compared to the concern he felt for his younger brother. Looking at the sky, he would guess the time to be somewhere close to noon. Tommy must be worried sick about the fact he hadn't come home yet. He hoped to Christ Alpha Wallis hadn't gone after his brother.
He didn't really think it a possibility but then again, he was batting a thousand with things he didn't think were possible lately.
Declan stopped for a short break and lapped at the chilly water in the stream. He sat and watched a couple of platypi swimming lazily, wishing he could be just as carefree at the moment. He decided it couldn't hurt to continue on for another hour or so, or at least until he got to a decent sized town and could find out where the hell he'd ended up. Declan pushed his tired and aching body to continue forward.
The only noises Declan heard were the natural ones of a forest. Trees swayed in the breeze, their leaves rustling. The occasional bandicoot and echidna scurried about looking for food. And even the intermittent larger creatures like kangaroos moved about.
Perking up at an echo through the dense trees, Declan stood still and listened. He had never been so happy in his life to hear the steady hum of a motor and the heavy thud of tyres moving over bitumen. Once certain he could pinpoint the location the sound originated, Declan took off in that direction.
Less than five minutes later he came to the edge of the forest and cautiously poked his head around the trees that lined the road. He wasn't stupid, he realised wolves weren't exactly native to the area. He didn't want to startle someone when they were driving at high speeds and cause an accident. Declan looked left and right down the black asphalt, but couldn't see anything in either direction. The lack of signage annoyed him greatly as he really would have loved to know how far he had travelled and where he'd ended up. Not knowing which way would lead to the closest town, Declan decided heading away from where he had been coming from would be his best bet.
Ducking fully back under the canopy of trees, Declan followed the road. The occasional car went flying past, but Declan ignored them, continuing on until he finally looked through the trees and saw a sign.
Atherton 5km
Declan breathed a sigh of relief, finally knowing his location. He honestly didn't know if it would be far enough away from Cairns to hide or if he would have to keep moving. Too exhausted to think about it, he decided he needed food and rest before he could make any decisions.
Liam Anderson pulled his beat up old truck into the driveway of his modest three bedroom home and shut off the engine. He couldn't quite shake the odd sensation he'd had for the past year. He felt restless, as if waiting for something to happen but he didn't know what.
As a Beta to Benjamin Taylor, the Panneath Alpha of Australia, Liam's life would never be described as dull.
The Panneath Alpha didn't only have his own pack to run, he also oversaw all the other Alphas in the country. Ben made a great leader and the Australian packs had prospered since he'd come to the position. Liam felt privileged to count him as one of his closest friends. But Liam still felt as though a small part of him remained missing. He wanted, above all else, to find his mate.
The feeling started about a year ago when Jake Richmond, the Beta from the Leyburn pack and his mate, Patrick Holland, the pack Alpha's brother, came to stay for a while. Their visit had been interesting to say the least, and Liam really couldn't be more pleased Jake and Rick had finally sorted out all their problems and settled down into mated bliss. Liam wanted what they had so badly he could almost taste it. He wished he could be so lucky. Liam had been searching a long time for his mate. Being one of the Betas required a great deal of travel, visiting other packs on behalf of the Alpha. He enjoyed the travel as it made it easier for him to continue his search for his mate. Liam had also been born with a gift. Not many wolves that he knew of had additional abilities to the ones they all had of super strength, enhanced sight and hearing, immunity to disease, and a longer life span.
Liam could see mate threads. Every shifter he'd ever met had a distinctive strand that searched for its other half.
As soon as Liam met the second half of a pair, a connection formed in his mind, letting him know who they were matched with. He would then let the person know where they could find their mate. He hadn't yet encountered anyone who hadn't been overjoyed at the prospect of finding their soul-mate.
But throughout all the travelling and visiting of different packs, and all the couples he had helped join together, he still hadn't met his own mate. Liam longed to have a soul deep connection with a man. He wanted to love, to wake up and see the same pair of emerald green eyes every day for the rest of his life. He had no idea how he knew what colour eyes his mate had, but something deep down inside told him he would be looking into deep green eyes.
Pushing his morose thoughts to the back of his mind, Liam removed the keys from the ignition, got out of his truck and headed for the mailbox out front by the curb.
He had forgotten to check it on Friday. After he removed what looked like two bills, he turned towards his front door, feeling the hair on the back of his arms stand up. Liam looked around, but even with his enhanced sight, couldn't see anything in the gathering darkness. Lifting his head, Liam sniffed. He caught a slight, sweet scent on the air but before anything could register in his brain, the scent drifted away.
Not noticing anything else out of the ordinary, Liam unlocked his house and went inside. He dumped his wallet, keys, and mail on the small hallway table he had situated by the front door, kicked his work boots off, and flicked a light switch on. Liam flexed his toes. He didn't know if his wolf or his human half detested shoes more, but he always felt better when he could be barefoot.
Liam headed into the kitchen. Had a quick look in the fridge and not seeing anything that took his fancy, he opened the freezer. When in doubt, a nice juicy steak always did the trick. Pulling a pack of thick T-bones out of the freezer, Liam put them in the microwave to help the defrosting along.
Satisfied he had dinner under control for the time being, Liam grabbed a beer from the fridge. Bottle in hand, he headed down the hallway towards his bedroom, stripping his shirt as he went. The cool evening air hit his sweat-covered chest and caused his nipples to harden. He thought about lighting a fire to warm the place but decided to leave it until after he had checked his e-mails.
Even with the weather being cool during the day they were still doing hot sweaty work. Feeling better when the dirty material had been removed from his skin Liam threw the dirty clothes in his washing basket. He walked over to the small desk he'd set up in the corner of his room with his laptop.
Booting up the computer, Liam settled back and took a long swig of his ice cold beer. A wolf shifter's body always ran a little hotter than a human's and the cold beverage felt wonderful going down after a hard day at work. So much so that he didn't mind waiting for the computer to load all the start-up programs.
Declan felt confident he had managed to out-run the two Betas chasing him, so hopefully no one from his old pack knew of his whereabouts. He needed to contact his brother and let him know he was okay and it might be a while before he could return. Honestly, he had to admit to being a little worried about Tommy. Declan really hoped Alpha Wallis would leave his brother alone. Surely the man had to realise Declan couldn't have told his brother about what he had witnessed.
Once he'd finally made it to the town of Atherton, Declan had no idea what he should do next. Breathing deeply, the most amazing scent he'd ever smelled filled his nose and lungs, even better than fresh-baked bread or cinnamon rolls just out of the oven. His stomach rumbled violently at the thought of food. The faint smell drifted on the breeze, barely there at all, but something about it registered deep down inside Declan.
Deciding to follow his nose and see where it would lead him, Declan took off in the direction the scent originated. By the time he reached the house the aroma seemed strongest at, the waning sun had set and the temperature that had been cool to begin with dropped even lower.
Looking around to make sure no one was watching the trees behind the houses, Declan shifted, shivering as the cold night air hit the sweat currently beading on his body.