Authors: Natalie Shaw
Part 6 – CRAVEN (2005)
It had been a stupid mistake. He'd allowed the pangs of hunger to cloud his judgement. There were certain golden rules to surviving as a lone wolf, and he'd just broken rule number one:.
Don't approach a new territory near to a busy border crossing.
He'd normally scope out a new territory for a couple of days in order to figure out the quietest sections of the border. That practice had held him in good stead throughout his travels. Today, hunger had made him impatient. He hadn't stopped to consider how close he was to the main border check point. That was why he now had four elite border guards hot on his tail.
Craven hadn't had a full meal for almost three days, so his energy reserves were low. His pursuers were gaining ground on him. The longer he ran, the less energy he'd have when he inevitably had to stand and fight. In the end it was a simple choice: stop now, and take his chances or keep running until he fell exhausted to the ground.
The guards were almost upon him. At least he'd have the element of surprise—they wouldn't be expecting him to stop and face them. As soon as the lead wolf appeared, Craven launched himself at it. His paw connected with the wolf's jaw—sending the wolf reeling towards a tree stump. The next two wolves attacked. He managed to parry one with his front paw, but the other sank its teeth into his shoulder. Craven yelped in pain, but managed to roll over onto his side—dislodging the wolf. The last of the four wolves charged Craven head-on. Craven waited, and at the last second, side-stepped it, and then leapt onto its back. Before the wolf could react, Craven had buried his teeth into its jugular. The wolf began to bleed out before it hit the ground. A searing pain shot through Craven's rear leg, and he looked back to see one of the wolves had his jaw clamped hard on it. Finding a strength which belied his exhausted state, Craven kicked his back limb with such force it sent the wolf spiralling into a bush.
The battle lasted almost fifteen minutes in total. Against all the odds, Craven managed to pick off each wolf in turn. When the remaining one had drawn its last breath, Craven hobbled away. It was victory, but at a terrible price. He had deep bite wounds to both of his back legs, his shoulder, and the side of his face. Huge areas of his body had been shredded by razor sharp claws. The ground was soaked with blood—much of it his. Craven knew he had to get away because others would come to look for the border guards eventually. He dragged himself towards the edge of a grassy bank, at the bottom of which was a small stream. With what little energy he still had left, he threw himself over the edge. Already unconscious, he rolled down the bank—crashing through brushes—colliding with small rocks—until he came to rest at the edge of the stream. The water soon ran red from his wounds.
Craven hadn't expected to wake. When he did, he had no idea how long he'd been out. Pain engulfed his whole body. His breathing was shallow as he managed to lap a few drops of water. The stream was shallow and ice cold. When he tried to stand, he couldn't—he simply didn't have the strength. His eyes focussed on a tree which overhung the stream. On one of its branches a small bird was singing. His thoughts went to Louise. He'd let her down so very badly. First, he'd allowed her to be taken, and now he'd failed in his quest to find her. Was she even alive? He was no longer sure.
“I'm sorry, Louise” he said, but the words were barely audible.
The bird paused as though waiting for a reply. It too was searching for its mate. Craven closed his eyes. The darkness was comforting.
*********
“Can you—?”
The words echoed around his head. Why wouldn't they let him sleep? He was so tired.
“You have to—”
The pain returned. What kind of hell was this? He just wanted to let go.
“Shift. You have to shift.” It was a female's voice.
Craven opened one eye.
“I can't help you unless you shift.”
He tried to focus on her words.
“Can you hear me?”
A figure appeared in front of him—a female shifter in her human form. Craven tried to raise his head, but the effort was too much.
“You have to shift. I can't get you out of here while you're in wolf form. I need you to shift.”
“I can't. Leave me.”
“Yes you can.” She poked his stomach with her foot. The pain cut through him like a knife. “Sorry, didn't mean to hurt you, but you have to shift right now or you're going to die.”
Why wouldn't she leave him alone, so he could go back to the comfort of the darkness? Louise was waiting for him there.
She poked his stomach again.
“You have to shift!” she yelled at him.
He wasn't sure he could. Wasn't sure he had the strength.
“Quick! Before you bleed to death!”
Her words tore through his head.
He closed his eyes and tried to focus on shifting. He couldn't do it. He just couldn't.
She prodded his stomach again.
Why was she doing this? Why didn't she leave him to die? His anger seemed to focus what little strength he still had left. The pain seared through every nerve and fibre of his body as he slowly transformed into human form.
“Good. Now I need you to stand.”
He reached out to take her outstretched hand. The pain wasn't quite as intense—the shift had taken away the worst of it.
On his feet now, his head was still swimming.
“Can you walk?” she said.
“I'll try.”
She put his arm over her shoulder, and began to lead him slowly along the side of the stream. Twice, he slipped from consciousness, and fell to the ground. Twice, she shook him back awake. Their progress was glacially slow, and after what felt like an eternity, they arrived at the mouth of a small cave.
“In here.” She led him inside where he collapsed onto the ground in front of a fire.
Then he slept.
Chapter 17
Craven could hear rain. When he opened his eyes, the pain in his head was excruciating. His mouth was dry—so dry he could barely move his tongue. Where was he? He pulled himself up into a sitting position.
The cave was dark—illuminated by only a small fire in the centre of the floor. Above his head, smoke spiralled up a long funnel. Opposite him was a table which had been constructed from branches and rope. Under the table was a metal bucket.
“Are you awake for good this time?” a female voice said.
She was standing in the mouth of the cave—her hair and clothes wet from the rain.
“Where am I?”
“In no man's land. How do you feel?”
“Like I died and went to hell.”
She walked over to the table, picked up the bucket, and offered it to Craven. Before she could hand him the ladle, he'd already lifted the bucket to his lips.
“Steady on. You'll make yourself sick.”
He didn't care. He was so very thirsty.
“Looks like I'll have to fill that again,” she said.
“Sorry.”
“Don't worry about it. There's no shortage of water.” She pointed to the rain which was still cascading down.
“How long have I been here?”
“Six days. I wasn't sure you were going to make it at first.”
“You brought me here?”
“I helped you to walk. Don't you remember?”
“Not really. I remember a bird singing.”
“You were in pretty bad shape when I found you. Can you remember what happened? ”
Craven could remember everything up to the point where he'd fallen down the bank.
“I think I upset a few of the border guards.”
“Judging by the state you were in when I found you, I'd say you must have really pissed them off.”
“I guess so. It was my own fault. I was careless.”
“Stupid more like. This is one of the easiest territories to get in and out of. How did you manage to screw it up?”
He shrugged. “What's your name?”
“Coral.”
“I'm Craven.”
“I hope those are okay.” She pointed to the clothes he was wearing. A grey/white tee-shirt and a pair of black shorts. “They were the best I could steal at short notice. I had to guess your size.”
“They're fine, thanks.”
“Where are you from?” she asked.
“A long way from here.”
“Don't you belong to a pack?”
“I used to, but that was a long time ago. What about you?”
“I'm a loner too. Have been for close to six years.”
“How come?”
“Long story. Too boring to tell.”
“How have you survived?” He hesitated. “I mean—”
“As a lone female? Is that what you're trying to say?”
“No. Well, yes I suppose so. I know how difficult it can be.”
“Judging by the state of you, I'd say I'm doing a better job of it than you are.”
“Touché.” Craven managed a weak smile. “How long have you lived here?”
“Almost six months. We're in Lawler territory. Or at least we're right on the edge of it.” She pointed to the cave's mouth. “Two miles that way is the sea. There's no need for border guards in this area. The nearest ones are a few miles north.”
“I think I've already met them.”
“Hardly anyone comes into this area. You're the first shifter I've seen for over a month. A few humans visit the coast, but they never venture down here.”
“Sounds like you've found yourself a good spot.”
“Best I've had so far. I don't plan on moving any time soon. What about you? How long have you been out on your own?”
“Thirty years.”
“Thirty? I thought I'd been out on a limb for a long time. How the hell have you survived if you make mistakes like the one you made the other day?”
“I'm not usually that dumb. I've been in a few scrapes before, but nothing I couldn't handle. I got hungry and stupid. It won't happen again.”
“Why don't you have a pack?”
“It's a long story.”
“Does it involve a female?”
“How did you know?”
“It usually does. I want all the details.”
“I don't really want—”
“You owe me. I dragged your near-dead arse out of the water. I never get a chance to talk to anyone, so I reckon I've earned the right to hear a good love story.”
Craven owed the woman his life. The least he could do was to tell his tale.
“Incredible,” she said once he'd finished. “So you were Alpha?”
“A long time ago.”
“And you gave it up for Louise?”
“She's my fated mate.”
“How romantic. Do you still believe she's alive?”
“I don't know. My heart says yes, but my head says no. I promised myself I wouldn't give up until I found her or I was sure she was dead.”
“Or got yourself killed.”
“Yeah – that was the other option.”
“How are you feeling now?”
“Not great, but at least my wounds have almost healed.”
“I've been bathing them, and treating them with herbs over the last few days,” Coral said. “There's no infection as far as I can tell, so you should be good to go in a week or so.”
“I have to leave today.”
“Over my dead body. Do you think I've gone to all of this trouble just to see you kill yourself by leaving before you've healed?”
“I have to.”
“You aren't going anywhere until I say you can. You might have been an Alpha once upon a time, but right now all I see is a dumb fuck. If Louise has been missing for thirty years, another few days isn't going to make any difference. Okay?”
It wasn't a question. Craven thought about objecting, but he knew she was right. “Okay.”
Ten minutes later, he drifted back to sleep.
*********
“I've told you my story,” Craven said. “How about you tell me yours?”
“There's nothing to tell.”
“You can't play that card. You aren't the only one who hasn't enjoyed a good conversation in years.”
Coral sighed. “I don't like to think about it. It's still painful.”
“It might help to tell someone.”
She could tell Craven wasn't going to let her off the hook.
“I have three brothers and a sister. I was always close to my sister, Delphine. My brothers, not so much so. I met Micah when I was nineteen. We hit it off straight away, and soon became mates. Delphine was jealous. She hated that I spent most of my time with Micah. She's two years older than me, and was always the prettiest. There was no reason why she shouldn't have found a mate. I even offered to help.”
Coral hesitated, and Craven could tell it was painful for her to relate the story.
“One day, I finished work early and called around to see Delphine. She and Micah were—.” Tears welled up in Coral's eyes.
“I'm sorry.” Craven put a hand on her arm.
“I couldn't believe either of them would betray me like that.”
“I still don't understand why you took up the life of a lone wolf. Surely you could have found another mate. A beautiful, fit, young female shouldn't have found that too difficult.”
She smiled at the compliment. “I didn't want to. I couldn't bear the thought of being hurt again. I decided I was better off alone. I don't ever want to be in a position where I have to trust someone else again.”
“That's very sad. If you feel like that, I'm surprised you didn't leave my sorry arse in the stream.”
“Yeah. Well maybe I should have. Look—now you've got me all upset.” She managed to smile through her tears.
“I'm sorry.”
“It's okay. I actually feel better for having talked about it.”
“Who do you blame?” Craven asked.
Coral looked puzzled by the question.
“Your sister or your mate?”
“I blame them both. Delphine and I'd been so close. Micah and I were in love—or at least I thought we were. But mainly I blame myself for being so stupid. ”
“Have you ever thought of going back to your pack?”
“I'll never go back there. Never.”