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Though these thoughts just made his heart break for Alison. Because by binding her soul, the High Lord also bound the soul of her wolf, the other half of her. And now she was without the very thing that made her who she was.
He couldn’t begin to imagine how horrible that must be, how devastating.
He needed to find her.
Adjusting the straps on his rucksack, Dax prepared to shift. As soon as he was certain he was out of sight of inquisitive eyes, he called to his wolf, which leapt to the surface with ease. He’d done this a thousand times, changing from human to wolf was as natural to him as breathing. Nevertheless as the change began, he still felt his stomach do an awkward flip flop; nerves were something you could never get rid of.
Especially now that he was making the change with a rucksack on his shoulders. Generally if you change with any items of clothing on, they get ripped to shreds as your body bends and breaks but Dax had trained himself over and over again. He’d just about got it down.
Dax took a deep breath as the heat at the very center of him thundered its way through his flesh, wrapping around him, shielding him from the worst of the pain. He dropped to his knees, bracing his hands against the cold ground and let his wolf take over. The heat tingled its way to the very tips of his fingers; a shudder ran through him as he felt the change begin to take place.
His body began to bow and stretch, his bones bending and reshaping, and his skin expanded as they did so, giving his muscles space to break down and reform. It was mighty painful. Maker only knew how their race had adapted to survive bones and flesh breaking and reshaping as they did. But hell, healing came naturally fast to them. Finally his face began to cave in on itself, the bone reknitting and forming a muzzle as his spine lengthened, shooting out to form a tail.
After a short while his skin began to itch as fur grew out of it. It felt like hundreds of tiny needles rippling out in waves, from the top of his head to the tip of his tail.
It usually only took seconds for his body to shift into wolf form, but this time it took a little longer. Dax had to concentrate on keeping his body in the same position, careful not to rip the straps of his rucksack in the process.
When the change took place, Dax knew he was supposed to keep his mind clear of anything but his wolf. He wasn’t entirely sure why, though he was sure he didn’t want to find out. He had trained himself to keep his mind’s eye on his wolf, yet be completely aware of his body’s position. Dax needed to be sure he shifted properly and didn’t break the rucksack or his shoulders during the change.
Eventually it was over. Dax stood on his hind legs and stretched, his neck cracking a little as he did so.
He quickly checked himself over as best he could, all four paws, tail and ears, all in working order. His black fur shone under the moonlight, but otherwise he would be more or less invisible in this darkness.
Dax was a rare wolf; he was completely black, nose to tail. Most had several colours lining their fur.
The rucksack was thankfully still in place on his back, the straps still around his front paws and the clip across his chest had held strong.
He had the fleeting thought that it would be a little funny should a human spot him – a giant black wolf wearing a backpack.
He might even make front-page news!
He snorted at the thought and pressed onwards. His paws were padded, and made little sound as he trotted through the wooded area of the Warren. He strained his ears against the night, listening out for any indication of life.
He could hear the waves crashing against the stones about half a mile in front of him; there was something small scurrying across the grass a little further up.
He paused, inhaling deeply, picking past the scents of the woodland, the trees, and the frost until he found the distinct scent of life, in all its smelly glory.
It was a mouse, of course. Bit late in the year for a mouse to be out and not hibernating, he thought absently, padding slowly forward.
Once he was sure he was the only threat in the woodland, Dax broke into an all-out run. He was much faster on four paws than he would have been on two feet and he managed to race the distance to the beach in a matter of seconds. The salty air became much thicker, making it difficult to smell much else.
Not that it mattered. Alison’s scent would be long gone by now.
The crashing of the waves intensified. They were almost deafening to his sensitive hearing, but it didn’t matter to him. He bolted along the stones of the beach, avoiding the spray of the waves as best he could and finally began to slow about a mile along the shore. He glanced up at the cliffs lining the seafront. His keen sight picked though the jagged rock and chalk until he found the discreet opening to a cave. He knew it was there; he’d been there a hundred times over the last three weeks. It was the last place Alison had been before they lost track of her GPS chip. Anger roared its way to the surface at the thought of that female, lost and alone in the hands of those bastards.
He climbed the side of the cliff with ease, the sharp rock doing little to damage the surfaces of his paws. As he reached the mouth of the cave, he jumped into it and listened intently. Nothing. There had been nothing here since Alison had been taken weeks ago.
Dax walked over to the heavy wooden door that stood at the back of the cave. It led to the sewer tunnels that ran the length of Folkestone.
Not many people would know about this secret entrance – although the damn Circle had.
Dax bit back a curse as he checked the security system he’d installed when they’d first found the cave. It was little more than a screen with two buttons, on and off. He nudged the ‘on’ button with his nose and placed a paw against the screen. The little scanner did a sweep of his paw and the word ‘accepted’ flashed up. Dax couldn’t help but be a little proud of his foresight. He’d programmed the security to accept both his human fingerprint and his wolf’s paw.
The loading screen on the tiny monitor finally gave way to the security system footage from the last two days; there hadn’t been a breach anywhere in this section of the tunnels. Crap.
Dax had set infrared lasers across the tunnels that spread throughout Folkestone and the cliffs. Anyone who entered wouldn’t know they were there but Dax would. Mind you, had he really expected the Circle to go back to the scene of the crime? No. Probably not.
He pawed his way back over to the opening to the cave; from up here he could see most of the coastline. On a clear day you could likely see France.
The light of the moon bounced off the surface of the waves, making them sparkle.
His mind was ablaze with questions, none of which he could answer.
Exhaustion swept over him. He hadn’t slept a wink since Alison was taken. Sure, he’d had a five minute nap here and there but he hadn’t actually let sleep take him. He was getting to the point of delusion, unable to concentrate for long and the smallest of things seemed to take it out of him.
He was a wolf, and a strong one at that. Yet the short trip from the car to the cave had his limbs aching to the point of giving up and his heart racing.
He closed his eyes, and heaved a great breath. Maybe Julian was right. Maybe he should look after himself a little more.
But how could he when Alison was out there?
As darkness swept over him, the sound of the crashing waves died. The salty air caressing his nostrils disappeared and nothingness took over. Dax let his mind go, the unanswered questions disappearing for just a moment as he gave in to silence. It was peaceful.
“Dax?” a small voice squeaked. It sounded a hell of a lot like Alison. It was probably his mind playing tricks on him.
Even so, he held onto the sound of her voice, memorising it.
“Dax?” Her voice rang out a little louder. He bolted upright, his head spinning.
He scanned the area, eyes desperately searching for her. Stony beach, waves, jagged rocky path up to the opening of the cave. No beautiful blonde female.
“Alison?” he whispered, looking around the cave itself. He’d obviously shifted back into human form in his sleep; he sat on the rock, naked and baring all to the world. Yet the rock wasn’t cold against his skin. In fact everything seemed to be exactly the perfect temperature. Not hot. Not cold.
The cave looked different; hell, the beach looked different.
It was still night but everything was covered in a faint mist. The world had lost all its colour. The sea, the rock, the stones on the beach, they were all just different shades of grey.
It could be a trick of the brain; it was the middle of the night after all.
But Dax wasn’t so sure. He’d seen this before in his dreams. In fact, this grey world was something he saw frequently when he slept. He would go to sleep and almost instantly wake up again, in the world he knew but everything was different. Grey-tinted and empty. It was almost as if he’d stepped onto another plane of existence.
When he was a pup his mother had talked of astral travel. His mother had always said she had the ability to walk ‘the grey planes’, the realm of the afterlife, where souls went before they moved on. But he’d always assumed he couldn’t go there, that his short trips to this world were obviously just dreams. Something he had convinced himself of since he was a little boy.
“Dax?” Alison’s voice brought him back to reality.
“Alison? Where are you?” he said, scanning the beach, the edge of the rocky cliff once again.
“Behind you.” Her voice whispered through his mind, and he spun around making his stomach roll.
There she was, in all her glory.
Her long blonde hair looked grey, but still just as beautiful, cascading down over her pale thin shoulders. He frowned as he noticed that she’d swept the length of it over her neck as if she was cold. Alison’s eyes locked onto his. Though they were now just another shade of grey, he knew they truly were a beautiful blue.
“What’s happening?” she whispered, hugging her bare knees closer to her chest. She too was completely naked, and trying desperately to cover herself.
“I don’t know,” Dax admitted, frantically searching for something to cover her with and coming up empty.
“Is this a dream?” she said. He could see the tears that were threatening to spill sparkling in the moonlight. To hell with this, he thought, standing up and walking towards her, covering his manhood and keeping his back away from her line of sight. His body was not a pleasant thing. He crouched next to her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and pulling her into him.
“Whatever it is, I’m so damn glad you’re here,” he whispered into her ear as she leant into him.
For a while they just sat there, dazed. Dax was pretty sure this was a dream. In real life, he wouldn’t dare get this close to Alison.
In real life, she wouldn’t let him touch her. He wouldn’t even try.
Either way he was absolutely lost for words. He’d known this female for almost all of her life, since she was just a young pup! He’d begun working for Julian many years ago and had watched Alison grow into the beautiful female she was now.
He’d always been there on the side-lines. Looking out for her.
But now? He was holding her in his arms and he felt like an absolute idiot.
Lost for words.
“I was thinking about you,” she murmured, shifting her head to look up at him.
“What?” he grunted, cursing himself internally.
“I–I was trying to sleep. It’s so cold where they’re keeping me. I was thinking of home. I thought of you…and then I was here.”
Yeah. He must be dreaming. Maybe he wanted to find her so badly his subconscious decided to create a dream in which he could see her.
“Where are they keeping you?” he whispered. It was unlikely that this was going to help, but hey, he might as well ask.
“I don’t know,” she choked. Figures.
“It’s OK, baby girl. We will find you,” he soothed, stroking her hair.
“Why are you on a cliff?” she asked after a while, which struck him as odd. If his mind was creating a dream, his imagination’s version of Alison would know why he was here, surely?
“Because this is the last place your GPS chip showed up on the map.”
“That makes sense.” She sat up a little straighter, although she was still desperately trying to keep her body hidden from him. “When they took me, they blindfolded me. I couldn’t see anything. But I could hear the sea for a while.”
Dax turned around, holding her at arm’s length. Scanning her face, he noticed a thin scar that wound its way around her throat. That hadn’t been there before.
Surely his mind would generate an image of Alison exactly as he’d known her?
“Where did you get this?” he asked, gently brushing a thumb over the mark.
“They –” She hastily wrapped her arms around herself, hiding her body from him and cleared her throat. “They bound me with silver. It burned.” Only then did he notice the thick scars across her arms and wrists. Deep gouges where skin was missing. He carefully moved his gaze to her face and kept it there. She obviously didn’t want him to look at her injuries.
“Alison,” he said sternly, regretting the sharpness in his voice as soon as he’d spoken. She flinched at his words, snapping her gaze up to meet his face.
“Tell me what happened when they took you,” he said more softly, wrapping his arms around her, letting her lean against him.
“I was walking in the woods,” she said, fidgeting with her hair. “There were two tuhrned hiding, following me. They told me –” She swiped a stray tear from her face.
“It’s OK,” Dax whispered, “take your time.”
It broke his heart to see her like this.
“They told me the new High Lord wanted to meet me. They said that because they’d bound my soul –” She cleared her throat, visibly trying to pull herself together. “They said that they could find me anywhere. Because it was their magic that bound me.”
“What happened next?” Dax asked, a sense of urgency washing through him.
“They tied my arms and legs together and put a bag over my head,” she squeaked. “They put me in a car and drove for a while. I don’t know where to, but it wasn’t far. I could hear the sea when they took me out of the car. They carried me somewhere. It felt like they were struggling to walk. It was cold and smelled like the beach. I could hear the waves crashing as though they were next to me. I don’t know what the Circle put me in, but it was wet and horrible. It felt like we were floating. As soon as they’d dragged me inside…” She faltered. “I don’t know what or where. The sound of the waves stopped. It was so abrupt… it confused me.”
“It’s OK, baby girl, I’ve got you.” Dax hissed, struggling to make his voice sound even and tightening his grip around her.
“I was inside a room of some description that didn’t feel like it was moving. It was really quiet,” she told him. “Eventually they moved me to somewhere that smelled like a sewer. It was horrible. I could hear water lapping slowly against the walls but I didn’t know where or why. Finally, they took the bindings off and removed the hood. They locked me in a cell that smells horrible; it’s damp and cold. I have a bed and a blanket but little else.”
“It’s OK, Alison. I’ll find you.” Dax soothed her, stroking her hair, trying to chase away the tears that were freely falling now.
“DAX.” A voice reverberated through his mind. It was a male voice.
“Did you hear that?” he hissed at Alison.
“Hear what?” She looked at him confused. “What’s happening to you?” she squeaked, eyes wide. He glanced down at his own arm, which was rapidly fading; his formally thick and human looking skin began to grow transparent. He could see the rock beneath him through his own damn flesh.
“DAX. WAKE UP.” The voice bounced though his mind, making him wince. Crap, someone was trying to wake him up. He was going to leave this weird dream.
“Alison,” he said, urgency wrapping its way around him. “I’m going to have to go.”
“Please don’t leave me!” She choked, gripping his arm for dear life.
“I’m sorry, baby girl, I don’t have a choice.”
“Please!” she whispered frantically.
“Alison, listen to me.” He gripped her hands in his. He didn’t have much time left. “You need to break out of that cell.”
“I can’t,” she moaned.
“You can,” he said, maybe more harshly than was necessary. “You need to get out of there and get above ground. We can’t find your GPS chip all the time you’re underground. You have to get somewhere where the satellite can pick it up.”
“But how –”she whispered, but he barely heard it. He was fading away. The image of her was little more than a shadowed blur.
“You can do it, Alison. You have to,” he shouted at her. “Be strong.”
