I cringed, feeling every injury burn ferociously as I struggled upright. Callum had Changed me, bringing me to the brink so that I could be reborn as a Were. My inner wolf prowled the recesses of my mind, checking on the pack members even as I felt the least serious of my wounds already healing, fading from sight. How long had it been? Callum was definitely not around, but my main priority now was getting home before anyone knew I was missing. Everything could be explained in the morning.

Above, a faint glow tinged the horizon—dawn was fast approaching. Sighing, I flopped back down. I wouldn't make it back before people noticed, wouldn't get back to Maddy and Ali and Lake before they noted my absence. The Weres might already have discovered that I was missing. I felt each and every member of my pack—but not Eric, or Chase, or Jed. We'd lost all three in dealings with Shay—and Devon as well. My best friend had gone on to kill his brother and become alpha of the Snake Bend pack, but his absence was felt just as much as Chase's. Perhaps more.

No one was feeling particularly worried, though. Not yet. I had distracted my mind long enough, and now the wounds Callum had inflicted were throbbing loud and clear. My body would ache in either form, wolf or human—no point in Shifting. Still, I had a desire to Shift, to experience the world through the eyes of a wolf.

Bones cracked and groaned dangerously as I Shifted. Each injury seemed to increase tenfold as my body was put under the maximum amount of pressure allowable, but then it all went away. Oh, my injuries still hurt, but the main thing for me—for my wolf—now was getting back to the others, protecting them, leading them. Pack was everything to a Were, and for me the necessity of being with the pack was probably much bigger. I was their alpha, after all.

Ignoring Ali's idling truck, I stretched out my muscles experimentally. The need to take care of Cedar Ridge was exponentially increasing every second I spent away from them—the pack was more than everything to an alpha. It was their entire life, everything they hoped and dreamed for. Most Weres longed to be close to their alpha, and now I was finding out the reverse was true as well.

Taking in shaky breaths—I had never really expected this, no matter how much I wanted it to happen—I padded away from the border. It smelled far to strongly of Callum and Stone River, and my senses were telling me to bow my head to a much more dominant alpha and fight for everything I've got. Everything seemed so much more… powerful now that I was a true Were. The urge to stay alpha, the feeling that there only should ever be one leader; it was all increased. Every sense was heightened—even when I was still in human form, I had noticed little things I'd never noticed before.

Lengthening my stride into a jog, and then to a run, I headed for home. Where my pack lay, where my destiny lay. Ali's truck could be picked up later—all that mattered now was getting to my pack.