Chapter 32
Clouds hid the sun’sprogress toward falling out of sight, but it had to be an hour or so before dark.
A long day of tracking, but Adrian’s wolf, Red, had loped along steadily.
They had to be faster than Krol and his horse-driven wagon. With a little luck, they’d reach Krol before he got to Košice in the eastern third of Slovakia.
How were Bosse and Alifair faring on their travels?
Again, he questioned leaving them alone for the hundredth time and hoped he did not live to regret that decision.
Red’s rough voice broke into Adrian’s thoughts.Bosse fights to survive, but he did not injure the pack members in human form.
Adrian appreciated having Red share his opinion these days. They’d gone through so much after surviving a brutal imprisonment and too many days when neither would speak to the other.
He would never take hearing Red’s voice for granted again.
Replying telepathically, Adrian admitted,I saw that as well. I don’t doubt Bosse’s ability, only that he seems not to think he should have us watching his back.
Pausing to lift his snout and catch scents floating on the wind, Red continued. Evidently, nothing to worry about. Red said,He has lived a long time while many other shifters died. He will not allow anyone to harm his woman.
Bosse’s woman? That surprised Adrian.Are you saying they are more than friends? They were barely speaking to each other when they left.
Sometimes, you and your mate do not talk when angry.
Adrian hated any time he and Jaz were on opposite sides of an issue. The good news was they knew each other well and quickly resolved any conflict. After taking a moment to consider Red’s observation, Adrian asked,Do you think she and Bosse are mated?
Not both of them.
What the hell could that mean?
Red leaped over a downed tree and continued deftly through the woods with Justin’s grizzly bear keeping pace in a lumbering trot on the opposite side of a highway they shadowed. Both animals had taken turns splitting off the main trail to track Krol’s lion scent several times before dismissing it entirely. Bosse had warned them how Krol would try to throw them off his trail with tricks.
Adrian had learned not to push Red to explain more than he wished to share. Red often studied a situation thoroughly before commenting. He’d hold his wolf’s comments for when the time came for them to matter.
Justin spoke to him telepathically, which all the Gallize shifters could do in animal form.We should be getting close to Košice soon. I’m moving away from the road to see if I can find a higher vantage point than we have down here.
Sounds good. After choosing a more direct route across the country in hopes of catching up to Krol, they’d each covered different sides of a dirt road to their destination after paralleling paved two-lane roads headed east all day. Now, they had to locate Opátka, a small village short of reaching Košice. At this point, they had no idea if Krol was truly going to Opátka or if he’d lied to his men since they were human guards unable to detect a lie.
Adrian’s wolf picked up speed, moving through the dense forest with an uncanny ability to dodge or leap over any obstacle without straying from the straightest path. As he moved closer to their destination, houses began to appear sporadically. Both Red and Justin’s bear had noticed the sounds and noxious fumes of cars earlier while traveling near the paved roads leading to Košice, but neither had picked up the smell of horses.
Had Krol taken a different route or switched his gypsy wagon and horse for a faster modern vehicle once he was far enough away from the castle? That didn’t sound like him based on what Bosse had shared.
Or did he have a way to hide the scent of horses?
