The Wild Moon by Riley Storm

Chapter Thirty-Five

Something was wrong.

I woke up with a start, looking around frantically, trying to still my thundering heart.

The tent was empty, but from outside, I could hear voices. Light was in the air. Morning had come. I listened for a moment longer, picking out the individual voices of the team members, including Aaron. Nothing seemed amiss. Everyone was calm and going about their morning routines.

Sliding out of the sleeping bag–Aaron had provided me my own one of those at least–I quickly dressed, pulling on black hiking pants and a dark blue top that was lightweight but thick enough to stop bugs. It was form-fitting, and I got a few glances from the team members when I emerged, but that was all. They were professionals.

“What is it?” Aaron asked from his crouch by the fire, the first to pick up on my changed mood.

“I’m not sure,” I said, taking deep breaths, trying to calm myself. I needed the thundering in my ears to stop so that I could focus.

Aaron rose to his feet in an easy, fluid movement and walked over to me. His presence was once again like an icy blanket, helping numb my Soulbond, dulling the incessant pull.

I looked at him as the thundering in my ears dulled ever so slightly. Could he know the effect he had on me?

“What is it?” he asked, looking out at the sea of trees surrounding our little campsite. “Did you hear something?”

“No,” I said. “I don’t think so. Just…woke up sharply. Something felt off.”

Aaron stayed nearby for a few moments longer, but when nothing happened, he gestured back at the fire, pulling me over. “Breakfast is ready,” he said, indicating a pot of coffee and some sausage and biscuits that Pieter had put together.

I let him pull me over, ignoring the thrill from his fingers around my arm. Whatever I had sensed when I woke, it was gone. For now.

Snapping up a plateful of food in seconds, I followed it with a cup of bitter black coffee. I hated it that way, but it was better than nothing. Grateful, I thanked Pieter with a nod. While I ate, I continued to look around, trying to figure out what had woken me.

Shortly after breakfast, we forded the river, having walked half an hour to find a suitable spot to cross. We only had to wade through water up to our waists while pulling on a rope that Alexi had secured behind us to keep us in place. It was tricky, the current was strong like Aaron had said, but we made it across without issue. Alexi left the rope behind, tying the loose end to a trunk to provide easy crossing on our return.

I waited for us to proceed, but we just stood around.

“What?” I asked, noticing that most of the team was either staring at me or flicking glances in my direction.

I looked down. My nips were popping out of my shirt thanks to the cold water, but that couldn’t be helped, and I really didn’t think these men were so immature that they couldn’t handle that.

“Why are you all looking at me?”

“They’re waiting for you to tell them which way to go,” Aaron said. “There are no established places to go on this side of the river. It’s all uncharted.”

“Oh. Right.”

I pondered that question. We were now on the north side of the river, all of which was unexplored territory. We could go any direction. All I had to do was point.

“Let’s followed the river for a bit,” I said, struck by sudden inspiration. “Keeping northward.”

Many ancient cities and civilizations built near rivers. There was a good chance that if we walked the riverbanks, we might come across something.

Aaron nodded, and once more, Alexi lead the way. I fell in step behind him, Aaron at my side, while the others filtered out behind us, with Fred bringing up the rear. I glanced back at him, watching the way he looked behind as much as in front. Was he ex-military, perhaps? I doubted I’d ever get a straight answer from him.

We walked for hours. Twice we came across rocky outcroppings that forced us to move into the forest to get around them before we could continue. We didn’t find anything. With each passing hour, I grew more frustrated, more anxious. Where was it? It had to be out here somewhere. My father wouldn’t have led me out here otherwise.

“This is pointless, isn’t it?” I asked, trying to keep my voice down so the others wouldn’t hear. “There’s nothing out here. I made a bad decision bringing us here.”

Aaron shrugged and signaled for the team to come to a halt. He looked at me. “What’s going on?”

I shied away from the question. “We’re not finding anything. This is a wild goose chase. We came out here for nothing.”

With a flick of his wrist, Aaron sent the rest of the team on ahead, leaving us alone.

“What is it?” he asked more sharply. “What aren’t you telling me?”

I grimaced, unable to stop my eyes from flicking behind us. How did he know, dammit? Aaron was far too perceptible for my liking. I’d been doing my best to ignore it, but as the day wore on, it had been getting harder. Even with Aaron so close by. I was getting distracted because I could feel Johnathan. He was close by and getting nearer by the hour.

“Do you want to take the lead?” I asked. “If you have any suggestions, now’s a good time to let me know. Because I don’t know if I have any.”

“Treasure hunting can be a tedious and boring thing,” Aaron explained. “This is one of the things I meant when I said these are dangerous lands. It’s easy to get lost but also to get dejected. This valley is hundreds of square miles in size. You could hide dozens of old abandoned cities in here and still walk through without ever seeing signs of one. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

“Thanks,” I said, his little pep talk helping to reinvigorate me. He was right. I’d thought it would be easy, simply waltz in, cross the river, and bam, Shuldar would be waiting. Of course, it wasn’t going to be that easy. My father had spent years looking. I wasn’t going to find it in one morning.

“This is why they pay me the big bucks,” Aaron said with a grin. “For my way with words.”

I rolled my eyes. “We should keep going.”

“Which direction?” Aaron asked.

“Hmmm.” I paused to think, but I couldn’t come up with anything. My senses were being played with.

Behind me was Johnathan, and my Soulbond reached out to him. It called me, guiding me back the way we had come. Part of me wanted to go that way. But underneath that, far more subtle, was the call of the valley. Something had brought me here, had encouraged me to seek it out, against all logic and reason.

Why? What?

I reached into my mind, shoving my way past the golden warmth of the pulsing Soulbond and to the cool power of my wolf. Whereas the Soulbond was linking me to Johnathan, my wolf was me, a part of me. It was a deeper, stronger bond than anything external could ever be. We were one, and I called upon her to guide me, to show me the way.

Where do we go? Help me…

I let my wolf in, more than I had on any night except for during the Wild Moons, where she took charge. Where would she go if she were free and without the Soulbond?

North.

My feet turned on their own. Away from the edge of the river. Deeper into the forest. Into the unknown.

“That way,” I whispered, lifting a finger and pointing. “We go that way.”

Johnathan followed my finger.

“Looks good to me,” he said, whistling to his team, which had stopped far enough ahead to still be in sight but not able to listen. Then, he pointed.

We headed off again, and I hoped like hell I wasn’t going crazy, that we actually would find something out there.

I followed, growing more uneasy with every step.