Autumn Rising (16 page)

He
turned his attention back to Blake and Tala. He couldn’t carry both of them. He’d struggle with either of them. Blake was bigger than him, and Tala’s shift made it hard to carry her. He could attempt to knock her out, as they’d initially planned, but then where did that leave Blake?

Tala wasn’t hurt in any way that wasn’t her own doing. Blake was hurt because of Tala. He hated making
the decision, but he had to make it, and he wouldn’t put anyone else’s lives in danger because of the stupid choices she had made.

He reached down and wrapped his hands beneath Blake’s arms. He braced his back and then pulled, hauling Blake off Tala.

She let out a groan and rolled to one side. Her chest lifted and fell with a labored breath. He couldn’t just leave her here in the open.

As he picked
up Tala, she came around fully, and let out a yell. “Get off me, Chogan! You’re hurting me.”

He clung to her harder.
“Shut up, Tala. Blake’s not far from dead and it’s your fault. Stop thinking about yourself for once.”

“I learned that from you.” She c
ried out as her shift continued, her neck snapping one way and then the next.

He carried her behind a
bush and set her down. “Stay here, and keep quiet. I have to get Blake to safety.”

Her eyes widened. “You’re leaving me?”

“I have no other choice. Blake will die if I leave him here, and I can’t carry you both.”

“I can walk!” B
ut even as she tried to get to her feet, both of her legs cracked, her bones reforming, sending her pitching forward.

The chopper grew
louder again, and, with it, his sensitive hearing picked up the thud of numerous feet tramping through the forest. The military were coming and it sounded like they’d brought backup.

He had no choice, and he didn’t have time to argue with her. “I’m sorry
, Tala. I’ll come back for you as soon as I can.”

“No, you son-of-a-
bitch! Don’t you leave me.” She tried to get up again, but another part of her body snapped. She lunged back to the ground with a grunt that was probably a mixture of fear, pain and anger. Chogan had never felt so bad in his life. He hated leaving her, his heart breaking for his cousin. But if he didn’t go now, Blake would almost certainly be dead, and as soon as the soldiers got close enough, they would finish off the job for them both.

“I’m sorry
,” he said again.

He turned his back on her and ran
back to Blake. A mass of blood smeared thick across the middle of Blake’s back. Could a bullet have hit his spine? Chogan knew all about the recommendations not to move people with spinal injuries, but what choice did he have?

“Sorry,
Cuz,” he said, but this time as an advanced apology for whatever damage he might be causing. He bent and caught Blake by the arms, lifting him up while he ducked down in order to get his shoulder under Blake’s massive chest, and start to lift him. Chogan was strong himself. Even though he was a slighter build than Blake, he was still lean with hard muscle. Plus he had his extra shifter strength to draw from.

Briefly, he focused in on his wolf. The
animal stood ahead of a line of men, all heading toward him. He didn’t have much time. Chogan managed to straighten to standing. Blake flopped over his shoulder, his arms hanging down. He was a dead weight
.

Dead,
Chogan worried.
Are you dead?
He prayed Blake was still alive, or all of this would be for nothing. The size of his cousin was worse than his body weight, the awkwardness of running with someone Blake’s size, but he forced his legs to move.

He pushed his legs forward, managing to run at a fast jog
across the clearing, leaving the fencing, and his other cousin, behind.

Chapter
Nineteen

CHOGAN’S STRE
NGTH QUICKLY waned as he ran with his cousin hefted over his shoulder. He moved in a strange, half-crouched style, his thighs locked as he took as long a stride as possible, his back bent. Blake’s weight was literally pressing him to the ground.

The military men hadn’t given up their search, and the sound of feet pounding the forest floor, bodies crashing through the undergrowth, grew closer
and closer. Even when he diverted his route, and thought he’d lost them for a while, they managed to track him again. He had no place to go, nowhere to hide out. He’d deliberately chosen the cabin for its isolation, and now that isolation was kicking him in the teeth. In his head, he tried to picture the exact location of roads in the local area, but he’d changed direction so many times, he couldn’t even be sure which direction he was heading.

“I won’t give up on you,
Cuz,” he muttered under his breath. “I won’t give up on you. I won’t give up on you.”

His body screamed in pain, but he kept going.
Just move one leg in front of the other.
Surely there would be a road soon? When he hit one, he was bound to come across a car soon enough. He’d stand in the middle of the road, and force the driver to stop, and then hijack the car. He felt bad for whoever might be driving the vehicle, but these were desperate times and they needed desperate measures.

But still, he ran, and still no road appeared.

Chogan broke through some more bushes and came to a sudden stop, his heart lurching. He’d stopped just in time, his momentum thankfully not carrying him forward, though if he’d been going any faster it would have. He staggered back. A rocky edge dropped down into a ravine below. The way was treacherous, with granite outcroppings and shrubs clinging to the side of the precipice. It was dark, and he couldn’t even see to the bottom, despite his shifter eyesight. He glanced back. Though he couldn’t see them, his wolf’s hearing could still pick up the sound of the men moving through the forest. The soldiers were still coming. It wasn’t worth him using his wolf guide to get their exact location. He’d only be wasting precious time and energy. He couldn’t turn back and he couldn’t go around. His only option was down. The ravine had an incline, not a total drop, though the slant was certainly steep. A track, possibly that of a large animal, meandered down the cliff face. Climbing down was possible, though made even harder because of Blake’s weight caused instability.

How strange to think that he, in the form of a wolf, was always the hunter. Yet now he found himself as the hunted.

Chogan quickly walked along the ridge of the drop, finding the least steep part of the track. Though still treacherous, he could at least stand a chance of walking down here without sliding the whole way to the bottom. He hefted Blake into a more stable position—as stable as a six foot something, two hundred and fifty pound man could ever be—and crouched to lower his center of gravity.

He began the descent, put
ting out one hand to steady himself along a particularly challenging part, using large embedded boulders and strong trees to help him down the route. He clutched his cousin as hard as he could with the one arm he had free.

The soldiers were gaining on him, he could hear them louder now. Had they reached the top of the ravine
? Had he put enough distance between them and himself to make them shooting him an impossibility? He risked glancing back. The top of the ridge was hidden from view by the overhanging boulders and trees. At least he could take comfort in the fact that if he couldn’t see them, they shouldn’t be able to see him.

Ground slid beneath his foot, and he skidded, leaving his stomach behind
. He gave a yell of alarm. His grip on Blake tightened, determined not to drop his cousin, and the skid came to a halt. His legs trembled from the exertion and adrenaline, but he was half way down now and he had no other choice than to keep going in the direction he was headed.

Movement came from above, rocks and dirt slipping down the cliff, gathering momentum until they created a mini landslide and rained down upon him. He ducked out of the way, but could do little about the sudden onslaught
, rocks smacking him painfully on the head and shoulders. The same rocks would also be hitting Blake, though the other man gave no indication that the blows hurt, or that he even noticed. He heard men yelling to one another. They had figured out he’d had no choice but to go this way. Soon enough, they’d follow, and though they didn’t have his shifter speed, eyesight in the dark, or strength, they also didn’t have the handicap of carrying an unconscious man over their shoulder.

His feet splashed in ice cold water
, and with relief he realized he’d reached the bottom. He had no intention of trying to run up the other side, but instead followed the small channel downstream, hoping the water wouldn’t get any deeper. More rocks and dirt rolled and clattered down the side of the ravine, caused, he assumed, by the men continuing their descent after him. If he didn’t keep going, he’d lose the small distance he had.

He’d been
running for miles, and the weight and size of Blake was taking its toll. His legs felt heavy, his calves threatening to cramp with every stride he took. His neck and arm muscles bulged under the strain, his lower back in agony.

The banks of the ravine began to level out, and he was able to head away from the river and into the forest again.
He was relieved to once again have the cover of the trees. He’d not heard anything from the soldiers in a while. Could he dare hope he’d lost them?

He was exhausted and in pain. Though he didn’t want to, he allowed his pace to slow, knowing he needed to if he was going to make it much farther. He wanted to collapse against a tree, and put Blake down, if only for a few minutes, to allow him to stretch his tortured muscles. But he feared if he put Blake down, he’d never manage to pick him back up again.

A bright, hot spear of agony shot through his lower back as his muscles went through an excruciating spasm. He pitched forward, losing his grip on Blake and throwing him to the ground as he did so. His cousin hit the forest floor with a heavy thud that made Chogan’s stomach turn. The pain in his back was blinding. He wasn’t even sure if he could move.

Chogan gave a yell of anguish and desperation. He could hear the soldiers again, though he had no idea how
near they were. His hearing was excellent due to his wolf-guide, but not such that he could hear miles and miles away. They must be close, and getting closer.

Clutching his lower back in pa
in, he crawled over to Blake. His cousin’s face was completely motionless, his chest still.

Chogan lowered his head
and stifled a sob of anguish.
Shit, no. Not Blake.

With a shaking hand
, he reached out and placed his fingers against Blake’s thick neck. His hands were numb from carrying his cousin for so long. Had he been carrying a dead body all along? Was anything there, the slightest beat? His own heart clenched in pain. No, he didn’t think so. He placed his cheek directly above Blake’s mouth, desperately hoping to feel the heat of his breath on his skin, but he couldn’t feel anything.

In the distance, the sound of approaching men grew louder.

He sat up and covered his face with his hands. He’d done everything he could. He didn’t have any strength left, and if he tried to carry Blake any farther, they would both die.

He shook his head. “I’m sorry,
Cuz. I’m so sorry for everything. I did everything I could.”

Running
as a man was no longer an option, he could barely walk. He needed to shift, and he couldn’t carry an unresponsive Blake. Their journey together had come to an end.

Chogan struggled with tears, heat burning the backs of his eyes, a hard lump in
his throat. First, he had left Tala, and now he’d lost Blake. Tala and Blake’s father, Lakota, would never forgive him. Lakota might only be Chogan’s uncle, but he had been like a father to him when his own deadbeat alcoholic dad had run out on him.

He’d let them all down.

Ignoring his screaming back, he lowered his face to his cousin’s and placed a soft, dry kiss on his forehead. “I’m sorry, Blake. I’m so, so sorry.”

There was nothing more he could do.

With tears in his eyes, he stood, ignoring the pain his whole body seemed to be in—he knew he’d be in worse pain as soon as his shift began—and willed his wolf to come to him.

Chogan braced as the wolf’s spirit rushed toward him through the ether. It hit him with full force, knocking him back, so he had to stagger to stay on his feet.
Instantly his senses sharpened, and right away he was able to determine the exact distance of the men on his tail. Less than two miles, and there were at least twenty of them. He could even smell the acrid tang of gunpowder on their clothes, the cigarette a couple of them had shared not long before the attack.

The pain he’d been in moments before quickly became like comparing a pinprick to a shark bite as his body began to rearrange itself into another form. E
very bone in his body shattered and reformed at once. Fur made his previously smooth, nut-brown skin plush. His nose and mouth elongated to form a muzzle. His mouth suddenly full of sharp, deadly teeth.

Chogan shook his fur out, releasing the new muscles
that no longer hurt as his human muscles had. He paused and looked back at his motionless cousin.
Dead, he’s dead.
He had to be. He’d not healed at all, and any shifter who was going to start to heal, to recover, would have begun to by now.

The men were close now, just beyond the last line of trees. He had to go.

He couldn’t help the mournful cry that burst from his lungs as he howled for the loss of his cousin, his friend, the only member of his pack. His fallen comrade.

Then he turned and ran,
springing through the forest undergrowth with long, fast strides. The route he took was through close knit bush and undergrowth, making the progression of the soldiers slow. Even if they used the chopper to try and follow him with heat trackers, they would struggle. He was wolf now, not a man, and they’d have to distinguish between him and the numerous other animals—bear, fox, lynx—found in the forests.

A
shout came from the men, followed by the slowing of footsteps and a change of direction.

Chogan’s
heart sank.

They’d found Blake.