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I took off early, long before sunrise was due. I'd gotten just a little bit of uneasy sleep leaning against the side of the sofa. Taehyung woke me when Kook's face was flushed, and he took my spot to cool him back down. I stretched and decided I was rested enough to get some work done.
"Thank you," Taehyung said quietly, seeing my plans. "If the route is clear, they'll go today."
"I'll let you know."
It felt good to get back to my animal self. I was stiff from sitting still for so long. I extended my stride, working out the kinks.
Morning, Minghyu, Danielle greeted me.
Good, you're up. How long's Yeonjun been out?
Not out yet, Yeonjun thought sleepily. Almost there. What do you need?
You think you got another hour in you?
Sure thing. No problem. Yeonjun got to his feet right away, shaking out his fur.
Let's make the deep run, I told Danielle. Yeonjun, take the perimeter.
Gotcha. Yeonjun broke into an easy jog.
Off on another vampire errand, Danielle grumbled.
You got a problem with that?
Of course not. I just love to coddle those darling leeches.
Good. Let's see how fast we can run.
Okay, I'm definitely up for that!
Danielle was on the far western rim of the perimeter. Rather than cut close to the Cullens' house, she stuck to the circle as she raced around to meet me. I sprinted off straight east, knowing that even with the head start, she'd be passing me soon if I took it easy for even a second.
Nose to the ground, Danielle. This isn't a race, it's a reconnaissance mission.
I can do both and still kick your butt.
I gave her that one. I know.
She laughed.
We took a winding path through the eastern mountains. It was a familiar route.
We'd run these mountains when the vampires had left a year ago, making it part of our patrol route to better protect the people here. Then we'd pulled back the lines when the Cullens returned. This was their treaty land.
But that fact would probably mean nothing to Jackson now. The treaty was dead. The question today was how thin he was willing to spread his force. Was he looking for stray Cullens to poach on their land or not? Had Woozi spoken the truth or taken advantage of the silence between us?
We got deeper and deeper into the mountains without finding any trace of the pack. Fading vampire trails were everywhere, but the scents were familiar now. I was breathing them in all day long.
