05. The Banshee's Wail

Josh POV

Darkness surrounded us from every side as we ran further and further into the forest. The shriek of the banshee still echoed off the surrounding trees. I kept having to slow down so Alina could catch up. Fuck, she’s slow.

“Take those stupid shoes off,” I barked at her. She was slowing us down and was going to get us killed.

She actually obeyed–which was surprising–stopping to take the burgundy high heels off. Looking at them again, they’d make an excellent weapon. I’d have to keep that in mind in case we needed it. She held the shoes in one hand and again we ran blindly.

The forest felt more alive than any other I’d been in. And not in a good way. I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were being watched constantly. My wolf’s senses were dulled. My heightened night vision wasn’t working, and my hearing was lacking its usual sharpness. It was like being human, which was a depressing thought.

The banshee finally stopped its wailing, and the fear that had gripped me began to ease. Although, as I glanced up at the swirling green clouds above, a fresh batch replaced it. How the fuck had I ended up in the Jade Willow Forest? I’d always tended to break more rules than I’d followed, but never entering this forest is the one rule I’d managed to stick to. 

Until now. 

Until I met her.

My muscles were aching, already fatigued from my attempts at scaling the wall. Now, after a solid sprint, they were protesting in earnest. We needed to find some shelter so we could plan our next move.

“There’s a cave up ahead,” I said, panting under the strain.

Grabbing Alina’s arm, I steered her inside. She yelped at my touch and jerked her arm back.

“Shit, sorry! I forgot about your arm.” I could barely see her in the cave's darkness, but I could hear her wheezing for breath, and her sniffles in between.

Her wheezing quickly turned to gasping. Was she having trouble breathing? I moved closer and put my arm around her, but she shrugged herself out of my reach, choked for breath the whole time. I remembered my brother making those sounds once after a bear chased us and he thought we were going to die. 

A panic attack, Mum had called it.

“Take some deep breaths,” I instructed her. “Breath in. Hold it. Hold it. Slow breath out.”

Gradually her breathing slowed from the panicked sucking in of air, to the regular ‘I’ve just run for my life’ state of exhaustion.

“That’s it, keep doing deep breaths.”

“Stop.” Gasp. “Telling me.” Gasp. “What to do.”

Ah, there it is, she’s back. What a delight.

“Fine. Look, there’s probably only a couple of hours until the sun’s up. We should probably try to get some sleep so that we’ve got the energy to get out of here in the morning,” I suggested.

“I don’t think I can sleep after that,” she replied.

“Sit and tell me what you know about banshees then. I didn’t pay attention at school.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

“For someone who got us into this mess, you’re not very nice.”

“Maybe you’re just extra sensitive,” she replied with a hint of a tease. 

I cringed. It’s like we’d only just met, yet she knew how to push all my buttons. As the youngest of the family, my mum had always referred to me as ‘baby’. My older brothers teased me mercilessly, calling me a sook every time I complained about anything, and it was a bit of a sore point.

“Banshees wail to signal a prediction of death. They can also be warnings. If they think you’re about to do something from which you may not escape alive, they can warn you with their shrieking.”

“Like if two werewolves who can’t shift or use wolf senses ran into a dangerous area? Let’s say, into a place like the Jade Willow Forest?”

“That sounds accurate,” she replied, with an audible gulp. It was as though we were both realising just how fucked we were.

“Try to get some sleep and I’ll keep watch. We can swap after. We don’t know if we’re alone in this cave, so we need to stay near the entrance, but that also leaves us open to attack.”

I couldn’t really see her, but I heard her shuffle as she lay down. It took a while, but eventually her breathing evened out and I knew she was asleep. I wished I could see deeper into the cave. I felt like I had a set of eyes on me the entire time, and it was an unsettling thought. 

I tried to recall every little thing I’d ever heard about the forest. I knew dark fae controlled it, but it hadn’t always been that way. I wondered if there were any good fae left after all these years.

Something nudged my arm and I jumped, ready to fight.

“It’s just me.” She took a step back and sat down. I looked around, completely confused. “You fell asleep on your watch, so I took over. It’s morning.”

‘Ouch. She’s not going to let you live that one down,’ said Aster. He was probably right about that. 

I wriggled my back and stretched my arms above my head. I would not recommend falling asleep sitting up against a cave wall. Zero on the comfort rating.

“Thanks,” I replied sheepishly. “So, we should probably head back the way we came and get back to the exit.”

“Do you remember the way? We weren’t exactly running in a straight line last night. And it was dark, we don’t have any landmarks to lead us back. I’m sure we were running north, but then we veered west off the path, I think.”

“It definitely wasn’t west.”

“Like I said, I’m not sure, it was dark. How can you be so certain?”

“I never get lost,” I replied with a shrug. “I’ve been exploring woods and forests my whole life, never been lost yet.”

“This isn’t any old forest. It’s enchanted and designed to play tricks on us. We need to be careful.”

Why did she have to be so annoying? Major trust issues. Daddy’s fault, no doubt.

She let out a small grunt as she stood, cradling her arm. I hopped up off the cold floor and followed her out of the cave. The green clouds above cast the entire forest in a light green glow, even in the daylight. 

The view was pretty spectacular. Lush green forest dotted with colourful wildflowers. I had memories of myself and my brothers as children, running and playing in this forest. Over the years, I’d thought I must be embellishing it in my mind, because it looked like something out of a fairytale. But now, standing here, it seemed like my memory was spot on.

Alina looked around, her eyes wide and her mouth open slightly, taking in our surroundings. She really was beautiful. She had the type of lips that were perfect for pouting, and I was positive she did it often. Her eyes were blue, like a cloudless summer’s day kind of blue, rather than my much darker shade. 

Her dress was filthy and torn around the hem, but it showed her gorgeous figure. Petite. She was dainty; she lacked that layer of muscle most she-wolves had. Last night she’d been a terrible runner, too. It made me wonder how much training she’d actually had. As the next Alpha, I’d have expected her to have a warrior-type physique. 

I liked her like this, though. Small, delicate. What the hell am I talking about? Yeah, ok, she’s pretty. But she’s not my mate, Aster would have told me. 

‘Aster?’

‘No, she’s not our mate. But I like her.’

Along with not being our mate, she was also dismissive, condescending, and stubborn. Oh, and she was also the reason we were stuck here in the first place. I pushed all thoughts of her and her body aside as I began to set off to find the way home.

“Wait, Josh. Where did you put my shoes?” she asked, looking back into the mouth of the cave.

“I didn’t touch them.”

“Well, they’re not here,” she said with her hands on her hips. She was glaring at me with such an intensity. 

“Seriously? Why would you think I’d hide your fucking shoes? The only thing I’d gain by doing that is having to listen to you whinge even more than you already have.”

The sound of laughter filled the silence as we stared one another down. We both blinked in shock, and I saw movement from the corner of my eye. 

I spun around, just in time to see someone–or something–tiny, scurrying away with Alina’s shoes tucked under their arm, giggling.