Chapter 58
Ten minutes later, both Benjamin and I were in his car as we went our way to the southern territory of the Lock Heart Pack.
It seemed that there was a rogue sighting on our very own territory. In order to see if we could find anything, both of us would help in the search process.
“Do we know anything else about this rogue sighting?” I asked him as we stopped on the side of the road.
The journey only took about 20 minutes to get to the southern territory. However, we still had to go on foot from here. The rogue was spotted by a patrolling werewolf in the forest nearby.
“Not really. They reported that it might only be one rogue. However, they couldn’t really tell for sure how many rogues were here.”
I couldn’t help but frown while I was grabbing my backpack
from the car.
“It seemed pretty strange when we saw how messy those
rogues
looked. You’d expect that they would stink, making them easier to be tracked down.”
However, Benjamin just shrugged as he responded, “They were able to enter the Golden Blade Pack just fine. By the way, we’ll go to have a look. Most of the patrols here had already checked the area, but we’ll do a quick patrol once to make sure.”
Unfortunately, ‘quick’ eventually turned out to be an inaccurate thing. After all, both of us ended up being in the forest for more than 2 hours to look for that spotted rogue. Still, we weren’t able to find anything. Not even a single track
or scent.
Nevertheless, I was grateful that one of us, at least, was able to shift now. For now, Benjamin still remained in his human form because mastering a wolf in a day was almost an impossible thing to do. Besides, the heightened senses were clearly helpful for this kind of job. I was pretty sure that | would be in circles by now if he hadn’t been keeping track of where we had been.
“I’m not really seeing anything, Benjamin,” I told him as I finally sighed in defeat.
Meanwhile, the boy just frowned as he said, “I just can’t see how that can happen. We must’ve missed something.”
I just went to sit down by a stream that was running past us. Then, I splashed some of the cold water from the stream to my face. It felt very fresh after I had done all the walking both Benjamin and I had been doing.
“I don’t know about it… they maybe find a way to sneak in or mask their scent?”
However, something quickly caught my eyes as I spoke those words loudly.
“Like what?” he asked.
“Like …, “I slowly replied as I moved to check the rock even more closely.
“Symbols that were carved along the stream to notify the rogue where to go?”
This stream here was a part of a much bigger webs of multiple rivers which connected our territory to the neighboring territories. It was very vast and branched in all directions. Seeing what I was looking at, Benjamin then moved to my side to crouch down.
“You wouldn’t be able to track their scents easily. It’ll be like trying to go to a maze to follow anyone without knowing where to go. That’s very brilliant, Winona!”
I couldn’t help but smile excitedly as I turned to look up at Benjamin, only to realize that he was way closer than I had ever expected. The boy looked like he was as genuinely thrilled as I was. For a split second, I almost forgot about how those green eyes used to terrify me that much. Still, the eye contact between both of us continued to last for a bit too
long.
“Should we follow the stones?” I asked, trying to break this weird tension again.
“Yeah,” he replied quickly as he stood up.
“Yeah,” I whispered quietly, then followed him.
Both Benjamin and I then walked downstream for some time. We kept following the trail which had symbols carved into the rocks on the side. It was a pretty smart way for them to think of this. Obviously, they eventually ended up being seen by the patrol when they went to get some food. Thanks to that, it was impossible to know how long they actually had been hanging out around here.
Finally, we kept walking for an additional 10 minutes or so before both Benjamin and I could eventually look at what seemed to be a small cave that nestled just out of the way. If we didn’t follow the symbols, it was very likely for us to miss
this cave.
“Can you tell if anyone might be inside?” I asked him while we took a peek carefully into the cave’s entrance.
Benjamin took a sniff in the air as he tried to focus, he then gave me an answer, “It’s still too hard with all the water.”
I just nodded as I thought about this thoroughly. It would mean that we would have to go inside the cave blind and alone. If we left now to go get some help, we would have to take the risk of them finding out our scents and leaving before both of us could return. This was our only chance to get the real answer about the rogues’ attacks.
When I looked around to look for anything that seemed to be out of place, nothing seemed abnormal, at least. I guessed that was all part of the point of making people oblivious, though. Benjamin just looked at me as both of us quietly acknowledged that this was the time for us to enter.
Inside the cave turned out to be deceptively bigger than what it appeared from the outside. Not only that, it was also damp. However, what surprised me was that it wasn’t the smell of mold or moisture that felt the most off-putting. Obviously, there was something that smelled far stronger in the air that I didn’t even need a heightened sense of smell for.
I almost felt bad for Benjamin because the boy might already be feeling overwhelmed enough for one day without this. Nevertheless, we kept walking for some time in the dimly lit
path. There were only rays of natural light and the dying flames of a few torches further in that lit our way.
“Look up,” Benjamin then suddenly warned quietly.
I could only just make out that there was something bright up when the cave opened up to a bigger space.
“What happened?”
“It looks like… a camp,” he whispered quietly as he narrowed his eyes.
“Don’t let yourself be caught off-guard.”
After that, I nodded as we continued to walk. When we reached the larger area, it obviously looked like as if multiple people had been living there. In fact, they might live here even for months. For lack of a better word, it was a pretty complete settlement that was equipped with basic beds and furniture. Not only that, there were also clothes and even a few books that were scattered around.
“No wonder I can’t smell anything,” Benjamin made a remark after a few minutes passed as he kicked over a bin full of putrid meat. There seemed to be several bins scattered around, which I could only think that the contents would be the same.
“This is fucking disgusting.”
Meanwhile, I could only wrinkle my nose as I continued to look around the room. Obviously, this was the source of the overwhelming smell that we had been experiencing this entire time we were here. How desperate were the rogues that they had to rely on spoiled meat at times to survive? But, why
would they even bother when they were in a forest with a river so close? If they were that hungry, they surely would have other options to try first, right?
That was when I realized the exact reason why one might keep rancid spoiled meat around. It was meant to hide a
scent.
“Benjamin!” I shouted.
The boy then looked up, seemingly surprised after he heard my abrupt shout. However, it was already too late. It was because a wolf suddenly came jumping out of nowhere to kick Benjamin until he fell to the ground.
Damn it! This was an ambush.
