When Ryan and I exited the underground prison and the light hit my mate's battered face I had to hold back a gasp of horror. There was heavy bruising on his left cheek that ranged from dark purple to an ugly yellow and was severely swollen. There was dried blood in his hair, but I couldn't easily find the wound that had caused it, and he was just plain filthy. This man was hardly the rogue alpha that I had first met. He was nearly broken, even after a day of accelerated healing.

"Come on, we have to go." I whispered, my voice shaking slightly. I guess the tough façade was gone already. I just shut my mouth and jerked my head towards Poison who was watching us intently.

"I've never ridden a horse." Ryan confessed. His voice was scratchy and dry. "If you want to kill me it would be much faster to just let the royal guards after me again."

"Come on, it's not that hard." I pressed. While I spoke I began peeling off my clothes. Where we were going I wouldn't have unlimited access to clothing like I did now, I couldn't just shift and destroy them like I normally would. When I looked up I noticed that Ryan was gawking at me and I had to duck my head down to hide the blush, "Hey, focus, I need you on that horse because I don't think you're healthy enough to run the whole way."

"How far are we going?"

"You don't need to worry about that right now, just get on Poison and let me take care of everything else." I demanded.

"How do you know the guards won't tell your dad where we went?"

I rolled my eyes, we definitely didn't have time for this right now.

"Ever heard of a command tone? Or a royal tone?" I asked. I pointedly grabbed his arm and dragged him over to Poison, pointing to a stirrup.

"That's a real thing?" he asked, jamming his foot in there. I quickly fastened my clothes in the backpack and helped him mount the big beast.

"Yes, now shut up and hold on." I commanded.

The second the words were out of my mouth I shifted into my wolf. It felt natural to be in wolf form for the first time in years and I gave my thick coat a healthy shake while Poison just snorted and watched me with uncertainty. For a horse he was quite used to wolves, however, that didn't entirely kill his instincts. Thankfully, he didn't kick me when I neared him and pretended to nip at his hocks. He did jump away from me a jostle Ryan before he set off away from me in a quick trot.

I stayed a decent distance away from Poison, loping behind just to keep up with the big animal. I needed Poison to stay on track and keep a steady pace, but I was also concerned about Ryan. He didn't look like he was in the best of shape, but he was holding on and we didn't have a plethora of options right now. As long as he could handle the ride to the river we were home free.

Poison trotted along through the forest, hardly bothered by the fact that the trees were getting bigger and the foliage was growing denser with each stride he took. He seemed delighted to be out of the arena which made me happy, but a few times I had to dart around him to make him change directions so he wouldn't attempt to leap over fallen logs. I needed to get Ryan transported in one relatively content piece, and I don't think he was really ready to try his hand at jumping just yet.

Poison wasn't the only one who was enjoying the time in the woods. This was the first time in years I had actually enjoyed being shifted. Most of the time when I shifted it was because my wolf was nearly jumping out of my skin. On one particular occasion I dropped to my knees in the foyer, unable to make it out the front door in time, and I shifted right there in front of all the housing staff.

This was significantly more pleasant though. My wolf felt tremendously at home with the wind whistling through the trees, the scents wafting through the air, and the brisk pace that accelerated her heart rate slightly. It was easy to forget that I was part wolf sometimes because my human side had so much control all the time, but in moments like these I got to remember the beauty of allowing myself to be what I truly was. Half human and half wolf.

Sadly, one of the travellers wasn't enjoying the excursion so much. When I looked over to see is my horse was losing speed I noticed that the rider was starting to look a little ill. His bruised face was turning a little green and he clung to the horn tightly, seeing as it was the only thing keeping him steady. Though he didn't know how to ride horses when we had started our excursion he was able to hold himself up with his leg and back muscles. Now he looked like a ragdoll that was about to vomit all over my freshly groomed steed.

I knew that we didn't have much time, once my parents noticed I wasn't actually coming to lunch they would become annoyed and send someone to go looking for me. When that person returned with no knowledge of where I was hiding my parents would become panicked and send a search party out immediately. It had been about ten in the morning when I entered the barn to pick up Poison so it must've been at least eleven by now. We only had an hour and a half before a search party was dispatched. Still, I couldn't bear to see my mate looking so awful.

I carefully looped around Poison, circling him until he slowed to a stop through his confusion. Ryan looked a little startled too, unsure of what was going on, but I just sat down beside Poison, watching my mate as I panted slightly.

"Oh, you have to catch your breath, that's fine." Ryan wheezed, nodding a little.

I decided there was no use in correcting him and laid down on my tummy, letting him relax for a bit. No, we didn't have a whole lot of time, I knew that much, but we could spare a couple minutes if it meant Ryan was going to be able to ride longer. My plan relied on him staying on Poison for as long as possible because I didn't think his exhausted body could carry him very far.

When Ryan's face turned to a little more normal shade I let out a little yip and got back on my feet. Poison didn't hesitate, he started off on a trot again, but I didn't think Ryan could handle the bouncy gait for much longer so I darted behind my beloved horse and nipped at his hind legs until he started to canter. Yes, a canter was harder to sit through, but it was much faster and Poison was healthy enough to keep the pace for several minutes.

Ryan looked terribly displeased with the change of pace, though his legs were supporting him again, instead of just letting his body flop all over the place. I knew he wouldn't be able to handle the canter for more than five minutes and I prayed that five minutes would be enough. I had a rough idea of where I was going, but it had been years since I had actually gone this far.

Unfortunately, about two minutes later Ryan looked like he was about to pass out. I almost let out a frustrated and panicked snarl, ready to tell him to suck it up, but I just made Poison stop once more. As I slowed down the big beast I realized that this could actually play in our favour for once. After Poison had stopped I shifted into my human form while Ryan struggled to collect himself. Seeing as my mate was so close to being violently ill I had no problem pulling out a tee shirt and some underwear from the bag attached to the saddle. I knew I should've pulled on pants too to reduce saddle rash, but I didn't care, they would just be a nuisance later.

"Move forward." I instructed.

"What are you doing?" Ryan asked, but he scooted up the saddle anyway.

I awkwardly mounted, scrambling into the back end of the saddle without the use of a stirrup or a mounting block. Poison side stepped in confusion, almost making me tumble back off of him but I somehow managed to stay on and gather the reins out of Ryan's sweaty hands.

"We need to move faster, but you don't look so hot. This was I control the horse and I'll be able to help hold you up when your body starts to feel weak." I answered, giving Poison a swift kick.

Poison did as he was trained to do and jumped into a swift trot, then a canter when I pressed his sides a little harder. Ryan let out a low groan at this, but I ignored him and just used one hand to pull him into me. I was hoping he would use my body for balance and support, and he seemed quite fond of the idea too, melting into me after only a minute of steady cantering. I was half blind, looking around his broad shoulders, but Poison confidently moved forward.

After about ten minutes of hard riding I finally heard the sound I had been waiting for, water. I slowed Poison to a trot then pulled him up to a walk when we could see the water. The gelding tossed his head, seeming uncertain of what he was supposed to do and I allowed him to take his time ambling over the large river rocks until all four of his legs were submerged in water.

"Come on." I murmured to Ryan, "You need to get off."

Ryan gave out a weak grunted and toppled off the horse, seeming to be thankful that the ride was over and I carefully slipped off afterwards. I quickly untied my bag from the saddle, swinging it over my shoulder. Then I began pulling off Poison's expensive tack. I hesitated for a moment, holding on to the pricey bridle as I looked at the raging rapids. Though I could easily get ten more when I returned home I still felt awful for tossing it into the swift moving water.

"What the hell are you doing?" Ryan demanded as I pulled off the saddle and tossed it as far as I could.

"I don't want him to get his tack stuck on something and get hurt." I explained blankly.

"What do you mean? We aren't taking him?"

"No." I whispered, my heart clenching slightly.

"Why not?"

"He won't make it across the river, at least not without slowing us down considerably. We need to leave him here and he might get tangled up in branches or his legs might get caught in the reins when he's on his own. Besides, it'll confuse the people tracking us."

"You aren't making any sense." Ryan barked.

"Alright, then let me explain it to you. People are going to come looking for us, and wolves will easily be able to follow my scent and Poison's, however, since I got on Poison with you my scent trail is significantly weaker. Now here, in the water our smell won't be able to cling to anything so, far as the trackers know, we are riding the horse because they can't smell where we got off. So, they will spend time tracking Poison through the forest, eventually finding him and taking him back home while you and I are getting further and further away with no scent trail on this side of the river."

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