by Sadie Moss
No sounds came either, and my heart squeezed with fear, unsure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Was everyone simply resting?
Or were they all already dead?
Rhys didn’t bother with stealth, bursting out of the tree line with a loud howl. An answering howl went up around us, and I saw one of the wolves patrolling the perimeter lope quickly in our direction.
The patrol was still out. Thank God.
The wolf followed us as we made our way quickly through the moonlit base, past the burnt out shells of the two destroyed buildings, toward our barracks.
But we never made it all the way there. We turned left to cut through the central pavilion and stopped short. A dozen figures stood in the large open space, clustered together in small groups.
For a half-second, my heart got stuck in my throat. Then I recognized Val’s long auburn hair shining in the moonlight a half second before a voice whisper-shrieked, “Rhys!”
He didn’t even have time to shift before Sariah threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his thick neck and burying her face in his fur. He let out soft whuffing noises, dragging her around in a circle as he craned his neck, trying to return her hug with no arms.
She laughed and cried, following his lead. But when she drew back, smears of blood stained her arms and hands where they’d touched him, and the smile dropped from her face like a rock. “Oh, no. Are you okay? What happened?”
“Yes. What happened?”
Alpha Elijah strode forward, leaving Val to trail after him. His voice was hard, his expression even harder.
Sariah winced, looking down as she ran a hand nervously over the scabs on her forearm. The wounds were healing well, but the scars would linger.
“I told him—about Marcus and Walker. I’m sorry, Rhys. I was afraid you weren’t coming back!”
Rhys shifted into human form, pulling her into a protective embrace before turning his gaze toward the alpha.
“The two newcomers were Strand puppets, sent here to observe and interfere with the pack. They were killed. Strand knows we’re here.”
The gathered shifters had all crept closer once we arrived, and now gasps and exclamations of horror rose up into the quiet night air.
The alpha’s sharp gaze snapped to Rhys’s face, and his beard quivered with rage. “What?”
Shit. Letting Rhys be the one to deliver this message to Elijah had probably been a mistake. There was nothing untruthful in what he’d said, but the alpha needed to be handled more carefully than that. His fear and anger blinded him to rational thought sometimes.
I let my wolf slip beneath the surface, wincing from the pain of my injuries as cool air hit my bare skin. “I’m sorry, Alpha Elijah. I vouched for them, and my judgement was wrong.”
Jackson, who’d shifted back too, growled under his breath. I knew he didn’t like me admitting fault for any of this, but I had to acknowledge the part I had played. Never mind that I still believed in giving people a chance, in standing up for our own kind, and in the strength of unity. The moment Strand managed to pit shifters against each other was the moment we truly lost this war.
I stepped forward, tilting my chin up to meet the alpha’s gaze. “After the fire, we were suspicious of Marcus and Walker, so when they left the base in secret, we followed them. They were killed in the forest by Strand hunters—including Nils, the man who led the attack on the previous Lost Pack village. He told us Strand found out about this location by interrogating shifters they took alive in that attack.”
The big man’s chest heaved, his lips contorting in a snarl. “Strand hunters came after you in the woods… and you returned here? You’ll lead them right to us!”
“Strand already knows where we are,” Jackson interjected. “And you don’t have to worry about the hunters for now. We killed them.”
I nodded. “More will come eventually though. It probably won’t take long. We need to—”
“You will not tell me what to do.”
Elijah’s words were soft, quiet, but full of a menacing power that seemed to make my bones shake.
Damn it. I hadn’t done any better a job at this than Rhys. Why couldn’t the old man just listen? Why couldn’t he see this was bigger than obedience, dominance, or chain of command? A deadly threat was knocking at our door, but if we were fast and smart, maybe we could turn things to our advantage. Marcus and Walker had died before they’d been able to tell us everything, but we knew more now than we had before.
But we couldn’t do anything if Elijah refused to listen.
“I’m sorry, Alpha.” I dipped my head in subservience, even though everything in me rebelled at the action. “I’m not trying to tell you how to lead your pack. But we—”
“You.” His nostrils flared, his chest heaving as he stared me down. For a moment, he seemed almost too angry to speak. “You are the cause of all of this. You and your men. You took advantage of our good intentions, wormed your way into my pack—twice—only to bring Strand down on us both times.”
Val stepped forward carefully, her gaze darting back and forth between me and the bearded man. “Alpha Elijah. That wasn’t her fault. They didn’t know about the tracker.”
“Didn’t they?” His eyes narrowed, lips curling back in a sneer. “Didn’t they even think to look? Maybe I was wrong about her and her little band of mates the whole time. Maybe Strand sent them to infiltrate us just like those two shifters she vouched for.”
Val’s brows drew together, and she opened her mouth, shaking her head.
But the alpha cut her off with a gesture, his blue eyes glinting in the dim light as he turned his focus back to me. “You’ve brought nothing but unrest. I should never have let any of you join us.”
Anger flared inside me like a flint being struck. “There was a reason you did, Alpha. Because once, you believed in helping other shifters! Not just hiding out in fear of the day death finally comes for you! You shouldn’t—”
“Do. Not. Tell. Me. What to do!”
He moved fast, striding toward me with rage burning in his eyes. His sudden action caught me by surprise, and I stumbled backward.
“No!”
Rhys was there in the blink of an eye, standing between me and Elijah.
But the alpha didn’t even slow down. His fist lashed out, catching Rhys on the cheekbone and whipping his head to the side. My mate let out a pained grunt, stumbling slightly.
“Alpha, no!” Val ran toward Elijah, making a grab for his arm.
But before she could stop him, his bones rippled, his wolf bursting forth with a howl.
Chapter Twenty-One
The massive wolf’s howl rose into the night air, but I could barely hear the sound. Blood rushed in my ears like a raging river, drowning out all noise as a wash of red flooded my vision.
Elijah had hurt one of the men I loved.
He would do it again.
And he would hurt the others to get to me.
The shift was complete before I even realized I had summoned my wolf, and as Elijah’s shaggy brown form lunged toward Rhys, I leapt for him. Our chests collided, front legs wrapping around each other as we flew through the air. We hit the ground hard, rolling in a tangle of limbs, snapping jaws, and fur. The pain of the shift mixed with the sharp sting of my other injuries, but adrenaline shot through my system, drowning out the sensations.
Elijah’s wolf was big, and when he rolled us over so I was on my back beneath him, I thrashed wildly, struggling to throw him off. He snapped at my ear, going for the same one Nils had bitten, and I howled, pumping my back legs and shoving him away with a solid hit to his stomach.
I scrambled to my feet, vaguely aware that other wolves had joined the circle around us, forming a perimeter to keep my mates away from our fight. But no one was interfering.
The alpha and I circled each other, teeth bared and hackles raised. My heart thumped hard in my chest as my eyes and ears strained to catch any hint of his next attack. When
the muscles of his back legs tensed, I leapt forward at an angle, avoiding his strike and snapping at his side. My teeth connected with fur and muscle, and he growled in pain.
He whirled, going up on his hind legs, and I rose too, meeting him in a violent embrace. Teeth clashed as we each tried to force the other down, to gain the upper hand.
My limbs shook, and I began to feel the pain of my injuries as the events of the night caught up to me. Alpha Elijah was fresh, and he was strong. My wolf was powerful, but I’d already fought for my life once earlier in the night, and with every movement, my muscles reminded me of that.
The massive brown wolf bore down on me, and a pained whine fell from my lips as my back legs gave out. I went down heavily on my side, and the alpha pounced, paws pinning me down while his jaws descended. I whipped my head toward him, snapping wildly. My teeth caught him on the muzzle, and the coppery taste of blood hit my tongue.
He growled, dancing away and shaking his head, making droplets of blood scatter like fat raindrops. He snarled again, a lopsided baring of teeth—the side I’d bitten was red and already swelling.
My tongue darted out, tasting the blood on my snout. A mixture of his, Nils’s, and probably my own.
Nils had been my enemy. This wolf wasn’t. But my wolf knew—I knew—with the certainty of ancient instinct, that I couldn’t lose this fight. More was at stake than just my life.
And I would not back down.
I pivoted and threw myself at Elijah, catching him by surprise. He tried to retreat, snapping wildly in defense, but I pushed forward and clamped my jaws around his shoulder. I whipped my head to the right and let go, sending him stumbling to the side. Before he could regain his footing, I barreled into him, knocking him off his feet.
My jaws snapped at his leg, and he howled as my teeth tore through skin, hitting bone.
The fervor of battle filled me, drawing something out in my wolf that I’d never felt before, and I snapped again, wanting more blood. Wanting domination. Holding the massive wolf down with my front paws, I wrapped my teeth around his neck as my powerful jaw hinged shut, pressing against fur and muscle.
He huffed two short breaths, the air clouding before his nostrils in the cool air. I felt his body tense below mine as he waited for the killing blow. Beneath the thick pelt, his pulse thrashed wildly in his neck—I could feel it against my tongue.
The predator in me urged me to bite down. To end this.
It would be so simple.
I had won. I had beaten him. His death was owed to me.
My jaws closed slightly, long teeth digging into flesh. A plaintive whine fell from Elijah’s lips, growing thin and reedy as the pressure on his windpipe increased. He lay on his side in the dirt, feet scrabbling uselessly for purchase as he kept his head still.
I blinked.
No. Shifters are supposed to help each other.
Alpha Elijah had never wanted my help. But I would give it to him, and to everyone in this pack, whether he could ever see the good of my intentions or not. He was a decent man who had spent too many years consumed by fear. That same emotion would poison me one day if I let it—unless I fought it back now.
Pressing a paw against the brown wolf’s shoulder, I tightened my jaws just a fraction more. Enough to let him taste death, to realize beyond a shadow of a doubt that I held his life in my hands.
Then, slowly, so slowly, I loosened my hold and stepped back.
He lay still for several more heartbeats, tongue lolling out of his mouth and the whites of his eyes showing as his gaze darted all around.
I braced myself for him to scramble up and launch a new attack, to take advantage of my mercy and leap for me. If he did, I wasn’t certain I could fight him off again. My body and mind were strained to the breaking point, and just staying upright took focus and effort.
When he leveraged himself to his feet, my hind legs tensed, my lips curling involuntarily.
But he didn’t attack.
Instead, he shifted back into human form, his massive lupine body shrinking as his fur retracted. The man before me was naked and broad-shouldered, with a deep cut on his upper lip and blood glistening in his beard. I had looked up at his face on numerous occasions as his commanding voice boomed out, feeling the strength of his alpha power wash over me. But right now, he just looked old and tired.
He put a hand to his mouth, wincing as his fingers felt the damage. When he spoke, his words were slurred, but I understood them perfectly.
“I yield.”
Cool relief washed through my veins, like ice applied to a burn.
Thank fuck. I can’t fight anymore.
I was about to dip my head in acknowledgment of his words when he startled me by dropping to his knees and bowing his head. Movement all around us drew my attention, and I looked up.
We had drawn more onlookers as we’d fought. Shifters surrounded us on all sides, some in wolf form, some human—nearly the whole pack, by the looks of it. My mates were among them, staring at me with love, awe, and pride in their eyes.
And as I watched, every shifter present… bowed. The humans fell to their knees, and those in wolf form leaned back on their haunches, dropping their heads low.
What…?
“Thank you for sparing my life, Alpha,” Elijah murmured roughly, and my gaze snapped back to him like a slingshot.
No. What?
My heart jumped into overdrive, pounding in my chest like it was hoping to escape and run for the hills. Which sounded like a pretty damn good idea to me right now too. Alpha? I hadn’t meant to challenge Elijah for control of the pack. I’d only wanted to keep my mates safe, to make the man listen to reason.
I shifted back, and my wolf yielded to me easily, though I felt something in her as she did—an ownership of her new rank, a pride and assurance I most certainly didn’t share yet.
Dozens of eyes settled on my diminutive, bruised, and bloodied form, and my skin flushed. Not out of embarrassment at my nudity, but like a steak sizzling under a broiler.
This wasn’t right. It couldn’t be.
I was about to open my mouth and say as much when Val stepped forward. She crossed halfway into the open circle then turned to face the onlookers.
“Do you all accept? Are there any here who wish to challenge the new alpha?”
Oh, fuck, no. Jesus holy fucking Christ, no…
I wasn’t even sure I could shift back to wolf form right now, and even if I managed it, all the she-wolf would be able to do was lay down and die. I was too tired, too weak.
Each of my mates tensed, their gazes flicking from me to the gathered crowd. They probably knew another fight would end me, and regardless of whatever pack rules dictated a one-on-one fight, they would try to intervene if any wolf stepped forward to attack me.
But I didn’t want them to try to save me.
The determination and strength my wolf had felt, the certainty of her status, flickered low in my belly.
So I drew myself to my full height, ignoring the sharp stab of pain in my side and the exhaustion pressing me down toward the earth. I leveled my gaze on the Lost Pack shifters and the Salt Lake shifters alike, meeting their eyes. Showing them I wasn’t afraid.
The next few heartbeats seemed to take an eternity, the space between each one stretching out like a vast sea.
Finally, Val nodded.
“Then it’s decided. Alpha, we yield to you.”
She turned toward me, dipping her head in obeisance before stepping forward to help Elijah to his feet. But when her gaze flicked back to me again from beneath her long lashes, I swore I saw pride shining in her eyes.
Chapter Twenty-Two
In a strange haze, I instructed Val to take Elijah back to his quarters and tend to his wounds before leaving a guard with him. I hoped he would honor his word, but I’d just seen him cold-cock one of my mates; I wasn’t quite ready to trust him completely yet.
Then I sent a dozen shifters to join the patrol at the perimeter and
ordered everyone else to gather again for a pack meeting at dawn.
No one resisted, though several of the Lost Pack shifters looked as shell-shocked as I felt. Elijah had been their alpha for years, and just because no one had chosen to step up and challenge my new position, that didn’t mean everyone was happy about the change.
The shifters around us slowly began to disperse. We only had a couple hours until sunrise, and although I knew it was a risk, I didn’t think Nils had been lying—he and his six hunters had been the only Strand operatives hiding in the surrounding woods. More would arrive soon, but we had a small window before Doctor Shepherd realized what had happened.
We would need to move fast if we wanted to take advantage of it.
But first, I needed my brain to start functioning again.
I needed a moment to breathe.
Sariah joined me and my mates as we stumbled down the barracks hallway to our quarters. Noah and Jackson supported me on either side, and I accepted their help even though they looked about as badly beat up as I felt.
We all filed into the small room we shared, and as soon as we were inside, Rhys pulled me from his pack mates’ grip, holding both of my arms as he pressed me back up against the door.
“Never, ever, do that again!”
His bright blue eyes were wild, fierce with worry.
“Uhh… you might not want to talk to the new alpha like that, dude,” Jackson threw in with a chuckle, although the strange look on his face when he glanced at me told me he wasn’t joking.
“I’m not his alpha!” I insisted, my stomach dipping uncomfortably. “I’m his mate. Just like I’m all of your mates.”
Rhys’s fingers were rigid, every muscle in his body taut, but his grip on me was surprisingly gentle. And when he dipped his head to kiss me, his lips were soft, tender.
“Please, Lexi. Please stop trying to find ways to get yourself killed. I can’t fucking take it.”
“I’m really not trying to,” I murmured as he drew away from me, his eyes darting back and forth as they gazed into mine. “I promise. I have way too much to live for.”