by Mila Young
Lucien swings right sharply, along with Dušan, just as the hairs on my nape start lifting. The air thickens, and I sense someone near. I snatch the back of Lucien’s top, just as a group of figures emerge from up ahead where the woods are thicker, darker. Dušan pauses with us.
Guards, maybe twenty of them, come at us so suddenly, I retreat.
A hum carries on the wind, closely followed by thundering steps racing up behind us as well. My nerves wound tight, I snap around just as a fist crunches right in the middle of my face.
I groan, the pain zigzagging across the bridge of my nose, and stars dance in my vision. “The fuck?!”
Fury blasts through me, and I’m already lunging at the enemy before I can clearly see who it is. Who gives a fuck when I’m tearing him down?
Punch after punch, I finish him, my anger a blinding bull pushing and pushing me. If our war has begun, I won’t back down.
Someone smashes into my side, throwing me to the ground. I roar and leap up to my feet when a wall of guards rush toward me. Lucien and Dušan are fighting their own battles, but they’re outnumbered.
This isn’t part of the plan… we made a grave mistake. We assumed that Mad would leave this entrance manned with the usual number of guards.
I recoil, my legs slipping out from under me down the slope. My wolf shoves forward when the siren abruptly goes off, right as more guards emerge from the direction of the back entrance. Except the alarm has nothing to do with a breach. It’s to announce to Mad that we’ve been caught. This was a damn trap.
Fuck!
Lucien and Dušan both look at me, and dread sweeps over their eyes. With guards coming at us from every side, the realization that we’ve walked into a trap sinks in. There’s no way we can fight our way out of this, and I see it painted over their faces as well. I grind my teeth, fury bleeding into every fibre of my being.
Two guards leap onto Lucien, and he tosses one aside, the other clipping his face with a swinging fist. Another three guards circle Dušan. I dart toward them when more men came at me, and I’m knocked backward from their sheer force. Fire lashes over my back from the hard, rocky ground while I lose sight of Lucien and Dušan.
Instinct has me scrambling back up, recoiling, searching for a rock or something as a weapon.
Sucking in hard breaths, I meet each of my attackers’ eyes. Asshole Alphas and Betas at the bottom of the pack hierarchy. I will destroy every last one of them.
Then they charge toward me.
Fists, knees, knuckles. They find me. Pummel into me. I lash out as ferociously as possible, needing a few seconds to transform, but more pile on top.
I snatch one by the neck and squeeze, his lips curling upward with a snarl. All the while, I deliver a punch to someone else’s face. A hard whack comes to the back of my head, and yellow stars glint in my vision.
I snap around, my stomach tightening from the pain spearing over my skull. Before I can even kick the shit out of the brute, two others slam into my back, shoving me the ground. Rage rises through me like an inferno.
I buck and throw myself against him, hissing each time they belt into me. More and more of them come, giving me no chance to even get to my feet.
Blood drips from my mouth and nose, and for the first time in too long, fear creeps over me at the realization that maybe we’ve chewed off more than we can handle.
Chapter 22
Meira
A sharp, siren wails through the air. Sudden and loud.
I flinch at first, not expecting it. Please don’t let that be about my men. Last time I heard that sound, Dušan had been tied up outside the settlement and left as food for the undead.
Blinking toward the compound through the gaps in the tree I’m perched in, I don’t notice any commotion. But beyond the fence might be a different story.
My fingers tremble as I grip on to the branch, and a deep pain bites into my chest.
What if they’re caught? And I’m waiting for them and they’ll never come?
I chew on my lower lip, gnawing it, unsure what to do. They said to remain up here, and I toy with the notion back and forth.
Stay.
Go and check on them.
Fuck!
The siren wears on me like a mosquito refusing to leave me alone. And well, this mosquito is screaming for me to run to the compound.
Determination flares over me. There is a growing need to find them, to help them.
I grasp the thick branch I’m straddling, fingers digging into the timber. Down below, there’s no sign of anything but the undead, who are near the tree, waiting for me.
Urgency furiously clings to me. While my throat tightens at the thought that I’m sending my wolves to their deaths by doing nothing.
Darkness feathers at the edges of my mind, coming at me in waves.
I’m shaking, fidgeting, anxiety knotting in my gut.
Choking on my breaths, I start descending, unable to stop myself if I tried. I will never be able to live with myself if I don’t check. And I have enough regrets to live with already.
I jump down and my feet kiss the ground.
The surrounding Shadow Monsters flick their heads up, eyes on me, suddenly attentive. Turning away from them, I sprint through the woods as quietly as possible in the direction of the compound, keeping to the shadows.
Please, let them be all right. Please.
Behind me, the undead move slowly, so I’m hoping if I’m quick enough, any guards at the gate won’t see the hoard of zombies coming their way.
I remember there were several trees not too far from the fence. If I climb one of those, it should give me a better look into the compound. The farther I move, the more sparse the trees become.
My skin crawls with the thought of being so easily exposed, but I’m not going to sit back if my wolves are in danger. As Dušan said, we have one chance to create the element of surprise… and that comes down to me. If Mad did capture them, then our plans change.
I duck under a branch and swerve around a large fir when a shadow falls over me. A shudder races down to my bones.
I turn and come face to face with a huge brute, with close-cropped, shaved hair and a crooked nose. A Beta, by his bitter scent, and definitely belonging to Mad, seeing as he’s this close to the settlement. Omegas and Betas aren’t made for each other, so to me, they don’t smell appealing.
Recoiling, I glance quickly to where the Shadow Monsters are… They’re still just shadows in the distance in the woods, making their way too slowly.
Shit!
I throw my hands up as he approaches. He grins, covering me in shivers, then I kick him in the knee hard.
A split second is all he gives me, but it’s enough. I whip around and jolt away, right for the edge of the woods. And my anxiety goes off… If there’s one guard, there are more and me bursting into the clearing will grab their attention. I keep looking back and the undead are still too damn far away, blended in among the shadows in the woods.
I swerve left and right to ditch the dickhead coming for me now.
The siren ends abruptly, and a deafening silence settles over the land. My ears pulse, my heart banging loudly in them.
The bastard snatches my top and yanks me backward. I stumble on my heels and slam into his chest. Despair floods me, along with images of him beating me until I’m unconscious. Then I’m no use to anyone.
His hot breath brushes over my cheek. “You’re not escaping this time, Omega bitch.”
Rage burns me, and I slam my heel into his foot, shoving myself away from him. Iron fingers snap over my wrist too fast for me to escape. Panic swallows me.
I swing back around, my fist crashing into the side of his head. Just as he snarls and wrenches me closer, I drive my knee deep into his balls, loving every moment of his fallen expression.
“Don’t fucking touch me!” I shove my fists into his chest and he falls over, curling in on himself, moaning.
I snap around to escape, but I charge rig
ht into someone solid. Bouncing back, I teeter to catch my balance.
The new asshole snatches my hair and yanks me to him, sneering. “You dare raise a hand to us, you pathetic, plague-ridden filth?”
Pain roars over my scalp, and tears fill my eyes. I’m scratching his hand to get him to release me. Every inch of me trembles.
I grind my jaw, refusing to give in to them.
He’s suddenly hauling me by my hair across the land and right out of the woods. Desperately, I run to keep up with his long strides. I’m half-bent forward from his grip, so I can’t even look back to see how far the undead are.
Hell, if there was ever a time I needed them by my side, it’s freaking now.
The ass holding on to me pauses, growling. “Open the fucking door.” He bangs a fist against the door, and I crane my head up to see there are no guards on patrol on the fence.
Though from inside, the faint sounds of shouting reaches us. My stomach locks at the thought that maybe I’d been right all along and my men are captured.
Loathing for Mad burns all the way down to my gut. I want to make him suffer so much.
When the man goes to bang on the door once more, I drive a fist into his ribs, then another.
He sneers, his grasp tightening, wrenching me by my hair.
I cry out and twist around just enough to glance behind us.
The undead are emerging from the woods like a great wave, and I’ve never been happier in my whole life to see them.
A creak sounds from the door to the compound opening, stealing my attention.
“Get the fuck in here,” another guard bellows from inside. “We’ve got them.”
I yell and punch my captor’s arm, digging my heels in the ground to slow him. Anything.
I twist my head as the Shadow Monsters approach, closer and closer.
Just a bit more time.
“Well, look what I found.” He wrenches me toward his friend, whose eyes bulge out of his head. His gaze is locked on something over my shoulder.
“Zombies!”
I feel the man holding me shake against me as he whips around.
“Goddammit, where’d they come from?” His voice trembles.
I’m kicking and shoving against him to escape as he drags me into the compound. I drop to my knees, and his grasp slackens.
In desperation, I scramble over and push myself off the ground.
Thick arms loop around my middle as he yanks me into his arms. “No, you don’t.”
I scream, my hands reaching out for the undead.
“Run to me!” I screech.
In seconds, they descend upon us like a storm, running awkwardly, lopsided, but they thunder onward regardless. Thin, ragged things that today have become my saviors.
Aggressively, the brute manhandles me, shoving me over his shoulder, and darts past the enormous metal door and into the settlement.
The guard from the door drives it shut, just as several undead slam into the entrance.
He growls, pushing his hands against the metal door, his feet pressing into the earth. “Help me!” he roars.
But there are no other guards in this area.
The man shoving a shoulder into the door is driven backward, his feet skidding over the soil. As I watch through the gap, wave after wave of them pushing to get to me. He stands no chance.
And then the sudden thumping against the nearby fence comes, over and over, I know exactly what’s happening.
They’re breaking it down.
I want them to tear it down and get in here.
The brute holding me shoves me to the ground as though I’m nothing but a sack. I collapse hard on my hip, but I scramble to my feet, when the back of his hand collides with the side of my face. His knuckles feel like I’d been whacked by a bag of rocks.
“Stay down!” he sneers.
Stars dance in my vision, and I fall flat onto my back. Fiery pain spears over my face. I cry out, clasping my cheek, as my head feels like it’s cracking in half. Damn idiot.
Around me, the sounds of moaning escalate, and suddenly, the siren blares again.
This time, it’s for a real breach.
My face throbs with a sharp ache. The world tilts for a few seconds, then settles.
I blink to clear my eyes as the two guards dart in my direction, panic-stricken. One bolts down the hill toward the fortress, while the other comes for me.
He goes to grab me, but I frantically roll away from him and rush to my feet.
He’s too busy glancing over his shoulder when I quickly sidestep him to reach the creatures, but his hand seizes my arm. His grasp squeezes until it hurts.
I spin and bash my fist into his grip. “Leave me alone,” I cry out.
His face is as white as a sheet, yet he still drags me behind him.
I lose my footing and drop to my knees as he lugs me by my arm.
The undead are upon us, careening right alongside us now.
The idiot holding me glances back. He does a double take, his eyes bulging out of his head at how close he is to them.
Then he does what any frightened person does… He releases me and runs like mad down the hill.
Shadow Monsters gather on either side of me, behind me, and with the siren blaring, I guess I’ve made one hell of an entrance that won’t go unnoticed.
Chapter 23
Lucien
A kick to the back of my legs has my knees hitting the ground right near the fortress. My stomach lurches, and I tense with fury. Dušan and Bardhyl are on either side of me, their deep, guttural growls matching my own. Mad’s men had ambushed us, and now, I burn to know that he fooled us.
Abruptly, the sirens of a breach screech through the air. I jerk my head toward the rear entrance. There, shadows flit about in the woodlands within the settlement, moving erratically. What the hell is that?
Did they find Meira?
I glance over to Dušan and Bardhyl, their gazes locked on the movement up on the hill.
My adrenaline spikes as I picture the guards tracking her down, dragging her in here. How did they find her? I grind my teeth, knowing for a fact she would have willingly gotten down from the tree.
“What the fuck is going on?” Mad roars, marching in front of us, staring up the huge hill at the frenzy of shadows amid the cluster of trees. All I can imagine is how easily I can attack him right now, kill him in a heartbeat. Well, easy if there weren’t a gun muzzle pointed to the back of our heads.
“Jack,” Mad barks. “Get up there now! Find out what’s going on.” Then he turns on us. “There was never any doubt you would end on your knees before me,” he gloats.
There is something so repulsive about a man whose ego exudes from every pore in his body, and he’s proud of it. His attention homes in on Dušan. “You’re not so great now. Only two men follow you, while the rest stay loyal by my side.” He pats his own chest, a sneer of arrogance on the corner of his lips.
I see it now… This petty man has spent his whole life trying to prove to others he’s greater and better. His desperation to be praised and seen as successful in ascending to the pack leader position has been nagging him his whole life.
It’s why he stares at Dušan with vicious hatred. Jealousy can make someone horrendously vile and vindictive.
“Stefan,” Dušan snaps, using Mad’s real name. Something I rarely hear him use, and the few times he has have been when he’s fucking pissed at him. “This isn’t who you are. Most of the pack are in their homes terrified. You can’t rule a pack on fear alone. You know this. Your father told us this all the time.”
Mad spits on the ground, inches from us. “Fuck you. Easy to say when you claimed what was rightfully mine. He was my father by blood, not yours, but you still forced yourself to be Alpha of the pack, didn’t you?”
“Could have something to do with you being too weak-assed to fight the previous Alpha to claim the Ash Wolves,” Bardhyl snarls. “So you take the pack like all gutless pigs. By cheating.”<
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The guard behind him whacks him in the back of his head. The thump has me cringing as Bardhyl falls face-first to the ground from the impact. He groans but pushes himself to his knees. Blood drips down his neck from the hit.
I clench my fists. My blood races with vengeance. The need to destroy all these bastards swallows me. Staring past Mad, I see Jack and two others heading up the hill, and there’s no sign of what’s causing the commotion farther up there.
“Today will be my happiest day. To see you three finally fucking killed.” Mad’s upper lip curls.
He lifts his head to the guards behind us, looking ready to give the order.
I stiffen, bending my arms, prepared to attack the prick behind me first.
A sudden scream, dark and terrifying, definitely belonging to a man, spears through the air from nearby on the hill.
We all glance in that direction.
Two guards are sprinting down, Jack and his followers, suddenly doing the same, darting like death chases them.
Near the edge of the trees, a cluster of undead lurch forward, dozens of them pouring out of the shadows. Their moans are lost beneath the siren. I want to shout from the rooftops. Fuck yes! About damn time, and that’s when I know it’s Meira who must be there. I adore that little wolf.
“Who the fuck let them in?” Mad bellows. “Shoot them!” He’s shuddering, his face red with rage.
My heart leaps, thundering as more of these filthy creatures that are the best sight in the world shuffle forward.
Someone stands from the ground in front of the zombies. Dark, long hair flowing over her shoulder, she’s like a goddess rising out of the underworld with her followers crowding around her. As morbid as that sounds, there’s something spectacular about seeing her wield such power.
“Meira,” Bardhyl whispers, and Dušan’s breath catches. While others fear her, we love her to hell and back.