by M H Soars
“You’re my mate. You belong with me.”
Such a caveman thing to say, but my heart clenches painfully in yearning. It feels like I haven’t seen him in months. The worst thing is it may be the last time I will ever see him alive.
He’s going to hate me for what I’m about to do, but I can’t let him throw away his life for me.
“I don’t belong with you. I renounce the mating bond.”
My chest aches as I take in the hurt in Tristan’s eyes, the sting of betrayal. I wish I could tell him telepathically why I’m doing this, but I don’t think he would understand.
“You’re not serious,” he says in a whisper, more to himself than anyone else.
Valerius lets out a long whistle, then laughs. “My, my, that was unexpected.”
“I am serious. Go home, Tristan.”
“Oh, no, no. Bond or not, Tristan trespassed into my territory and challenged me. A fight to the death we shall have.”
I whip my face toward Valerius so fast I might have pulled a muscle in my neck.
“No,” I say feebly. I was an idiot for believing he would simply let Tristan go unharmed.
Ignoring me, Valerius angles his head from side to side, cracking his shoulders. Then he shifts, ripping his fancy clothes. Tristan almost doesn’t have the time to shift before Valerius is on him. Unfortunately, he isn’t fast enough to avoid the grey wolf’s bite. Dark blood stains Tristan’s white pelt, but he doesn’t seem to notice as he peels his lips back, revealing sharp teeth. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so enraged and savage. He’s not holding back. But it’s clear Valerius has the upper hand. He’s stronger and faster, and he seems to guess every move Tristan is about to make.
Nadine told me Valerius’s leadership isn’t natural. What if his strength is the result of a scientific experiment? I remember Anthony Wolfe was almost unbeatable, and it took his three sons to defeat him. And Valerius doesn’t seem to care his wolves are weak and malnourished. He must have another way to make them strong.
I taste blood in my mouth, and that’s when I realize I’m beginning to shift. I’m going to join the fight, and there’s nothing anyone can say to stop me. All my ideas to discover Valerius’s plans are unimportant. All I care about is my mate who is losing this damn fight. Right before I surrender to my wolf, I feel a familiar nudge against my mental barriers and I freeze, stopping the transformation.
“Dante?”
“Red, are you all right?” His voice is not clear. It’s sort of garbled, as if he’s speaking from inside a bubble.
“Where are you?”
“Near.”
“You need to help Tristan. He’s losing.”
A loud yelp brings me back to the fight. Tristan is on the ground, trying to get up. His white fur is almost entirely covered in blood. Valerius snarls as he circles him, and I know he’s about to deliver the final blow.
“No!” I yell.
Valerius snaps his head to see over his shoulder, his eyes glowing red like he’s a demon. Then he turns to Tristan, who has managed to get onto his paws, but I can tell it’s costing him. Everything seems to happen in slow motion next. Valerius prepares to jump at the same time I break into a sprint, not knowing if I can shift in time to tackle him before he attacks Tristan. A blinding flash zaps between Valerius and Tristan, and when it fades, Grandma is there, accompanied by Brian Kane—a quiet man who owns an herbal tea store in Crimson Hollow—and a tall and strong guy with long hair. He oozes raw power. On instinct, I realize he’s a shifter; I just don’t know what kind. No sign of Dante and Sam, though.
None of Valerius’s wolves do anything. They seem kind of frozen by a spell.
“This ends now,” Grandma speaks, her voice clear and hard. Gone is the fragile state I got used to in the last two years I lived with her.
Valerius shifts back, but not completely. His hands are still clawed paws and his face is a deformed atrocity, half human, half wolf. It’s a sight that shows exactly what he is. A heartless monster.
“How dare you come here, witch? Do you know who you’re dealing with?”
“We came to make sure you wouldn’t break the laws that all supernaturals must abide to. My granddaughter renounced the bond to the Crimson Hollow beta. You have no cause to kill him.”
“He trespassed my territory.”
“So did your wolf,” the shifter replies.
Valerius doesn’t speak for several beats, but his body is shaking. I don’t know if the tremors are caused by anger or something else. It seems small dark veins are spreading through his back, just like it happened to his hands earlier.
“I don’t know how you managed to hide yourselves from my sentries, but it’s of no issue. I don’t need to kill that pathetic excuse for a wolf. I have what I want, and she’s made her choice.” Valerius glances in my direction, smiling victoriously.
If I could punch that smugness off his face I would—with relish. Your time will come, Valerius. Mark my words.
Grandma turns to me with worry in her gaze. The sting of her betrayal is still in my heart, and her presence here is not helping with the pain. On the contrary, it only served to raise more questions, making me doubt her motives even more. I don’t know who she is.
Before she can ask the question obviously on her mind, I say, “I’m staying. I’m where I should be.” For the time being.
A low murmur spreads throughout the crowd. I can only imagine what kind of conclusions this pack is making. First, I get special treatment at dinner and now this. God, what if they think I’m going to become Valerius’s mate? The thought alone makes me want to puke. And worse, what if that’s what Valerius wants? I’ll kill him if he tries anything.
“Not if I kill him first.” Dante’s voice sounds in my head. “Red, what are you doing?”
“I can’t go back to Crimson Hollow yet. Valerius is up to something. Staying is the only way to discover what it is.”
“It’s dangerous.”
“I can take care of myself. I found out—”
“Get out of here before I decide to show you what my wolves are capable of,” Valerius spits out with all the venom he can muster, disrupting my train of thought.
Tristan’s stare lingers in my direction, almost as if he’s pleading with me to reconsider my decision. I shake my head in answer and I see it then, the fire extinguishing from his wolf gaze.
Grandma lifts her chin in a defiant way before turning away from Valerius. She doesn’t need to say anything to deliver the message that this isn’t over. And she’s right; this isn’t over by a long shot. The circle of wolves breaks apart, creating a path for Grandma and her two companions to walk out. The tall shifter waits for Tristan to go first while he brings up the rear. It’s with great effort that I keep my feet planted to the ground. The compulsion to follow Tristan is almost overwhelming.
“We have to go. The cloaking spell is weakening,” Dante says, his voice in my head almost a whisper.
“Valerius is working with the hunters,” I say, but I don’t hear a reply. Shit. “Dante? Are you still there?”
I’m so focused in my communication with Dante I don’t notice Valerius until he’s standing right in front of me. I have to suppress a gasp for he’s still in his mid-shift state, watching me with those devilishly red eyes.
“You surprised me tonight, Amelia.” He reaches for my face with his clawed hand, but seems to notice and stops before he actually touches me. He lowers his arm. With a grimace, his face returns to full human.
“Excuse me, I have to attend to unavoidable business.” His voice is wound tight, as if he’s in great pain now.
I don’t move from my spot as I watch Valerius stride away from the square and vanish into the night. One by one, his shifters disperse, crawling back to where they had retired for the night. In my short life as a supernatural, what happened here tonight was one of the most surreal things I’ve witnessed so far.
Nadine touches my arm to catch my attention, then points in
the direction of my shack. When I don’t move right away, she pulls my arm and starts to drag me.
Planting my feet firmly on the ground, I say. “I’m not going back there. I’m going to find Rochelle.”
Chapter 17
Red
As soon as I’m out of the square and sure there’s no one around, I take off my clothes and shift. It will be easier to search for clues about the missing wolves if I can tap into my wolf’s enhanced skills. Also, I need to be able to communicate with Nadine. Something has the girl terrified more than usual. Tense, she keeps peeking over her shoulder every five seconds.
“Why don’t you shift?” I ask.
She doesn’t answer my question, only says, “We shouldn’t be out tonight. This is a bad idea.”
Even through the telepathic connection, I sense the fear in her words, the trepidation in her reply. I feel bad for putting her in a risky situation, but I can’t simply go back to my shack and do nothing. Now that I renounced my bond to Tristan, the stakes are much higher. Valerius will attack the Crimson Hollow pack as soon as he gathers his army of mindless wolves. But if I can find the location where he’s taking the wolves he conscripts, then maybe I can end his reign of terror.
I wish Nadine would shift; we would make progress much faster through the forest. But for whatever reason, she prefers to remain in her human form and runs after me. It doesn’t take long to find the trek that leads to the eyesore building I spent the night in. It’s nestled at the base of a cliff, a fact I missed entirely when I escaped. From our side, the descent down the mountain is not that steep. I find the path I took earlier, making my way down as fast as I can. Nadine is swift on two legs as well, but I believe all shifters have better dexterity than humans.
I don’t pick up the scent of any wolf nearby, which means there are no sentries in place. If this is where Valerius keeps the wolves he kidnaps, I find it odd there is no one guarding it. Or maybe the reason there are no sentries is the same as why Nadine doesn’t want to be out tonight.
Stopping in front of the building, I stare at it intently. I came out from this side, I’m sure of it, but there’s nothing but smooth concrete wall where there should be a door. I move closer to inspect it better, but I find nothing that indicates there’s an exit there. An invisible door would indicate high technology, just like the chip controlling the wolves. How did Valerius manage to get a hold of it? Maybe it’s Martin Black and his hunters who possess the technology. Damn it. There are still so many questions without answers.
If I can’t find a way in, maybe I can pick up Rochelle’s wolf signature through the doors, just like I heard her before. Closing my eyes, I concentrate, expanding my awareness outward. I have no idea what I’m doing, I’m totally going on instinct here. A minute goes by and all I hear is the sound of my breathing. Shit. This trip is turning out to be an epic fail, but I refuse to give up.
“We need to leave. There’s no way in,” Nadine says.
“Not yet. I’m going to circle back, maybe I can find another entrance.”
With my nose glued to the ground, I trot around the perimeter of the building, keeping close to the wall. I catch nothing out of the ordinary besides the smell of overgrown grass and earth, until I sense a shift around me. I can’t really explain it. My nose picked up on something, but it’s not a smell. Following the strange pull, I stop by an ordinary spot and begin to dig. There’s something down there. I only stop when my paw scratches something hard, a small rock.
Nadine crouches next to me, fishing my finding out after I uncover it. It’s a smooth river pebble with a strange design etched on it.
“What is it?” I ask.
“I think it’s a rune.” The girl wipes the excess dirt off the top to better inspect it. Suddenly, something even more peculiar happens. The wall in front of us shimmers briefly, revealing a rusty metal door where before there was nothing.
“Holy crap.” I can’t keep from sending that outburst via the connection.
“So that’s how he’s doing it. Valerius must have used magic to conceal all the entrances to this place.”
“If he’s using magic, then he has more allies,” I reply as my chest tightens. First the hunters, and now magic. How is my pack going to fight Valerius?
“It would appear so.”
The more I dig, the grimmer the situation becomes. I’m new to the supernatural world, but I know an evil person like Valerius having access to magic is definitely not a good thing.
Nadine turns the door handle, but the door won’t budge. “This is heavy, but I don’t think it’s locked.”
“I’ll shift back to help you.”
Somehow, I’m not surprised Valerius wouldn’t bother to lock the entrances. If he has all of them concealed there’s no point. His cockiness will be his downfall. Bastard.
My arms break into goose bumps when the late night breeze kisses my skin. I really wish there was a way for me to store my clothes somewhere. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to parading naked in front of others.
Nadine switches places with me so I can try the handle. I put all my muscle strength into it without success. Why couldn’t I get a bolt of strength when I became a shifter?
“What now?” I ask out loud.
An icy blast of wind comes out of nowhere, and I shiver. Hugging myself and rubbing my arms up and down, I attempt to keep warm, but it’s no use. I have to shift back into a wolf if I don’t want to freeze to death.
“Jesus, where’s that wind coming from?”
Nadine seems frozen as well, but for entirely different reasons. She’s staring into the forest as if there’s a huge threat lurking behind those trees. I open my mouth to ask if she’s sensing a sentry or something, when she grabs my arm and drags me in the direction we came from. My surprise doesn’t slow me down. My preservation instincts have kicked in. Whatever is behind us, it’s bad, and it can find us. A great sense of doom takes hold of me, as if all the good and joy in the world has suddenly vanished and only darkness remains. The malign presence is getting stronger, nearer. We’ll never make it back to the square before it catches up with us. We need to find a place to hide now.
Nadine is still dragging me, but I don’t think she actually has a plan. I spot a huge tree trunk that is wide enough to conceal us both if we stand behind it. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best option we have. I take the lead, pulling the girl with me. She struggles as I push her back against the tree. Wrapping my arms around her shoulders, I try to keep her in place.
“We can’t outrun whatever is coming. We need to hide,” I whisper.
Tears are streaming freely down Nadine’s face as she begins to shake. I hug her tighter, wishing I had listened to her and not dragged her out here. If something happens to her tonight, it will be solely my fault.
The forest becomes shrouded by fog, an unnatural occurrence for sure. I close my eyes, calling upon the great wolf apparition because I don’t know what else to do. At first, nothing happens, and my heart squeezes tighter. The evil presence is upon us, a few more seconds and we’ll be discovered. Then, my core becomes a little warmer as a soft caress brushes my mind.
“We are here,” the strange voice sounds in my head.
I open my eyes when I feel the tree behind us tremble slightly. The branches are moving, covering our bodies as if they’re embracing us.
What the hell. The tree is alive? Are Ents fucking real?
The branches keep moving until they form a cocoon around us. It’s claustrophobic, and I begin to worry how I’m going to get us out, when I sense it, stronger than ever, the malign presence floating right in front of us. Squinting, I try to catch a glimpse from the cracks between the branches, but all I can make out is a great shadow and the smell of sulfur that reaches my nose.
Nadine is trembling so much I have to hold her tighter to keep her bones from rattling against the bark. Neither of us breathe until the dark being has gone. Even so, we wait frozen for another minute, not daring to move.
>
Slowly, the branches move again, releasing us from their wooden embrace. I’m still shaking, not exactly sure what the hell we just escaped from, when Nadine throws her arms around my neck, holding me for dear life, and begins to cry in earnest.
Chapter 18
Samuel
I’m so fucking angry I could kick something. What the hell happened back in Shadow Creek? We let Tristan take a beating from that freak and did nothing to stop it. Nothing. I wanted to leap from my hiding spot and sink my teeth into that fucker’s throat so badly I actually tasted blood on my tongue. But Dante stopped me; he actually physically tackled me to the ground and kept me from joining the fray while our companions just stood back and watched. Even Armand managed to keep his cool after all that blood he drank earlier at my place. Then, Wendy and Brian combined their powers to zip themselves into the square to stop a tragedy.
I only quit struggling when Dante told me he had managed to speak to Red mind to mind. She was on the verge of fighting Valerius, but Dante was trying to convince her not to. That’s why I promised to stay put. I didn’t want Dante to lose his connection to Red because he was busy restraining me. Worse than watching my older brother almost get killed by a lowlife wolf would be to witness Red fight the bastard.
I can’t help the feeling of defeat as we head back to the compound. I insisted on riding my Ducati despite the consensus it would be better if we split in groups and went by car. Fuck that. I have too much pent-up energy and being confined inside a vehicle for an hour with other supes would drive me crazy. Plus, I’m trying to avoid my bandmates, especially now that they know I withheld information from them.
Shit, what a mess.
When I see the junction on the road ahead, I slow down. I’m not ready to go to the compound yet. On top of dealing with the frustration of our epic fail, there’s also the guilt. We’ve missed our dad’s funeral and being in the alpha’s manor right now will only make everything worse.