by J C Rae
Uncle, where are you? I have everyone that I've met shielded but I cannot protect anyone that I haven't met or don't know. There are two wolves in front of the house but I don't know who they are and I'm not sure if they know who I am. I have them shielded already but I want to help everyone else.
His response comes almost a minute later and both the wolves turned to look at me at the same time he speaks in my head. I have contacted Derek and Charles. They know that you are there and I semi explained about your shielding powers. Can you connect with them directly?
Hmm, well I guess I never tried to contact them directly. Guess maybe I should've but it's not something that I'm used to. I relay this information to Uncle before I reach out to the wolves. Boys, can you hear me?
When they both nod their heads, I continue. I won't waste too much time because I think I need to get to Uncle, but I have shielded you both. Nothing should be able to get to you to hurt you, including bullets, fire, or other wolves. I will remove the shield once we take care of this problem. Now, can you point me in the right direction so I can get to Uncle quickly?
They look at each other and then back at me and one of the wolves, he's gray and white and stands almost to my chest, trots back to me. He nudges me to the left, which happens to be the same way I walked with Timmy last night. When he nudges me again, I laugh and tell him okay. I start jogging that way, hoping that everyone is okay. Before I get too far away I stop to let them know the house is shielded so no one can get in without my permission. They cant their heads to the side and I see the confusion but I turn and keep heading to towards the clearing.
I can hear a lot of growling coming from up ahead so I speed up. What I see when I sprint thru the trees has me stopping in my spot. Uncle is facing the same man that attacked us yesterday, while surrounded by wolves. That’s not what catches my attention tho. It’s the group of kids huddled together behind Alpha Caden that pisses me off. Quickly, I wrap a shield around the group, along with all the wolves I can see, and sprint to the front line, right beside Uncle. He looks over at me in surprise and I just smile at him before turning to Caden.
“What the hell do you want now?”
His smug smile turns to a frown when he catches my look. When my smile gets bigger, he tightens his lips and then spits out, “I’m just making a deal with your Alpha. I found these kids and wanted to return them but it seems like the Alpha doesn’t want them back. Our negotiations aren’t working but maybe I could make an exception if you were to step up and take his place. Hmm, yes I think I could work with that. What do you say Alpha Carl?”
As he’s talking, I send to Uncle, I have all the wolves in this clearing shielded. Well, those from you back. Also, I have the kids group shielded. The house is also taken care of so he can’t divert anything there. I told those two wolves there but I’m not quite sure they know what the hell I was talking about. So, can I kick this guys ass now, or are you going to handle it while I get the kids?
Uncle’s shocked expression turns assessing and he turns his head to look around the clearing. The kids are still huddled together behind some of Caden’s wolves. Most have quieted down and seem to be waiting to see what happens next. A couple of the younger ones are still crying but the older ones are trying to comfort them as best as they can. There’s about twelve wolves standing behind Uncle and I can see why Caden thinks that he’s already won this because he’s got around thirty wolves with him, that I can see. I turn towards Uncle to see what he decides about the same time that I hear him issue his commands.
Kincaid pack, we are gonna take our young back from this monster. If it’s a fight he wants, then it’s a fight he will get. Before we attack, please know that Ash has shielded all of us, including the kids and the house where everyone else is. I know that you don’t understand what this means but it will be explained, later. For now, just know that she’s got you covered. Ash and Randolf will be getting the kids while the rest of us detain the others. Alpha Caden is mine!
Uncle turns back to look Caden in the eyes as he shakes his head. “I don’t think I will allow that!” The next thing I hear is the command, both in my head and out loud, “ATTACK!”
All hell breaks loose, but Randolf finds me quickly and we head towards the kids. Caden seems to have left five wolves watching the kids but we’ve got quite a few between us and them. Randolf, can you let the kids know that we are coming and they need to stay together until we get there?
He nods his head as he punches a wolf in the snout. The wolf flies to the side but another one replaces it quickly, snapping at me. I quickly kick out with my foot, aiming for the head but he’s quick and I only catch his snout. He growls and lunges towards me but I throw myself down while unsheathing one of my blades. I’m so glad that I decided to strap those babies on this morning. I swipe as the wolf sails over my head and hear his howl of pain but I don’t stop. Randolf takes care of the next wolf to jump towards us and then we are at the kids. They’re down to three guardians now and they are not happy. Their growls are loud as they pace back and forth. I should be scared but all I feel is excitement. I can feel something bubbling up inside of me, waiting to be freed.
I look over at Randolf, trying to see what he is thinking but his face is closed off. Rage lights his eyes and he stands solid like a Greek God. His chest is rising and falling with either adrenaline or excitement. Hell, it could be both. I turn back towards the wolves between me and the kids just as one of them lunges. I step forward and to the side, just as he starts to pass me. Grabbing ahold of him, I can feel a power form in my palms and push out towards him. He starts shaking immediately and drops where he’s at. I can’t tell if he’s still alive or not and I don’t give him another thought as I step towards the other two.
Their big wolf heads tilt to the side and then they look at one another. I tense, ready for them to attack, only to have them turn tail and run. With them gone, I run towards the kids, who flinch away from me. I know they don’t know who I am and I’m extremely grateful when Randolf steps up beside me.
“Kids, Ash and I will be escorting you back to the pack house. Stay together.”
With that, we turn back towards the house. We are almost out of the clearing with all the kids when I am blindsided and knocked towards a tree. I hit it hard enough to knock the wind out of me and I instantly know that would’ve been a killing blow if I wouldn’t have had my shield up. The man that tackled me lay a couple feet away and is already climbing to his feet. I yell for Randolf to get the kids to safety and stand up slowly to face this new threat. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a very pissed off Randolf herding the kids towards the house and I remember that I have it shielded. Thinking quickly, I tell him, The house is shielded so you won’t be able to get in. I’ll be there as quickly as I can.
That small distraction is all my assailant needs to jump at me again, this time tackling me to the ground. He tries for a punch, but with my shield all it does is push my head back towards the ground, but he doesn’t seem to notice he’s not having any effect. With him on top of me, I can’t move but I know that I need to make sure those kids gets to safety.
“You’re going to make a nice prize for my Alpha and I will be rewarded greatly. I’m going to let you up and then we are going to deliver you to him. Don’t even think about trying to get away because I have no problem hurting you. Maybe I’ll even get a little taste since I was the one that caught you.”
His eyes hold a cold malice that makes me shiver and he seems to enjoy that. When I feel his weight shift off of me, I jump up quickly. I reach for that bubbly feeling again as I latch my hands on his arm. His eyes go wide and he tries to pull away but his shaking has intensified to the point where he can’t even talk. He tries to yell out but instead his eyes roll back in his head and he drops to the ground.
I let go and quickly look around. Uncle is still engaged with Caden while his other wolves seem to be holding their own. The enemy wolves are all bloody and winded but our side seems to be
okay. For once I’m glad that I’m so different and able to help everyone.
I know that I can’t stand around here watching so I sprint towards the house. Both of the wolves are still there standing guard and Randolf has all of the kids lined up in front of the house. He sighs in relief when he sees me and I almost laugh. Before I reach them, I reach out for Timmy, Hey little man, I need some help. I’ve got a group of kids here and I need to get them in the safe room. Can you meet us at the front door so I can let them in?
He gets back to me immediately that he is on his way just as I reach the others. I’m a little winded from running back but I’ll be fine shortly. I look around the group and decide to let them know what is going on. “Hey guys. You have been so brave and I am very proud of you all. My friend Timmy is going to meet you guys to get you all to the safe room. I want you to stay there until one of us or your Alpha comes to get you. Okay?”
They all nod their heads and look at me in awe. I guess that’s better than having them flinch away from me. I hear the door opening so I head that way, opening the shield in front of me so that they can pass thru. I give Timmy and side hug and ask him to take care of my new friends, making sure they all know that he’s in charge. He puffs up and smiles as he walks away and I close the shield.
When I turn around, both wolves and Randolf are looking at me strangely. “What?”
Randolf just shakes his head at me and then turns to the wolves. He must be mind speaking with them because they nod their heads and get back in a defensive position. When he looks back at me I just shrug my shoulders and start heading back to the clearing.
As we get closer, I can still hear some growling but most of the fighting sounds like it’s done. What I see when I step out of the trees amazes me. There’s a group of about twelve enemy wolves corralled together and being guarded by Uncle’s enforcers. Laying around I see a couple bodies that I don’t recognize and I hope they aren’t ours. I tried to get everyone on our side covered but if I didn’t see them, then I wouldn’t have been able to. Randolf must’ve seen my look because he lets me know that they were with Alpha Caden’s group.
I look around for Uncle but I don’t see him. I turn to ask someone where he is when I hear a thunderous howl go up in the distance. All the wolves on our end join in until the howl is deafening and I take that as a victory. Thru the trees, I can see a huge black wolf running towards us flanked by three equally huge wolves and one slightly smaller wolf. I can see Matt’s golden brown wolf is the slightly smaller one of the group and I’m guessing Uncle is the midnight black wolf. The dark brown wolf with the white paws looks like the one that confronted my yesterday at the crash that they called Luca so that would leave the twins as the other two wolves. Their coats are a snowy white with one of them having black ears and the other a black snout.
They are barreling towards me like their asses are on fire and I’m worried they won’t be able to stop so I take a step backwards. That causes them to stop in their tracks. I know they won’t hurt me but it’s an automatic response. I act like nothing happened and smile at them. “Glad to see you guys are good.”
Braxton shakes his big wolfy head and walks closer to me. When he sees that I’m not going to back away, he starts rubbing against me. We were worried about you, baby. Please don’t put yourself out there like that again. It killed me not to be by your side.
I look up at Bryce to see if he has anything to add to that and raise my eyebrow. He hasn’t really been very nice to me since we met but I understand that he was just trying to protect his pack. This whole mate business has all of us a little flustered but I’m hoping we will figure it out soon. When he doesn’t add anything, I feel a slight pang in my chest but push it down. If he doesn’t want to be around me then I won’t force him. He probably just followed his brother over here automatically without thinking.
Sighing, I reach out and stroke my hand down Braxton’s fur. “Well, lets go see if we can help with anything.” To Braxton, I say, I appreciate your concern but you are gonna have to learn that I have taken care of myself for all these years and I’m not used to having someone else worry about me. I will try to keep your feelings in mind but don’t always expect me to cave. I smile to take the bite out of my words and we head towards Uncle.
Chapter 15
Everything is straightened out rather quickly and we are heading back to the house. Uncle said that Caden got away, along with about half of the wolves he brought. The ones that were captured are taken somewhere but I don’t even want to know. I am hungry and tired of all this fighting already. I was really hoping that coming here would mean the end of all the drama but it seems like that’s not the case. The most startling fact is that all of this seems like second nature to everyone here. No one batted an eye or freaked out when the attack came. They all just went to where they were supposed to, even the kids. The only reason he was able to capture the kids he did was because they had been over at the apple orchard, yes they have an actual orchard, picking apples to make pies for dinner.
I spot Uncle walking ahead of me so I speed up to him. Of course, that means that Bryce and Braxton both speed up too. Everyone has changed back from their wolves and dressed in at least shorts. I guess they keep totes of clothes around the property just for these cases.
Bryce still hasn’t said anything to me and it’s kind of pissing me off. Maybe he’s regretting the whole ‘I smell like a mate’ thing but when we talked last night, he seemed fine with it. I guess I’m going to have to confront him, but it’s not gonna be in front of everyone else.
Braxton, on the other hand, hasn’t let go of me since he changed back. Not only did he rub all over me in his wolf form but when he changed back he slung an arm over my shoulder and kept it there. When we started walking, he moved to just holding my hand but I kind of feel like he’s worried I’m going to disappear or something. I guess after I have a talk with Bryce, I’m going to have to let Braxton know that I wouldn’t just leave without saying something. Ugh, why is life so damn complicated?
I catch up to Uncle and see that he’s talking to a couple guys I don’t know, so I just keep walking beside him until he gets done. He looks over at me and nods so I guess he knows I need something. Once he’s done talking, two of the guys take off but one turns to look at me. He’s older than I am but I can’t tell exactly by how much. Everyone here looks younger than they probably are, which is something that Uncle mentioned. I guess they don’t age the same as regular humans.
“Ms Ash, my name is Jacob and I just wanted to thank you for all your help today. I don’t know what you did but you I do know that you saved my little girl, and for that I will always be grateful. I owe you, young lady, so please let me know if you ever need anything!”
I can tell that he means every word he said so I take my time answering him. I don’t want him to think he owes me something so I just tell him, “Jacob, I appreciate that but you don’t owe me anything. All I wanted was to make sure those kids were safe so that they could grow up and be happy. The only thing I ask is that you tell your little girl every day how much you love her and never, ever, tear down her dreams.”
I should’ve seen it coming but I was trying not to let myself get emotional. When he swept me up in a crushing hug, I couldn’t help stiffening up. He noticed right away and set me back down, apologizing for touching me without permission. I could see the tears in his eyes so I stepped up and wrapped him in a hug. It was still stiff but I was trying and I hoped that he could see that. Based on the smile that he gave me, I knew he understood so all I said was, “Some kids don’t have a father to show them love or teach them to be themselves. I can tell that any kids you have will be blessed with both.”
The entire time, Uncle was just watching our interaction. He didn’t say anything until Jacob thanked me and walked away. When he just looked at me, I asked what I needed. “Uncle, can I remove the shields now or should I keep them up?”
He looked down at me and then around at everyon
e else. He seemed deep in thought so I left him to it. Finally, he asked, “Can you take the shield down from the house and all the wolves except for my Beta’s and myself? We are going to run another patrol, just to make sure everyone is gone and not hiding.”
I give him a nod and bring down all the other shields. I’m really surprised that it took no effort to keep them up that whole time but I guess I’ll figure it out as we go, just like I always have.
“Ash, I’ve been wondering. Is there a way for your shield to keep someone from getting hurt but not completely blocking them?”