Straight ahead, a squirrel chased a tumbling acorn across our path. The small creature turned to us and froze. Another step closer, and he abandoned his nut to run up the trunk of the closest pine.
I scanned the treetops, searching for limbs that reached too close to the wall. The first was closer to the gate than anticipated.
I laid my palm on the trunk. The bark was rough and dry, while the threads of life beneath the surface thrived. The invisible tapestry was much like the branches of the tree itself, or the expansive network of roots beneath the soil.
One cord was thicker than the rest, the mother that fed the smaller lines. I probed for the mother thread. There.
“I wish I could see the earth magic like you do,” Briar whispered.
“I don’t see with my eyes.” I reached back and took her hand, and placed it against the tree trunk beneath mine.
I delved into the life force of the tree, and Briar gasped as I wrapped our hands around the mother thread.
“You feel.” Her eyes were wide with wonder as she stared at our hands.
“Yes.”
I pulled on the cord, softly at first, then harder as the leaves returned to buds. The branches retracted, and the energy returned to the ground beneath.
When I was satisfied the tree could no longer be used to breech Lycaon’s wall, I released both the cord and Briar’s hand.
She stared at me with a haze over her honey eyes and her hand remaining on the tree. She pulled her bottom lip gently between her teeth as if biting back something she wished to say.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” she said once more. “Can we do that again?”
I smiled. “Of course.”
We followed the wall in search of the next overgrown branches. Two more oaks needed to be trimmed at the back of the village where Herrik had snuck inside.
Briar was ready and eager, placing her hand on the trunk before me. “How about this one?”
“Yes, both of these need to be reduced.” I gestured to the other tree and rested my hand over hers.
Excitement lit her entire face as I pulled the threads of life.
“Do you think this is what it will feel like for Flint and the others when they remove the affliction?” she asked.
“I don’t know.” I truly had no idea. I’d never seen anyone healed, and had never been healed myself. Given our shifter nature, most ailments required nothing more than rest to overcome.
“I appreciate all you’ve done for us,” she said. “For me.”
“I would do anything for you.” I meant it. Anything.
“About last night...I want you to know—” She stopped speaking and lifted her nose to the breeze.
There was something dark and familiar in the air. A shiver ran up my spine.
Herrik wasn’t waiting to sneak into the village while we slept. He was already here.
Chapter 18
Briar
Familiar, yet so changed I hardly recognized it, the scent of my former alpha carried through the air.
I could feel Herrik’s presence—a splatter of black where color was meant to be.
I turned, searching the vibrant forest for movement.
He was close, I knew for sure...so where exactly would I find him?
Thorn tore off his clothes, and for a moment I stood staring at his perfect ass as a glow of white light surrounded him. Blinded out of my trance, I followed suit and pulled off my shirt. I reached down to the waistband of my pants, and froze.
Movement.
Shadows danced across the ground, as if something invisible flew above the trees and blacked out the sun. Rooted in place, and afraid to miss any movement or sign, I shot a glance toward the sky. There was nothing there.
My coyote rippled just beneath the skin, fighting for control, while part of me wanted to flee. I pulled off the rest of my clothes and shifted.
As a coyote, my nerves calmed. Everything was clearer, crisper, more distinct. The greens and browns of the forest were richer and more vibrant. I could take on Herrik, because I didn’t have to do it alone.
At my side, Thorn towered over me, an enormous wolf. Not long ago, the sight of him would have sent me running. Now I took comfort in his presence.
Vines coiled up his legs. The plants flattened and darkened as they covered his fur, transforming into metal plates. I watched in awe as Thorn’s magic granted him armor.
A twig snapped.
From the shadows, a beast emerged.
His shape was that of a coyote, though the brown of his fur was dark and spotted, as if the affliction now affected not just his human form and his mind, but his coyote as well. His golden eyes flooded with black like ink in water. Darkness spread across the forest floor, seeping out from his feet.
“Herrik?”
Thorn took a step forward, keeping himself between me and Herrik.
“You thought I wanted the staff,” he said to Thorn in the shifter tongue.
“I never wanted the staff.”
I hazarded a glance at Thorn, whose wolf face was hard and impassive, giving nothing away. We could still make it back to the gate, get help.
“Everything that was meant to be is coming to be. The world will flood with blight. Wait and see.” Herrik made a strange sound somewhere between a bark and a cry.
It was like the sickening laughter of a hyena. A shiver ran up my spine.
I held myself tall and leveled my gaze. “Where are the others?”
“Always alone,” Herrik said. “For so long now, yet the voices never stop.”
“You harmed an innocent,” Thorn growled.
“No one is innocent.”
“Why have you returned?” I asked.
Herrik tilted his head and blinked without responding. It was as if he didn’t understand the question.
“I cannot allow you to harm anyone else.” Thorn darted toward Herrik.
I stood there, not helping, not doing anything. Move. I danced around the two, looking for an opportunity to strike.
Herrik snapped his jaw at Thorn and dove backward beneath a tangle of briars.
His cackling laughter echoed through the otherwise too-silent woods. There were no birds, no crickets, nothing but Herrik’s laughter.
Thorn paced by the small opening where Herrik had retreated. The thorny vines slowly receded on his command.
But Herrik wasn’t there.
Fangs.
It happened so fast I didn’t have time to consider.
In a flash of golden eyes and black fur, of sharp teeth and a twisted snarl, Herrik dove at Thorn. Panic flooded my veins.
Not my mate. Not Thorn.
I reacted.
I threw myself at Herrik, knocking him down.
Thorn pinned Herrik to the ground, teeth held tight around his neck.
“Herrik, think about what you’re doing,” I said in the shifter tongue. “Think about your people. Think about your daughter. Remember Blossom.”
The tightness of his coyote face eased, and in a white light he shifted back to human form.
His skin was black with blight, all but half of his face. He was little more than skin and bones, scraggly hair, and wild eyes.
“Little flower,” he whispered.
“Yes, Blossom,” I said.
I heard the others approach, the wolves that had gone out to patrol the forest. They were watching. How long had they been watching?
“These things you’re doing, you’re hurting Blossom,” I said. “It doesn’t have to be like this. There is a cure for the affliction.”
“It’s too late.” Tears slid down Herrik’s cheeks as his lips turned up in a crazed grin. “There is only darkness.”
The darkness on the forest floor grew, sucking away the light and overtaking the vegetation.
“Look,” Forrest said, pointing to the sky.
I started to tip my head up when a wall of ice b
urst from the ground, a column between us and Herrik, pushing both me and Thorn back.
A dragon circled above the small clearing. Brilliant sapphire scales coated its body, shimmering in the sunlight. I’d never seen a dragon so close.
The enormous creature raised both wings upward and plummeted straight down on top of Herrik. The ground quaked, turning my legs to mush.
I stared in awe at the massive beast, separated from us by only a wall of ice. He carried the scent of the ocean, and yet fire, too. There were so many questions I would have asked had I been able to think clearly, but it all happened too fast.
The dragon beat his wings, shattering the ice barrier, and ascended above the trees.
Where Herrik’s crushed remains should have been, there was a dusting of snow and nothing more.
I looked up and caught a glimpse of Herrik writhing in the dragon’s talons before the two disappeared into the clouds.
The sound of Herrik’s crazed laughter faded into the distance, and all that remained were chunks of ice and a sense of confusion.
Why?
Chapter 19
Thorn
Darkness receded, but the warmth of the sunlight didn’t soak in.
“I saw what you did.” Forrest approached Briar.
I moved to intercept him, but then I saw his expression.
There wasn’t malice or distrust. There was something else, a warmth that he’d rarely shown since we were kids.
“Against your own,” Forrest said, “you protected Thorn.”
Briar lifted her chin and looked him in the eye. “I’d do anything for him,” she said, turning her gaze to me. “He’s my mate.”
“I respect—” Forrest kept talking but I stopped listening.
Mate. I pulled Briar into my arms and crushed my lips over hers. Her soft body gave to mine, fitting against me like she was always meant to be a part of me. And she was. She was my forever.
Slowly she pulled back and leaned her face against my chest. “When Herrik charged and I thought I might lose you...”
She squeezed her arms around me.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I said.
“I’m not either,” she whispered.
Forrest cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair. “So...uh…”
“It was obvious from the beginning, so fucking obvious.” Polly Perry nudged Forrest in the elbow and waggled her brows. “I bet they’ve been boning since day one.”
Briar put on her clothes and turned to Polly Perry. “When did you get here? I thought you were doing laundry with Willow.”
Polly Perry shrugged. “Yeah, well, turns out laundry’s boring as shit.”
Briar narrowed her eyes, opened her mouth, then shut it again. Maybe it was better not to ask.
I gathered my clothes from the ground and redressed.
“What do you think the dragon wants with the diseased coyote?” Forrest asked. “If he doesn’t kill him, I will.”
Briar frowned. “There might still be something good in Herrik. He recognized his daughter’s name. I saw it in his eyes.”
“Perhaps the Guardian of Water intends to heal him,” I said. “Or maybe he intends to punish him for his crimes. There’s no way to guess. I’ll ask Hale when I speak with him. But for now, Lycaon is out of imminent danger.”
“The escaped prisoners are still out there,” Forrest said. “Do we hunt them down?”
“I’m not interested in keeping prisoners.” I hadn’t liked it from the start. I wouldn’t do it again.
“If they aren’t crazed, they may see reason,” Forrest said. Then he turned to Briar. “Will they follow their new alpha instead of the old?”
Her eyes widened for a moment, likely shocked that he would refer to her as their alpha. I wasn’t surprised, only glad. We had our differences, but above all else, Forrest respected loyalty to the pack, and to me.
“It’s possible,” she said. “But I wouldn’t count on it. Likely they’ll have gone home when they were freed. I should go find them and make sure they won’t cause any more trouble.”
Forrest nodded. “Smart. If you need extra muscle, I’ll be happy to accompany you.”
“I’ll accompany her,” I said.
“Of course. I’ll be happy to watch over Lycaon in your absence.” Forrest grinned at me, then turned to Polly Perry. “Ready to get back to patrolling?”
“Hell yeah,” Polly Perry said. “I want to ride that snake.”
“Snake?” Briar’s brows shot up.
The two of them were already running in the other direction.
With Herrik gone, I saw no reason not to do as Briar said and reach out to the escaped coyote prisoners sooner rather than later. “Ready to go?”
She gave me a strange look.
“To your home village,” I said. “Though I hope you grow to think of Lycaon as your home.”
She smiled. “Yeah, let’s do it.”
We traveled through the woodlands to the plains, to the fields of tall grass and the canyon where the coyote village waited. There was an ease between us that we’d lost somewhere along the way, and seemed to have found once more.
Massive boulders had crushed what had once been homes. I’d been told about the devastation, but seeing it for myself was entirely different. My stomach churned as I imagined what it must have been like watching the boulders fall down the cliffs. Briar and her people had to have been terrified, and then after...to face so much loss was unthinkable.
They were survivors.
Standing here, I gained a greater appreciation for the strength it had taken for Briar to lead her people to Lycaon. She never ceased to amaze me, a phenomenon I looked forward to experiencing time and time again for the rest of our lives.
“There’s no need to fear,” Briar called out to the seemingly still remains of her village. “Thorn means you no harm.”
There was no response.
I stepped up beside my mate and took her hand. After everything that had happened, I didn’t know if there was anything for me to say that would help. They had been my prisoners. They had no reason to trust me.
Briar looked up at me and squeezed my hand. “Can you remove the boulders?”
“Of course.” It was the request that had begun this strange and wonderful journey we had embarked on together. It was what had brought her into my life, and it was a small favor in the grand scheme of things.
I let go of her hand and approached the first of the boulders. It was a jagged slab of composite mineral, a slice of the canyon wall above. While it would be possible for Celedon to lift the stones and deposit them beyond the perimeter, my power was a fraction of his.
I placed my palm against the rough surface and vibrated the structure, pushing on the weakest points. Chunks of rock broke apart and fell to the ground.
“We’re here to help,” Briar announced. “See?”
The boulder disintegrated into a pile of dirt and stone. I bent down and put my hand on the ground. The pile lessened, the minerals rejoining the earth below.
One boulder down, and I could already feel the toll. Using excess amounts of land magic fatigued my muscles, but there was so much left to do.
“Why would he forgive us for attacking?” A deep voice carried through the valley.
Briar looked to me.
“You followed your alpha,” I said. “However misguided his choices, I understand that you were only doing as Herrik commanded.”
“Herrik is lost to the affliction. He’s been mad for far longer than any of us cares to admit. And we followed him—all of us,” Briar said to the hidden coyotes. “Now I’m asking you to make a different choice.”
A man stepped out from behind one of the boulders. Then a second man stepped out, and a third.
“What choice?” one of them asked.
“Swear that it’s over,” Briar said. “The rest of us have joined the wolves in Lycaon. Agree to a ceasefire and we can all live in peace.”
Another
man stepped out into the open. “Did Willow go with you? Is she okay?”
“She’s fine, and yes, she’s staying in Lycaon,” Briar said. “I’m sure she’d love to see you, Reed.”
Tears of joy slid down his face and he laughed. “I’ll promise anything if I can be with my mate again.”
Briar looked to me.
“You may join us in Lycaon on a trial basis, under supervision,” I said.
“We all did that, too,” Briar added.
“What if we don’t want to go?” asked another. “This is our home.”
“You are welcome to stay here,” I said. “Though rebuilding will be—”
“It’s our home,” he repeated.
I understood. If it were Lycaon that had been destroyed, I wouldn’t give up either.
“Peace sounds like a nice change,” one of the men said. “You have my word.”
“And mine,” said a second.
All spoke truth, and I was satisfied that we’d found the best way forward for all of us.
I approached a second stone, one with crushed wooden beams sticking out from underneath. “It’ll take some time for me to break down all of the boulders,” I said.
“We have time,” Reed said. “And you’ll get all the help you need.”
Chapter 20
Briar
Crickets chirping was the song of our journey. It followed Thorn, Reed, and me through the ethereal glow of twilight in the woods. After the floral grasses outside the canyon, luminous mushrooms dotted trees. Along the ground were patches of moss that I recognized from the tunnels beneath Lycaon.
Before we’d left, I’d thought Ellwood and Rush would come, too, but they stayed to help the others. There was more to do than we could accomplish in two days’ time. But Thorn promised to return with supplies.
After spending a night in the village that used to be my world, I looked to the towering treetops of Lycaon with a sense of relief. I was surer than ever that this was meant to be my home.
The sound of voices ahead carried through the darkness. I ambled over a fallen log and listened for what was being said. I couldn’t quite make anything out, but the tone was animated.
Wolf Warrior of Land (Alphas & Alchemy: Elemental Shifters Book 2) Page 10