Wolf Pack (Wolf Ridge Book 3)

by Jayne Hawke

  Sky glared at Briar, trying to read her face and find a lie.

  “Looks like it’s my Mustang then,” I said with a triumphant grin.

  “Rowan can come in my car. I am not squeezing everyone into one car,” Amy said.

  Rowan looked like he’d just been handed the best prize. He positively glowed with happiness.

  “I will not be held responsible if that beaten up old pile of metal doesn’t make it all the way there,” Sky grumbled.

  I ignored her complaints. My old battle horse was ready for war.

  31

  We were making our way to the cars when I was driven to my knees. Gulping down air, I dragged back my shirt sleeve to see the tattoo there marking my shadow bond with Cole. A pain unlike anything I’d ever experienced seared through every nerve in my body as tears streamed down my cheeks unbidden. I watched in horror as the tattoo faded, leaving behind pristine clear skin.

  He was gone. They’d killed Cole.

  32

  Amy and Briar had rushed to my side. They kept asking what was wrong, but my tongue refused to form the words. It couldn’t be true. It must be a cruel trick. I kept running my fingertips over the space where the tattoo should have been.

  When I tried to reach out for Cole, there was no tunnel. There were no threads for me to follow, just dark empty space. Everything was telling me that he was gone. It couldn’t be true. I wouldn’t allow it to be true. This was just another trick from Natasha.

  “What happened?”

  “The shadow bond between Cole and Rosalyn has been broken,” Amy said softly.

  “He’s gone?” Briar asked.

  “It appears that way,” Amy said.

  “No. He can’t be gone. I won’t let it,” Briar growled.

  “It doesn’t make any sense. He was a key sacrifice for this ritual,” Sky added.

  I pushed myself to my feet and held onto the increasing anger within me. This was Natasha’s doing. She was trying to taunt and to break me. She would not succeed.

  33

  The location of the ritual space wasn’t too far from us. I threw the old Mustang around the corners and pushed its very limits on the straights. Natasha would pay for the pain and anguish she had wrought.

  Sky closed her eyes and whispered under her breath as I pressed the gas pedal to the floor.

  “We’d like to get there in one piece,” Adam said quietly.

  “We’ll be fine,” I said.

  The GPS shouted at us to take the next turn. I slammed on the brakes and almost did a complete 180 as I fought against the old Mustang to make the turn down the dirt track. Amy was a fair distance behind us and took it far more reasonably.

  The marbles rattled against my hip, and I really hoped they didn’t explode on me. Amy hadn’t mentioned how we’d set them off. I’d assumed there’d be something like us throwing them, but as they pressed against my jacket, I really hoped it wasn’t as simple as a bit of pressure.

  “We just throw the feathers and they turn into knives, right?” Briar asked.

  “Yep. Amy wove them so they’ll react to your garou magic. No one outside of our little group will be able to use them. She’s a very talented witch,” Sky said.

  I glanced over to find she’d squeezed her eyes even more tightly shut as we bounced down the dirt road. I was forced to slow down as the damn track began twisting. We were so close now.

  Wolves lurked in the forest around us. I caught silvery coats and amber eyes watching us as we flew by. There was a sense that they were mine and I needed to keep them safe. My guardian instincts were kicking in. They were fighting for us, and for the bigger picture. I needed to do everything I could to ensure they came out of this alive.

  My stomach twisted as I began to really understand what was at stake here. I’d been so focused on getting Cole back that I hadn’t looked at much else. If we lost this fight then Liam would become the avatar and the world would be forever changed. There was a chance that, even if we won, the war would be lost. We still didn’t know just how far the Apophis witch’s reach had extended. There were suspicions about the council, but no one had clarified how deep that went.

  We knew there were covens involved, but, again, there weren’t any hard answers. I slowed my breathing and refocused myself on the fight at hand. Politics and grander schemes would still be there once I’d kicked some dragon ass.

  34

  The building looked eerily like the old barn I used to spar in with Jake. A mix of emotions bubbled up as I slammed on the brakes and came to a stop with clouds of dust blooming up around us. I hadn’t heard from Jake in far too long. Maybe I hadn’t given him enough of a chance. Having lost Cole, I felt the urge to make contact with Jake again.

  Sky squeezed my shoulder before she got out of the car. She was right, of course. Now wasn’t the time to slip into what could have been or dwell on emotions. Now was the time to set my shoulders back and remove this witch from the world.

  I led the group across the dusty patch of bare dirt that acted as a parking space. The old barn was greyed from age, with windows covered in lichen and dirt. I’d pictured something far more impressive for such a life-changing ritual.

  Briar poked me hard in the ribs. I glared at her.

  “So you know you’re not dreaming again,” she said.

  “I made sure they can’t drag you into dream magic again,” Amy reassured me.

  Everything felt solid and real. Everyone was acting as they should be. I had to trust that this was real.

  Unsheathing my blades, I marched towards the front door. No one said I had to be subtle about this. Adam and Briar were at my back. The other three circled around the building, checking for a second entrance. My stomach had turned itself into one big knot, and my mouth dried out. Still, I continued pushing forward. This was it. No going back.

  I kicked open the old wooden door and looked around, ready to take on anything. Or so I’d thought. A large black dragon four times as big as my Mustang turned to glare at me. Witches dressed in black and gold began chanting as the dragon slowly turned to face us entirely. Its long tail dragged through the deep sand, tugging at small patches of grass as it did so. The feet were as big as me, with claws as long as my arm.

  Steeling myself, I pulled on my guardian magic and went straight for the dragon. There was a great comfort in the cold distance that descended over me as my guardian state kicked in. Wolves were being injured in the forest; I could feel it. The dragon needed to be killed.

  Witches swarmed around us with short wavy blades and gleams in their dark eyes. I moved with deadly efficiency, keeping an eye on the dragon as I pushed through their ranks, slicing through flesh and bone as I did so. A neon green feather flew past my head and landed in the cheek of a tall man to my left. He hissed, a distinctly serpentine sound, and pulled the feather out of his face. A trail of hot red blood ran down his cheek and dripped off his jawline. White patches of his teeth could be seen through the hole.

  His eyes were cold and hard as he turned his attention to Briar, the one who had thrown the feather. She stood strong and determined as she pulled another feather from her pocket. The priest’s lips pulled back, revealing long viper fangs. I had no idea they could do that.

  The petite witch in front of me tried to sink similar fangs into my arm. My healing and magic shield were good, but could they save me from the venom of a god!? I didn’t want to find out. I yanked my arm away and twisted, looking for an opening to cut her. She moved with a soft sway to her movements. It was almost hypnotising if I watched it too closely.

  I was pretty sure I was going to develop a strong fear of snakes by the time this was all over and done with.

  Briar shot around me and shoved one of the marbles into the open mouth of the priest before she ran around and took out the broad witch who was trying to cut Adam down.

  “Why isn’t it exploding!?” Briar shouted.

  “How am I supposed to know?” I shouted back as my guardian dagger found its
home in the petite witch’s throat.

  The priest had pulled the marble out of his mouth and was looking at it with a look of mild curiosity.

  Amy burst into the room and made a wave of her hand. Suddenly the marble exploded and I was covered in warm, rancid smelling lumps and ooze from the witches.

  “Not so close to me next time!” I shouted.

  The barn was quiet, given everything. It was disconcerting hearing nothing but the soft whispering of the witches and a clicking sound from the dragon. Liam, the dragon, was lying down in the middle of the barn watching idly. That didn’t seem like a good thing.

  “Apophis is seeping into him!” Sky shouted.

  I’d expected that to be painful, for Liam to be writhing in agony. He looked more like he was taking a nap.

  Rowan hacked down to witches with dual kitchen knives Amy had apparently enchanted along with everything else in the house, making a path for me to get to the dragon.

  “Where’s the fire?”

  “We’re working on it!” Sky shouted.

  I circled around the dragon, looking for somewhere soft to slice him open. His belly was flat against the soft sand beneath us. Hearing the cry of a dying garou outside, I took a risk and jumped up onto the great snout of the beast. I scrambled over the smooth slippery scales, aiming for his eyes.

  They were the size of dinner plates, nice easy targets. Assuming I could get there. The dragon let out a deafening roar and pushed himself up into standing while shaking his head violently. I grabbed onto a small spine near the bridge of his nose and tried to drag myself closer to the eye. They’d said we had to slice him open; they never said where.

  Fire bloomed all around us, and the dragon roared once more. Charred remains of witches covered the soft sand. We were getting there. I scrabbled to get a foothold within the scales and pushed myself forward to drive my dagger into the dragon’s eye. He screamed in pain as I pierced the cornea and pushed down through awful ooze that I was never going to be able to wash off.

  To my dismay, he didn’t crumble or turn into ash. He tossed me off, and I landed with a thud, grateful that it was sand. The dragon thrashed and snapped his teeth at everything that came near. Rowan rolled away as the dragon almost caught him by the shoulder of his jacket.

  “Fire!?” I shouted at Amy and Sky.

  Sky was spinning her short swords with a look of fierce determination on her face. Amy was glassy-eyed and entirely motionless in the corner of the barn. The dragon spotted her. Sky ran at the belly of the dragon, and I followed after her. This was our chance to cut him open. Fire be damned.

  I was aware of Rowan’s pouncing on Amy and sheltering her from the dragon. The siblings jumped onto the dragon’s face, distracting him, giving Sky and me the opening we needed. The dragon shook his great head, ignoring us entirely as we slipped our blades between his softer belly scales.

  Sky stabbed and slashed with a ferocity I never wanted to come up against. I dug my guardian dagger in as deep as I could manage and dragged it down the dragon’s belly, yanking scales off as I did so.

  Black blood streamed down onto the sand, filling the space with the scent of sand and iron. The dragon roared and tried to reach around to snap at us. We remained firmly under his stomach as we hacked and slashed, trying to reach the point where we’d done enough.

  The books hadn’t been very specific.

  Adam landed on his back when the dragon finally got rid of him. Briar jumped down and dragged him out of the way before the dragon could skewer him with a claw. The dragon’s belly was bloodied and full of holes, and yet he kept going.

  Amy screamed something in an old language and suddenly everyone’s blades were on fire. Sky and I returned to work, thrusting our blades into the holes we’d already created. The dragon’s bellows turned into hisses before he collapsed onto his side.

  Slowly, he crumpled and deflated, leaving a pile of black fabric with fine gold threads running through it.

  “Did we do it?” Briar asked.

  “Not yet. We haven’t found Cole or killed Natasha,” I snarled.

  “Rosalyn...” Sky said gently.

  “Cole is still alive, and I will not rest until that bitch is dead.”

  “But, hey, at least we saved the world. Right?” Rowan asked.

  I kicked at the fabric on the floor. There was no sign of life in there.

  “We did. We saved the world,” Adam said with a grin.

  It felt like a hollow victory without Cole at my side.

  35

  As much as I’d been torn between finding Cole and checking on the wolves, my duties as a guardian won out. I checked on every member of the Blue Dagger pack to make sure none of them had injuries they couldn’t heal.

  Each wolf was covered in blood, some of it their own. The bodies of witches were strewn throughout the woods around us. A deep exhaustion was settling into my bones, and I knew I didn’t have it in me to decide what to do with those bodies. We needed to keep them hidden from the humans. A cluster of fresh graves, even in those woods, would raise too many questions.

  “We’ll handle the bodies,” Erin said.

  It took a second for the words to register. I’d been lost in my own thoughts.

  “Thank you. We appreciate the help you offered here.”

  “We would like to be of future help, too. You’ll need to purge the council, after all.”

  I smiled. I couldn’t blame the alpha for trying to gain a little more power and security for her pack.

  “We’d be glad to have you,” I said.

  Erin nodded and we exchanged numbers.

  “I’ll tell you what we find on the council and look forward to working at your side.”

  Her message was loud and clear. I had no choice but to nod and accept her new position. I didn’t know enough people in the community, and people I could trust were few and far between.

  Rowan whispered to Erin and looked at Amy. I turned away and reached out with all of my senses, trying to find some sign of Cole. He was supposed to be there. He was supposed to be the key sacrifice, and yet I hadn’t seen a single sign of a sacrifice there in the barn.

  Liam had become the dragon, and there were plenty of witches, but I needed to think that wasn’t the end. We’d missed something somewhere. There had to be more Apophis witches. This was a distraction. I couldn’t believe otherwise. That was the only way Cole was still out there.

  36

  Briar had driven home. I was too tired, and she was over the moon to be allowed to drive a classic. At least someone appreciated my poor Mustang. Sky sat in the back, eyes closed, trying to sleep.

  Soon, my head was leaning against the cool glass, and I allowed my eyes to close. We had a long battle ahead of us, and the gods knew I was tired.

  I dreamt of Cole. He was vibrant and alive. A beautiful smile graced his lips and his eyes sparked with life. We ran through the forest together, and I curled up in his arms safe from the world. He would have told me what to do next. He knew how to step up and be a leader.

  When I had first heard about guardians, I’d thought they were just that: guardians. Now I was coming to see that it wasn’t as easy as simply travelling to wherever garou were being attacked and putting an end to it. I needed to enter the political arena and overhaul everything. Garou had been treated as second-class citizens for too long, and now we had the Apophis influence. It was time to shrug off my fears and the old life as a simple baker.

  I was a guardian now, and it was time to change the world.

 

  There was a subdued celebration when we returned home. Rowan had joined us at Amy’s request. The garou had been open about his position, and Amy wished to discuss it.

  I focused on making sure we had plenty of food, and sat outside in the yard looking up at the sky trying to get my head straight. I needed to lead these people. I needed to be far more than an alpha, and I didn’t know how. There was no wise old mentor to guide me, and no Cole to lean on when
it got tough.

  Sky sat down next to me and handed me a tub of cookie and peanut butter ice cream. She had her own tub of brownie and triple chocolate ice cream.

  “Any progress on the whole ‘gods and magic’ thing? Have you given your coven an answer?”

  “No, and no.”

  We both shovelled ice cream into our mouths and looked up in a comfortable silence.

  “What happens if you don’t decide?”

  Sky sighed.

  “Then I become a torn witch. They’re very rare because everyone always chooses. It’s an honour to be chosen by two gods. Who wouldn’t be flattered? A torn witch has no magic and goes mad. The presence of two gods in your soul and mind is just too much for someone to handle for that long.”

  “How long do you have?”

  “I’m pretty stubborn, so maybe a year. I will decide, though. I just need to learn more about Set and get this Apophis witch stuff wrapped up.”

  “You agree that this was a distraction?” I asked.

  Hope flared. Sky had far more ties to all of this than I did.

  “Yea. It just didn’t add up. The dragon wasn’t acting right, and where were the sacrifices? There should have been people and blood nearby. I’m not sure it was even Liam.”

  “So, what do we do now?”

  “I think Erin and that pack are right. We need to go to the council and start clearing this mess up from the top and work our way down. I’m worried that some of my coven have been turned by the Apophis witch. I don’t know what he’s doing to steal good witches away from their gods, but he’s doing it.”

  I rolled a piece of cookie dough around my mouth while I tried to figure out next move.

  “Should I just march in there and demand answers?” I asked with a laugh.

  Sky shrugged.