After eating, Sasha beckoned Zackary, along with the second hunting party, to follow her along one of the wooded paths.
“Two guns and one lead wolf per group,” Sasha said.
“I’ll sniff out Patrick. Even if he managed to bite, it wouldn’t affect me,” Aden reminded them. Being a werewolf had its advantages. He was bigger than the largest wolf shifter. Stronger. Faster. Like wolf shifters, he could transform at any time, and he could even walk on two legs in his beast’s form.
“I can sniff out Vallen,” Zackary offered. “I know his scent better than anyone.”
Tabor scoffed. “No kidding.”
“Let’s just get this over with as safely and swiftly as we can,” Sasha said. She led them to the tall caves she’d been known to sleep in alone before shacking up with Tabor. “Wait for us out here,” she said at the entrance.
Sasha and Tabor disappeared inside, leaving Emerson pacing near the opening. Ford leaned against a large boulder; arms folded over a snug navy T-shirt.
As uncomfortable as it was becoming part of Tabor’s and Sasha’s trio, Zackary felt relieved to get away before Jolene’s Sky Ceremony. Listening to her friends cry was too much to bear. He felt somehow responsible just by sharing the same blood as his father. He couldn’t wait to be free of him once and for all.
Sasha and Tabor returned with two backpacks. Sasha held one up.
“This contains two guns and extra ammunition we removed from the humans. Practice firing a few rounds after you’re out of the hollow. We don’t want to distress packmates any more than they already are.”
Ford hurried over and snatched the pack, making Emerson’s lips draw back as she hissed. With a triumphant lift of his head, Ford slipped his arms through the straps. Emerson tossed her golden mane over her shoulder, pasting a smile over her lips.
“Such a gentleman to carry the pack for me,” she said in a teasing tone, batting her lashes in exaggeration.
The snap of a twig made everyone whirl around, but there was no danger from the two females who jogged over.
Zackary’s heart lurched to see Elsie. For a moment, he thought she was going to run up to him, but she stopped short and glanced at Tabor, biting down on her lower lip. Gina, who had run in with her, kept going until she’d reached Emerson. The redhead threw her arms around Emerson’s neck. “Promise you’ll be careful.”
“We’re the ones with the guns and the werewolf,” Emerson spoke with unabashed confidence, jutting her chin up.
Gina hugged her tighter. “Promise me.”
“I promise.” Emerson rubbed her nose against Gina’s, flashing her a toothy smile. Pretty soon they were kissing with no signs of letting up.
It made Zackary’s stomach tighten with longing, wishing he could hug and kiss Elsie in front of pack members. This definitely was not the right crowd, not unless he wanted Tabor to use him as target practice.
“Be safe,” Elsie said softly.
Tabor’s face softened, bringing up old ugly feelings toward the half-shifter. He was the biggest obstacle standing between Zackary and the female he’d been drawn to from the very moment she appeared in Wolf Hollow.
“Sorry to have to leave you alone so soon.” Tabor gave Elsie a pat on the shoulder—a fucking pat like she was a damn dog.
But Elsie wasn’t looking at her brother; her blue eyes stared directly at Zackary.
“You be careful, too, Zackary.”
His heart stuttered at the concern and affection in her tone. Sasha pressed her lips together and looked at him with sharp interest, but Tabor didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary, huffing, “Don’t worry about him.”
Elsie’s gaze remained on Zackary. He could have sworn he heard her voice inside his head, echoing Gina’s words.
Promise me.
He nodded once.
I’ll be back soon, he thought.
Maybe he was crazy, but the next words in his head sounded so much like her.
Hurry up.
After seeing off the two hunting parties, Elsie took Gina’s hand, squeezing it in hers as they returned to the glade. Gina gripped her tightly. They spoke no words. They didn’t need to. Words weren’t necessary to express their worry for loved ones headed out into the wilds beyond Wolf Hollow’s territory to hunt down rabid wolves.
The shock of it had yet to subside. Elsie had spent the previous night sleeping side by side with Jolene and her friends. The she-wolf had been so friendly and sweet. Elsie had only just begun to get to know Jolene, and now she was gone. And then there was poor Patrick, turned rabid. Elsie hadn’t had an opportunity to speak to him at all.
A long procession of packmates was already making their way to the Forest of the Ancestors. Den mates filtered in, crossing the glade in a solemn march to the burial. Elsie and Gina followed them, still clasping hands.
Once they reached the forest, Gina tugged Elsie over to her friends Taryn and Janelle.
The temperature dropped beneath the dense canopy, blocking out the light. A hole about as deep and wide as a person had been dug beneath one of the trees. A shifter named Heath held Jolene’s naked body in his arms. The blood had been cleaned from her body and her light brown hair brushed into a silky shine.
Standing on her tiptoes, Elsie could see the gouges in Jolene’s skin where she’d been clawed and ripped open. Such things did not make her squeamish, only sad that a packmate had suffered and perished.
Elsie had been so intent on her impending claim that she’d never stopped to consider a worse alternative—not living long enough to have a mate. As a witch and wolf, she’d always felt invincible. Seeing Jolene’s mangled body lowered into the earth didn’t change that. Elsie had two advantages over humans, and yet her fate had been determined before she’d ever been born.
As Heath lowered Jolene’s body into the earth, Maureen and Lacy choked out sobs. The pack’s oldest member, Jager, stood slumped to one side in front of the hole in the ground. He made an effort to straighten, though Elsie could see that his health was deteriorating. The elder hunched all the time, whether he was seated or standing, and his response time had slowed considerably. Even thinking seemed to tire his mind. Today’s stress and sorrow certainly didn’t help.
Everyone quieted to allow him to speak.
“It is with great sorrow that we send Jolene off to the sky realm. A kindhearted and dutiful female, she was loved by all her packmates.” The females in the group sniffled. “It is with heavy hearts that we must say goodbye much too soon. This is a sad, sad day in Wolf Hollow.” His voice cracked slightly. “A very sad day. Today, we lay Jolene’s body to rest in the Forest of the Ancestors where she returns to our spirit pack. As in life, she is not alone. We send her to her family and to the packmates awaiting her in the afterlife where we shall all meet up one day.” He blinked several times. “May she run forever free.”
“May she run forever free,” the rest of the pack murmured.
Packmates took turns throwing dirt into the hole, covering Jolene’s body little by little. When Elsie made it over with a handful of soil, only Jolene’s arm poked through. Bits of soil spilled from Elsie’s fist as she looked down, heart sinking past her feet. Packmates tossed earth in around her. It took Elsie a moment to loosen her fingers over the pit.
That evening, Heath, Alec, and Maureen brought their drums to the glade and beat out a hypnotic melody after dinner. Some of the den mates stuck around, sprawled out on the grass or sitting on logs listening. Most of the mothers had left to tuck in their kids.
Elsie sat with her legs crossed in the grass beside Gina, Janelle, and Taryn. Taryn kept glancing over at Chase with a sad frown. Zadie and Nudara stood beside the drummers and began to sing. The olive-skinned sisters had beautiful voices. Their melody filled the clearing and Elsie’s soul. They all stayed up late until, one by one, packmates undressed then shifted into wolf form, remaining in the glade, where they all slept in one big group.
Sitting in human form over the grass, E
lsie looked around at the wolves curled into balls, resting against their packmates. The scene around her was one of unity and strength. It was beautiful. Magical. Even in the face of tragedy. She’d never seen so many wolves together in one place—the glade blanketed in fur beneath the night sky.
She pulled her dress over her head and folded it gently before setting it on a patch of grass beside her.
Elsie didn’t shift immediately. She remained crouched on the ground, stripped bare beneath the stars and moon. Inside her chest, her heart howled for Zackary. Tears pricked her eyes as she remembered him leaving the hollow, and she suddenly felt selfish. She hadn’t shed a tear for Jolene, but here she was blinking the wetness from her eyes over a packmate who would return.
Surrounded by an entire pack of wolves, she felt so alone.
Isolation was preferable to a life mated to Brutus. Zackary needed to come back soon.
She only had two weeks left.
chapter nine
Breakfast was a somber affair the following morning. Everyone spoke in hushed whispers, as though it was rude to enjoy too much life in the face of Jolene’s death. Hudson insisted on staying with Elsie during day duties. Assuring him for the tenth time that she was more than fine on her own and could always howl if she needed help had done nothing to convince him. He and Chase talked about trading off every other day until Zackary returned.
She clenched her teeth. At this rate, by the end of the day her entire jaw would ache.
How many days would Zackary be gone? How much precious time would she lose? If he took too long . . . She didn’t want to think it. If her father were there, he’d tell her she had to find an alternative, preferably several, in case Zackary didn’t make it back in time.
Her heart erupted into flames at the thought of being with anyone other than Zackary. She didn’t want to kiss another shifter, let alone claim one who wasn’t her big, beautiful, sexy wolf.
He had to hurry back. He just had to.
“You okay?” Hudson asked, brows furrowed as they took the empty baskets to the blackberry bushes.
He probably thought she was shaken up about Jolene. She was, but her deeper anguish was purely selfish. It wasn’t just her impending deadline. An emptiness had filled her chest the moment Zackary left the hollow. An unfamiliar feeling. She’d lived with her father her whole life and loved him unconditionally, yet her heart did not ache over their separation. When Tabor had insisted she return to Balmar Heights until the threat of the humans passed, she hadn’t missed her brother this way.
With Zackary, a piece of her soul was missing.
“I don’t suppose things like this happen at Balmar Heights,” Hudson said as he picked his first berry of the day. “I can’t imagine you have rabid wolves and vulhena running up the mountain to attack.”
“No, we don’t,” Elsie answered.
“Your own little utopia above the clouds,” Hudson remarked.
“We have problems with bear shifters.”
“Bear shifters?” Hudson looked over; eyes wide with curiosity.
“They don’t want us up there on the mountain, even though we don’t bother them.” Elsie ground her teeth. Her gums were already aching.
“Have they ever killed any of your clan?”
“No, but they once stole two of our children.”
Hudson snarled and nearly dropped his basket. “Bastards,” he said.
Elsie nodded. “They really are a bunch of brutes.” One in particular.
The thought of claiming the mangy beast sent spirals of disgust coiling through Elsie’s stomach. Given the chance, Brutus would not be gentle with her—not like Zackary in the least. He’d bring her nothing but pain and punishment. Such a life sounded worse than death. Elsie shuddered.
“Chase’s sister, Rebecca, was killed by a rabid wolf.” Hudson kept his attention on the berries he picked one by one with great care. “I was going to claim her for my mate,” he said softly.
“I’m sorry.” Elsie looked over, watching the deliberate way Hudson selected the ripest of the berries. He was slow, but they had plenty of time.
Hudson cleared his throat. “Yup. Becks and I agreed we’d become mates, and Chase planned to claim my sister Taryn. It all seemed so bloody perfect at the time.” Hudson set a berry in his basket then ran a hand through his hair with a sigh.
Elsie’s movements slowed. She couldn’t imagine losing her intended mate or a sibling. She didn’t want to, but suddenly she was thinking about how the three shifters who meant the most to her were all together outside of Wolf Hollow’s protective borders.
Fear came like punches to the gut. The more she thought about it, the more it hurt.
Tabor was a powerful wizard, she reminded herself. Sasha and Zackary were strong too. Super strong.
But time, not strength, remained the real enemy. Every day that passed hollowed out Elsie’s heart a little more and left her jaw aching in the evening. Just like they’d decided, Hudson and Chase took turns partnering with her. Hudson was the more talkative one. Chase ate more berries than he put in the basket, which took him the entire day to fill up with all the breaks he took in between to rest in the shade of the tree. Elsie didn’t care what his methods were. She just wanted Zackary to hurry back, especially since Aden, Emerson, and Ford had returned home successful, carrying Patrick’s dead wolf body, to be burned in the glade with another, slightly different, cleansing Sky Ceremony.
While packmates chanted “run forever free,” Elsie’s mind screamed, “run back to me, Zackary. Please return soon.”
She hoped that wherever he was, he was safe. And she prayed to mother earth, moon, sun, and sky that he came home before it was too late.
With the scent of burnt flesh and fur stinking the air, Elsie slipped away to the Sakhir River, walking along its bank. The smoke didn’t reach here, as though the current was capable of pushing away the smoldering rabid wolf. When the river became shallow, Elsie lifted her dress above her knees and walked upstream.
She stared down at her bare feet slicing through the water, surefooted over the submerged rocks beneath her toes. Her heart ached as she approached the spot where she had lain with Zackary. She yearned to sit there now as though she could summon him back.
Elsie took a step toward land, stopping when the hairs on the back of her neck rose.
“Elsie,” came a loud whisper.
She jerked her head around.
William stood on the opposite side of the Sakhir, his eyes intent on hers. Elsie’s heart jackhammered inside her chest. He felt more like a threat than a friend. She waded across, releasing the hem of her dress as she charged straight up to the wizard.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded.
William lifted onto his booted toes and looked over her shoulder. Seeming satisfied that no packmates were around to bother them, he returned his attention to her. His eyes seemed to glow manically when he grinned.
“I’ve figured it out, Elsie.”
“Figured what out?” she asked, frowning.
“Another loophole that doesn’t involve you giving yourself over to one of the wolves.” His upper lip drew back before relaxing back into a pleased smile. “I’ll show you.”
As William started for the woods, Elsie’s feet remained rooted to the spot. She looked over her shoulder. She’d already stepped off Wolf Hollow territory; she didn’t want to go any further.
When he saw that she did not follow, William stopped and frowned.
“It’s right in here.” He nodded at some bushes then walked around them.
A dull pain entered Elsie’s fingers as her wolf’s claws prickled below the surface. She tried to soothe her inner wolf before storming around the bushes to see what William was up to. He stood beside a large backpack and duffel bag.
“Clothes and supplies for both of us,” he announced, lifting his chin.
Elsie gaped at him. Did he want her to run away with him? Had he lost his mind?
“Those
won’t do me any good if I’m dead, and I’ll die if I don’t claim a shifter,” she reminded him in a clipped tone.
If he suggested that it was better for her to live a shortened life with him than claim a shifter, she was going to have to throttle him before sending him back to Balmar Heights.
William nodded. “Yes, exactly. Right after you claim Brutus, I’ll kill him. The bargain will be fulfilled, and we’ll be free to run away together. We’ll find another gated community far from the suburbs where we can start our own coven.”
A wave of nausea rolled through Elsie’s stomach.
“Brutus is immune to our magic,” she stammered. That wasn’t the real issue, but her head and tummy spun in anxious circles.
William dove down to the duffel bag, yanked the zipper open, and pulled a rifle off the top. He stood holding it, head lifted, and lips grinning.
“I’ll put a bullet in his skull just as soon as he’s bitten you and the claim is made.”
Fury raged through her like thunder. Did William mean to hide himself while Brutus mated her then cap him once the bear shifter pulled out? Or maybe he meant to off the beast while he was still straddling her.
Her stomach recoiled.
William disgusted her, and her hatred of Brutus did not extend to cold-blooded murder.
“No,” she said firmly. She stared into the trees beside him, unable to look at him. “This is my home now. Balmar Heights is your home. I can’t leave my brother or father.”
“Your father?” William hissed in disdain.
When Elsie looked over, William’s eyebrows pinched together, and wrinkles formed grooves in his forehead. He set the rifle on top of the duffel with a scowl.
Moon Cursed (Wolf Hollow Shifters Book 4) Page 9