“Let go!” Elsie screeched. She slammed her heels over his feet and twisted from side to side in his arms. Rubbing torsos with the brute was seriously disturbing, but getting away trumped all.
Brutus had to let go to get the collar around Elsie’s neck. When he loosened his hold on her, she pushed away from his chest. Brutus’s arms shot forward with the blasted choking device. In his rush, he slammed into her throat, choking her. The brute didn’t bother easing up to allow her to breathe. He finished, wrapping the tightly woven material around the back of her neck and securing it tightly.
Her violent coughing brought tears to the corners of her eyes. Elsie was still hacking when Brutus hooked the chain to the metal loop by the collar.
“Finished. You can sit and relax now,” he said calmly.
Elsie dropped to the ground, still hacking. With the collar so tight, she felt like she might never find her breath again. Tears continued to spill out. All the while, her hatred of the bear shifter grew. She’d been willing to walk away, but now she had half a mind to kill the beast before she left.
“You are the worst of the worst,” she seethed as soon as she could speak without coughing her way through every other word.
“You’re mistaking me for your father.”
Brutus backed away, dragging one end of the chain with him to the wall of the cave where Elsie noticed a round metal hoop hammered into the rock. The bastard had planned this all along! He clipped the metal leash in place and folded his arms, raising his eyebrows as though expecting Elsie to yell at him.
Oh, she wanted to do more than scream. Disembowelment had a satisfying ring to it.
“You never wanted a mate,” she accused. “You wanted a slave. A prisoner. A pet.”
Brutus growled, matching her hatred with his own. “I did want a mate, but not you. Someone in my family had to see to it that Lazarus and his offspring suffered. My brothers bitched about it, so I stepped up and offered to make the sacrifice.”
“How noble of you,” Elsie said bitterly.
“At least my father died knowing that vengeance would be served.” Brutus wrapped his fingers around the chain and gave it a slight tug, not enough to pull her over, but to show her he could. Elsie glared at him. Brutus nodded. “I have metal hoops secured all around my territory so that I can keep you with me at all times.”
“You planned to collar me all along,” Elsie said again, her heart sinking.
“I knew you had no honor,” Brutus fired back. “I knew once I claimed you, you’d take off. You’ve already proven my point. You let a wolf shifter claim you and then you left him. You’re not leaving me, Elsie. If I have to keep you on a chain for the rest of your life, that’s your own damn fault.”
Angry tears splashed over Elsie’s cheeks. She was so sick of crying.
“I hate you,” she said between clenched teeth.
“The feeling’s mutual.” Brutus settled in beside the chain, laying an arm over it and his head on top.
When he closed his eyes, Elsie lifted her bound wrists to her neck. The name tag and links of chain clinked before she had a chance to try and twist the collar around to reach the fastening. Brutus’s eyes opened. He watched her, looking way too relaxed about the situation.
Huffing moodily, Elsie turned her back to him and lay on her side, facing the fire. As eager as she was to leave, she needed to dredge up some patience and wait until Brutus was well and truly asleep. After that, she just needed to slip the collar off without making a sound. Hopefully the bear shifter was a loud snorer.
Waiting meant thinking and replaying all the terrible things Brutus had said about her. What hurt the most was they weren’t entirely untrue.
No one wanted her, not even the hairy brute. He only desired her punishment. Maybe this was exactly what she deserved.
chapter twenty-three
Zackary crashed through brush, racing the sky. Dusk had come, but he would continue to run until he could no longer see his legs below him. A full moon would have been helpful tonight, but he couldn’t seem to catch a damn break.
Ignoring the darkness that fell over the forest like an all-encompassing avalanche, it wasn’t until Zackary stubbed his toe and ran into a tree that he gave a great groan. Better to wait out the rest of the night unless he wanted to end up with a twisted ankle and no wolf to carry him through.
Grumbling, Zackary got to the ground, not caring that roots and pebbles dug into his back. He didn’t want to waste time sleeping while his mate was somewhere in the wilderness all alone, but dusk had fallen, and he couldn’t see in the dark. That ability was lost to him forever. It still hadn’t sunk in. Maybe it never would.
It wasn’t as though the night gave him the benefit of rest either. Mosquitoes swarmed him, making a merry meal out of his arms and neck. Their incessant buzz was the worst part. Zackary slapped at the ones that came near his face.
“Fuck off!” Zackary growled. As though the mosquitoes would listen. He sat up and blindly clapped the air around him. The forest momentarily quieted. He placed his hands in his lap, replaying the last moments of the council meeting right after Elsie disappeared.
“Well done, everyone. Now my sister’s out there all alone,” Tabor had said bitterly.
Emerson had rolled her eyes and flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder. “She’s hardly defenseless. And I didn’t vote to kick her out. I just told her how I felt about being on the receiving end of her spell.”
Jager had nodded. “Council members must feel safe to openly discuss pack concerns.”
“I didn’t vote her out either,” Wolfrik had chimed in. “Elsie is a grown woman. She doesn’t need to be coddled.”
Tabor’s scowl had said otherwise.
Zackary, having heard enough, stepped away from the circle. When asked where he was going, he’d answered, “To find my mate.”
It didn’t matter that he no longer had the ability to sniff her out or catch up. He wouldn’t stop until he got to Balmar Heights.
Zackary rubbed his jaw.
The trouble was, he’d never been to Balmar Heights. Knowing which direction the mountain lay probably wouldn’t get him there anytime soon. Thinking ahead had never been one of Zackary’s strengths. It was his heart that had led him into the woods. He’d climb every damn mountain in the forest if that’s what it took.
Zackary lifted his knees and rested his face against them.
Bzzzzzz.
“Fuck!” he bellowed, slapping his cheek. Too late; the little fucker had bitten him.
A male grunted in the dark. “You kiss my sister with that mouth?”
Zackary leapt to his feet, his fingers curling into fists. Turning in a circle, he searched the shadows for the wizard.
“Did you follow me here to kill me?” Zackary demanded.
Flames burst from a rotted out log a couple paces away. Zackary jumped back, crouching, preparing himself for an attack. But the next voice was Sasha’s. She walked past the flames naked.
“We’re coming with you,” she announced, chin raised high.
Zackary quickly turned around to give her privacy. “You mean to start a new pack?” he asked in confusion.
For a moment, he forgot he was no longer a wolf shifter. Even on four legs, it would have been awkward as hell. What an odd mix they’d make: a pureblood, a wizard, a witch, and a shifter who couldn’t shift.
“No, we’re getting Elsie back, then we’re all returning home to Wolf Hollow. A female has a right to protect her mate, and you risked yours to save the hollow. The council has decided that you and Elsie will live in the den. They are in desperate need of extra hands for structural repairs and projects. How does that sound?”
Facing the dark trees, Zackary went still. “If the den needs my help, I am willing to give it. What would Elsie do?”
“She could help tend the garden and watch over the children until the two of you have your own.”
The subsequent growl was unmistakably Tabor’s. Whispers,
followed by low arguing hit Zackary’s back before Tabor stopped bickering long enough to huff.
“We’ll sleep here for the night,” Sasha announced. “Tabor, is there anything you can do about the bugs?”
“Build a bigger fire?” he suggested.
“Let’s get to it,” Sasha said.
Zackary helped gather twigs and feed them into the flames Tabor had conjured up. He was careful to avoid looking at Sasha’s naked form, keeping focused on the task. When they’d built the fire up enough to last the night, they curled around it. Zackary wondered why Sasha and Tabor didn’t shift into wolf form for the night. He wondered why they didn’t press on without him. Yet he was glad they didn’t. He wanted to be the first to reach Elsie, even if that meant arriving with a group. At least this way he could find her faster and not waste time fumbling through the forest. It gave him enough peace of mind to drift off to sleep . . . that and the break from the infernal mosquitoes.
In the morning, Tabor and Sasha hunted down a couple of rabbits. It was another reminder of Zackary’s new shortcoming. He wouldn’t be able to feed himself let alone his mate. Without a knife to skin the animal, Zackary couldn’t even share in the small feast. At least he’d have the tools he needed in the den. Children weren’t capable of shifting until their twelfth year, which meant butchering wild game into hunks of meat suitable for roasting over an open flame. Zackary would be like a big child who never reached the age of shifting.
Could be worse, he reminded himself. He could be mad. Or dead.
“You have a mate who loves you,” Sasha said softly. “That’s what’s important.” Yet again, she’d shifted without him noticing, and she had an uncanny ability of reading his mind.
“Let’s go find Elsie.”
Tabor took the lead in wolf form since he knew his sister’s scent best. Zackary kept his focus on where he walked and on the direction the wolf led them, doing his best to not accidently look at Sasha.
It felt strange traveling together again. This journey led them deeper into the wilderness—north rather than south. Their query was different.
“I am sorry your father wasn’t a better man,” Sasha offered somberly.
“I’m glad he’s dead,” Zackary gritted out.
“You’re nothing like him, you know.” Zackary kept his mouth clamped tight. “You will make Elsie a good mate,” Sasha continued.
“What good am I to her now?” Zackary ground out. He’d never known how to take a compliment, nor pretend like everything was going to be okay.
Staying quiet for several heartbeats, Sasha looked over, offering a gentle smile. “Only you can determine your own self-worth.”
Her words didn’t bring the intended comfort. He knew she was trying to be nice, and he appreciated it—not many packmates bothered. But Zackary wasn’t strong-willed like Sasha. Elsie’s love was the only thing that had ever made him feel like a better man—one capable of being more than what his father had seen. She brought out the best in him and made him want to be even better. Living without her didn’t feel like any kind of life. He could learn to go without shifting into his wolf so long as he got to be with his mate.
Zackary was encouraged by Tabor’s intent nose sniffing over the ground, but they still had to stop when another night cast its shadow over the forest.
“We’re getting close,” Tabor said as they built up a fire. “For some reason she’s traveling in human form.”
“Why would she do that?” Stunned, Zackary gaped at Tabor over the low flames rising from the twigs and brush they’d gathered. Tabor shrugged.
Zackary didn’t like the thought of Elsie leaving herself exposed to lurking predators, the vulhena among them. The vicious creatures had kept away from the hollow for the past couple months, but that didn’t mean they weren’t slinking around the outskirts.
Zackary’s hands began to sweat. He tightened them into fists then loosened them, repeating the motion.
Sasha cleared her throat. “I think she’s walking because she never wanted to leave Wolf Hollow and is hoping Zackary will catch up and bring her back home.”
Zackary blinked before the tears had a chance to form. He should have spoken up sooner, returned Elsie’s love at the council meeting, admitted that her reason for hastening their claiming didn’t change his feelings for her.
“I love her,” Zackary said. “I feel like I can’t eat or sleep without her.” He gripped the back of his neck with one hand and stared into the fire.
Tabor huffed. “You don’t deserve her.”
“I know.”
“Everyone deserves love,” Sasha said.
When he looked up, Sasha smiled at him warmly. Tabor’s arms were tightly folded and his green eyes seemed to flicker with the flames.
“My sister’s happiness better become your number one priority. In the future, you stick by her side no matter what—are we clear?”
Zackary kept his lips pressed tight as he glared at the wizard shifter.
Sasha clapped her hands together. “Excellent. Now that that’s settled, let’s try and get some rest so we can catch up to Elsie tomorrow.”
They rose at first light. Tabor and Sasha skipped their morning snack, as eager as Zackary to get going. Tabor said Elsie’s scent was getting stronger and, with the early start, they might catch up to her before midday. Zackary’s heart pounded with anticipation.
Several paces ahead, Tabor stopped to sniff at a rough trail up a slope with streams trickling down. The wolf picked up his pace, head down, sniffing intently. When Tabor started up the slope in a jog, Zackary and Sasha ran after him, catching up at the top.
Tabor looked from one direction to another before taking a path that leveled out along blackberry bushes. Seeing the berries made Zackary’s stomach clench. He nearly tripped over the wolf when Tabor jerked around without warning and headed back the way they’d come. This time, the wolf took off at a sprint and it was all Zackary and Sasha could do to keep him in sight.
The thought of Elsie being close by sent adrenaline spiking straight down Zackary’s legs. He ran for all he was worth. A life of labor had strengthened his human body. He pounded over the firm ground leading away from the bushes and back into the forest. Sasha’s labored breaths faded as he left her behind. The pureblood could always shift if she needed help catching up.
The sound of Tabor’s enraged snarl jolted Zackary into triple speed. He thundered past trees and hoisted himself over a fallen log, swinging his legs over the thick wood before hitting the ground running on the other side.
Through the thicket, he could make out a small clearing with sunlight pouring down, lighting the space in front of the opening to a large cave set into a hill.
What Zackary saw when he reached the clearing nearly brought his wolf out before he clamped it back and the madness that came with it.
Elsie stood with her wrists bound in front of her, wearing a fur bikini top and loincloth, similar to the costumes the females wore during the full moon celebration dance . . . only there was no mask covering the angry red blotches on Elsie’s face. And this was no celebration.
The worst offense was the collar wrapped around his mate’s neck and the chain binding her to the beast of a man holding the other end. The bastard was naked and ungroomed. He towered over half a head taller than Zackary and showed no alarm at their appearance.
The pounding in Zackary’s ears brought out a guttural roar. Before he could make a move for the mongrel, Tabor shifted, pushed out his arms, and yelled, “Formella lavita!”
“Tabor, no!” Elsie yelped. “Magic doesn’t work on him.”
The hairy mass holding Elsie’s chain rumbled with laughter.
“And who is this fool? Your half-breed brother?” He laughed again.
Tabor lowered his arms slowly, glowering. “You must be Brutus. Since you’re obviously not very bright, let me explain things to you. My sister already has a shifter mate, so you have no right to her.”
“Elsie!” Sasha
gasped in horror, having just run in.
Neck corded and arms shaking, Zackary came at the man. Brutus’s eyes lit up at Zackary’s approach. He yanked Elsie to him and she fell to her knees. Zackary stopped and growled, his vision clouding over in fury.
“You weren’t lying about your mate not being small,” Brutus said, sounding delighted. “This is your mate, isn’t it?”
Elsie pressed her lips together and glared furiously at Brutus.
“Did he touch you?” Zackary demanded. “Did this filthy beast force himself on you?”
He was going to rip Brutus limb from limb. He’d knock him out with a rock and chain him to a tree first so he could go back to the hollow and borrow an ax. The end of Brutus the bear would not be merciful.
“No,” Elsie said. “He’s not interested in me that way. He’s only trying to humiliate me.”
The relief was like the first wisp of breeze on a blistering day. His mate had not been violated. Thank the moon.
Zackary still wanted to kill the beast.
“I’m sure the rest of you have as much honor as the little witch, which is to say none,” Brutus said. “Her father made an agreement with mine over two decades ago. She was promised to me as recompense for the sins committed against my family by Lazarus and his coven.”
“How does forcing an innocent to become your mate make past grievances any better?” Sasha folded her arms over her breasts.
Brutus smiled at her slowly.
“That is no innocent you welcomed into your wolf pack. But you’re right. Taking the little witch-wolf doesn’t begin to make up for stolen territory. My brothers and I have been too lenient while waiting for Lazarus to fulfill his end of the bargain and hand over his daughter. Perhaps she was a decoy all along.” Brutus turned to Elsie and sneered. There wasn’t the faintest glimmer of interest in his gaze, not even lust. For that, Zackary was grateful, but the brute could still harm his mate.
Noticing the rage brewing on Zackary’s face, Brutus gave a nod of understanding.
“I can see you want to fight me, and I am game for that. How do you want to do this, tough guy? Bear to wolf or man to man?”
Moon Cursed (Wolf Hollow Shifters Book 4) Page 24