by J. E. Cluney
Frank had stayed behind, too old to keep up with us.
We tore through the pines, our Alpha leading us in his giant, black wolf form. I was surprised we were able to keep up, barely.
We were silent, not wanting to alert Richard to our presence. One part of me wanted to in hopes he’d turn and come for us, the other part knew he’d know he was outnumbered and it’d spur him on to catch Tay, if he hadn’t already. Then he’d use her as a hostage to save himself.
Jaye snarled and snapped, struggling to stay quiet as his Feral side came through. His movements were jarred and sporadic as he weaved around before me, struggling to stay on track.
I just hoped his love for Tay would drive him onward to her.
I opened my lungs fully, drawing in her scent, along with two males, one obviously the Alpha. And judging by Charles whimpers off to my side, the other was his son, Ray.
I wasn’t sure whether to be grateful or not. I didn’t have time to be annoyed that this strange ‘wolf had gotten a soft spot for Tay, for all I knew, he was the one keeping her alive.
I relished in the fact that I could practically taste Richard’s blood. Taylor had wounded him, and it made me both equally proud and terrified for her.
Lawrence shot off like a rocket when another roar rose up, and we all just had to hope he’d get to her in time while we followed. We’d do our best to get there too.
I pumped my legs harder and faster than ever before. I’d never run with such force, driven by fear and terror, imagining just what Richard would do if he caught Taylor.
I couldn’t lose her. The thought alone made me draw alongside Jaye, whose erratic movements had dissipated. I rolled my eyes to glance at him, and I could see the determination and utter fear in his glowing yellow eyes. He’d regained control, but he was petrified for Taylor.
I gave a soft growl to attempt to reassure him, but it was pointless. He could sense my own terror as we ran like wildfire, our white coats flashing through the pines like bullets.
We’d reach her in time.
We had to.
11
I panted hard, my tongue lolling out of my mouth as I struggled to keep up with Ray. He was growing tired too as we clambered up the rocky mountainside, our way forward a steep incline with boulders and rocks jutting out.
I know Ray hoped the bigger, heavier Alpha wolf would struggle up this climb, but it was also barely possible for me to traverse.
I could tell by his excited yips and the wag of his tail that we were getting close to Firestone Ridge. I just had to keep going.
My paw slid on a boulder, and I slipped back down, yelping as a jagged rock caught me in the ribs.
Ray was down by my side in an instant, using his body to nudge me forward, and I was able to push off him to gain some traction once more.
I ached all over, drained and exhausted, and a piece of me wanted to just collapse and accept my fate, unable to continue on.
But that stubborn, strong-willed part of me defied that, forcing me to continue the treacherous climb.
I clambered up the rocks and boulders, small pebbles tumbling down the slope as I moved forth.
Ray stayed at my side now, and I could feel his worry for me rolling off him in waves. He was scared, both for me and of Richard. I could never thank him for this, for risking his life like this. I doubted I would’ve made it this far without him urging me on, guiding me. I’d not known where to go without him.
My blood ran cold and Ray let out an ungodly shriek as a victorious howl rose up from down below.
I couldn’t help but dare a peak down at the gigantic grey wolf staring up at us. His chest was bloody, closer to his shoulder, I inwardly punched myself for missing the shot.
He snarled as he began the precarious climb, and a new wave of adrenaline washed over me as I scrambled up. Ray was jittery, and I almost thought he was going to take off and abandon me.
But he stayed, glued to my side as he helped me climb.
Desperate, furious snarls rose up from below as Richard struggled with the steep climb, his huge Alpha form making many of the rocks and boulders crumble and tumble around him. Not to mention he was being too brutal, leaping up with no care for how his weight would affect the terrain.
We needed to be careful and surefooted here, and I was beyond thankful that he was too out of his mind to understand that.
It felt like I was dancing with death as we scaled the steep slope, one wrong step and I could tumble down into his waiting jaws. Would he go straight for my throat? Rip my jugular out and be done with it? Or would he take his time, tearing me limb from limb, fucking my dying body just to make a point? What about Ray? He’d not go unharmed for aiding me. How would he tear Ray apart?
All these thoughts only spurred me on, and relief washed over me when I spied the ledge just further up. We’d be back on easier ground in just a moment. One more painful moment.
Ray whimpered with relief as we clambered onto the ledge, gasping for air. We didn’t take the chance to catch our breath.
Ray shot forward, making sure I stuck with him as we tore down the rocky track through some massive boulders. Rocky walls rose up around us, and I shuddered at the realization that we were caged in. We had to keep going forward, there was nowhere else to go. I hated being confined like this, trapped with an enemy on our heels.
Ray better know where the hell he was going.
We weaved through the track, dodging rocks and logs that had gotten caught in this ravine.
Would there be something that symbolized the edge of the territory? How would I know when we crossed the border? And where the hell were we going?
If we could find a road, we could hail down help. That would be my first thought. We needed a way to escape him, and we needed it soon. As much as I wanted to keep going, eventually my body would give out. Hell, it nearly had. The only thing driving my battered paws was adrenaline, and it wouldn’t last forever.
The mind-shattering howl that rose up behind us made me stumble, my paws tripping over themselves as I tumbled to the ground.
Ray whimpered and yipped as he urged me to get up, and I scrambled back to my feet, looking back down the ravine. We’d weaved around many curves and bends, but I knew he was coming, and he was racing to get to us.
He’d be upon us in no time.
I shot forward, ignoring the pain and strain in my body as I flew down the narrow ravine with Ray, our sides brushing each other as we stayed side by side in the narrow gap.
The roars increased, louder and more excited.
He was just behind us now.
The ravine opened up, and there was a gentle slope we had to clamber up before we were back into open space, no more crushing walls on either side suffocating us and locking us in.
I only got the chance to glimpse the top of the ridge before Ray barreled into my side and sent me tumbling.
I yelped and turned to give him a shocked look, but then I understood why.
Ray was yanked off of me by rough, crushing jaws that crunched into his side as he screamed out, his wolfish cries breaking my heart.
Richard hurled him aside, and Ray’s body hit the ravine wall with a sickening thud.
I stared up at the monstrous grey wolf towering over me, my body weak and refusing to budge.
This was it. There was no escaping now.
And yet the little voice inside me screamed and begged me to fight back.
I would not roll over and die.
I snarled as I struggled to stand, and Richard just shoved me hard with his snout, hurling me a few feet back.
He growled, a menacing, deadly sound that rocked me to my core.
He circled me, his head low as he bared his fangs, his yellow eyes gleaming with delight and fury.
He lurched forward, those jaws opening wide.
I rolled my body, kicking out with my paws with everything I had. They hit him in the chest, making him cringe as my claws scraped his open wound, tearing it open even
more as fresh blood tricked forth.
And then excruciating pain tore through me as those deadly jaws clamped down on my back leg, crunching down on my thigh.
I shrieked and howled in agony, writhing and snapping, trying desperately to latch onto him anywhere, to draw blood and bring him equal pain. He picked me up with ease as I screamed again, the pain searing through me as I dangled from my leg.
I scrambled with my front legs, desperate to gain some traction so I could stand and spin around to sink my fangs into his face.
My left paw caught a boulder, and I used it to propel myself around, thanking my not so lucky stars that I was capable of bending in such a way. My muscles strained as I pulled my upper body around to my side, and I snapped my jaws into his flesh, feeling the satisfying pop as my canine tooth dug right into his eye.
He let out a blood-curdling scream as he dropped me and tore his face from my grip.
I crumpled to the ground, watching as he shook his head, blood pouring from his eye-socket along with some other nasty goo. His exploded eye, I imagined.
If I died right here, at least he’d be half-blind.
I tried to move, but yelped as pain tore through me, my left back leg refusing to obey.
And then the whole scene changed right before me. A strange sensation washed over me as a big black wolf tore into the area, howling and baring its teeth, moving with such ferocity and hatred that it shocked me.
It knocked Richard off his feet, ripping into him with tooth and claw.
I stared in utter amazement as my boys and brother came rocketing into the area, bursting through the ravine and joining my father in tearing into Richard.
I gasped and shook as the shift overcame me, unable to hold onto my wolf form any longer as pain coursed through me.
I spied a brown wolf rushing over to Ray’s side, whimpered and nudging him. Relief washed over me as Ray made a sound in response.
He was alive. Thank god.
Richard howled and snarled, shaking off my boys and brother as he fought my father. But he was fighting a losing battle, none of them would allow him to live now. Not after everything.
I spied the sleeker black wolf as she shot into the area, rushing over to check on me.
Neema shifted back to a woman, her terrified eyes rolling over my bruised and broken body. Her hands twitched and fluttered, but she didn’t dare touch me, like she expected me to crumble at the slightest touch.
“That fucking monster,” she spat, catching her breath as she stared at my leg.
My father howled in triumph and my boys and Chris all backed off as my father stood over Richard, who lay in a pool of his own blood, gasping and struggling for air.
His grey fur was splashed with his own blood, and I looked up at Neema.
My eyes fell to the sheath that still clung to her ankle, the sliver blade attached by a flexible sheath that allowed her to retain the weapon even in wolf form.
I reached for it, and Neema didn’t stop me as I pulled it out.
“Please!” I shouted, stopping my father just as he was preparing to deliver the killing blow.
He looked at me, his eyes breaking at the sight of me as he whimpered.
I dragged myself over, my bloody, mangled leg dragging behind me as I crawled. Everyone watched me silently, and I could feel the horrified stares of my boys as they took in my battered body.
I gritted my teeth, ignoring the agony and weakness in my body.
I had to do this. To help move on from him, to recover and find some comfort. This would be for all the women and children of his Pack, all those he abused and forced himself upon.
This was for them as much as it was for me.
I stared down at Richard, the cool hilt of the blade in my hand was like gripping death itself. He wheezed and sputtered, those dark eyes confused and scared.
Good. He deserved to be afraid. To be terrified, like I had been, like his Pack had been.
I held the knife up, clutching it with both hands, struggling to ignore the excruciating pain shooting through my leg as I raised myself up.
Richard’s eyes dulled as he realized it was all over.
He’d lost. This was the end of the road for him.
I screamed, a sound that tore from deep within my very soul, a cry that shattered my being and echoed all around. The blade plunged into his chest, and I drove it hard and deep, right until the hilt was all that jutted from his flesh. Richard’s body tensed and spasmed as steam rose from the knife, the blood bubbling and boiling as it burned around the silver.
And then he fell still, and I drew in shaky breaths as tears streaked down my cheeks.
I just stared at him, the life fading from his eyes, taking with it all the hate and destruction he’d caused. A strange feeling washed over me as I sat back, the pain in my body a distant thought as I just stared.
He was dead. This was over.
I gasped as the blue light hit me like a truck, coursing through my body as it departed Richard’s, snaking down to my injured leg and filling me with an intense power. My body pulsed with the energy surging through me, my fingertips tingling with the incredible sensation. I gasped as the power and strength exploded inside me, filling me with something I’d never felt before. Strength and power, the deep connection to all of my new Pack, the sense of protection and family. It warmed me inside, burning like blue fire through me.
Then it died down just as suddenly as it came, leaving me cold and naked as I collapsed back.
The last thing I saw was the worried faces of my boys, all their glowing yellow eyes as they looked down at me.
Then I drifted into the darkness, glad to fade away from the pain.
I awoke in the same bed I’d been in for the past two days. The ugly olive green sheets were wrapped around me, and I groaned as my head pounded and my leg ached.
“Hey sweetie.”
I turned my head, staring through one good and one still swollen eye at my father. He perched on the edge of the bed, watching me quietly with intense emerald eyes. He looked haggard and worn, but he looked relieved.
The night before shot through me and I sunk back into the pillows as I blinked numbly.
“He’s dead,” I murmured, the words barely believable.
“Yes, Richard is dead. You killed him,” my father nodded as he rested a hand on mine.
“I felt it,” I breathed, recalling the surge of intense power through me.
“Yes, the Alpha’s power, and his title.”
“Fuck,” I groaned as I closed my eyes. My body was aching something fierce, all my muscles heavy and tight. Considering the mad race for my life yesterday and my abuse, it was understandable.
“Ray, he helped me. Is he okay?” I rasped, my eyes searching around and falling to the glass of water on the bedside table.
“He’s okay, got a pretty bad bite on his side and hit his head good, but he’s recovering,” my father said as he understood my pleading eyes and offered me the water.
It hurt to just raise my head and sip the water, and I brushed aside the idea to attempt to raise my arm.
My body felt like it’d been hit by a train, thrown off a cliff, and then someone had attempted to drown me.
I felt like death had brushed its hand over me and gotten distracted.
“The boys are all worried. Jaye’s managed to keep himself right, we had some issues while tracking you where he went a little Feral, but he pulled himself together. Chris is here too, Nathan and Scott are just outside. I wanted to be here when you woke up,” my father said softly.
I just stared at him, at the love and pain in his gentle eyes, the fierce protectiveness that lay beneath it. He’d come for me, and he’d saved me.
“Thank you,” I managed to say as my voice broke. The tears spilled forth, and I sobbed as the last few days' events crashed down around me like a landslide.
My father just patted my hand, not confident enough to touch any of my fragile body or to hold me, which I was g
rateful for, considering the sobs were only making my body hurt even more.
I cried and wept, letting out all the bottled up emotions, all the fear and heartache, all the pain and despair.
It was an excruciating struggle to sit up, but my father helped me and I wrapped my arms around him, clinging to him for dear life. If he hadn’t come; I didn’t even want to think about it.
I held onto him like he was going to fade away, soaking his navy button up tee in tears and snot, huddling against him as his strong, protective arms engulfed me.
I was safe. This was over.
“My precious Tay, you’re so brave. I’m so proud of you, of all you did. You’re one of the strongest people I know,” he murmured as he stroked my hair, the gentle caress soothing me.
We sat like that for quite some time, and I sniffled and calmed myself as he handed me tissues.
He called for my boys, and they all burst through the door like crazy, clambering over one another to rush to the side of the bed.
Nathan knelt down to my left, while Jaye and Scott sat on the right side. My father stood up and gave me a soft smile before leaving me alone with them.
Their pained, broken eyes made me want to cry once more. I couldn’t even imagine what I looked like. Hell, I wanted to know how my leg was.
“That lady, May, she gave you a tonne of painkillers to help you sleep. They’re probably wearing off, so she’ll be back soon with more,” Jaye said, the first to break the silence.
“We were so worried,” Nathan murmured as he reached out, his fingertips gently touching my good cheek.
“I was scared for you guys. I knew what Richard would be like if he defeated my Dad in the Alpha challenge,” I croaked.
“He wasn’t going to win. We made sure of that, it was agreed we’d all kill him for what he’d done to you,” Scott said, his face drawn.
“Your leg was pretty bad, we were lucky Reggie had an idea where Ray may take you, he brought the van up with Frank and May. We got you back to their doctor as soon as we could, which was lucky. He grazed your femoral artery, you could’ve…” Jaye’s words cracked, and he glared down at the bed, his fists clenched on the sheets.