Chapter Twenty-Three
The Fenris Pack and Brandon’s men ran together towards the eastern territory, massed ranks of fur and claw and fury. They were joined by Anthea and Bryant and a dozen other bears from the Stoney Creek Clan. Brandon, running in human form, gave Anthea the side-eye.
“Sure you can keep up?” he called over the howls of the pack.
Anthea snorted. “A bear can run at forty miles an hour. Eat my dust, old man.”
Fur exploded over her body and she morphed into a mountain of a beast, dropping to all fours and charging ahead, unstoppable as a juggernaut. Brandon gave a startled laugh, then went wolf and sprinted after her.
At the boundary to the eastern territory, the wolves and bears slowed their advance. Miles sniffed the air and growled when he scented Dakota. She was close. Brandon stepped up beside him, and Anders flanked him on the other side. At their backs stood a shifter army come to claim back one of its own.
A large brindled wolf slunk out of the treeline. Ludwik. Miles could feel the waves of Alpha power rolling off him. It gave him a taste of the man’s strength…and of his weaknesses. He was arrogant. All ego.
He was joined by a wolf Miles recognized as Fargo, then by a pair of she-wolves. The smaller of the two was whining with excitement, and when Brandon uttered a low, rolling growl, Miles realized she must be the traitor in the pack. More wolves joined Ludwik and Fargo. Dozens of them. Half a dozen bears lumbered from the undergrowth. One of them reared back on its hind legs and bellowed a bone-shaking challenge.
Miles and his men were badly outnumbered.
They leaped into the fray.
The clearing turned into a snarling tangle of brawling shifters.
Anders and Baldwin threw themselves at a bear, gouging at its flanks with their jaws. The beast roared and flung Baldwin across the clearing, where he rolled to a halt and lay still. There was a furious snarl from a coyote, and Naomi barreled into the fight. She wasn’t strong, but she was persistent…and she was furious. Baldwin bounded back across the clearing barking ferociously at the lumbering bear. It staggered on its paws, beginning to tire.
Miles snapped and snarled, rolling over and over, trying to gain the advantage over the wolf he was fighting. He raked bloody gouges across his opponent’s snout with his teeth, and when it fell back whimpering, he went for the throat.
Anthea was tossing wolves around like ragdolls. Brandon, in human form and bloody to the elbows, watched in admiration as she ripped a wolf’s head clear off its body with a brutal swipe of a paw the size of a hubcap.
“That woman’s a dangerous maniac,” he said to nobody in particular. “A total berserker. I like her.”
But despite the brutal strength of the Stoney Creek Bears and the fierce determination of Dakota’s friends, Miles and Brandon’s men were being beaten back by sheer numbers.
More than one shifter was in human form, with the limp shape of a bleeding friend thrown over their shoulder, trying to get them back to neutral ground so they could heal. A bloody black trail bisected the clearing where a dying wolf had dragged himself away from the battle.
Brandon was uninjured and Miles had already healed an ugly wound from where a bear had raked its massive claws across his chest, but even with their Alpha Prime strength, they couldn’t hold back the onslaught alone.
But then a tawny-furred wolf came running out of the woods, snarling. Creel. He was huge, standing head and shoulders above the wolves that followed him. A force to be reckoned with. He met Miles’s gaze and nodded his shaggy head, and Miles realized that Creel was there to fight by his side. That was all Dakota, he realized – if it weren't for her, Creel would have sat back and watched both sides tear each other to pieces. His men were scrappy and undisciplined, but tough. They were used to fighting for survival. Creel howled defiance and, along with his men, the Fenris Pack renewed its assault.
Slowly but surely, the tide began to turn. Miles ripped out an attacker’s throat, then turned snarling on a she-wolf, his muzzle bloody and mad fury in his eyes. She ran yelping into the woods, tail between her legs and ears flattened against her skull.
But then the undergrowth rustled and swayed, and Ludwik dragged Dakota into the clearing. He was flanked on either side by a skinny, pretty blonde girl and a middle-aged woman with features so similar that she had to be her mother. Half a dozen huge male wolves were ranked behind them. They let out a constant rolling growl that curled through the clearing like poisonous smoke.
Blood trickled from the corner of Dakota’s mouth, and an angry red-purple bruise bloomed over her cheekbone. Her arms were twisted awkwardly behind her back – she must be bound with silver-threaded rope so she couldn’t shift. But she was alive. Alive and only a hundred yards away.
“Watch her die!” screamed the older woman. She raised a silver knife and plunged it towards Dakota’s chest.
A hundred yards might as well have been a hundred miles. There was no way Miles could reach her before the silver pierced her heart and she bled out on the forest floor.
But Ludwik caught the woman’s wrist with a meaty smack, giving it a painful twist. She whimpered but didn’t resist.
“I call for immediate surrender,” Ludwik bellowed. “Or the bitch dies.”
Miles knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Ludwik would kill Dakota either way. He looked desperately at Brandon and saw the same knowledge in his eyes. There was only one way out of this.
“Together?” he asked the older man.
Brandon inclined his head gravely. “Together.”
Standing shoulder to shoulder, they concentrated, sending out waves of anger and dominance. It blasted across the clearing like a shockwave. Most of the wolves yelped and fled. One fell to the floor, spasming among the leaves as the power of the Alpha Primes’ rage sent him into a seizure. The two women crumpled to the floor, covering their ears. Ludwik staggered…but he didn’t fall. He was strong.
It would work. It had to work.
Miles and Brandon redoubled their efforts, but despite the blood running from his eyes, Ludwik grinned ferociously and stayed on his feet. He started to laugh.
He didn’t laugh for long. Creel stepped up beside them and added his own Alpha strength to the waves of power being directed at Ludwik, and his laughter was choked off. His arrogant grin turned into a rictus of horror. He seized his head between his hands, screaming with agony, then collapsed to the floor, vomiting stinking black blood.
The three Alphas shifted into human form and lay on the floor, panting for breath and buzzing with adrenaline. When he was able to stand, Miles looked across to where Dakota had been…and saw that she was gone. Panic clutched his heart.
“Dakota?” he yelled. He broke into a sprint across the clearing, but stumbled to a stop when a sleek grey shape shot out of the woods like a bullet. It was Dakota. She must have chewed through her bonds.
The older woman had been shakily struggling to her feet, but Dakota bowled straight into her, knocking her over and sinking her teeth into her throat. She barely struggled.
Miles tore his eyes away from his fierce, wonderful mate, and looked around. They’d won. All Ludwik’s men were dead or dying. Fargo was a still, cold mound of blood-matted fur. Ludwik was sprawled on the leaf mulch, his eyes glassy with death and rimmed with gore.
He began to stride towards Dakota, who was tottering unsteadily across the clearing. When she stumbled and fell, he broke into a run.
Chapter Twenty Four
Dakota woke up in the dirt, lying on her side, her head pounding. The taste of Maureen’s blood was in her mouth, and she spat it out.
Somebody was kneeling next to her, stroking her hair. Her father. She scented him.
“Dakota, tell me you’re okay. Say something. Hit me really hard.”
“Daddy,” she croaked. She hadn’t called him that in a long time. She rolled over and looked up at him, grimacing in pain. “Tina said you wanted to kill me. She lied, didn’t she? She lied about everyt
hing. And her mother killed mom.” She struggled to sit up.
“That bitch. Are you sure?” Her father put his arm around her shoulders and helped her, and she leaned against him, her head resting on his shoulder.
“She bragged about it,” Dakota mumbled, and pressed her hands against her temples to stop the throbbing.
“And you killed her,” her father said proudly. “That’s my girl.”
Tears spilled down Dakota’s cheeks. “It’s like she killed her all over again. That vile, disgusting…” She sniffled hard.
“I know. I know.” He patted her back. “But you took your revenge and honored her memory. I wish I could bring that monster back to life and kill her myself, a hundred times. I miss your mother too, Dakota. Every day.” Her father looked down at her, his expression grim. “I never wanted to risk losing you too. That’s why I wanted you to marry into Roy’s family. They’re one of the strongest packs in the territory. I thought I was making you safe, and instead I drove you right into danger.”
“Dakota!” Miles barreled towards them, naked and covered with blood. He reached down and grabbed Dakota and pulled her to him, and she stood up and fell into his arms. They hugged for a long, long moment. “You’re not dead. You’re not dead,” he breathed into her hair.
“You forgive me for lying?”
“I believe you had a good reason. I wish you’d trusted me enough to tell me, but then again, I worked pretty hard to keep you at arm’s length, so I understand why you didn’t.” He smiled at her, stroking the hair from her face. “Dakota’s a very pretty name. Dakota Williams of the Fenris pack.”
Dakota let go of him and took a step back. “Daddy, this is Miles Williams, my mate.”
Brandon looked Miles over with a critical eye, from head to toe, and Dakota felt her heart clenching in her chest. Finally, he nodded approvingly, and Dakota started breathing again. “This man is strong and brave and he was ready to die for you. I couldn’t ask for anything more in your mate. I’d be proud to have him as a son-in-wolf.”
“Hey!” a loud female voice bellowed at them, and Anthea trotted over. She was naked too. Her face was bruised, and she had bleeding wounds on her arms and torso that were slowly sealing themselves up.
“You did good out there,” she said, nodding approvingly at Dakota. She flicked a glanced at Brandon.
“So that’s your father?”
Dakota glanced at her father and felt a flood of relief and gratitude. In a way, her father had been dead to her for a long time now, and seeing him like this was like bringing him back to life. “Yes, he is.”
Anthea nodded “Not bad. Least annoying guy I ever met.”
To Dakota’s shock, her father’s cheeks colored and he avoided her gaze and muttered, “Thanks.”
Anthea shrugged. “It’s nothing.” But was there actually a small smile playing on her lips? Was Anthea smiling?
Dakota glanced at Miles. “You see it, right?” she whispered.
“I see it, but then again I’ve just taken some hard blows to the head. I might be hallucinating.”
Brandon ignored them both, scanning the woods around them with a shrewd, calculating glance. “You know what I see when I look around here?”
Dakota looked around. “Lots of dead people?”
“That too, but I see possibility. You know, with the humans hemming us in, I’ve developed things just about as far as I can in our territory. But here…the possibilities are endless.”
“You mean…you’d move up here?” Dakota said hopefully.
He met her gaze. “This part of the territory would be perfect to set up a logging company, and it’s close enough to visit but not so close that your mate and I would clash when our energy got too much for each other. Would you want me to? After the way I’ve been the past few years?”
“I want you back,” Dakota said, tears in her eyes. “I want you near me so that when I have cubs, you can visit them.”
Her father nodded, and as he did, his gaze strayed to Anthea again. Dakota had a feeling that maybe she wasn’t the only reason her dad was looking at moving his pack up here, and that was all right. Her father needed to start living again. She wanted him to be as happy with a mate as she was with Miles.
SIX MONTHS LATER…
Saturday morning, on the Fenris Pack lands…
“Miles, please,” Dakota said with affectionate exasperation. “I am expecting. I’m not crippled. I can carry a pail of milk.”
“Not on my watch,” he said, snatching it away from her. “Oh, by the way, your dad is here.” He walked with her to their newly expanded cabin, with a nursery addition built on the west side.
Her father and Anthea were sitting on a wooden bench on the front porch. They were holding hands, and they both bore claiming marks on their necks. Her father had two – the old one from her mother, and the new one from Anthea right next to it.
Naomi and Baldwin were leaning against the wall. Mary was sitting on Baldwin’s shoulders, and Naomi was braiding flowers into Sailor’s hair. Sarah was sitting cross-legged on the floor and pretending to ignore them all, listening to the new iPod she’d gotten for Christmas.
“Grampa Brandon, you know what I love about having a grampa like you?” John was saying as Dakota and Miles walked up. He stared up at Brandon with huge, wide eyes. “I love how you taught us how to fish, and how you—”
“Stop,” Brandon snorted. “Boy, let me tell you something. Never bullshit a bullshitter.”
“Dad!” Dakota gasped, scandalized. Miles was cracking up, and she glowered at him. “Why are you laughing?”
“Because it’s funny?” He winked at her and carried the milk into the house.
“You do know that Miss Anthea tells me everything, right? Of course you do. Well, Miss Anthea tells me that you did not hand in your math homework yesterday,” Brandon continued. “Now, you were talking about how you want to work for my company when you grow up.”
John nodded vigorously. “I want to build houses. I already know how. Daddy Baldwin and me made a little log cabin for Mary’s birthday last week.” He held his hands six inches apart. “Well, a twig cabin.”
It had been decided that the kids would live with Naomi and Baldwin, partly, as Sarah had informed Dakota, to lessen the chances of food poisoning. But they lived right next door to Dakota and Miles, and visited every day. They frequently brought baked goods from Naomi’s new bakery.
“Well, I only hire high school graduates. You flunk out of school, I won’t hire you.”
John spluttered in protest. “But I’m your new grandcub and I’m the first grandson you ever had and—”
“Not only that,” Brandon continued without remorse, “but you get no dessert after dinner tonight, and you will go do your homework now. You do not play, nap, or climb a tree until it’s done. Anthea and I will be waiting. Right here.”
“Naomi!” John wailed.
Naomi shrugged. “The word of an Alpha Prime is law. Also, he scares me, and when he scares me I start talking too much, and then I keep talking and I forget when to stop and now I can’t remember what I was even— Urph.” Mary had leaned down and put her hand over Naomi’s mouth. Baldwin patted her arm affectionately and smiled at her.
John pouted. “Sarah? Is it too late for us to run away?”
She glanced at him briefly. “Go ahead. You’re on your own. I finally have my own room and I’m not goin’ nowhere.” Sarah turned up the volume on her iPod.
Brandon pointed at Baldwin and Naomi’s cabin and arched an eyebrow.
“Fiiiiiiine, I’ll do the stupid math, but you’re not my favorite grampa anymore,” John grumbled, and skulked off to do his homework.
“I can live with that,” Brandon said cheerfully.
Dakota walked into her house to find Miles, who had put the pail of milk in the fridge.
“By the way, a new busload of shifters arrived this morning,” he told her. She tensed, but he smiled. “Sweet as pie, all of them.”
After the fight between the west and the east, word had spread among shifters across the country that criminals would not be tolerated in the new territory. The human government had given it one last try, sending up
a busload of thugs and killers. Miles, Creel and Brandon and more than a hundred shifters from every pack, clan and pride had met them when they arrived and told them to leave immediately or be death-challenged on the spot. They’d left.
Since then, the territory had been blessedly trouble free. There hadn’t been a death challenge in months.
Dakota leaned against Miles, and he wrapped his arms around her, stroking her rounded belly.
“So, about dinner…”
“You’re cooking?” he said.
“Heavens, no.” She turned around and kissed him, savoring the softness of his lips. “I love you far too much.”
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THE END
About the Author
Hello, I am Georgette St. Clair, writer of hot, sexy romances which star all Alpha heroes, all the time. The road to love may be rocky and fraught with peril, (and humor and scorchtastic sex and healthy heapings of snark) but my shifters will stop at nothing to claim their fated mate.
A little about me: I live in Florida. My checkered career involved stints as a newspaper reporter, EMT, internet marketer, cocktail waitress, temp, nurse’s aide (but not all at the same time...)
Now I’m living my perfect life, spending my days in a fantasy universe where I nudge my smart-mouthed, take-no-guff heroines onto the path that will set them on a collision course with true love.
Check out my website for a complete list of titles and what’s coming soon. Or connect with me on Facebook.
Also by Georgette St. Clair
The Mating Game Series:
The Mating Game: Big Bad Wolf (The Mating Game Book 1)
Shiftily Ever After: A BBW Paranormal Romance (Alpha Prime) Page 15