by Jenny Frame
Zaria’s wolf was behind Elspeth’s grey wolf, while Heather’s reddish wolf brought up the rear with all the rest of the friends. They were nearing the end of the run. She had splashed through streams, jumped over fallen tree branches, and followed some interesting scents.
Elspeth’s wolf slowed up and the rest followed until they came to a stop and gathered around the Mater.
What a great run everyone, Elspeth said. My stamina isn’t as good as you younger wolves’. Let’s head back, get changed, and meet at my den in an hour to toast our new Mater, with a wee dram.
A chorus of howls rose to Elspeth in return and the pack started to break up. Elspeth’s and Heather’s dens were close by Zaria and Kenrick’s, and so they padded back together.
When they got back to her den, Zaria said, Thanks, that was a great. What do you think the dominants are doing?
Heather’s wolf snorted. Playing at being cave wolves. Roasting fish over the fire, drinking too much whisky, and telling dirty jokes. We’ll have much more fun, believe me.
Elspeth added, There will always be a part of the Celtic warrior in the dominant Wulver. We must let them play sometimes. Fergus will look after them. Go and get changed, Zaria, and I’ll see you at my den in an hour.
I’ll call for you, Heather said.
Okay, see you soon.
Once they left, Zaria’s wolf ran up the walkway to the den. She shifted back to skin, opened the door, and stepped inside. All at once, Zaria felt hands around her mouth and throat. She couldn’t see them but she knew that scent anywhere. Ovid. She was so high from her run and the safety she felt, that she hadn’t taken notice of the scent that haunted her dreams until it was too late. She had let her guard down.
She struggled as much as she could but then felt something stabbing into her arm. As she started to lose consciousness, she heard Ovid say, “I told you I would always find you. You’re mine.”
Then the blackness enveloped her.
Chapter Twenty-four
It had been a good evening’s fishing, in good company. Kenrick caught a fair few fish and enjoyed the camaraderie, and now they were sitting around the campfire they had built on the beach, roasting fish and some steaks they had brought with them over the fire.
The atmosphere around the fire was lively. A bottle of whisky bottled the year Kenrick was born was being passed around the elite wolves and Kenrick’s other friends, who all sat on logs around the perimeter.
Kenrick was sitting with her pater, Rhuri, and Callum, eating some fish and meat off her plate. She was enjoying herself but just couldn’t keep her mind off Zaria.
“You’re quiet, Ricky,” Fergus said.
“Aye, you should be enjoying every last moment of freedom,” Callum said. “As soon as you’re mated, you won’t get a say in life again.”
Kenrick looked up at him and smiled. “But you wouldn’t change being mated to Heather for one minute, would you.”
Callum grinned back. “Not for a moment. Heather can boss me about as much as she wants. She and the bairn are my world.”
“So why are you quiet? Is there something wrong?” Fergus asked.
“No, I just can’t stop thing about Zari. When I’m apart from her it hurts deep inside.” Kenrick put her plate down and took a sip of whisky.
Her pater patted her on the back. “That’s only natural. You always will feel that, but it gets easier to deal with.”
Judah, who was sitting next to Fergus said, “Sometimes I find myself going crazy during the day, wondering if Donny and the cubs are safe, our bond is so strong, but you just have to trust they are okay.”
Kenrick nodded. She was sure their bond would only grow stronger after their mating ceremony.
“You’ve found a good wolf to be our next Mater, Ricky,” Fergus said. “I’m proud of you. Zaria has a unique experience of the world to bring to her role, and it’s always good to bring new blood into the pack.”
Rhuri sighed and poured herself a large drink. “You’re a lucky bastard, Rickster. You’re all lucky bastards. I think the Great Mother forgot about me.”
Kenrick gave Rhuri a soft punch in the arm. “I thought that too, and look what happened.”
“My situation’s different though. Not every wolf will want a mate who was a cub.”
Fergus leaned over and patted her knee. “The right one will, Rhuri. You have to keep your eyes open, though. Don’t make her come up and slap you in the face.”
Rhuri smiled. “I’ll try to keep that in mind, Alpha. So? Have ye thought about where ye might take Zaria on honeymoon?”
“Aye, I thought it would be great to take her to Egypt, Princess Scota’s homeland. Retrace the steps of the pack. There’re some beautiful places to visit. Let me show you—”
Suddenly Judah stood up and looked into the darkness. “I can feel Donny—he’s running here. Something’s wrong.”
Kenrick and the others stood up quickly.
“Get a torch,” Fergus said.
Lukas, Moira’s mate, ran over to one of the tents, brought back a torch, and gave it to Judah, while the other wolves looked for more torches. Kenrick, Fergus, and Callum followed Judah into the darkness. In seconds they saw a pair of yellow eyes catch the torchlight.
“Donny!” Judah called. Donny’s wolf ran straight Judah and shifted to skin He was panting with the exertion of the run. Judah put his arms around him. “What’s wrong, mate? Are you okay?”
“Aye, the Mater sent me because I’m the fastest runner. No one answered their phones.”
Kenrick pulled out her phone and saw a dozen missed calls. “It was too noisy. We couldn’t hear them.”
“Alpha, Ricky, it’s Zaria. She’s gone.”
Kenrick felt a rush of panic and fear just like she’d experienced in Wolfgang County. “What do you mean, gone?”
“We all went a run together, then back to our dens to get changed. We agreed to meet at the Mater’s den in an hour. Zaria never turned up.”
“Did you check our den?” Kenrick shouted.
Judah grasped his mate more tightly and growled a low warning.
Kenrick shook herself. “I’m sorry for shouting, Judah, Donny. Tell us what you know.”
“We checked your den. Zaria wasn’t there, but there was sign of a struggle and a wolf scent we didn’t recognize.”
Kenrick had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. For the first time every wolf looked to her instead of her pater. They knew instinctively she was the strongest wolf among them now, but she hated to circumvent her pater’s authority.
She looked at Fergus and he put his hand on her shoulder. “You are Alpha in all but name—we both know that. Lead us, and we will find your mate.”
A new confidence came over Kenrick. This was her pack to lead, and she would lead them to hell if it meant getting Zaria back.
“Wolves, get prepared to shift. We are going on a hunt. A wolf has taken one of our own, your future Mater, and we are going to take her back.”
The wolves shouted, “Yes, Alpha.”
Kenrick tore her clothes off so she could shift, as did the rest. Kenrick had the worst feeling. There was one wolf still alive who wanted Zaria and obsessed enough to try to take what was hers.
Ovid.
* * *
Zaria was abruptly awakened by water being splashed in her face. She gasped and opened her eyes.
“You’re finally awake,” a voice said.
Zaria’s vision came back slowly, and she saw the person who fuelled her nightmares. “Ovid.”
Ovid was crouched down in front of her. Her face was scarred down one side and she appeared to have lost an eye in her fight with the Wolfgangs and Kenrick. She had obviously been too injured to shift in time to completely heal her injuries.
Zaria took stock of her injuries and surroundings. She was naked, something was making her woozy and sleepy, and looking down she saw she had silver manacles on. Beside her she saw the memorial to Kenrick’s brother, on the edge of
the forest only a few hundred yards from the loch. This was where he died. Why had Ovid brought her here?
“Hello, Zaria.”
That voice along with the woozy feeling made her turn to the side and vomit. Ovid held a bottle of water to her lips.
“Drink this. You’ve got silver in your system.”
Zaria smelled that it was indeed plain water so she took a drink and cleared the bitter taste from her mouth. “Why are you doing this?” Zaria asked.
Ovid reached out and cupped her cheek. “Many reasons, one being that you’re mine, and I don’t like people taking what is mine.”
Zaria felt fury like she hadn’t ever had the chance to express before. “I belong to Kenrick Wulver. Look at my mate bite.”
Ovid’s hand shot out and grabbed her throat while her shifted claws tore through her mate bite.
Zaria howled in pain, both physical and mental. Her mate bite had been desecrated.
“You belong to me,” Ovid shouted. “You always have and always will. I made you mine that day in the forest, remember?”
Zaria struggled against her restraints, but it was useless. The silver just drained the energy right out of her. “Remember? I’ve remembered it in my nightmares every night since it happened. You groomed me ever since I started going through the rush, you sick freak.”
Ovid pulled her to her feet and slammed her up against the tree behind her. “You don’t seem to remember the Lupa rules. A submissive should be seen and not heard.”
“I’ve found my voice since I left the Lupas.” Zaria summoned enough strength to thrust her head forward and headbutted Ovid in the face.
Ovid squealed in pain and grasped her nose. “You bitch.”
Zaria received a blow to the face and a punch to the stomach.
“Did you really think you could have your happy ever after with your Scottish barbarian? You were promised to me and helped that bitch Marta get away from her mate.”
“Don’t you dare talk about Marta—Leroux beat her to a pulp,” Zaria said.
Ovid grabbed her hair painfully. “She was Leroux’s mate. She could do what the hell she liked with her mate. Just as I can with mine, but you don’t stop with running. You lure Leroux and me out and help destroy us. You’re a traitor to your own kind.”
“I’m not a Lupa, I’m a Wulver,” Zaria spat.
“Not for long.” Ovid licked the bloody mess she had made of Zaria’s mate bite. “You’re mine and you will be no one else’s.”
“Kenrick will find me.” Zaria only prayed it was in time.
“Your barbarian destroyed everything.” Ovid walked away and let rip on a neighbouring tree with her claws. Blood dripped from Ovid’s injured claws, and Zaria’s blood dripped from the teeth that had ripped her mate bite apart. Ovid’s eye and face were shifted, and she looked terrifying and out of control.
Ovid stalked towards her slowly. “If your barbarian hadn’t intervened, then the Lupas would now have the Wolfgangs’ pack lands and wealth. We planned everything perfectly. The attack, the ring to drain Dante’s power—now our Alpha is dead, most of our strongest wolves are dead, and the pack that’s left has dispersed and broken apart. The Lupa pack is dead because you couldn’t be a good little submissive and brought your barbarian into our relationship.”
“We have no relationship. You assaulted a sixteen-year-old. Did that make you feel like a big powerful wolf, rather than the pathetic mutt you really are?”
Ovid swung her arm and her claws ripped across Zaria’s face. “I waited long enough on you. Leroux said you were mine,” Ovid screamed.
Zaria spat blood from her mouth. She felt like she was going to lose consciousness but used every ounce of her strength to stay alert. If she wasn’t alert, she might never wake up again, and she had to see Ricky again.
“Why did you bring me here?” Zaria said in a raspy voice.
“I’ve done a little digging and I thought, what better way to destroy Kenrick than to find her beloved’s body at the site where she found her brother’s.”
Zaria knew it would destroy Kenrick. She already felt terrible guilt about not finding her brother in time. “Don’t, please,” Zaria pleaded.
Ovid stepped so close she could feel her breath on her face. “You like begging? Why don’t we relive our first time together.”
* * *
Kenrick howled to signal her wolves to stop. They had been following a trail from her den for twenty minutes but it kept branching off. She turned to her pater and friends around her.
Pater, Ovid’s laid some false trails. We need to split up.
Fergus said, Are you sure it’s this Ovid? Didn’t you say the Lupas were destroyed?
Not all, Pater. Ovid and some of the others ran. But I know in my heart it’s her. She’s never given up on finding Zari, and now she has nothing to lose. I’ve felt Zaria’s pain since we entered the forest.
We will find her, Rhuri said.
Kenrick growled and got her wolves’ attention. Rhuri, Judah, Marcus, and Lukas, you’re with me. Pater, split the rest of our wolves into smaller groups.
Fergus snuffled and licked her snout. We will find your mate. I promise you.
Kenrick nodded. She just prayed that Zaria was still in one piece. Let’s go. We’ll follow the scent straight ahead.
Kenrick and her closest friends set off at a run. She felt Zaria and her pain with every stride she took. She felt sadness, hurt, and fear.
Rhuri ran beside her. The scent is strong, they must be near. We will get her, Ricky.
Kenrick growled, I can feel Zari. She’s scared. She’s been frightened of Ovid since she was a cub. I’m going to make sure my mate’s safe, and then I’m going to rip Ovid’s fucking head off.
Don’t worry, Alpha, you’ll get the first and last bites, Rhuri replied.
After another few miles, Kenrick gave her wolves the signal to slow. The scent was leading them in the direction of her brother’s memorial.
Ovid wouldn’t dare take Zaria there, would she?
* * *
Zaria could barely keep her eyes open. Between her injuries and the silver sloshing round her veins, it was hard to fight her body’s instinct to shut down and fall into the blackness. She slumped against the tree while Ovid paced in front of her, talking on her mobile phone.
Ovid was different from the confident cruel wolf Zaria remembered, and not just physically. Mentally she appeared broken, and that made her all the more dangerous. She hung up the phone and walked back over to Zaria.
“On your feet.”
When Zaria didn’t respond, Ovid dragged her to her feet. “It’s time for me to go, and that means we get to finish what we started all those years ago.”
Zaria tried to touch the mate bite on her shoulder.
Through the fog of pain Zaria could hear Kenrick say, I’m coming—hold on, lassie.
But there was no time. It was over. Somehow she always knew she would never be free of the wolf who groomed her. Being on the run and always looking over her shoulder had meant Zaria had contemplated death a lot.
She didn’t feel bad for herself, but she felt deep pain in her heart for Kenrick. Losing a mate was like losing part of yourself. A mate was a wolf’s whole reason for being, and many didn’t survive, if they were widowed young.
Ovid ran her razor sharp claws up and down Zaria’s naked body, hard enough to leave bloody gashes.
Ovid wanted to ruin the body she wouldn’t give her, Zaria thought, acknowledging it was a pretty weird time to be psychologizing someone.
“You and your sister have nearly destroyed the Lupas, but I won’t allow us to die. I will rebuild, and I will kill everyone you love, including your precious Marco.”
Fear and panic gripped Zaria. Not Marco, not Marco.
“He’s next and guess what? You and your fucking sister get ringside seats from the Eternal Forest.”
Fury exploded from Zaria. She used every inch of her remaining energy to fight Ovid. “No! Don’t y
ou ever go near Marco. The Wolfgangs will kill you first.”
Ovid slammed her back against the tree so hard, she heard her ribs cracking. The pain was overwhelming, but it would be over soon. Ovid placed her claws on Zaria’s neck.
“Any last words, bitch?”
Zaria had no strength. Pain lived in every inch of her body, so she did the last defiant thing she could do and spat in Ovid’s face.
Ovid growled and dug her nails into her throat. “All because you couldn’t do what you were told, pretty girl. Goodbye.”
Zaria closed her eyes and waited for the pain, but instead she heard a huge thud and Ovid was knocked away from her. She opened her eyes and saw Ovid rolling on the ground, holding her ribs and stomach, but Kenrick wasn’t there.
Over at the edge of the treeline she saw Milo standing there quietly. Then she looked at the spot where Ovid was standing and saw a pool of water. What the hell had just happened?
Whatever it was bought her enough time, because she could scent Kenrick approaching. She signalled to Milo to hide in amongst the trees. Milo did and Kenrick leapt out into the clearing, and onto Ovid.
Rhuri, Callum, Judah, Marcus, and Lukas also appeared from the trees, snarling and fierce. Ovid was pinned down and Kenrick looked up at Zaria. She roared when she saw her injuries, but instead of ripping out Ovid’s throat then and there, she stepped back and said, Get on your paws, you pathetic mutt.
Ovid shifted, and a ragged black and grey furred wolf emerged.
The two wolves circled each other and Rhuri took position beside Zaria, guarding her.
Ovid said, Four against one? Is that what your barbaric pack think is fair?
No one will be fighting you but me, mutt. My pack lives by honour and fairness, things that Lupas just don’t seem to understand.
Kenrick padded closer and Ovid snapped and growled a warning. Kenrick said, Any dominant wolf that raises a paw in anger to a submissive is a pathetic coward, not worthy of the name wolf.