The trail grew familiar, and I realized we were passing the location where I’d handed off the shifter pup. Boot tracks covered the forest floor. The Hounds had come this way.
“How much further?” I asked when close to thirty minutes had passed.
Roland’s breathing was labored, and he paused to brace his hands on his knees. “Another mile. Maybe two, tops.” He struggled for air.
“Any turns or is it all straight?”
“Straight.” He pointed through a copse of trees. “It’s like a path. You don’t know it’s there until yer on it, but if you stay the course. You won’t get lost.”
I nodded. “I’m leaving you here then.” And with that, I ran. I pushed my body hard and ignored the sweat that poured down my face to mix with the cold rain that slipped through the gaps in the canopy of the trees.
My lungs burned and my heartbeat roared in my ears. My grip tightened on my bow. The full quiver of arrows on my back clacking against one another with each step. I had to get there in time. I had to warn Lindy.
A commotion ahead gave me the push I needed to find that final burst of speed. How could I let this happen? I should have warned her. Let her know that the people were interested in her Den’s location. Maybe then she would have been more careful. Wouldn’t have been so distracted when she left my room…
Lindy
Asa’s words sat heavy in my gut and I was so distracted, I didn’t hear Embry sneak up beside me. My gaze flicked to him briefly before looking away. I swallowed hard and waited. If I left now, it would look like I was running away.
Seconds ticked by as we stood in silence at the mouth of the Den’s cavern entrance. Rain fell in a steady stream throughout the forest, making it difficult to see more than a few meters ahead.
I fought the urge to fidget beside him. I’d done nothing wrong. I could sleep with whoever I wanted, and it bothered me that his words affected me. They shouldn’t. Not for one second did I think he’d been a saint, saving himself for me as though us being together was a foregone conclusion. I didn’t judge him. I didn’t throw his sexcapades in his face even though I could have.
The silence stretched between us, the tension thick and heavy in the air.
“I don’t want to keep fighting with you,” he finally said, neither of us taking our gazes off the forest in front of us.
“Then don’t. Stop ordering me around. Stop pretending you have that right.”
He growled beside me. I chanced a look at him in my peripheral. His jaw was clenched, his teeth bared in a feral snarl. I waited for him to lash out, but instead, he surprised me. Taking a deep breath through his nose, he exhaled noisily through his mouth and turned to face me.“I won’t relinquish the Pack to you.”
I swallowed. After talking to Asa, I knew he wouldn’t. If he was, in fact, gaining in dominance, his wolf wouldn’t allow him to submit to anyone, even if he’d wanted to.
“I’m not asking you to,” I told him. My wolf howled inside of me, and I blinked back the sudden moisture in my eyes. Have you ever wanted something so desperately that you would do almost anything to have it? Fight anyone, no matter the risk? That’s how badly I wanted to lead my people. How strongly my wolf was determined to be the Pack’s next Alpha. And it was slipping through my fingers like water cupped in the palm of my hands. My plan to forge peace with the humans would be a wasted effort now. Even with my father’s support, I was longer next in line to lead. That our earlier challenge was incomplete made no difference. Asa wouldn’t have lied to me.
Nothing I did from here on out would matter. I closed my eyes and breathed in the smell of fresh rain and evergreen trees. Embry’s scent was there too. A mixture of sandalwood, musk, and freshly turned soil.
I turned to face him. “Let’s get this over with.”
Shock colored his expression when I met his gaze.
Seconds ticked by. Then minutes.
Neither of us moved. His amber eyes brightened, gold flecks dancing in his gaze.
A bit of sweat beaded on my upper lip. Heat flushed my body and the urge to look away took hold. I panted, but Embry looked wholly unaffected.
I didn’t know how much time passed. My muscles locked up. My throat dried. And finally, I looked away. Sorrow crashed into me and I blinked back the moisture in my eyes. Sucking in a shuddering breath, I lifted my gaze, keeping it on the corner of his mouth.
“I guess that settled things.” I moved to turn away but Embry caught me. His grip on my forearm slid to my hand and with a tentative tug, he pulled me to a stop.
“I never wanted it to be this way. I only ever wanted you. I still want you. Just…” He released me to run his hands through his hair, tension heavy in his shoulders. “Tell me that there’s a chance. I’m willing to wait. I know you’re still young. If you need time to—”
“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t—”
His expression closed off and his eyes hardened. “Don’t say anything now. Your father is still the Pack Alpha. Nothing has changed. Nothing has to change. Not yet, anyway.” He stared off into the distance.
My heart clenched. This strong, proud man was all but begging for my affection. I knew what it must cost him to open up like this. To allow himself to be vulnerable.
“Embry—”
A wolf howled a sharp alarm in the distance. We both jerked toward the sound and watched as three wolves burst through the trees toward us. As soon as they saw us, lightening fast, all three started to shift.
Grayson was the first to complete his shift. Chest still heaving, he braced himself on hands and knees as he struggled to catch his breath. “Humans… close.” Sweat covered his body in a fine sheen. He’d pushed himself through his shift faster than he should have. When he lifted his head, his eyes glowed like liquid mercury.
Embry’s gaze sharpened. “How far?”
Having completed his shift, Chayton answered. “A quarter mile at most. There are over thirty humans and they’re armed. They’re heading straight towards the Den. They know we’re here.”
“That’s not possible,” I said as dread settled in the pit of my stomach. The humans couldn’t know the Den’s location We’d taken every precaution to ensure they never found it. That they never had the chance to attack us here, in our home.
Embry’s jaw tightened.
“We’ll need to evacuate the women and children,” I said aloud before realizing I couldn’t make that decision. I turned to Embry. “I’ll alert my father. Make what decisions you need to as his second.”
I ignored the gasps of the other wolves. Better they know now who to defer to before mistakes were made. Embry was the Pack’s second in command and if the humans were as close as Chayton said they were, he was going to have to step into that role immediately.
I raced down the Den’s hallways, ignoring everyone as I focused on getting to my father’s quarters. Embry was one step behind me and when we both strode through my father’s door without knocking, he jumped to his feet. “What happened?” The question was directed at me but I let Embry answer.
“Humans are a quarter mile out. We need to begin evacuating our people.”
My father’s gaze fell on me and he lifted a single brow.
“Embry is your second,” I said, answering the unspoken question.
He nodded, taking the news in stride. “Very well. Evacuate our vulnerable. Use the back entrance and grab our dominants to fight on the front line. We have enough vehicles scattered throughout the woods to carry the children. The adults will need to shift and run alongside them.”
I wrapped my hands over my middle, my abdominal muscles hurting from the dread pooling in my stomach. “We have seven maternal females and eight pups,” I said. “We’ll need to move them first. That’ll leave seventeen males and three dominant females, but that also includes our elders.”
Just then Asa and Amelia burst into the room. “Where are we needed?”
My father faced them both. “We need to begin moving our pup
s and vulnerable females. If the women can keep up, have them shift and run alongside the Jeeps. We need to sprinkle in our elderly where we can.”
Our Pack numbered at just under forty, but less than a third were capable of fighting and we couldn’t successfully divide ourselves and fight off the oncoming humans while also protecting those most vulnerable within the Pack.
“We’ll see that everyone is evacuated,” Amelia said, and she and Asa left.
I looked at Embry, trying to gauge whether he was as calm as he looked. Not long ago he’d wanted a fight with the humans, but now, he looked like he was dreading the coming confrontation.
“We’ll need some of our men to help with the evacuation and guard the women and children. I’ll take Grayson, Chayton, Blaine, and David to help me hold a defensive live. The rest of you should head out with the others. They’ll need your protection.”
My father’s eyes hardened. “Are you insinuating I cannot defend my Pack?”
Embry kept his eyes on my father’s shoulder, refusing to meet the challenge in his gaze. “No. I’m saying you and Lindy are better equipped to protect our vulnerable while I and the other men create a diversion. You’ll need time to get the others out, and we don’t know whether the humans will choose to follow or not.”
“I’m not leaving,” I bit out.
Embry’s eyes flashed to mine, and he opened his mouth.
“Don’t. If you order me to leave, I will never forgive you.”
His nostrils flared before he nodded. “Fine. But you do what I tell you to. You don’t take any unnecessary risks.”
I could live with that.
“I’ll oversee the evacuation until Amelia and Asa leave with the others. I won’t abandon my home to the humans,” my father said. He strode from the room, leaving Embry and I behind without a backward glance.
When he was certain my father was out of earshot, Embry leaned forward, his breath whispering over the shell of my ear.“If your human is among the hunters, what then?”
I pulled back, grinding my teeth together. “He won’t be.” My hands trembled, and I clenched them to stave off the tremors. Red couldn’t be with the humans. Could he?
Doubt was a vicious beast clawing inside of me. Embry’s eyes slashed toward my hands, not missing the movement. “You need to prepare yourself for what may need to be done if he is.”
Red
I found the others circling the mouth of a cave-like entrance. Weapons drawn, they surrounded the Pack’s Den. Most of the men wore the red cloaks that marked them as Lethbridge Hounds, but a handful were townsfolk and brandished common tools instead of swords. I spotted a few pickaxes and shovels in the mix.
Fury rode me. These ignorant fools were about to wage a war against people they knew nothing about. Idiots. Bigoted bastards. I cursed and pressed my lips into a thin line, my hands tightening on my bow. And not only were they stupid enough to go against the Pack for no reason other than fear, but they were also clearly unprepared.
How could Halbread lead these men to slaughter like this? Did he care that little for his own brethren, or was his hatred so all-consuming he couldn’t see the mistake he was making?
How to play this…
Spotting Halbread in the crowd, I headed toward him. I was certain I wouldn’t be able to talk sense into his thick skull, but I could sure as hell pummel some into him.
He looked over his shoulder, spotting me. His lip curled in disgust and I returned the expression.
I got up in his face. “What the hell are you doing?”
His chest puffed out, his shoulders shifting under the weight of the stupid wolf pelts he insisted on wearing.“Don’t be mad at me. You’re the one who fucked up. You were fucking one of their bitches and you still couldn’t get the job done,” he sneered.
Rage ripped through me. I clenched my fist, pulling it back to slam it into his face when all of a sudden six wolves exploded from the entrance and everything went to hell in a hand-basket.
Fuck.
Faster than the eye could track, the wolves lunged forward, taking down a handful of men before anyone could react. Screams filled the air. The largest of the wolves, a dark brown one with hints of wheat scattered throughout his fur, went straight for the men’s throats and brought three down before the others realized their vulnerability and started to better protect themselves.
Halbread rushed into the fray, his sword raised and a battle cry on his lips. I pulled an arrow from my quiver and took aim. The wolf in my sights, I stood by as another human was torn down, never to get up again. Dammit.
I released the tension on my arrow, drawing it into the palm of my right hand. I took a deep breath and lowered my bow. Fuck.
Lindy’s pure white coat flashed before me as she dove into the melee. Stomach in my throat, I watched as she tore through a group of men, scattering them as they all fought to get away from her and the other wolves. A few brave men rushed forward. Weapons drawn, they swung their arms in clumsy arcs, missing their mark.
My breath caught. Why were there so few wolves? Where was the rest of the Pack? Six wolves couldn’t take on this many humans. The numbers were stacked too high against them.
And then it hit me. This wasn’t an assault or even a defense. It was a diversion. They were buying time for the others to get out.
The wind tore at the men’s cloaks and the rain dampened them, making them heavy and hampering their movements as the fabric whipped around them. I leaned forward, my booted feet frozen in place as I watched the ensuing battle take place. Indecision warred within me. Wolves zipped past, and men dove into the fray. I had to dodge blows from both parties. It was an absolute cluster fuck and all I could do was stand there and watch it unfold around me.
My vision darkened at the edges. Memories flooding me in a wave I had no chance of controlling. Bodies riddled with bullets. Blood spraying out in an arc, painting the ground red. Men screaming in pain in their death throes.
A hand grabbed my shoulder, and I tucked down, reaching behind me to pull the offender over my back and slam him to the ground. I didn’t even see his face. All I saw were my nightmares unfolding before me.
Bombs go off in my ears, intermixed with grunts and growls.
I shake my head. “Get it together, Venzant,” I chided myself. My vision cleared in time to see a wolf barreling towards me. This one is pitch black, it’s yellow eyes locked on me like a heat-seeking missile.
I didn’t even think. I just reacted.
I raised my bow, lined up my arrow and drew back. I inhaled on my release and let the arrow fly. The wolf zig zagged on his path toward me, but my aim struck true and took him in the left shoulder. He crashed face forward, his hind legs flipping ass over end.
A man shouted out a cheer beside me and I whipped my head toward him. Shock crashed through me. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. My eyes darted over the raging battle in search of a streak of white.
There.
Lindy’s wolf stood tall and proud on a boulder, her eyes boring into me from across the clearing. Her ears were flat, her hackles raised. Without a shadow of a doubt I knew she saw what just transpired, and I didn’t know what to fucking do about it.
I hadn’t thought. The wolf was gunning for me and my body had responded to the threat.
She engaged with two Hounds, darting in between their legs and using her speed to rush in, bite, and then dance back before they can strike out at her.
Captivated by her movements, I stared, entranced, and noticed the third Hound creeping up behind her. Rook. Fear gripped me and rooted me to my spot. I opened my mouth to shout out a warning. But she must have heard his advance because before I can say anything, she turned, but she was too slow.
Rook’s blade descended in a low arc and Lindy’s high-pitched cry snapped me out of my reverie. I brought up my bow, notched another arrow and took aim at the man who’d struck at her.
I let my arrow fly, aiming for the Rook’s leg. My arrow pierced his calf, bringing him to his
knees. Lindy’s head whipped up in my direction, golden eyes meeting mine before she lunged for Rook’s throat and tore into him. Blood sprayed and the two men who’d been engaged with her earlier took several steps back.
Rain battered down from the sky, soaking me to the bone. I wiped my face to clear my vision, and when I next blinked, she’d moved on, engaged in another fight for her life. Rook’s body lay lifeless where he landed, and I couldn’t muster up even an ounce of regret for his death.
Bodies littered the ground. Lindy’s bleeding from her shoulder and I can see the limp in her steps as she fights off her attackers. She was slowing down, her tongue rolling out of her mouth, making her panting all the more evident.
With only six wolves to defend the Pack, they’re slowly forced back toward the Den’s entrance. The wolf I struck still had an arrow in his front shoulder and Lindy was still bleeding. The others seemed fine, but at the rate they’re going, they won’t all leave here alive.
I ignored the voice of reason in the back of my mind telling me there was nothing I could do. I didn’t know whose side I was on. I just knew this was a mess. It needed to end.
Facing the nearest Hound, I grabbed his cloak and jerked him toward me. “Retreat. Go back to town. Now.” I shoved him away from me and grabbed another, repeating the same message, not bothering to wait and see if they listened. This was the only warning I could give them. The numbers might be to their benefit, but that didn’t mean they’d make it out of here unscathed. There were enough of their brethren on the ground to give them pause and a few took my warning and retreated, the adrenaline from the battle wearing off in the face of claws and teeth.
The wolves continued weaving in and out between the men.
In the chaos of the fight, I punched three men, sending them to the ground. With any luck they wouldn’t notice it wasn’t an accident.
Trouble with Wolves: An urban fantasy romance novel (Magic and Bone Book 1) Page 11