A Pack of Two

by Jacky Russell

  Tristyn poured three glasses of wine. “Didn’t you say she talked to your wolf?”

  “If she hadn’t, I wouldn’t be here. My wolf wanted to change after the accident, but with the injuries, I would have bled to death before the change was complete. She talked my wolf down. I couldn’t stop the change but she did. My father can’t control my wolf the way she did.”

  An Alpha werewolf was able to control every wolf in his pack. Usually the amount of dominance an Alpha displayed was enough to deal with even the most unruly wolves, but the touch of magic associated with being an Alpha was always enough. Well, always except in my case. My wolf felt no compulsion to obey the Alpha.

  “Earth witches can usually shapeshift. Did you see any of her forms?”

  All I really remembered was the way Breanna had looked at me. “No. I didn’t see anything but the face of an angel.”

  Tristyn strolled in with a plate full of chicken wings. “Your dad’s gonna flip.”

  “You really like her?” Alex asked, nibbling on a wing.

  Just thinking about Breanna made me smile. “I do. I talked to her about going to visit when her unit gets back from South America.”

  An odd look passed between Tristyn and Alex. They were as close as two people could get and sometimes I swear they could read each other’s minds. Wonder if Breanna and I could ever be that way?

  Alexandria fell asleep before the end of the second period of the midnight hockey game. Tristyn carried her gently into the guest bedroom and settled her in for the night.

  “So, what’s the plan?” he asked as he kicked out the recliner.

  “She said she’d call when her unit was going back to America. I’m going to take some time and go see her.”

  “Do you know the Alpha in that territory?”

  I didn’t but I would soon. I’d have to contact him before entering his territory. Ideally, my Alpha would contact him for me, but in this case that wouldn’t happen.

  “I’ll check into it,” I said, grabbing a wing.

  “Let me know when we leave.”

  “We?”

  Tristyn nodded as he plucked a chicken wing from the plate. As a living vampire, he ate regular food like the rest of us. “You’ll need someone to watch your back.”

  “I wasn’t expecting you to go.”

  My friend tilted his head. “You’ve already had problems with these wolves and now you are about to go into their territory. You need backup and if the situation was reversed, you’d be there for me.”

  “It won’t be safe for Alex. If things get bad for me with the Wisconsin Pack, she could be in danger. I’ve heard the American Alphas are more tolerant of witches, but Alexandria will be a stranger in the territory.”

  “Alex is going to visit her grandmother,” Tristyn answered. “She and I have already talked and she expects us to have the trip planned by the time she wakes up.”

  I didn’t know what to say. Trist and I had been through so much and I trusted him with my life, but he had a mate now and didn’t need to be risking his life for me.

  Tristyn finished his glass of wine and reached for the remote. “No need to argue with me on this, little brother. I’m going with you.”

  “I appreciate the offer but you shouldn’t.”

  Tristyn cocked a blond eyebrow. “Like I said, Luc, no need to discuss this any further. I’m going with you.” Tristyn crossed his arms and leaned back on the couch. The look on his face was one I knew well. He was coming with me.

  “As soon as I know anything, I’ll call you,” I mumbled around a mouthful of chicken.

  “Sounds good,” Tristyn replied as he snatched the last wing off the plate. “How are things with your mom?”

  “She’s been acting a little strange, but there’s so much tension between Josef and me, she’s probably just afraid we’ll kill one another.”

  Tristyn stopped eating. “Is it that bad?”

  I nodded, not at all proud that my father and I did not get along.

  “He won’t let you leave?” Tristyn asked. “Release you from your pack ties?”

  “Won’t even talk to me about it.”

  Tristyn leaned forward. “I’m sorry, Luc. Is there anything I can do?”

  “Find me a way out of the Italian Pack that doesn’t involve me killing my father.”

  Chapter 11

  Breanna

  We set the trap, but it took five days before the rogue wolf finally caught the scent of the girls and followed his nose into a four-sided cage. Poor guy never saw it coming. I went out to visit the wolf before Trenton gave the order to put him down. It was sad, a young wolf like this destroyed without having done anything wrong. It was all about protecting the species and a werewolf who was fully wolf was a danger. If the wolf died and a group of scientists found his body, the supernatural world would stand on its head.

  “Hey, big fella,” I called. The wolf was lying in the far corner of his cage, his silver eyes filled with rage and perhaps a tiny bit of fear. There had to be fear in there. Wolves didn’t go Rambo unless something bad happened.

  The big black wolf rumbled as I eased onto the ground outside the cage. I tossed a piece of jerky in his direction but he looked at it like it was dirt.

  “You don’t know what you’re missing. I love this stuff.”

  He lifted his lip and showed off his pearly whites.

  “Fine, your loss.” I munched on a strip of chewy meat.

  The wolf whined and laid his head on his paws.

  “You don’t have to die, you know.” The wolf sighed but didn’t open his eyes. “If you’ll let your human side come back, they won’t execute you.”

  The wolf stood, circled three times before settling, his back to me, onto the hard wooden cage floor. He wanted the conversation to be over. Too bad.

  “So, what’s a big tough wolf like you afraid of? You could take humans with no problem, I’d wager you could hold you own against most werewolves and a vampire would be mighty stupid to mess with you.” He raised his head and looked over his shoulder at me. Progress? Maybe, if he understood English.

  “We don’t want to hurt you but can’t let you run around in the jungle like this. Don’t you have a pack somewhere?”

  The black wolf tipped his head as if mulling over my words. The werewolves said their wolf forms did understand language though the comprehension wasn’t nearly that of the human form. I kept the conversation simple.

  “Look. Let your human side come back and I swear no one will hurt you. If you stay in this form, you’re a dead wolf walking.”

  Rising to his feet, the wolf stared at me. I met his eyes. He looked at the floor.

  The wolf edged closer to the cage bars as I held a piece of jerky for him. He sniffed the meat and my hand. His jaws had enough strength to rip tendons and break bones, but I needed to show a little faith. Maybe if he saw I trusted him, he’d do the same by me.

  His teeth grazed my finger and I resisted the urge to snatch my hand out of the cage. His cold nose brushed along my thumb as his tongue slowly licked the four-inch piece of jerky. He took the jerky between his teeth and swallowed it.

  “Will you keep your teeth to yourself if I come in?”

  I stood and summoned my magic. As an owl, I hopped through the cage bars. The wolf didn’t come closer or try to snap me like a Scooby Snack. I shifted to human and sat cross-legged on the cage floor.

  The big black wolf tensed but did not attack. I started talking about whatever came to mind. Of course the topic always on my mind was Lucas. I chattered to the wolf until the sun sank below the horizon. As darkness enveloped the cage, he laid his head on my leg and whined.

  Carefully, as not to startle him, I touched the soft fur behind his ears. His body jerked and for a moment I thought he would attack. Instead he let out a low rumble that sounded remarkably like a sigh of contentment.

  “I give my word we will help if you will allow your human form to come back.”

  The wolf look
ed up at me, his eyes so full of sadness and pain it made my heart hurt. He wasn’t a rogue. He was scared.

  His change started slowly, his body twisting and contorting from wolf form to human. He cried out many times but I didn’t touch him. Changes for werewolves were painful under normal conditions, but this wolf hadn’t changed in a very long time and that meant his change would be even worse.

  Over an hour later, a naked young man, curled in the fetal position, lay shivering beside me. I pulled off my jacket and draped it over his shoulders. His body was crisscrossed with deep scars, most jagged but others were straight and long, the telltale sign of a whip. His tanned skin stretched tautly over a much-too-thin body.

  As the moon ascended, the teenager sat up and covered his privates with my jacket. His coal black hair was long and unkempt and he smelled much more strongly of musk than a normal werewolf. His hands trembled as he pulled at the buttons of the jacket.

  “I’m Breanna.”

  He looked at me shyly and quickly averted his eyes. “I’m Levi.”

  He sounded American. “Where you from?”

  “Arizona.”

  What the hell was an Arizona werewolf doing in Paraguay?

  “Where am I?”

  “South America.”

  The shock on his face was real. He had no idea where he was and, I bet, not much of a clue what had happened. He looked to be about sixteen and hadn’t been a werewolf very long. In the younger ones, the wolf was always much stronger. The newly turned wolves needed mentors to help them learn to control their instincts. Without guidance the youngsters were a menace.

  “Thank you for helping me,” he whispered. I gingerly put my arm around his shoulders. He melted into me like a small child.

  The soft crunching of grass was the only clue I had of Simon’s approach. Levi raised his head as the vampire came into view. Silver flakes appeared in the youngster’s eyes.

  “He won’t hurt you,” I said loudly enough Simon would hear.

  The silver-flaked gaze turned toward me. His wolf wanted to retake control but his human was fighting.

  “I swear he will not hurt you.”

  Levi ground his teeth and even my nose could smell his fear.

  Simon stopped short and gave me a dirty look. I probably should have told him I was planning to crawl into the cage but I really hadn’t planned to do anything but come out and say goodbye. Oops.

  “Master Sergeant Welker?”

  Levi’s teeth chattered. I pulled him closer. “I’m not leaving him, Sime.”

  Simon crossed his arms and stared at the frightened teenager. “This is not our decision, Breanna.”

  “I will not leave him.”

  Simon let out an exasperated sigh. “Major Trenton is on his way here.”

  Levi buried his head in my shoulder.

  “Then I most definitely am not leaving him.”

  Footsteps scuffled through the woods behind us. It was a relief to see the faces of my unit. They crowded the front of the cage, trying to get a closer look at the werewolf youngster.

  “He speak English?” Aaron asked.

  “He’s from Arizona,” I answered. Startled looks passed between the wolves. The vampires watched curiously as Levi clung to me like a terrified child.

  The Bravo Combat Unit arrived from the opposite direction. The all-werewolf unit was always louder than my recon guys. They couldn’t sneak up on a dead human.

  Major Trenton pulled up short when he saw me inside the cage. He turned to Simon. “DuChard! Get your witch away from my target.”

  Simon gave me a pained look before releasing some of his power. “Major Trenton, I will contact headquarters regarding the change in status of the target.”

  The werewolf commanding officer was not impressed. He strode nonchalantly to the front of the cage. Levi kept his head buried and trembled. This poor kid was so scared he couldn’t move.

  “Or let the witch stay. Perhaps one of our bullets will miss its target.”

  The air around the cage exploded as my unit charged. The werewolves exchanged punches but it was the vampires who pulled open the bars and formed a circle around Levi and me.

  Master vampire power slammed into everyone as Simon regained control of his unit. “Stand down, Bravo,” he ordered, his voice resonating with authority. The fighting immediately stopped, though the snarling continued unabated.

  I couldn’t see anything past the legs and butts of the vampires. They had formed a tight circle to keep Levi and me hidden from view. Simon and Trenton shouted at one another. Trenton wanted to kill Levi and Simon was doing his best to save the kid and me. Christopher looked over his shoulder and winked.

  “Trenton will have to come through us, Bre.”

  “Thanks, Chris.”

  He nodded and said something to the other vampires in French. The air around us vibrated, some sort of vampire magic helping to keep us invisible.

  Simon managed to place a call to headquarters and convinced his superiors to spare Levi’s life. Trenton was livid, storming back to the barracks, cursing the whole way. Power crackled around Simon as he gave the order for his unit to return to the base. I didn’t move.

  “We will take the wolf to the base with us tomorrow,” Simon said, his voice rough from anger. “We will speak of this later.”

  He turned on his heel and disappeared into the darkness. The vampires passed through the bars and followed Simon. The werewolves were reluctant to follow Simon’s order, but knew they should.

  “Thanks, guys,” I called as they meandered near the cage.

  “He gonna be all right, Bre?” Ordy asked, nodding toward Levi, who had yet to lift his head from my shoulder.

  “Yeah, he’ll be fine once somebody helps him understand all that wolf shit you guys do.”

  The wolves laughed away some of the tension of the evening.

  Christopher reappeared with a pair of sweats. “I think these will fit the young one,” he said as he placed the pants and shirt onto the floor inside the bars. “I’ll bring your sleeping bag and pillow as soon as I find Celeste.”

  “Thanks, Chris.”

  Aaron leaned against the bars. “Hey, kid, you want something to eat?”

  Levi didn’t move. He might not have been hungry but I was starving.

  “Would you get us something, Aaron? Levi has to be hungry.”

  Aaron’s blond eyebrows shot up. “You know his name?”

  “His first name is Levi, not sure about the rest. After he gets some sleep, he’ll probably feel more like talking.”

  Aaron agreed and left to find something for us to eat. Christopher kept his word and deposited my pack into the cage a few minutes later. I opened the sleeping bag and spread it out.

  “You’re staying with me tonight?” Levi asked when everyone had gone.

  “Would you rather I leave?”

  His green eyes got very wide. “No, I didn’t mean it like that. I guess I just thought you’d want to go somewhere it was comfortable.”

  Anything was better than bedbugs and obnoxious werewolves. “Compared to the barracks, this isn’t so bad and, besides, one werewolf isn’t nearly as hot as a whole bunch of them.”

  Levi had no idea what I meant.

  “Werewolves have higher body temperatures than other beings,” I explained.

  He looked more confused. “Oh, I didn’t know that.”

  The poor kid had no clue what it meant to be a werewolf. He needed to spend some time with a wolf who could tell him about being a wolf. Aaron was a good guy when he wasn’t tending my business, but he wouldn’t have the patience to explain things to a newly turned wolf. Ordy wasn’t exactly mentor material. Maybe tomorrow I could talk to Johnny Reed. Johnny was friendly and smart, a good guy.

  Levi and I settled under the blanket and he curled into a ball. In the morning my muscles would regret sleeping on the wooden floor, but it was the right thing to do. Trenton’s group wouldn’t violate orders and hurt Levi, but they would ha
rass him. The kid was already scared and confused. He didn’t need a bunch of werewolves bullying him. His wolf might take over again if he was scared enough.

  By zero one hundred Levi was softly snoring in my ear. In the distance a twig snapped and my eyelids popped open. Levi mumbled and rolled over, but didn’t wake.

  My nose began to burn and my eyes watered as I walked to the front of the cage. Black magic was nearby. I radioed Simon and waited for his response.

  Hooray for me, following orders.

  Another twig snapped and I cast a sensing spell. If there were black witches in the area, it would feel it like a fish on the line. It might be a tiny tug or a big yank, but if they were there, I’d know.

  Something tugged on my sensing spell. Catching only residual spell-casting magic, I couldn’t tell what specific kind of witches, only that their magic was dark. They hadn’t sent anything our way or my body would be absorbing it. If the witches launched an attack, it would be hard for me to counterattack if I was imitating SpongeBob.

  “Breanna?” Simon’s ice blue eyes sparkled as he remained in the shadows.

  “Black magic,” I mouthed.

  He nodded and motioned for me to take to the air.

  I’d only been airborne a few minutes when movement in the eastern quadrant of the base caught my eye. A group of six women were doing a pitiful job of sneaking along the base walls. They were much too close together, their pathetic green camo jackets standing out vividly against the wooden fence. Some people shouldn’t try to be sneaky.

  These were definitely not Malandanti. Their magic, even combined, wasn’t nearly as strong as what I’d felt in Italy. Nonetheless, they could have been dangerous to my unit, so I flew down to intercept.

  Soundlessly landing behind the group, I shifted to human. The women turned, one letting out a shriek of alarm. They were in their early thirties, not exactly the outdoorsy types, and absolutely terrified of me. Good.

  “Habla ingles?” I asked. One of the women stepped forward as the leader of the rag tag group.