by Skye Malone
She turned away, pressing a hand to her face. That answered the question then. The one of whether there could ever be anything between them. When offered the chance to save her from certain death and be with her at the same time…
He said no.
He left.
He didn’t care whether she became a bear or was taken by the curse or about anything at all. He just cared that he wouldn’t be the one responsible for it.
Her brow crumpled with confusion, tears trying and failing to rise in her eyes while her chest ached like someone had replaced her lungs with red-hot metal. But maybe the lack of tears wasn’t about the curse at all.
Maybe it was just pain.
Hugging her arms to her middle, she started back toward the house. This was it, then. No Wes. No chance at being ulfhednar, and who needed them anyway? Sure, she couldn’t imagine life as a bear of all things, but if it was that or die…
Screw him.
Her feet picked up the pace, carrying her through the woods. Damn that wolf. Damn him to every kind of godforsaken hell. If that’s how it really was, then so fucking be it. He may have showed her who he really was inside, but so what? She wasn’t going to die. Not now that she finally had anything resembling a chance.
Maeve sure seemed like a bitch, but maybe she was just a… Lindy chuckled to herself, the sound raw and ragged to her ears. A Mama Bear. But regardless, the woman didn’t seem like she’d have much of a problem biting the hell out of anything.
Lindy included.
She pushed a branch aside, her body feeling like somewhere between the cabin and here, everything inside her had turned to lead. But it didn’t matter. She’d get over it, and by God, she’d be alive.
That was all that mattered.
And she’d never think about that damn wolf ever—
The blast wave hit her only a heartbeat after the roar of the explosion. Her feet left the ground and then the earth found her again, slamming into her back, knocking the wind from her chest. Heat blasted her face, and she cringed away for a moment before trying to scramble to her feet.
Smoke rose from the direction of the cabins.
Oh God.
She took off running, the snow slipping beneath her feet. Screams carried through the air, driving her heart into her throat.
In her mind, the shapes of draugar flared to life, impossibly close yet she hadn’t picked up on them at all.
She faltered, looking around frantically. How—
Her mother walked from between the trees.
Horror rushed like ice through Lindy’s veins. A black robe covered Carolyn, but the hood was thrown back, and waves of her honey-brown hair hung past her shoulders, longer than Lindy had ever seen it. Green auroras drifted over her skin, and dark shadows painted her cheekbones in sharp relief. Draugar stumbled and staggered through the woods behind her, flanking her on either side.
At the sight of Lindy, Carolyn’s lips curved in a smile. “Hello, darling.”
Lindy retreated a step. She couldn’t feel the woman in her mind at all, but power seemed to be rolling back into Carolyn, pulling away like a veil to reveal the draugar on all sides. “Mom… how did you—”
“Oh, I’ve been tracking you for days, my girl.” Carolyn’s hand rose, shadows twisting around her palm, and Lindy’s skin tingled in response. “I knew sooner or later you’d lead me to Andrew and my son.”
Horrified, Lindy’s mouth moved, no words coming out. Her mother had been… she’d…
Lindy had led her right to her family.
“Now…” Her mother’s smile vanished, her fingers curling into a fist. “Kneel.”
A choking sensation wrapped Lindy’s neck like a vise and then yanked her forward. Her knees slammed onto the snowy ground, and her fingers clawed at her throat but there was nothing. Only her skin, burning like acid. Only the shadows in her mind surging higher and higher.
“Mom, please…” Her vision swam. “Don’t—”
Carolyn walked closer, and her fingertips brushed Lindy’s cheek, leaving trails of cold like the touch of ice. “Time to come home, Melinda.”
Her mother turned away. “Take her.”
The draugar charged as Lindy crashed to the ground, her world going dark.
24
Wes
The blast wave nearly took him from his feet, but it had no trouble with the snow.
Digging his way from beneath a cascade fallen from a nearby evergreen tree, Wes gasped, his eyes darting around frantically.
Smoke billowed into the air, black and thick from the direction of the cabins.
Oh, no.
He scrambled out of the last of the snowdrift and bolted toward the houses, trying to trace Lindy’s scent. Where had she gone after he left? Back to the cabins? Deeper into the woods?
Oh, gods, he left her. Left all of them. What the fuck had he been thinking? Stupid, selfish bastard. It wasn’t safe to—
Shrieks of draugar reached his ears a heartbeat before the creatures poured from the woods, their rotted mouths gaping wide and their arms outstretched for him. He skidded on the snow, his eyes flying around fast, but they were everywhere.
The shift ripped through him, burning away his clothes and coat as it surged through his body. Lunging forward, he tore off the arm of the nearest draug reaching for him, and the creature stumbled, knocked off balance. Another fell to his teeth at its rotting throat, the taste of decay barely registering on him as the draug turned to dust, while a third collapsed when he took its legs from beneath it. In a blur of putrescent flesh and grasping hands, he continued onward, the bastards turning to dust around him as he fought through the forest toward the cabin.
But there were so many of them. So many, and they were slowing him down, and their stench of decay covered everything, making it impossible to find—
Her scent.
He whirled, taking off through the trees. She’d gone this way, but he couldn’t smell her tracks, only her scent on the air, and the snow was churned and stained by the passage of draugar.
They must have been chasing her. But there wasn’t any blood, thank the gods. If they’d killed her, surely there would be—
He tore past the underbrush and onto a stretch of road. The footprints scattered, heading every direction and turning back in the direction of the cabin too, while tire tracks carved a path off through the snow to his right.
But her scent stopped.
Spinning a circle, he floundered. Where could she…
His eyes went back to the tire tracks.
Oh, gods, no.
Turning fast, he raced into the woods again, heading for the cabins beneath the billowing smoke. They’d gotten her. The Order. They’d grabbed her and taken her the gods knew where. But he couldn’t help her as a wolf. He needed a fucking car.
The roar of a bear shook the woods around him, and shrieks came from the clearing ahead. He bolted from the trees to see draugar everywhere among the cabins, scrambling through windows and crashing past doors by sheer force of numbers. Screams and cries came from the houses as the draugar broke in, but the berserkers met them too. The enormous bears charged out into the horde, tearing down the draugar as they passed.
He took off across the clearing. Maeve’s house was his best bet, if only because Andrew would be there. Hopefully, the man wouldn’t mind driving a nearly rabid wolf on a mad chase after his daughter.
Maeve’s front door stood open, and Wes’s adrenaline surged higher. He leapt up the steps and raced through the opening, only to skid to a stop in horror.
The rear wall of the house was gone, timbers and debris scattered everywhere, and shattered glass glinted on the red tile. Bookcases had fallen from the walls, and in the kitchen, a massive bear lay crumpled in the corner. The air was a riot of scents, from draugar to bear to the few people he recognized.
And blood.
A groan came from beneath a bookcase half-buried beneath wall debris.
Oh, fuck…
W
es rushed over, and Andrew’s scent grew stronger. The man was pinned and only the chance fall of a table beside him had kept the enormous oak bookcase and the destroyed wall from crushing him entirely.
Pacing anxiously, Wes debated for a moment and then lunged into the gap beneath the bookcase. Wedging his feet beneath him, he snarled as he shoved upward, struggling to lever the heavy furniture and the wall debris higher. The scent of blood filled the space, and his wolf growled at smelling it.
Fucking beast. It wanted to bite something, and like hell that’d be Lindy’s father.
Andrew stirred with a pained sound.
Wes barked at him, praying the man could move enough to get out of here. The broken table had shifted position when he moved the bookcase, and if the thing fell now, the weight of it and the wall might crush them both.
Groaning, Andrew moved to drag himself free. The shelves dug into Wes’s spine, and he could feel the timbers of the wall moving above the bookcase, creating a shifting distribution of weight that he fought to keep balanced. He couldn’t let the wall debris roll onward to hit Andrew, not when it might stop him from getting free.
Or staying alive.
A deep roar came from near the doorway of the house. Trapped beneath the bookcase, Wes cursed internally. He couldn’t move to see the threat, and if that was an enraged bear ready to kill someone, there was no telling what might happen.
History didn’t remember the berserkers as being crazy for nothing.
Andrew cleared the edge of the bookcase. Relief joined Wes’s adrenaline, but now he had a new problem. How the hell was he going to get out from under here in wolf form?
Growling to himself, he worked his way backward, the edge of the shelving raking across his back. Gods, this was going to leave a mark. But he didn’t give a shit, not when the sooner he got out, the sooner he could get a damn car and go—
The shelving lifted away from him. Quickly, he scrambled backward to find an enormous bear holding the bookshelf up. The creature growled, the sound like a command, and jerked its head to the side as if telling him to get out of the way.
He retreated fast. The bear let the bookcase drop.
Wes was already moving, hurrying around to Andrew. The man groaned and tried to rise, only for another growl to come from the far end of the room. In the kitchen, the bear that had been on the ground was stirring, glaring at them all with a furious look that he’d swear had to belong to Maeve. Clambering from beneath her, a bear cub who probably was her son Otis retreated into the corner, visibly terrified.
Another bear came from the hallway, towering upright with bundles of clothes in his front paws. With a gruff sound, he tossed the clothes down in front of both Wes and the bear who’d lifted the bookcase before continuing on around the debris to reach Maeve and Otis.
Everett, Wes would guess. And something about the bear in front of him seemed like Henry. He couldn’t communicate with them the same as he did with his pack—with the wolves, communication was nearly effortless, a mixture of their body language and the pack bond that let him feel the others’ location and more—but some part of his mind seemed to understand who he was seeing, even if the people around him were in bear form.
Henry crouched down beside Andrew, who was struggling to push to his feet. With a massive paw, the bear held him down gently, a huffing sound leaving him that seemed like an entreaty to stay still.
“My kids…” Andrew protested, shaking his head groggily. “They have Frankie. I’ve got to find Lindy.”
Wes cursed internally. Taking up the bundle of clothes, he raced for the closest room, shifting fast once the door shut behind him. The clothes were several sizes too big, but the bear had thought to grab a belt, which helped—as did the fact Wes didn’t give a shit. He’d wear a burlap sack if it got him after Lindy faster.
Yanking the door open again, he strode back into the living room. Maeve was gone, and Otis too, though he could hear voices down the hall behind him. Still in bear form, Henry paced by the hole blown in the wall, eyeing the forest like he was daring it to attack, and Everett was nowhere to be seen.
Wes paused beside Andrew, who was blinking blearily at the ceiling. “Can we move him?” he called to Henry.
“I wouldn’t.”
Wes glanced back as Everett came from the hall.
The big guy shook his head. “Not till Maeve gets—”
“Don’t you dare move that man.” Maeve pushed past Everett to crouch down beside Andrew. “You stay still, you hear me?” Not waiting for agreement, she set to checking the man over with ruthless efficiency, muttering deadly imprecations against the universe the whole time.
Wes retreated, giving her space. “I need to borrow one of your vehicles,” he said to Everett. “Please. They took Lindy too.”
The male looked toward Henry, his face solemn. The bear shook his head, turning away.
“What?” Wes demanded.
A rustling sound came from the doorway. He looked over to see a handful of people by the door, their builds large like bears and their ages ranging from young and old alike. Knox stood at the forefront of them, his face solemn.
“Last of them are gone.” Knox’s jaw clenched. “They got Annie and Tobias.”
Everett muttered a curse, shaking his head.
“Please,” Wes said, trying to keep his tone level. “I’m sorry for your losses, but I need to go save—”
“There isn’t any saving,” Everett said.
Wes whirled back to the male, a snarl on his lips.
“They’re going to end her, son. They’ve got their hands on her now. Lindy won’t survive it.”
Wes made an incredulous sound. “She will if you give me a damn car to go help her! And what about Frankie? If they’re going to do to Lindy what you say, then he’s—”
“They’ve already done it,” Everett interrupted. “Years ago, before you ever met the girl. If they’ve got her, they’re taking her humanity as we speak, and there isn’t a thing you can do to stop that. Not in time.”
“Like hell!” Wes scanned the room quickly, seeking any basket or hook holding keys.
There was nothing. Debris everywhere and destruction and nothing.
His heart raced. “Please,” he said to Everett. “Do you really want to stand here and tell Andrew that… what? You gave up on his kids? And what about you?” He turned to the bears by the door. “Do you want to risk your families if there is even a chance you could stop this?” He shook his head, his heart going a hundred miles a minute. “What they will do to her, none of you will survive. But if you help me, then maybe—”
“The wolf is right.”
He turned sharply to see Maeve pushing to her feet.
The female regarded the bears around her with an iron expression. “Helping Andrew’s children is the only shot we have at survival. With Lindy under their control, we lose everything.”
Everett shook his head. “We’ve survived this long by staying hidden from the Order, not by rushing straight into the thick of them—especially when they just got done murdering more of us!”
“You hand them that girl, Everett Thorncastle,” Maeve countered. “And it won’t matter where we hide.”
The large male turned away.
“I just need keys,” Wes urged. “Please. I can—”
“You’ll need a damn sight more than that,” Maeve retorted. “Reckless wolves. You never think.” She looked to the others by the doorway. “Knox?”
The dark-haired male nodded. “Sawyer, get the Humvee. Kaylee, make sure the tire chains are secure. Alex, Amelia, go tell the other Bloodclaws we’re heading out. I want one team with me and the rest stay here to stand guard, understood?”
Four of the people in the crowd hurried away while the rest eyed Wes nervously.
Ignoring them all, Maeve looked at Everett, who sighed.
“Very well.” The male glanced at Wes. “But I have to warn you, without any idea where they’ve taken her, this isn’t going to
be much of a rescue mission.”
Wes’s heart sank. He’d hoped the bears would know. And with the whole continent as an option and the Order getting farther away every moment, the odds of tracking her were—
Pain shot through his temple like the wolf was trying to break out of his skull. Clamping a hand to his head, he winced, his vision swirling. Snarling and snapping like a wild thing, the beast thrashed beneath his skin.
“Son,” Everett began warily. “Are you—”
Wes groaned aloud as the rabid bastard inside his head clamored, howling that they had to go southeast right the fuck now because she was there. Dozens of miles off. Maybe more, moving farther with every moment.
Toward Minneapolis.
With a snarl, Wes shoved the animal down, his heart pounding like a cannon in his chest. He blinked hard, trying to steady his vision, and when he looked up, he found the others staring at him.
“What just happened?” Everett asked.
Wes shook his head and then winced when his brain felt like it sloshed against his skull. But the residual need to go southeast remained, like an invisible river pulling him that direction.
And it was insane. Some holdover of that crazed fucking wolf with its ridiculous notions of tracking her, just like it had carried on days ago when she first left.
When it nearly drove him off the highway, straight toward her.
Chills crept through him. It wasn’t possible.
But if there was even a chance this strange sensation led to her…
He had no other plan.
Breathing slowly, he concentrated hard on holding the beast back while still feeling for the strange pull toward the southeast. The wolf fought him, thrashing in his mind, but he had years of experience keeping the bastard under control.
He looked back up at Everett. “I can find her.”
“How?” the male demanded.
“Doesn’t matter,” Wes said, not about to discuss the madness of the feral wolf inside his skull. “We need to go. Now.”