by Skye Winters
You can worry about being a wolf later.
For now, I had to find a way out of Dad's study.
I looked at the windows behind my father's desk, but they were blocked by even more fire as it snaked up the curtains and along the ceiling.
Smart move shifting after you start a fire.
I'd blacked out, if only for a moment, but it had allowed that spark to burn up half the room.
I took a breath, coughed around the thin air and dipped my head as I ran into the hall. The air out here wasn't any better.
I perked my ears and listened for wolves that may have been on my side of the house. The fire was too loud, roaring behind me as I headed for the dining hall.
My mother, Caine and Rowan would be fine. If there was one place a fire couldn't go, it was inside that bunker.
The book.
I skidded into a wall, but looking back toward my father's study, the fire had already consumed part of the wall and was quickly heading for my bedchambers a corridor away. At least the fire seems to be keeping to the west wing of the house. As for the book, whatever remedies may have existed within those pages were lost under an assault of ash and flame.
There will be other cures.
I had to believe that. In order for me to protect the pack, I had to trust there would be other ways to save my mother's life. For now, I knew she was safe.
Time to protect the rest of my family.
Chapter Ten
A pair of wolves headed toward me, baring their teeth as they neared. I bristled at them and kept running. I wouldn't be intimidated by them. Not on our land. I knew every place I could hide, every nook a wolf could disappear without so much as a trace.
But as I met their gaze, I realized they weren't looking at me. Their motions were desperate. Panicked. And as they weaved around me for the house, I knew Devlin had sent them to stop the fire before it consumed the entire building.
Good luck with that.
No doubt they'd salvage a little of what was left, but by now, our history was smoldering in the ground. Without the proper documents, Devlin would never learn of our alliances which meant territories to the north would remain untouched. And once the other packs got word of whatever happened here today, they'd increase their patrols and kill any rogue wolves on sight.
As I closed in on the front of our territory, the noise grew. Low growls were met with louder ones as both packs fought wolf against wolf. I strained my ears, willing them to pick out my father's voice—his wolf's voice. It had been so long since I'd heard his wolf speak, they all sounded the same.
The scent of blood saturated the air, but the packs were still fighting. Which means our alpha isn't defeated. Yet.
The last time Devlin had challenged him, he'd let his mutts play with our wolves until he tired them out. As if we weren't feeling the weight of that day and the wolves we'd lost already, he was likely doing the same thing again.
Keep a strong front. It's what my father always said, but it was close to impossible when more of our wolves lay whimpering on the ground than theirs.
At least being a wolf meant handling the situation a little better than before. My heart was still racing, but for the thrill of the hunt instead of the fear hanging on the very edge of my mind. Emotion and reason had left me just as soon as I lit that match. Instinct was all I had now, and it was a lot easier to follow than letting logic dictate my every move.
Shadows and outlines of other wolves fought before me. Their coats looked exactly the same. With so much blood and smoke in the air, it was hard to tell who I was looking at, or which side the wolves were on.
They aren't your concern.
The wolves continued their spat as I leapt over them, putting me right in the middle of a fighting ring. Literally.
A larger wolf turned for me, and I perked my ears in his direction. His ears were back. His gait heavier than I was used to.
Markus met my gaze, and while we couldn't speak, I read his body langue easily enough. He asked where I'd been.
I looked in the direction of the house before giving him my attention once more. A large gash hung open on his shoulder, leaking blood down his leg and the side of his chest. He shook it off and assured me it would heal.
If he could still walk, I couldn't argue.
As for my father and Devlin, neither had shifted yet. Sure, one of Devlin's wolves could've attacked, but that would've gotten him thrown out from the only pack that wanted him. Needed him. And no wolf was foolish enough to go alone. Not since Devlin started this whole mess.
"Look at your wolves. They aren't even prepared," Devlin said, pacing on a small boulder so he was standing a hair taller than my father. "Did you honestly think a portion of your pack could hold back the preparations I've been making for months?" He scoffed. "You're a fool."
"No." My father straightened his posture. "I'm honorable."
"A fool all the same. You follow laws that would hurt you more than help you. While I stand here, free to do whatever I please, you stand there cowering, waiting for an attack that has yet to come."
"It will come. If I know you, Devlin, it will come."
"You don't know me at all," Devlin growled, balling his hands into fists as his shift started to take hold. He rolled his shoulders back and went on. "I’ll defeat you, regardless of if we fight now, or if we wait until morning. I didn’t come here just to leave. I’m here to stay."
Both he and my father shifted at the same time, and it took everything I had not to jump between them. Markus stood beside me, favoring one leg as he looked on, just as helpless as I was.
Why doesn't anyone help him?
I studied the wolves outside the ring. They'd stopped fighting, but no one else set foot inside. Wounded, broken or exhausted, every wolf stayed put as my father and Devlin faced off.
I pinned my ears back and started for the middle when Markus stopped me. He pulled back on my scruff, reminding me it wasn't my place. It wasn't his either. If we interfered now, we'd throw the challenge altogether. Even if Devlin wasn't going to follow pack law, we wouldn't do the same.
Law came first, above all else. And unless Devlin's wolves offered their assistance, there wasn't anything we could do about it.
Not unless we wanted to leave the boundary.
I tugged against Markus's hold on me. He clamped down, breaking the skin, but I kept trying. He resisted me even more, dragging me to one side before releasing my scruff and placing himself between me and the ring.
We have to help Dad, I tried to tell him, but he wasn't looking at me.
His posture was lower to the ground and it wasn't until he bowed his head that I realized he was letting me pass.
You're alpha now, his eyes told me.
I shook my head. I wouldn't take my place as alpha unless the rest of my family could do it with me.
I headed for my father's side but was soon cut off by one of Devlin's wolves. Devlin threw a glance in my direction, but it was short and to the point. I knew my place, and like it or not, it was right here, fighting for the safety of my pack.
Devlin's wolf lunged at me, and I quickly rolled to the side. My scruff was already raw, and I knew it was the first place the other wolf would attack. I didn't give him the chance, weaving from one side to the other as he continued to miss time and again.
He leapt at me, at my throat, and I quickly backed away, dipping my head so the most he got was the tip of my ear.
I growled and, as he recovered, I turned at him, tail held high as much of my pack looked on. You're here now. Finish it.
I wasn't sure I could. I'd never killed as a wolf before. Not even on a hunt. My brothers were always the ones who caught the rabbits and other small rodents. I could never do it because—
You were never the wolf.
I hunched down and pushed off my paws, jumping at the other wolf. My fangs found fur, skin and bone as I bit down against his shoulder blade. The wolf yelped in pain, backed away, and as he staggered, I quickly
finished him off with a second bite to the underside of his neck.
His body went limp and fell to my feet as I growled at Devlin, baring my teeth and making whatever vocalizations I could to get his attention.
Devlin looked at me long enough for my father to get a hit in. It was a weak one, but it got Devlin to pay attention to his challenger and the alpha he'd come to fight instead of me.
No other wolf came after me. Not Devlin or my brother to hold me back. My place was in that ring, at my father's side. But this is his fight.
Our ancient laws made it so fighting two against one wasn't an option. If we did, it would've gotten us kicked from the grounds for good, and the pack still needed an alpha. So I stepped to the side.
My wolf begged to fight. With blood all around me, I was intoxicated as much from the challenge as the wolf lying a few feet away from me.
It was a rush. A feeling I hadn't experienced before, and it took a moment for me to regain my composure to keep from doing it again.
Our pack doesn't kill without reason.
Both Devlin and my dad circled one another, not paying me any mind as they returned to the challenge at hand. Other wolves cried out, some from pain and others asking for a merciful death. I saw Markus out of the corner of my eye answer one of our wolves, finishing off what Devlin's wolves had started but didn't have the balls to finish their own.
I winced at the sound of bones breaking, and my heart dropped into my stomach as slivers of emotion and reason came back into focus.
Not now.
I couldn't shift now. Not here. Not like this.
As other wolves faced a similar death, the hold I had on my wolfen form waned. My father tuned them out. I'm not sure how, but he didn't lose his focus, not even when my fur fell away to leave me naked in the ring.
Devlin's wolf grinned at me, and I covered myself the best I could as I returned to Markus's side. Exhausted from the shift, I crumbled beside him, helpless. He stayed with me, whimpering when he heard another wolf in need of assistance.
"Go." I rubbed behind his ear. "I'll be fine."
Two of our wolves joined me, taking Markus's place as he headed off into the brush to relieve the critically injured from their pain. We were well past damage control. Any fight our wolves had left was saved for those too weak to look after themselves.
I didn't have to scan our surroundings to know today's fight had been in Devlin's favor. We weren't ready. Even if he'd waited until tomorrow, the outcome would've been the same. Two of his wolves for every one of ours. The only time Devlin's wolves seemed to have any restraint was right here. Right now.
Alpha against alpha. A place I could never claim for myself because of my bond to Rowan.
But you acted like an alpha today.
My wolf took on her part as sub-alpha. Not me. It was a fleeting moment. A chance to get my point across. One that faded as soon as I lost control over my other form.
After a while, I couldn't hear my father or Devlin. A part of me insisted I turn around and look, but the fear of what I might find held me in place. The wolves keeping me safe and warm were tense, and at first, I thought I was shivering. But then I saw the wolf at my back had stepped to the side and was hunched over.
I went to him, holding him close until the shaking passed. I couldn't see any marks on him, and he hadn't whimpered at all, but something clearly had him upset.
Dad.
I drove my fingers into my packmate's fur and held on as I turned my gaze to the center of the ring. My father was still there, but his resolve was gone. He'd lost his concentration, but he still held on to his wolfen form. His legs shook. His ears were pinned back, and his head was bowed ever so slightly. It was as though he'd given up, relinquishing his place as alpha if only to spare more bloodshed than there already was.
Devlin wasn't buying it. His hackles were raised, his tail was high and his teeth gleamed as he approached my father. He nosed him. Pushed him to the ground and backed off so my dad could get back up.
I clenched my jaw and gripped the fur of my packmate even more. "Leave him alone. Can't you see? You've won. Leave our pack in peace."
Devlin glared in my direction, took a handful of steps and stopped once he was sure my father was following after him. He forced my father back into the center of the ring, causing them to circle one another all over again.
I looked on, wanting nothing more than to shift into my wolf and break Devlin's neck.
You should've done it when you had the chance.
There would've been other consequences if I had. I would've been seen as dishonorable and dismissed from the boundary. It was just as much a death sentence as dying from the jaws of another wolf. My father was still head alpha, and defeating Devlin was his place, just as Devlin's fight belonged to him. Not his wolves or whatever mutts he'd gathered.
And every wolf knew this. If it had been different, if wolves fought until only their pack was left, there would've been more casualties. And while Devlin's pack was a scar on our land, he was the problem. Their alpha. Once he was dealt with, the other wolves would either leave or take on responsibility alongside ours.
Like it or not, we needed more wolves, no matter where they came from. There would always be another wolf trying to take control of our pack. There was no escaping that, so we didn't even try. We just prepared for it and stood firmly in place.
Even from where I sat, I could see the pain my father's wolf was in. Every whimper reached his ears as they swiveled back and forth. And as they did, his head, his tail and even his shoulders got lower to the ground. He's defeated. He was, once again, giving up his place as alpha, visually telling Devlin he'd won.
It wasn't enough.
Devlin growled, teasing my father with short nips to his ears and the fur on his chest. My dad refused to move.
I tried to identify Markus along the outside of the ring, but he still hadn't come back from helping other wolves who, at the time, needed him more than I did.
"Fight back," I said, crawling out from behind my packmate so my father could see me. "You know I would take this burden from you if I could. But I can't." My voice cracked. "You have to fight back. Protect our family."
My father got close to the ground and released a growl that rumbled so loud, I could've sworn I felt it under my feet. He launched at Devlin, going right for the jugular as the overly confident wolf raised his muzzle in a laugh.
Devlin weaved at the last second and caught my father's tail in his maw. He pulled him to the ground and mantled over him, ready to strike. But Dad was right where he wanted to be.
Stuck on his side, he had a clear shot of Devlin's underside and legs. He bit the ankle closest to him and rolled out of the way as Devlin howled in pain.
The two of them squared off again with Devlin favoring his leg. It wasn't fatal, but for now, it evened the playing field.
A smart wolf would've backed off. An experienced alpha may have even called a draw and agreed to meet up again when both had had time to recover.
Not Devlin. A desperate wolf would do anything to save his hide, and that's obviously what my dad was hoping for.
As soon as Devlin went for him, Dad strafed out of the way, kicking up dust as he did. But even half-blind, Devlin didn't stop. With the cloud of debris between them, he shifted and shoved my dad to the ground, knocking the wind out of him.
"Fight like a wolf," I said, running in his direction. "Or would you rather fight me instead?"
Someone grabbed me. Held me back. Another wolf changed forms and did the same.
"Let go of me," I growled, yanking an arm away from one of my packmates.
"This isn't our fight," they said.
The hell it's not.
Alpha challenges were meant to be fought wolf against wolf. Devlin may have shifted back to his human form, but the likelihood of him having enough energy to do the reverse was slim.
"If he can't change back, he forfeits the fight," I said, struggling against my packmates.<
br />
My father stood in front of me with his back turned.
This is his fight. Human or wolf, he was still the alpha of our pack.
"This pup of yours doesn't know her place," Devlin said, crouching close to the ground. "Though she does make a good point. Will you fight me, alpha to alpha? Or will you cower like the dog you are as your daughter falls to your feet?"
In an instant, Devlin pulled a jagged rock from the ground and drove it into my father's chest. My dad yelped in pain and tried to get up when Devlin struck him again.
I called for help, but all that escaped my lips was a helpless whimper as my packmates let me go.
I dropped to my knees and hugged my arms around my father's mane, crying into the thick fur as I spoke. "Why didn't you shift? Why didn't you fight back?"
My father wheezed. "We fought here today and held our ground as a unit. In a single form. As one pack. A family. That, my daughter, is something no other pack will ever take away from us. We fought well, but we all knew the consequences of this fight going in."
I shook my head. "No. You can't say things like that. Not now. It's just a flesh wound. A few days of rest and—"
"Lying to me as much as yourself won't change events. Your time as alpha is now. Use it well and share it with the one you love." He coughed and released a short whine as he exhaled whatever air he had left in his lungs.
Time stopped. I was hyperaware of my immediate surroundings and not much else. At that moment, all I saw, all I felt was my father's body, growing stiff and changing shape as the world moved on without me.
Darkness clouded my vision and didn't clear until a shaky hand touched my shoulder, pulling me into Rowan's arms. I couldn't breathe or think. But I could feel. I felt everything. The jarring pain. The sharp stab in my heart. The twist in my stomach. And Rowan's warm embrace, holding me up so I wouldn't crumble on the ground beside him.
I wanted to ask how she was here with me in her arms, but I already knew. Once my father released his dying breath, she was free to shift. His hold over our ability to shift had waned shortly before Devlin's attack, but it was that attack that had gotten Rowan to stay in her wolfen form, not an order passed down by my father.