I nodded, making a mental note to ensure the others knew that our friend needed to be given his fill. He continued to eat and I couldn’t help but smile. It didn’t matter that he was taller and at least twice my weight, there was no mistaking the fact that he was just a boy. “Are bears always so big?”
The boy gave a jerk against his chains as if he didn’t expect me to talk to him. His eyes shifted carefully while he weighed whether or not the information could be used against him. “Yes, though I am bigger than most.”
I nodded, allowing my curiosity to show. “But you’re just a kid.”
This time his eyes went flat and I knew he was going to lie to me. “You’re right. I’m just a kid.”
I frowned, unable to figure out why he’d lie about something so innocent. It was obvious he wasn’t a full grown man. Maybe I’d insulted him. “Not that being a kid is a bad thing. There is plenty of time for you to grow up to be more.”
I think the low rumble he made was pained laughter. “If your family doesn’t kill me first.”
The little noise of distress I made caused him to frown. “Not that they will. They will see as you have. I am only a kid.”
“Only a kid?”
“A kid would never be allowed to take place in an attack. None of the bears had anything to do with what happened here, including me.”
I frowned this time, absorbing his words. It didn’t look like he was lying but then again, I wasn’t a very good judge of character. Maybe he’d faked his last lie to make this one more believable. I gave myself a mental shake. I couldn’t let past failures color what I thought today. Maybe my judgment of people was just fine. I decided to go with that. “Then what were you doing in the forest around our home?”
“I had something to deliver.”
When he didn’t elaborate, I let my shoulders drop. No one would believe his story without more information and evidence to back it up. Still, for some reason I did. I believed him. “And why are you so sure that no other bears could have led the attack? Surely you don’t know every bear well enough to make such a grand statement.”
This time his mouth flattened into a mulish line and I knew I wasn’t going to get the answer to my question. I let out a little sigh and got up to answer the door when the guard returned with the items I asked for.
“Will you let me wash your cuts? I don’t want them to get infected.”
He did his best to shrug with his arms chained and I went to work, letting my mind roll over the information I’d been given. If the boy wasn’t the culprit—and I was sure he wasn’t—that meant someone else had attacked the village. I considered telling Aldrich about my suspicions, only to push away the thought immediately. Aldrich had enough on his plate without my doubts. I ran my tongue over my lips and worried the plump flesh there.
Yes, my mate was already giving it his all and there was nothing I could do to help him. The voices had told me how weak I was. They’d said I was a liability to him, and maybe they were right. I was always the one needing saving but that didn’t mean I had to be. I pictured Aldrich in my mind.
Lines of stress marred his beautiful face. That inky black threatened to take him over completely. He looked like he was in constant pain when near me. Not to mention the insistent state of his arousal. I wanted him, which was painfully obvious. My body burned for him even how, a smolder low in my belly. But what I felt in want was nothing compared to the need I saw in his eyes.
The Wolf was threatening to break free every day and even though he knew I accepted and didn’t fear his darker half, I could tell he did. He was afraid I would get hurt. I could understand, but what stuck in my craw was the fact that he didn’t think I could handle it. If I’d been a wolf, he would have unleashed his beast without any hesitation. But he held back … because of me.
“You aren’t a wolf.”
I had to blink away my thoughts before the words registered in my head. Had I been speaking out loud? No, my teeth were planted nicely in my bottom lip. Then what?
The boy was watching me with wide, disbelieving eyes and I was immediately wary of what he was thinking. I finished cleaning the blood from his chest without acknowledging what he said. When I turned to put the rag back into the basin, his voice snaked out like a slow, seductive whiff of banana crème pastries.
“You aren’t a wolf.”
This time I nodded, my head swimming curiously. I tilted without moving and had to close my eyes for fear of the rocking feeling spreading to my body. Only, I moved the moment he spoke again.
“Look at me.”
This time I couldn’t have fought the draw if I wanted to. I turned in a slow circle, my eyelids lifting on their own accord. He smiled and for some reason I thought he had the nicest smile ever. It lulled me, making me sleepy like a loving hug or a home-cooked meal. I shook my head. No, he couldn’t have the nicest smile. That belonged to Aldrich.
“I didn’t know they kept humans here. Are you a sheep among wolves?”
I tried to answer him, tried to tell him that I was a hunter amongst wolves, but the words never made it pass my lips. Instead, I swayed side to side, a low humming filling my ears. My body felt so heavy, so impossibly heavy. Maybe if I lay down it would get lighter. Yes, that would do just fine. I wanted to just take a little nap and then I wouldn’t feel so heavy anymore. I’d let my mind sleep and my physical self could just stay here and rest. Yes, rest with the bear. He would take good care of me, I could trust him.
I was across the room and settling into the cot before my mind registered the sound of the door opening. “Roux, what are you doing?” Mina’s voice sounded muffled and far away. I tried to lift my hand, to tell her to come back later after my nap but she was already pulling me out of the warm place I’d settled in.
“Dammit, Deryk, you can’t go hypnotizing my friends.” I heard her snap a curse, but still her voice was muffled.
I just wanted to sleep. Sleep … my head nodded forward.
Cold water slapped my face and my nap was interrupted violently. I sputtered, waving my hands around stupidly to ward off a stream which had already stopped. My eyes slammed open and I hissed. “Mina, what the heck! You could have drowned me!”
Mina put her hands on her hips and hissed right back at me. “You should be thanking me, you twit. You were about to sleep on that cot. Do you have any idea what kind of bugs are lying in wait under there?”
I jumped up remembering the critter that had been dining on the boy’s blood when I got here. “Ew, ew!”
A wave of dizziness swept through me and Mina handed me the flask I’d used to give the boy water. “Drink this and stand very still for the next couple of minutes. You’ll be fine.”
I did as she said while she stalked over to the boy. There were little fissions of color dancing around my eyes but I could just barely make out a smug look of superiority gracing his face. Mina was quick to wipe it off. “Are you stupid or suicidal? Do you have any idea who this is? Who her mate is?”
The boy frowned, but only for a second. “It’s not my fault they sent a fly into a spider’s web.”
Mina reached up and tugged out several strands of the boy’s golden brown hair. He flinched, but did little more than bare his teeth in retaliation. “You’re not supposed to try to escape.”
A layer of guilt flashed across his face and he may have grumbled a response. I couldn’t hear it but I saw Mina nod. “All right. I suppose it’s the most I can hope for given the circumstances. But Roux may want an apology.”
She turned back to me and I shrugged. “What’s a little mind control among friends?”
The easy statement had the desired affect and Mina visually relaxed. “Thanks, Roux. That could have made an already crappy day worse, just when I was thinking it couldn’t possibly get any shittier.”
I laughed, but my amusement didn’t last long. Off in the distance a group cry was raised, followed by the alarms. They beeped a steady sequence in warning, calling the direction of the t
rouble.
Another attack was underway and headed straight for us.
Chapter 5
Night had fallen while we were in the hut. The waxing moon hung ominously against the tree tops while the Alten howled in warning.
“Roux, get back inside where it’s safe.”
Mina pushed through the doorway, already sliding toward the ground. Bones groaned and snapped until a golden wolf shook out her fur in front of me.
The stampede of pounding paws came from the far end of the space. I cringed from where I hid, seeing the surprise on Mina’s face. The Alten were running at us full speed, their teeth bared to attack. There was blood smeared over their beloved faces but their eyes, their normally soulful, intelligent eyes were wild and flat. Even from the distance, I could tell something was wrong. They weren’t connected. Wolves as a rule don’t hunt as individuals. Instead, they follow the commands of the leader, ensuring no one is hurt in the attacks. On this night, they didn’t do that.
All twelve of the Alten split into different directions without waiting for cues. They fell on the three guards, who with low cries of displeasure, kept them back while trying to keep from doing them any real harm. None of them shifted as Mina had, but they used their clubs and body weight to shove at the muscular bodies that dashed at them with frightening speed. Mina whined low in her throat when one of the guards went down, and covered the back of his head with his hands rather than lash out at the powerful creatures.
“They’re bespelled,” a second guard snapped, holding his hands out to three of the wolves on the ground. “Nothing I say reaches them.”
The third guard barely had time to tackle the other before the wolves jumped to attack. He used his massive shoulders to barrel through teeth and claws but there was no way they would survive the fight if they continued to refuse to shift. Mina must have realized it too, because she was leaping into action before the next blows fell. Her sleek, yellow body was bigger and faster than the Alten, but even I knew the odds were bad. She could have taken four or five of them, but twelve? Not by herself. I frowned, reminding myself again that wolves didn’t train for such situations.
Mina let out a yelp when one of the smaller wolves managed to sink his canines into her hind leg. The muscles tore and blood flowed, splattering the ground. I echoed her cry, searching the hut for something that would work as a weapon. All I found were the meager furnishings, all of which were chained to the floor. There was nothing I could arm myself with, but I had to help Mina.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, little human.” The boy behind me spoke and I jumped, having forgotten all about him.
“I have to try.”
He shook his head, despite the weight of the clamp around his neck. “You’ll only get in the way. Humans do not have the strengths and abilities as we animals. The only way you have been able to survive is through your mental abilities.”
Another yelp cut through the air and I cheered in my head when I saw it wasn’t Mina who took the hit this time. “Your name is Deryk, right? How about you get to the point? What are you talking about?”
“I’m saying every being in the animal kingdom has had to adapt to survive. We’ve grown taller, stronger, and able to jump higher. What have you humans done?”
I shifted impatiently, trying to figure out whether or not what he was saying was going to help me or hinder me. Either way, I didn’t have time to sit around and chat. Not when I needed to help my friend. “I don’t know, we’ve developed weapons. Swords and magic.”
The boy smiled a slow teasing expression. It was the first time I recognized how handsome he was. In a couple of years, he would be knocking them out of the park. “Yes. You, though, haven’t trained in any kind of physical weapon. It would take years for your body to be conditioned to wield a sword with any kind of skill. That leaves you with magic.”
“I don’t know any magic either.” I turned and put my hand on the door, prepared to jump into the fray.
His smile grew. “Are you sure?”
Suddenly I was encased in the foggy feeling of sleepiness again. From a distance, I knew he was doing something to me. Keeping me from going out to fight. I should have been angry, but instead I turned to face him, waiting for … I don’t know. I blinked blankly at him, almost forgetting he was a prisoner. Something shimmered on the edge of my mind, a whisper of glittering yellow light that I vaguely remembered using before.
“Touch me.” The light whispered. “I can give you strength.”
I shook my head, spinning around in a circle. The last time I used the light, it was because Aldrich was close. I heard cries and howls off in the distance and knew he wasn’t in my immediate vicinity. I couldn’t have been touching on his power.
The boy was speaking. His voice was a low chant that almost reminded me of the Ceremony. Only the words he spoke were almost … I could take them apart if I wanted to. I could organize them in my mind, just enough to make sense of every other word. Words like “separate” and “potential” flowed through the room on ribbons of silky power. I could almost see them dancing in my vision, but couldn’t quite touch them.
If only I could reach up … pull them down…
The brilliant blue of that strange fruit hovered in front of me again and I flinched. “Take it. Eat it. You have the capacity for–”
Something slammed against the door behind me, rattling my bones. I stumbled a step forward and the illusion was broken. Shattered. I shook my head forcefully, trying to clear the remnants of whatever just happened. It wasn’t until I brought my hands to my face that I realized I was bathed in sweat. A full out battle was waging behind me and I was shaking with my back to the window, my body bathed in perspiration.
Adawolfa’s face flashed before my eyes, pinched with disgust. Without turning I knew she and Aldrich were out there, subduing their beloved family members.
I took a menacing step toward the boy, mortification and rage hammering nails into my burning lungs. “What did you do to me?”
“I didn’t do anything to you. You’re a friend of Mina. I couldn’t hurt you if I wanted to.”
Not too long ago I would have considered myself a level-headed person. I blame the bizarre circumstances I’m constantly forced into for my response. I jumped forward, baring my disappointingly human teeth at the bear. “What. Did. You. Do?”
Those dark eyes drank me in and he finally nodded. “I didn’t want you to get hurt. My uncle is on his way and though he won’t hurt anyone on purpose we’re a … strong people.”
If the baring of my teeth was something I picked up from watching Aldrich dominate the other members of the Pack, then the twitching of my ears was an act that sank into my body from watching it happen around him so often. Just off in the distance something caught my sense and held on, despite the fact that I couldn’t make it out on a physical level.
I turned my back on him and walked back to the window set in the door. As if they were calling just to me, I heard the soft sound of chimes brushing against one another. It took me a moment to single out the sound over the noise of battle and the distracting vision of my mate pushing Alten to their knees. The warning howl that had originally told Mina and me danger was coming still sounded. It emanated from the direction the wolves had come. Even now, my mate fought pressed against that side of the clearing.
This sound came from the opposite side of the judgment zone and sounded somehow … wrong.
“Get out of the way, liebling!”
I didn’t realize I had moved forward until Aldrich’s voice cut through the air with a warning. I turned my head from where I was standing on the edge of the rocks that surrounded the packed dirt. Horror mixed with the blood on Aldrich’s half-wolf, half-man face. Trees crashed to the side of me, kicking up a cloud of dust that obscured my vision for precious seconds.
A huge arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me against a proportional chest. I was hauled up from the ground, my feet dangling uselessly as shock flooded my
body with adrenaline which had nowhere to go.
The rumble of voice started at my back and traveled up my spine. “You shunna be on the battlefield, little human. What doo’ya think you’re doing here?”
I squeaked an answer that probably could have only been heard by the wolves in dog form.
The hulking bear behind me didn’t seem to have any trouble with that. He pulled me up tighter against him in what I hope was not meant to be as intimidating as it was. As it stood, he was lucky I was talking at all, what with my tongue being in my stomach.
It was only a couple of seconds but it felt like an hour by the time the dust settled. Mina’s gasp sliced through the air moments before Aldrich appeared out of the cloud like a wraith, his eyes blacker than sin and his body coiled like a snake. I sucked in a startled breath at the picture he painted, dark and dangerous.
“Let her go, bear. Do it now and I will only remove the hands you are touching her with before I end you.” His voice was low and matter-of-fact.
The bear didn’t flinch. “I willna hurt your pet. I dinna even know she was here. All I want is the boy.”
Off to the side I saw Adawolfa sliding herself into an attack position. She moved slowly, keeping herself in the shadows the moonlight cast. The bear never took his eyes off Aldrich. His free hand balled into a fist and slammed against a nearby rock without so much of a blink. His muscles absorbed the blow effortlessly even while pebbles and powder rained in her direction. He took the impact of the blow without a sound but I was beginning to lose track of all my organs being moved around. There was no longer room in my stomach for my tongue.
“If you do that again I’m going to throw up all over you.”
The bear dropped me like a sack of hot stones. I landed with an unceremonial oomph while he raised his hands. “All I want is the boy.”
“Roux, come to me.” The bear made no move to stop me and Aldrich snatched me away from him as soon as I was close enough. He snarled, running a careful hand over my figure to make sure I hadn’t been injured.
“I dinna know she was your mate.”
The Big Cry Wolf Page 7