Wolf Hollow (Wolf Hollow Shifters, Book 1)

by Nikki Jefford

  Sasha’s next growl rumbled across the clearing. “I would maim any mate of mine who suggested I share him with another female.”

  “And that is your right,” Jager agreed. “But if Francine and Trish are in agreement, who are we to step in the way of their happiness?”

  “Is that what is to become of the hollow? Females sharing their mates?” Sasha demanded.

  “I wouldn’t suggest it,” Jager said. “There is nothing wrong with our male-to-female ratio. Palmer would be the exception.”

  “Special privileges for an elder council member,” Sasha said with a sneer.

  Jager lifted his hands into the air. “What’s done can’t be undone. It is time to make a decision. Do we give Palmer permission to claim Trish as his second mate and mother of his unborn child? I vote yes.” Jager looked around the circle.

  Garrick nodded. He reached over and slapped Palmer on the back. “Congratulations, Papa Wolf,” he said with a wide grin.

  Palmer chuckled, a grating sound like rocks tumbling over each other in a landslide.

  The circle quieted. Jager stared pointedly at Raider, who shrugged. “Like Jager said, what’s done is done.”

  Sasha’s eyes narrowed to slits. Was that how he felt about Kallie? Was she done now too? Perhaps he’d like to drag her to the wasteland and put her out of her misery.

  She knew she was being unfair. Raider looked shaken up. Maybe even numb.

  She needed him to snap out of it.

  What she really needed was another council member on her side.

  “Sasha, that leaves you,” Jager said.

  Outvoted, but she still got to express her opinion. Even if the topic were up for debate, Sasha felt there’d been no choice but to agree.

  She sat back down on her stump slowly and turned her focus back on Palmer. “You ask for the council’s blessing after the deed is already done. What choice do we have? I do not wish Trish to be an outcast when you are to blame for her state.”

  The smug smile that had been on Palmer’s lips disappeared when his upper lip curled. He opened his mouth to speak, but Jager jumped in first.

  “Excellent,” he said, rubbing his hands over his thighs. “It’s settled then. Palmer has the council’s blessing to claim Trish as his second mate. I will make an announcement at dinner tonight unless you would like to, Palmer.”

  “Be my guest,” Palmer said.

  Sasha’s heart began beating rapidly. There had never been a better opportunity to bring up the claim she wanted to make on Tabor. As uncouth as his methods were, Palmer had done her a favor. Requesting the council’s blessing to claim a half-breed paled in comparison to Palmer’s desire for two mates.

  Still, she didn’t expect any of them would congratulate her. Bringing the subject up made her feel skittish, but it was now or never.

  Sasha sat up straight. “While we’re on the subject, I have a proposal of my own.”

  “Oh?” Jager said.

  Sasha’s jangled nerves calmed. A wolfish grin formed over her lips. Palmer wasn’t the only one who could act smug. “I would like to claim Tabor as my mate. We can be the first new pairing for the upcoming full moon.”

  Might as well not mince words. She had always preferred the direct approach.

  Raider lifted his head and stared at her as though he’d just woken from a doze. Jager’s and Garrick’s faces wrinkled, looking both shocked and furious. Palmer had the good sense not to glower at her like the other two elders.

  Jager’s face had turned red. “That conniving mongrel,” he spat. “I should have never paired the two of you. He’s bewitched you, hasn’t he?”

  “Like father, like son,” Garrick growled.

  Sasha narrowed her eyes. “He’s done no such thing.”

  “Then why would you want to claim him?” Jager demanded.

  Sasha lifted her chin. “Because my wolf has chosen him, as have I.” That’s all the explanation the council needed to know. She wasn’t about to discuss her feelings for Tabor with a group of crusty elders.

  “You cannot claim a half-breed,” Garrick said.

  “I can and I will,” Sasha snarled.

  “Sasha, think of your children and what they would become,” Jager implored. “Think of your parents. Would you really want to taint the blood of future generations? You have a long and proud lineage of purebloods in your family. If you mate with a half-breed, that all ends.”

  “I don’t care,” Sasha ground out between her teeth.

  “Well, everyone else will,” Garrick snapped.

  “I don’t care,” Raider said. “It’s not like there are any pure-blooded males around. Let Sasha choose the mate she wants. The council just allowed Palmer to choose two. Sasha only wants one.” A wry smile appeared over his lips. It grew bigger when Sasha smiled back.

  Finally, the support she’d been looking for. She could have thrown her arms around Raider right then, and she wasn’t even the hugging type.

  The veins on Garrick’s neck bulged. He jumped up, muscles flexing in his arms. “I’m going to drag Hector’s ass back to Wolf Hollow and make him claim you!” he bellowed.

  Sasha got to her feet. “I bet you’d enjoy that.”

  His face darkened and fists tightened. Garrick took a step forward. Hot fury radiated off his body and sparked in his eyes.

  Sasha’s wolf had a better chance of fighting him, but she didn’t want to crouch on the ground to make the shift. Instead, she bounced on the balls of her feet, preparing to shift and leap at Garrick’s throat.

  Sensing what was at play, Raider scrambled off his stump and threw his hulking body between the two of them. He wasn’t as bulky as his father, but he was taller.

  “Calm down, Dad,” he said, sounding more like the parent scolding the child. “No one wants that lily liver back in Wolf Hollow. Even pure blood can’t make up for his cowardice.”

  “He wasn’t scared. He was angry,” Garrick snapped. “His bitch of a cousin took off, leaving him no choice but to escort her home safely.”

  Sasha snorted and rolled her eyes.

  Usually it took Jager several attempts to get to his feet, but thanks to Tabor’s potion he was on his toes in one go.

  “I think we can all agree there are no available, or acceptable, pure-blooded males for Sasha,” Jager said. “I always hoped Wolfrik would return to us, but it is a hope we must abandon. I fear Wolfrik is dead. He would have returned if he could have—I’m sure of it.”

  Silence fell over the group. No one had ever voiced their suspicions that Wolfrik hadn’t just run away. He’d perished . . . or worse, Sasha thought with a shudder, recalling the group of humans who had tried to capture her and Aden.

  Jager blinked several times then turned to Sasha with glistening eyes.

  “Please consider what you’re asking, my dear. You are a pureblood. A fighter. A survivor. A council member. You are a symbol of hope and strength. The pack respects you. Do you really want to give all that up, let down your pack, by claiming a half-breed? At least consider a full wolf shifter. I’ll partner you with any wolf you want in the next patrols.”

  Sasha’s chest tightened. Taking oxygen into her lungs became more difficult as Jager implored her with his cloudy eyes.

  “We should banish the half-breed,” Garrick growled.

  Sasha snarled. Getting air was no longer a problem. Now all she needed was a chance to unleash her fury. Garrick would be the perfect outlet. Sasha wanted out of the dress and into her fur. She flexed her muscles.

  “Let’s settle this now. As wolves,” she said.

  “Wait just a minute,” Palmer said, getting to his feet to join the rest of the council members in their stare down. He lifted his arms in the air. “We’re in the middle of a meeting. Council members shouldn’t be brawling.”

  Sasha snarled at him. Palmer
should be happy it wasn’t his throat she was going for. Not at the moment.

  “Palmer’s right,” Jager said. “Can we all please sit down and finish our meeting?” He took a seat in demonstration.

  Palmer planted his ass back down too.

  It was difficult to glare at Garrick with Raider still standing between them. Only when Garrick returned to his stump did Sasha do the same. Raider didn’t sit down until he’d seen that she retreated.

  Jager looked around the circle, making eye contact with each council member before resuming the meeting.

  “This is a lot of excitement for an old man,” he said in a wavering voice. “Palmer has left me with a big announcement to make tonight. I must think on the wording of my speech.” Jager turned to Sasha. “My dear, would you do this old man the favor of waiting one more week to make your claim? Give me time to think on the best way to deliver the news to the pack.”

  Nice one, playing the old man card. Sometimes Sasha forgot what a formidable opponent Jager could be not in body, but in mind. But he had all but given her his blessings to claim Tabor so long as she gave him a little time.

  Palmer clasped his hands together. “Waiting sounds like an excellent idea.” He shared a look with Garrick, which made the hulking brute relax on his stump.

  Secretive smiles formed over their lips.

  “Fine,” Sasha said. “I’ll give you until the full moon ceremony to prepare an announcement, but if anything happens to Tabor before then, the vulhena will be the least of your worries.”

  chapter twelve

  There were no children gathered around the den’s communal firepit that afternoon. The hammocks were empty. No sounds of laughter or parents scolding their pups. The air held the scent of fear. Tabor breathed it in as he entered the den with Peter.

  They slowed to a trot, sniffing and glancing around the deserted clearing. Several pairs of eyes peered out of the doors of huts before retreating inside.

  Tabor followed Peter into his hut. Heidi and the kids weren’t there. The men shifted on the hut’s compacted dirt floor.

  Once clothed, they walked to a shed set apart from the other huts and homes. The wood planks were splitting apart in many places, long cracks in the wood that needed repair. The shed was a sorry excuse for a clinic. Shifters were lucky they rarely got ill and that injuries weren’t frequent.

  As someone who dabbled in the healing arts, the clinic was something Tabor had always wanted to improve, but patrol duties kept him too busy. Once mated and living in the den, he’d have the opportunity he’d been waiting for to transform the shed into a decent little hospital.

  A small group of shifters milled outside the door, which was propped open with a large stone. Amy and Eric were there, peering inside. Eric noticed Peter and Tabor first. He nudged his sister, who scowled until she followed the direction of his finger.

  “Daddy!” the children cried, running to Peter.

  Peter crouched down and scooped Amy into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. Eric attached himself to Peter’s leg. Peter chuckled and patted the boy’s head.

  Tabor walked past them. Shifters stepped aside to allow him entrance. Light shone in from an open window usually kept shuttered in the winter months. Kallie lay atop a table in the center of the shed, Heidi beside her leg with a bloody cloth in her hand.

  Heidi looked up and met Tabor’s eyes as he entered. Her lips formed a grim line. She dropped the cloth into a bowl of water on the table near Kallie’s hip. A thin cotton sheet was arranged over her chest and pelvis.

  Kallie didn’t lift her head to look at Tabor. It wasn’t until he’d approached her side that her gaze flickered over him before returning to the ceiling. She stared up with glassy eyes.

  Tabor joined Heidi’s side to have a look at the leg. The skin below Kallie’s knee hung loose, and he could see bone where entire chunks of muscle and flesh were missing. But that wasn’t the worst of it. Kallie’s left foot hung limp and mangled, bones crushed from her ankle down.

  Her leg would heal, but her foot . . .

  Tabor swallowed before speaking.

  “Do you want something for the pain?”

  “She’s already had a cup of Jager’s brew,” Heidi said. When she turned her back to Kallie, her eyes filled with sorrow.

  Tabor rested his palm on the table.

  “First things first. We need to finish cleaning the wound.”

  Heidi nodded. “Dana is fetching a fresh bowl of warm water.”

  “Is my box still here?” Tabor asked, searching the shelf with his eyes until he spotted it. “There it is.” He walked briskly to the shelf and pulled down a small cedar box, setting it on a narrow side table against the inner wall of the shed.

  Tabor pulled the lid off and plucked out a vial of blue liquid. He and his mother had put together a kit of potions and remedies to store in the shed should they ever be needed. Shifters tended to set their mistrust of magic aside when in great bodily harm.

  Dana reappeared with the fresh water, and Heidi got to work cleaning up the last traces of blood. Then Dana quickly retreated with the bowl of bloody water, leaving Heidi and Tabor alone with Kallie.

  Tabor pulled down a wicker basket that contained supplies that had been taken from an abandoned human hospital. He pulled out a roll of gauze.

  “Kallie,” Tabor said softly. “You’ll heal faster if you shift.”

  It was one of the greatest benefits of being a wolf shifter in Tabor’s mind, but it had also backfired on Kallie in a cruel way.

  “She tried and is unable,” Heidi said, whispering, “I think she’s in shock.”

  “No matter, we’ll get her patched up,” Tabor said in a confident voice that didn’t match the turmoil roiling around inside his gut.

  Whether Kallie healed faster or slower wouldn’t help in the long run, and she seemed to understand that. She lay on her back unblinking, looking as though she’d given up all hope.

  As soon as Heidi finished cleaning off the blood, Tabor leaned over the table with the vial of potion. He unscrewed the lid and carefully sprinkled a drop for every inch of open wound. The potion would help prevent infection as the wound healed.

  He set the vial on the side table and returned to Kallie’s side, looming over her leg. Heidi handed Tabor the gauze before he had a chance to ask. He gave her a small, grateful smile then turned back to Kallie. Heidi lifted her leg gently and Tabor wrapped the wound.

  “Aside from some scarring, your leg should heal fully,” Tabor said, tightening the gauze before sealing it with a metal clasp.

  “And my foot?” Kallie asked in a voice devoid of emotion.

  Tabor and Heidi shared a look. When neither of them answered, Kallie chuckled humorlessly. “That bad.”

  Tabor cleared his throat. “Time will tell.”

  “I don’t need time to tell me anything,” Kallie said bitterly. “I felt my bones break in the vulhena’s jaw—twice.”

  “You need to give your body a chance to heal,” Heidi said soothingly.

  Kallie kept her eyes on the ceiling. “I’d like to be alone for a while,” she said in a flat voice.

  “Of course,” Heidi said, moving to the door. “Holler if you need anything at all. There will be someone outside guarding the door at all times.”

  Heidi was already headed outside and didn’t hear Kallie mutter, “Wouldn’t want another vulhena to come along and finish the job.”

  With no words of comfort to offer, Tabor left the shed. He’d done all he could for Kallie’s physical wounds. The potion he’d been supplying Jager might help bring her comfort after she healed, but only in the physical sense.

  Kallie sounded broken on the inside, and that was something even a wizard had no power to fix.

  Outside, Heidi stood talking softly to Flynn. She waved Tabor over
as soon as he stepped out.

  “Thank you for helping her,” Flynn said.

  Tabor bowed his head solemnly.

  Heidi placed her hand on Flynn’s shoulder. “Thanks for keeping guard. I’ll have Dana bring you supper. Peter will come by after he listens to what the elders have to say in camp.” She removed her hand from Flynn and began walking away.

  Tabor fell into step beside her, passing small campfires as they crossed the den. Shifter families kept close to their dwellings tonight. The small gathering outside the shed had since dissipated. None of the children played in the clearing.

  Tabor expected Heidi to talk about the recent spate of attacks once they were alone, but the first words from her mouth were, “We haven’t seen you in a long time, Tay.”

  “Few weeks,” he acknowledged, trying to sound casual.

  When Heidi smiled, she looked like her usual self, not the grim-faced woman who had cleaned blood off Kallie moments before.

  “I assumed you weren’t coming around because you were successful in partnering with your special lady-wolf and that the two of you were sharing meals together in camp.” Heidi’s eyes sparkled as she spoke.

  This was partially true. Tabor had been eating meals with Sasha. He’d also been busy making Jager’s potions. But there was a third reason he’d steered clear of the den: to avoid this conversation.

  How could Tabor forget Heidi’s previous excitement about the prospect of pure-blooded pups in the den?

  It wasn’t his fault that Hector ran off like a lily-livered coward. Good thing he had. After coupling with Sasha, Tabor wouldn’t have been able to give her up, even if Hector had remained in Wolf Hollow.

  Heidi laughed softly, studying Tabor’s face.

  “You look like you’re having multiple conversations inside your head.”

  Tabor shrugged, his cheeks heating as though he’d overexposed them to direct sunlight.

  The grin spread over Heidi’s lips. “I heard you and Sasha are partners,” she said, sounding impressed. “Now I understand why you were being so secretive before.”