by TJ Klune
Ox darted toward my truck and Rico. The red wolf scrabbled backward, trying to get away from the charging Alphas. Even through the storm in my head, I could hear Ox saying get pack get pack get pack and run run we run we don’t fight not here not now we run and even before their words finished echoing, the raven began to move. It felt caged still, like something was trying to stifle the bird, but it wasn’t enough.
I crossed my arms, hands grabbing the opposite wrists. I dug my fingernails into my own skin and scraped down, sliding my hands until I was palm to palm, slick with blood.
The timber wolf craned its neck farther to try to get at Carter, and there was a brief moment when I thought it hesitated, nostrils flaring as its nose came into contact with Carter’s side, but it didn’t matter. My blood dripped onto the earth, and the chains wrapped around the necks of each of the foreign wolves jerked up, pulling the wolves up by their necks. The legs of both the red wolf and the timber wolf kicked, trying to find purchase on the ground, but I gritted my teeth, palms pressed against each other, and—
they’re breaking they’re breaking they’re BREAKING
—took a stumbling step forward, feeling like my head was splitting right down the middle. It wasn’t just the voice of Robert Livingstone in my head. No, it was a goddamn chorus of voices ringing out as the wards turned against my magic, being taken away from me and made into something else.
I pushed through the haze that had started to fall over my eyes.
The feral wolves were snarling as they hovered ten feet off the ground. Mark stood at my side, pressed against me, tail curled around my hips. He was grounding me, trying to burst through the cacophony of voices in my head. He was here, he was pack gordo pack here LoveMateHeart, and whatever was happening with the wards was pushed to the background. The scene in front of me snapped back into startling focus.
Carter’s head snapped toward me as a wave of my fury rolled through the threads between us.
I ignored Rico as we walked by the truck, the door open, Ox gently biting him on the hand and pulling. I heard him gasp as we passed by, but it didn’t matter. He was safe. His Alpha would see to that.
Mark stayed by me with every step I took.
The snow stuttered and shook around us as if it were reacting to the unseen force of the magic burning in my chest.
I squeezed my hands into fists. The blood squelched between my fingers.
The chains jerked up, wrapping themselves around the feral wolves.
They yowled as the silver burned their flesh.
There, standing a dozen yards down the road, was Elijah.
Hunters had surrounded her, the doors of their trucks opened behind them.
All had guns trained on us.
Elijah looked up at the wolves floating ten feet above the ground, writhing in pain as their skin burned. She smiled, then turned her gaze back on me. “Gordo Livingstone, as I live and breathe. You certainly have grown up well. But I suppose we were all younger then. Lord knows I certainly was. But that is the way of things. Time stops for no man.” Her smile widened. “Or woman.” She glanced up again at the wolves. “Those are mine. My pets.”
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I growled at her.
The hunters behind her laughed as Elijah cocked her head. “Didn’t you hear anything I’ve said? Gordo, this town, this place, has been judged. It has been found guilty. I am here to mete out the punishment for the sins of Green Creek. The blight must be eradicated. For too long, the beasts here have infected these woods. We came here once. We were unprepared. We won’t make that mistake again.”
Mark growled next to me, ears flattened and teeth bared.
The snow fell around us.
A pulse rose behind me. And even though the storm in my head thundered, it didn’t compare to the strength of my pack.
Carter arrived first, moving until he stood next to Mark, shoulders brushing together.
Some of the hunters took a step back.
Ox came next. His eyes burned furiously.
Rico pressed his hand against my back.
Joe’s paws crunched the snow as he came up on our left. Chris and Tanner stood on either side of him, Chris bleeding from a gash on his head and Tanner limping. But they were defiant.
More wolves came.
Elizabeth and Robbie, both shifted and growling, tails swishing as they stood next to their pack.
Jessie brought up the rear. She tapped Ox’s crowbar against her shoulder.
The hunters were scared. The barrels of their rifles shook. The first one who fired was going to be the first to die. I would see to it myself.
“The Bennett pack,” Elijah breathed. “How… expectant. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Elijah. The wolf pack that came before you killed most of my clan. I am here to make sure that never happens again.” She glanced at me. “I’m told my brother, may he rest in peace, warned your witch of me.”
The feeling of blue threatened to overwhelm me. It came from Elizabeth. I realized then that aside from myself and Mark, she was the only one who had faced Elijah before. Had seen what she was capable of. She had survived only to live in the aftermath of the destruction of most of her pack.
And I had kept Elijah’s existence from her.
But that wasn’t—“How did you know what your brother said?” I demanded. “The only person I told was….” No.
No, fuck, please no.
The wolves were confused, but it was lost to my horror.
“Philip Pappas,” Elijah said, the smile fading from her face. “Who in turn told Michelle Hughes. Michelle Hughes, who asked my clan to return to Green Creek and eradicate the infection spreading amongst the beasts that haunt this town. I must admit, it wasn’t exactly ideal, forming an alliance with the wolves, but she promised me I would have my revenge. I just had to wait. But as a prophet of the Lord, I understood that one day, my time would come. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, after all.” She lifted the wolf head up and off, letting it rest back on her shoulders. She’d shaved her hair down close to the scalp. The scar on her face etched its way up the side of her head. Snow landed on her skin and trickled down her face like tears. “We have a code. No humans are to be harmed unless they actively assist the wolves. As long as the people of Green Creek stay out of my way, they will not be touched. As for the traitors standing with the wolves, I will afford them this once chance. Walk away. Leave this pack behind. At the borders of your territory stand witches prepared to allow you through the wards they have commandeered from Gordo Livingstone. You have until the full moon, when I’m told that part of your pack will turn feral. If you do not accept this offer, you will be shown no quarter and hunted as if you were a Bennett.”
It was Jessie who spoke. “We’re already Bennetts, you cunt. And if you were taken out once like you say you were, then it can happen again.”
The wolves rumbled around us.
Elijah’s mouth was a thin line. “I see. I was warned of your… loyalty. I’ve witnessed it before. The way wolves assert their control over humans. It is unfortunate that you can’t see what you’ve become.”
There was the telltale snap of muscle and bone, and Oxnard Matheson stood upright slowly, nude, snow falling onto his shoulders.
“Alpha,” Elijah said, nodding in deference. “I’m told you’re unusual, even for a wolf. The mate of the boy who would be king. A human Alpha who gave in to the sin of the wolf.” She reached up and touched the skin of the wolf hanging off her back. “Yours would be an impressive pelt to own. I think I shall have it.”
“It appears you’ve been told many things.”
“A necessary thing in warfare.”
“You have already made a mistake,” Ox said quietly, taking a step forward. The rifles tracked toward him, the hunters beginning to murmur their unease.
“Oh?” Elijah asked, voice cool. “And what would that be exactly?”
“You came into my territory uninvited,” Ox said, “with the intentio
n of hurting my family. Omegas came once, intending to do the same. We were smaller then. Unsure. Scared. We thought ourselves alone.” His eyes flared red. “Only a few of them crawled away. The rest had their throats ripped out. Their blood drenched this earth, and I swore then and there that I would do whatever it took to keep my pack safe.”
Elijah’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t fear you, wolf—”
“No,” Ox snapped. “But your clan does. I can smell it. The sweat dripping down the backs of their necks. The way their heartbeats stutter and trip. You may not be scared, but they are terrified.”
“They will do as they’re told.”
ready be ready run protect the humans get back to the house home safe home
“Then they’re already dead,” Ox said, and it was now, it was now, it was now—
An electronic sound chirruped loudly behind us.
“You there!” a voice called out from a loudspeaker. “Stand down. I repeat, stand down. Lower your weapons and—holy shit, are those wolves?”
Jones.
Many things happened at once.
Ox: move safe home now
and,
the wolves in the air above us screamed as the chains tightened
and,
Rico and Chris and Tanner and Jessie running
and,
the raven broke free of its cage, wings spreading as I hurled the feral wolves at the hunters, their jaws gaping as they snarled, Elijah’s eyes going wide, the hunters shouting,
and,
two shots fired.
A bullet whizzed by near my ear.
The second bullet caused Ox to grunt as it hit him high in the shoulder. I felt it, a burst of it hurts it hurts oh my god it hurts, and he took a step back.
Elijah jumped out of the way as the feral wolves slammed into the group of hunters that had gathered behind her.
Joe roared angrily, even as Ox fell to his knees, his shift taking over. The muscles in his back rippled as black hair sprouted along his skin. His hands became great paws, his face elongating as the wolf emerged.
Mark pushed against my legs, forcing me away from the screaming hunters, who were scrabbling back from the snapping pain of the hurt wolves.
We ran.
I glanced back over my shoulder before we disappeared into the swirling snow. Elijah had picked herself up and was staring after us. She caught my gaze and raised her hand, wiggling her fingers at me.
We passed by the cruiser.
Jones was inside, eyes sightless.
A trickle of blood slid down from the hole in the center of his forehead.
enough
MY LUNGS were burning by the time we reached the house at the end of the lane. The wolves had stayed behind the humans, making sure they didn’t stop. Chris and Tanner were flagging. Elizabeth and Robbie kept them upright, allowing them to lean on their backs, pushing them on.
We passed the blue house, Kelly leading the way, shifting toward human, feet slipping in the snow as he reached the porch of the Bennett house. His eyes were wide and fearful as he looked back at us in time to see Ox fall to the ground, sliding in the snow, leaving a trail of blood behind him.
Rico took a step toward him. “What’s wrong with Ox?” he asked, voice high-pitched. “Is he okay? Why is he—”
“Silver,” I grunted, shoving him out of the way. “The bullet was made of silver. Jessie. In the house. A knife. We have to get the bullet out. I don’t have the strength to do it myself.”
She didn’t hesitate, hitting the stairs at a full run, the door to the Bennett house banging open as she disappeared inside.
Elizabeth shifted back to human, grabbing on to Chris and Tanner, pulling them away from Joe, who stood above his mate, growling angrily. “It’s okay,” she said, face ashen. “He’ll be okay. We need to get you seen to. Rico, Robbie, I need your help.”
Rico nodded, even as Tanner and Chris protested loudly.
Carter stood in front of Kelly, pacing back and forth, nostrils flaring. Robbie looked conflicted, glancing back and forth between Ox and Elizabeth. It took Elizabeth saying his name sharply before he herded the humans toward the house, snapping at their heels.
“Joe,” I said, hands up in a placating gesture. “I need to help Ox, okay? You know me. You know I won’t do anything to hurt him further.”
For a moment I thought Joe was going to lunge for me, but Mark was at my side, lips pulled back over his teeth, growling lowly in his throat. The wolves were singing in my head, and all their songs were blue and filled with hurt and confusion and alpha alpha alpha. The other voices I’d heard back in the street had quieted. I didn’t know what that meant. I couldn’t feel the wards anymore, at least not as they’d been before.
That had to wait.
I needed to help Ox.
My hands shook, the blood on them still wet.
I could see the moment the metallic scent of it hit Joe’s nose, because he whined in my direction, torn between his mate and his hurt witch. “I’m okay,” I told him. “I’m okay. But I need to get to Ox.”
Jessie came flying back out of the house, a large kitchen knife in her hand. She jumped down the steps and landed gracefully at the bottom. Her cheeks were reddened, her breaths coming hard and quick.
Joe jerked his head toward her, crouching low over Ox as if he thought she was a threat.
She reached out with her free hand and smacked him upside the head. “Knock it off,” she snapped. “Let us do what we need to. If you’re not going to help, then get the fuck out of the way.”
“Maybe not piss off the angry Alpha,” I muttered.
She rolled her eyes. “We don’t have time for mystical moon magic bullshit. Either he moves, or I make him move.”
Joe huffed out a breath, steam curling around his face.
And he stepped aside.
I went to my knees beside Ox. He was trembling, but his eyes were open and aware. I could see where his hair was matted with blood, but it would be easier if—“Ox, I need you to shift back, okay? I need to see the wound better. I don’t have time to shave down the hair.”
“Won’t the shift cause the silver to enter his bloodstream quicker?” Kelly asked, sounding gut-punched. “It’ll make it—”
“It’s not near his heart,” I said. “If I move fast, it won’t matter.”
Joe leaned down, nuzzling against Ox’s head. It was please and help and OxLoveMate. Ox shuddered on the ground in the snow, and the long whine turned into a dull groan as he shifted back to human. He gasped as the hair melted away, leaving nothing but white skin and a bloody, ragged hole in his shoulder, roughly the size of a quarter, that looked as if it was smoking.
His back arched off the ground. “Fuck,” he said through gritted teeth. “Jesus Christ, that hurts, Gordo, it’s—”
“You have to hold him down,” I said. “Kelly. Carter. I need you to—”
Kelly was there, pushing down on Ox’s shoulders.
Carter took a step toward us, still a wolf. His eyes blazed orange. He screwed them shut, and I could feel him trying to force his shift, but something was wrong. He opened his eyes again, and for a moment I swore I saw—
Mark appeared, human and kneeling at Ox’s feet. He put his hands on Ox’s shins, forcing them down into the snow. He looked up at me and nodded.
“It’s going to be quick,” I warned Ox. “Stay as still as you can. The more you move, the longer it’ll take.”
He nodded, eyes red, nostrils flaring.
I didn’t hesitate.
I took the knife from Jessie and sliced the skin around the bullet wound, making the opening wider. Ox’s hands closed to fists and his toes curled, but he turned his head toward Joe, who pressed his nose against his forehead.
“You ready?” I asked Kelly and Mark.
They nodded.
I put my hand over the wound, close but not touching. I was exhausted, but I pushed through it. It took a moment for me to find it, the bullet of silver embedded
in his shoulder. But once I did, I latched on to it and pulled it up. Ox screamed as it slowly rose out of him, keeping to the same path it’d used to enter him. The smell of burning flesh filled my nostrils, but I was so fucking close to—
The bullet slid from the wound. It was really the smallest of things.
Ox gasped as it left him, throat working as Joe rumbled in his ear.
I put my hand over the wound again, this time pressing down against his skin.
I tried to pull as much of the pain as I could. My vision started to swim only seconds later, and I heard Mark say, “Gordo, that’s enough. Gordo. Gordo.”
Arms wrapped around me, tugging me away. I fell back against a warm chest.
“It’s okay,” Mark whispered in my ear. “It’s okay. Look. He’s already starting to heal. You did it. Gordo, you did it. It’s okay.”
I nodded, unable to find the strength to open my eyes.
I didn’t remember much after that.
I WOKE in a room that was not my own. The light was dull. I was warm.
I blinked slowly, muscles stiff and sore. My tattoos felt burnt-out, weak. I wanted nothing more than to close my eyes and drift away again.
But then I remembered everything.
“Fuck,” I groaned, turning my head into the pillow.
“Sounds about right.”
I sighed. Of course. I didn’t look at him. “How long have I been out?”
“A few hours,” Mark said from somewhere in the room.
“Ox?”
“Healing. He’ll be fine.”
I closed my eyes again. I knew where we were. The pillow smelled of him. I would know that scent anywhere. It’d been burned into me since I was a kid. “You’re a fucking asshole.”
Mark snorted. “Glad to know you’re feeling better.”
“You shifted. Carter too.”
“You were in trouble.”
I ground my teeth together. My jaw hurt. “You heard what Michelle said. It makes it worse. Is that what you want?”
“You were in trouble,” he repeated.
“I had the situation under control.”
“Against Elijah, you mean.”