A New Path

by Xander Jade

  "My lady! What are you doing up there? Come back beside me, I will protect you."

  "That’s okay Morgy, Max here can do that. Stay back there, and protect our people," she chuckled and I had trouble keeping my smile off my face. His face took on a reddish tint, either from embarrassment or outrage, I couldn’t tell.

  Remembering our conversation earlier, my curiosity got the better of me. Stepping closer to her while watching him as I bent down to her ear and whispered. "Was he your arranged meeting?" She nodded with heavy breathing. Damn, this chick is getting flushed, so I went on instigating the prick staring at me with hatred. "What is his problem?"

  "He is intimidated by you and furious with me."

  "Why would he be mad at you?"

  "Because I might have told him to take a hike and leave me alone. He’s a pampered asshat, and a male that has everything done for him."

  "Do I want to know about the arrangement, or will it get me in trouble?"

  She smiled sweetly, and shook her head. "I don’t want you involved right now. I will handle Morgy, but let’s put the mystery about me in the background. Please?

  "Fine, I will abide by your decision. Do you know how to use one of these?" I pulled a dagger out and handed it to her.

  "Yes, and I want some of your throwing knives you’ve got hidden," she demanded.

  "And how do you know I have knives hidden?"

  "I saw your gear when you were asleep. I can handle them," she replied with her hand out. I took out the sheath for the dagger, the throwing knife holder that held five blades, and handed them to her.

  "Are you like an elf assassin? Do I need to watch my back?"

  She stepped to me and whispered huskily, "No, that’s okay, I’ll watch your back. I’ll also keep my eyes on your ass, because it is a fine specimen. Mmmm… Fuck, you are sexy." I stared at her and found hunger in her eyes.

  I felt brazen and whispered back, "I don’t think you can handle me, Ms. Assassin."

  "Oh, I can handle all of you." She challenged me.

  "You haven’t thought this through, I don’t want to get you in trouble with your people. Not to mention, you have no idea what you are getting into."

  "I have thought this through, but don’t worry about my people. The thing you need to concern yourself with is me. I have made my decision, and it’s not going to change. My eyes are on you."

  "Oh yeah? What about the pompous ass that is about to blow his top because of our private conversation?"

  "I. DON’T. CARE." Tia accented each word, and ended with a kiss on my cheek. That got him all riled up and he came for me. I was ready though and when he was in range, I backhanded the puke, his body flew back and slid about ten feet. The elf groaned when he got back up and went slowly back over to his people, cursing me.

  "Subtle," Gordon said and Will snickered.

  "And just what are you up here for?"

  "We can take care of ourselves. Also, we found some weapons and passed them out," Gordon replied.

  I heard the signal for us to proceed, "Good. Let’s get out of this hellhole.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  The pack left the site of the mine and moved about five miles away before they setup camp. Sophia had to be led away from the collapsed entrance, not wanting to leave, but had to because the ground was still unstable. She was just sitting there staring blankly at the open sky, her tear ducts had run dry hours ago. Finally fate had found someone that could be with her, and he was taken away. She was furious one minute, and sobbing the next.

  "Soph, where do we go from here?" Sam brought up something she couldn’t be choked up about.

  "I don’t know, Sam. I had a plan, but now, it’s all gone to shit."

  "What was your plan, if you don’t mind me asking?" Felicity asked concerned about her demeanor.

  Sophia choked up remembering her future plans, "We were going with him. He has a cabin deep in the forest about a day’s walk from here. The woods are thick and deep, so nobody would mess with us."

  The other girls glanced around at each other, then Sam spoke up with an idea, "Why don’t we go anyway? He said he had people staying there, we need to tell them what happened."

  Sophia thought about it and nodded. That’s when the three pecker heads came to the fire.

  "Is she any better?" James whispered.

  "She’s fine enough to pound your ass in the dirt," Felicity sneered.

  "You don’t have to be a bitch about it," Carl replied.

  That did it for Sophia. She undressed quickly, then shifted and pounced on Carl, ripping anything and everything she could get her teeth and claws on. The beta tried to fight her off but the alpha wolf finally got to his throat and tore it out, killing him. She turned to a shocked crowd and looked over to Hank and James. Both put their hands up and tried to clam her down, pleading their case, but to no avail. The predator was fulfilling her threat. The black furred alpha wolf went over and finished the other two. After the kills, her wolf howled for victory and sadness.

  "Alright Sophia, its done," Sam calmly suggested.

  The alpha wolf growled, blood dripping off her maw. After a couple of minutes, she shifted back and sat down. No one moved, everyone waited for her commands.

  After a few minutes Sophia yelled out, "Everyone get ready, we leave in ten minutes," then went over to get dressed. Her betas were leery of her psyche at the moment.

  The pack traveled for thirty minutes when they picked up fresh water, they stopped and drank their fill. Everyone just sat silently waiting for the command to leave, at least until they heard wolf howls in the distance. They looked up and recognized them, so they responded in kind. The group came into view then up to the camp, greeting each other while some went out hunting for some fresh meat. The betas came together to give their reports, and Sophia was silent through most of the meeting and it didn’t go unnoticed either. She left the meeting and retired to a nearby tree to rest her eyes. Needless to say the other betas wanted to know what was going on with their alpha. Sam, Felicity, and Nancy gave them the story of the last two days. The others didn’t know what to think about meeting Max and his killers, even her killing the three betas. Of course, the other single beta males were disturbed by the news that their alpha had chosen a mate, and it wasn’t any of them. After dinner they retired and went to sleep, resting before they made the trip to Max’s forest.

  In the morning, the birds were chirping, food simmering on the fire, and the sky was filled with fresh air. When everyone woke, they cleaned up the campsite getting ready to go and was ready to set off in the morning sun, lazily heading to their destination. They didn't make it very far before they heard a noise in the distance, it sounded like drums coming from a few miles away. Something big was approaching.

  "What is that?" Nancy wondered.

  "Drums, an army is marching towards us." Justin, one of her betas answered.

  "How long before they get here?" Sophia questioned

  "An hour at the most," he responded.

  "I’m assuming they are headed for the mine." They all nodded.

  "What are we going to do? Try to go around, or face them?" Felicity nervously asked.

  "Even if we tried to run, they have scouts with horns, and they would know something is up. We have 125 here, but I can guarantee that army will be formidable," Justin declared.

  They thought about it, and decided to try and skirt around the incoming army. It wasn’t long when they found the army was divided into two companies. The mistake wasn’t caught in time and the pack came face to face with the army company. Horns blew, their cover was blown. Panting, the wolves stopped to rest and regroup. The alpha and betas tried to come up with a plan, but every one of them ended in a fight. Sophia looked across the meadow and saw orcs mixed with goblins. Shit, they also had eight wens. There total number had to be over four hundred. They were so screwed.

  "Sophia, what is the plan?" Justin asked.

  "Fight or die." They all nodded and barked orde
rs out to the pack to get ready to battle. Horns blew and the army started across the fields.

  "Max, I wish you were here," Sophia murmured and turned to the betas and barked her orders.

  "Stay together and protect one another. Let’s see if we can make their day a little more on the gloomy side." She shifted and started walking towards the orcs.

  ***

  The mages were making great progress, as we walked slowly up the incline, we inched closer to the top and freedom. Hmm… Freedom is a great thing, it’s something I won’t ever forget.

  "Max, tell me about yourself since we have a little time," Tia said.

  "Well, I don’t have any interesting things happening right now, my life is kind of boring." I smirked.

  She gaped and slapped my arm playfully, "That’s a lie sir, I think I’ve had more interesting things happen to me on this trip than my whole life."

  "This stuff normally doesn’t happen, I usually just stay out in the woods and go hunt. Although, now I need to go home and do some farming."

  "That’s a lie too, Max. She’s not going to trust you if you keep on lying," Gordon indicated Tia when he said his peace.

  "She doesn’t need to trust me; that would put her in dangerous places, and get into situations where she shouldn’t be in."

  "I’m a big girl. I am fully capable of taking care of myself, sir, and interested with being in dangerous situations next to you instead of the boring everyday life I go through," Tia expressed her distaste for me trying to get rid of her.

  "Tia, there are things you need to know about me." I looked at Gordon, then to Will, and they nodded indiscreetly. I took a couple of calming breaths and got my thoughts together to explain the dangerous happenings in my life. "First, things in my life are complicated, and evidently about to be very dangerous. I don’t want you to get hurt while fighting by us." I pointed to Gordon and Will. "Next, for some reason I have a magnetic personality which attracts dangerous but beautiful women to me. For instance, I have six women waiting for me at home and not out looking for me. Yes, Gordon and Will, we really need to sit down, and have a chat. Things have escalated very quickly, and I don’t see my life slowing down."

  "I was wondering where Cassie was. Is she outside waiting too? And who are the others?" Will questioned.

  "You’ve met Cassie?" Gordon asked.

  "Yes, and Valencia as well, they seem very dangerous and cunning. What are they, if you don’t mind me asking?" Will probed trying to get any info out of me he can.

  "They are both weres, but I’ll let them tell you what they are unless it becomes necessary information. That is there business for now. Also, Cass is a mage and the others are wood elves." Turning the conversation back to Tia, "I wanted to let you know about them, before you decide anything when we get out of here. Besides, you don’t know me. I could be a serial killer, a bum off the streets, a thief, or an asshole."

  She sniffed and pondered for a moment, then replied, "Max, you think because we haven’t spent any time together other than back down the tunnel there, I don’t know you? I know what kind of man you are by the attitude and strength that you’ve shown in rescuing us. The man I see before me, won’t take any shit from anyone, do the right things, and protect the innocent. You can’t make me go away that easily."

  "Shit, I need to find a woman like that," Will murmured quietly. Gordon clapped him on the back and laughed. I glanced around and found the weres listening in too. Since having their attention, I dropped the other bombshell.

  "Well, before you say anything else, I need to tell the events of the last two days. It started …." I told them my events up to the orc camp. They were stunned a little by my brutality, but I didn’t worry about it and continued on from there, "We were about to leave to come back to the mine, but Sophia cornered me, wanting to come with us, so I let her come along. During the trip, evidently we became closer, and she started flirting hard. So, if I guessed her intentions right, she will be waiting for me too." I heard gasps and shouts all around me.

  "Why the hell is that the reaction I get when speaking about Sophia?"

  "You really don’t know, do you?" Will asked and I shook my head. Marie replied while smiling and shaking her head at me, "She is the most sought after female in the were-world. She has never taken a mate in her two centuries of living."

  "She is ruthless when it comes to her pack, and doesn’t normally care about outsiders. You must’ve done something to get her heart stirring," Rachel added.

  I heard numerous grumblings about ‘Damn, lucky bastard’ and other words I couldn’t hear. So I decided to try and advise I could be wrong.

  "Guys, don’t be spreading any shit. I could be wrong, so if I hear of someone telling gossip, I will beat their ass." They all agreed and said they wouldn’t dream of it.

  "I’m sorry Tia, I had to tell that too. Just keep in mind I don’t lead people on. All I do is talk to the women, and for some reason the past few months, weird things keep happening to me." She just smiled at me, raised up to kiss me on the cheek, and hugged my arm.

  "Damn, you are the fuckin man," Sean whistled and all the men laughed and agreed.

  "Well, Max, I need to talk to you about certain things in the kingdom, but don’t think this can wait. I believe you are right about attracting women like a magnet. Don’t be surprised when Princess Corisande shows the same signs that these other ladies have." Gordon cackled. That set off another set of gasps and grumbling. I stopped midstride halting the flow of traffic. We were almost out, but this was a shock.

  "What are you talking about Gordon?"

  "I’m telling you the truth. We were at a celebration, and Sir John asked her to dance. They were out there less than two minutes when Cori had him on the floor when she kicked him in the nuts, then she punched him in face when he was down on his knees. Come to find out, she advised him to never talk about you again." Gordon and Will snickered. I started the flow of traffic again and shook my head. What the fuck is going on with these women?

  "Don’t be laughing, peckerhead. I still owe you for throwing me under the bus back there about survival. So, I’m going to play that card right now. I know you like Estelle, so don’t be laughing at me." He grabbed my arm, and tried to say something but couldn’t get the words out. "Damn man, don’t tell me you can talk all that shit in court, but you can’t talk to the girl?"

  "Max, please don’t tell her, I want to be the one to," Gordon pleaded.

  "Of course not, man. Seriously, what makes you think I’ll ever see them again?"

  "I have it on good authority that you’ll see them again," he cryptically stated.

  "What the fuck does that mean?"

  "It means we evidently have much to talk about," Gordon said. I nodded and kept silent.

  "Lord Ackley, why is it you let Max talk to you like that?" One of the were’s asked.

  He cackled and replied, "Well, look at him. He is a walking tree, and when he shifts, he’s a walking building. So, I ask, what would you do?" The guy shook his head rapidly. Gordon laughed again, "That isn’t the reason he talks like that to me, although it’s a pretty good reason. Max and I have become great friends. I know he has my back and he knows that I have his." He slapped me on the back, so I returned the favor, but he almost fell over when I hit him. I laughed and heard the mages in front of us start cheering, it wasn’t moments later we all saw daylight. We all started cheering, but settled down after a few moments. No telling what could be out to meet us. We made it out, and I took in our surroundings, but didn’t recognize where we were, so I figured we were south of the mine. Everyone was just breathing the fresh air, and I called the heads over for a meeting. The mages were present too.

  I looked at the mages and bowed to them, "Good job, everyone. Thanks for your help getting us out of there." They nodded back and I told everyone to sit down. We needed to discuss tactics.

  "What is the plan from here?" Gordon asked.

  "Will, we need to get word out to th
e rangers and the king."

  "I agree and will get a couple of my people on it," Will advised.

  "What about getting people home?" Pompous ass spoke up.

  "Well, we can stay together, or split up," Will suggested.

  "I’m going to find the Berenger pack and then go home. Let them know that they are welcome to join me if they want."

  "We will join you, Max," Sean said.

  "And the others were’s? Rachel?"

  "All the weres as of this moment are joining you. They may change their mind in the future, but for now they will follow you." I nodded and looked to the mages. "I don’t know what the specifics are on the mages, but you guys are welcome too." They nodded and some took me up on my offer, the others said they had family to get back to.

  "Elves, do you need an escort to your domain?"

  Pompous ass was still mad at me so he decided at that moment to speak out, "No, we can handle things from here. No more of your presence is needed." My eyebrows rose at that statement, and smiled.

  "Oh, don’t be mad Morgy. I didn’t mean to interfere in your impractical nonsense, I am trying to save as many as I can. Now, before you get all political on me, I’m going to ask them the same question."

  "You will do no such thing," the PA sneered. "They will only accept my decisions, no need to waste your breath."

  I took a deep breath and exhaled loudly, "Will, Gordon, Tia, and you five," pointing to the were group, "go around and ask if they want to go on their own, or with an escort to town. Also, send scouts out, I want to know if anything is around us, and send others for any berries, fruit, and water. Anything to get our strength up." They nodded and left to do what I asked. Standing up, I stretched out my body and left before dickhead said anything to piss me off. It wouldn’t be wise at the moment, I was going to search for some berries or fruit of any kind. Water would be great too, so I went exploring with my furry duo.