[Pack 01.0] Defying Pack Law

by Eve Langlais

  She hit the shadows offered by the towering trees, the sound of pursuit hot on her heels. But she’d planned for this. She veered sharply to the left and gauged her footfalls to avoid the innocuous pile of leaves. She cleared the trap she’d set and sent up a quick prayer.

  A yelp sounded from behind her, and she would have grinned had she not been intent on her getaway. One down, God only knew how many more to go.

  The summer sun, close to setting, colored the woods a panoply of colors, but she was more interested in the increasing murk. She turned sharply again, moving in a zigzag pattern that brought her to a small stream, and while she hated the noise of her passage, she knew that this liquid trail would throw them off for a bit.

  On and on she ran, her sides heaving, her tongue lolling, weaving in and out of the forest she’d grown to know. She avoided the trenches, snares, and holes she’d dug in her preparation for this day, all the while cursing the males who’d forced her to run. Why does the word ‘no’ just not exist in their vocabulary? More importantly, why couldn’t I have been born human?

  Wishing, though, did nothing to change her fate. She could rely only on herself and her will to survive—oh, and the nasty booby traps she’d laid. She wasn’t going down without a fight. Occasionally she would hear a howl or a yelp as one of her pursuers met some of her hidden treats, but she didn’t dare slow. Her gut screamed, Danger, and urged her to keep going.

  Night fell, and she still kept moving, her gait slowing as the adrenaline began to wear off. She’d put miles between herself and the house she’d abandoned. Not far enough. Needing to rehydrate herself, she stopped for a quick drink and listened for sounds of pursuit.

  The night surrounded her in an eerie quiet. Even the insects kept their silence. Dana didn’t like it one bit. She took off again, slower, as she decided to forgo speed in favor of stealth.

  She kept inhaling deeply, her nose sorting the many distracting scents. Nothing untoward appeared, and yet, something didn’t seem right. The air hung too still. The forest seemed to hold its breath in an unnatural silence.

  As she trotted across a circular clearing, bordered by towering trees, the sense of wrongness amplified, but before she could backtrack into the shadows, bodies fell from the trees and landed with thumps all around her.

  Dana danced in place, her mind screaming at her for stupidly walking into a well-laid ambush. The naked men of varying sizes closed in on her, strangers all except for one, young pup. That little bastard. He’ll be the first to die.

  She lunged at the youth who’d betrayed her, barely noticing his eyes widening in shock before she caught his throat in her teeth. He didn’t have time to shift—he died that quickly, with his blood spurting hotly and enticingly in her mouth. Her human side recoiled from the pleasure of the kill, but with her beast in control, she couldn’t prevent the elation and thrill. She didn’t rejoice long.

  Heavy, furry bodies slammed into her, tearing her from their dead pack mate.

  Dana fought for her life, snapping her teeth and ripping at any flesh she could clamp her jaw around. Not that it mattered. They were careful not to kill her, but their sheer numbers and strength battered her. Blow after ringing blow hit her. She staggered, determined not to give up. Human arms wrapped around her neck and cut off her air supply.

  In a panic, she shifted, trying to use the defense moves she’d learned to unlock the chokehold—to no avail.

  “Feisty little bitch. We’re going to enjoy taking turns with you and beating out your defiance.”

  The speaker thrust himself against her backside, his sickening arousal evident. Dana thrashed, fear finally overcoming her courage, her scream of horror caught in her throat. More and more hands grabbed at her, and though she fought with all her strength, she couldn’t escape. They kept piling on top, copping painful feels and cracking a few ribs in the process. Body pinned to the ground, each lungful of air became sharp pain in her chest, and her dizziness grew.

  “Enough!” their leader yelled. “We don’t have time for this. We’re not the only ones about this night. Don’t worry. We’ll all get a turn at her sweet cunt. Save your energy for when we get back to the house. You’re gonna need it to win your spot in the hierarchy of who’s gonna get to fuck the little bitch first.”

  Cheers erupted, which transitioned into howls, as the bastards cheered this announcement.

  Dana moaned, unable to stop the creeping terror that enhanced the pain that threatened to drag her down in its grip. She feared blacking out and waking a victim of their perverted lust. She was yanked to her feet, her vision blurry but not enough to miss the leering faces all about her. Turned upside down and thrown roughly over a hairy shoulder, the excruciating agony against her abused ribs finally made her succumb to blackness. As her eyes lost focus and drifted shut, she couldn’t stop one last panicked thought. Please, don’t let me wake. She feared the nightmare to come if she did.

  Chapter Two

  Close, so fucking close. And once again, she’d outsmarted him and his pack. He should have placed more men at the rear of her house. He should have snuck up with them instead of coming to the front, hoping he could accomplish his task with words instead of force. He should have known better.

  Did she hate him so much still? Is she still so unwilling to forgive? He’d had years to revise his stance, to get into a position of power where he made the rules, and changed them to suit his purpose.

  The mad dash through the woods had cost him time and men. Even he had been forced to slow his chase because of her cleverness and ruthlessness in setting effective traps. She’d obviously prepared for this day, a fact that didn’t hearten him. But it also wouldn’t stop him. Baby, when are you going to understand you are mine?

  He howled as he bounded into a clearing with a heavy stench of blood. The dark fluid soaked the ground, painting it black. The blood and the violence it implied didn’t disturb him half as much as the scent he distinguished from the rest. Her scent.

  He shifted back, uncaring of his nudity, and stood surveying the battlefield. Only one body remained, ignobly splayed. Everyone knew dead men, especially naked ones, told no tales, but their body could reveal much. He rolled the still warm form of the boy onto his back. The youth gazed straight ahead with glassy eyes. It left him impassive. He would have done worse had he caught him.

  No one touches her. The mark he hunted stood out in glaring contrast to the rest of the dead youth’s skin. The sign of the boy’s pack, tattooed over his heart, was a map to the Lycans who’d dared take her. A symbol of a pack about to become extinct.

  A more frightening question loomed in his mind—do I have enough time to save her?

  Another wolf entered the clearing and shifted. Almost as tall as him but with a slimmer build, John held the position of best friend and beta. His solemn brown eyes took in the scene, and he shook his head. “Fuck. We just missed them.”

  “No fucking kidding, Sherlock,” he growled. “Where’s the rest of the pack?”

  “They’ve got their trail and are following. Are you coming?” John asked.

  “I’m heading back to the house and the trucks.” He didn’t need to waste time tracking, not when he knew the location of the pack that wore that particular brand. And what a surprise. They happened to be the rogue group the Lycan council had sent him to eliminate. Apparently, he should have taken care of them first before getting sidetracked by his personal business.

  “Do you know who took her?”

  “The rogues we were sent to wipe.”

  John grimaced. “Fuck. That doesn’t bode well, you realize.”

  He just growled. Some things didn’t bear mentioning aloud or even contemplating. “They’ll be slowed down carrying her because I doubt she’s gone willingly.”

  John regarded the dark forest pensively. “We’ll let the ones tracking keep after them.”

  He caught the nuances of his friend’s plan and approved. “If they’re harrying at their heels, then they won’t
have time to stop and do anything to her. Come on then. We need to race back to the trucks so we can head to their den directly.”

  “So what’s the plan once we get there?” his beta asked. He set his fingers to his mouth and loosed a sharp whistle followed by a series of short and long ones, a Morse code of sorts that would tell the wolves scattered in the woods where to head.

  “We get her back.” There was no hesitation. He had no choice.

  His friend arched his brows in surprise. “You do realize these are rogues?”

  “I’ll ask them first to give her back.” A request he knew would be refused.

  John scoffed. “Yeah, like that’ll happen. What happens when they say no?”

  His eyes turned cold and hard. “Then we start a war like the council requested, and we take her back anyway.”

  Chapter Three

  Dana awoke. How unfortunate. And, boy, did she fucking hurt. The agony radiated from every part of her body so intensely it made her nauseous. It took her several moments to breathe past the pain.

  She didn’t move—it hurt too much—as she took stock of her situation, or what she could see from her prone position. It could be summed up in one word—bleak. Even in the near dark, she could see her cubicle of a prison: brick walls with crumbling mortar, a silver-inlaid door with a barred window that let in a fragment of light. The scent of death, comprised of sweat, blood, and tears, permeated the air, and she wondered how many others had found themselves in the same prison, gripped in the same despair.

  The cement floor, cold and unforgiving, didn’t make the most comfortable of pillows. But it was still preferable to what she imagined awaited her once they realized she’d regained consciousness. It took her a moment to realize the weight on her body wasn’t fatigue and injury—great as they were—but chains. Silver chains. How dangerous do they think me that they must pin me down in an obscene amount of silver?

  The heft of it proved onerous, but at least the burning pain of its poisonous touch managed to distract her from the rest of her body’s damage, the cracked ribs being the most grievous and slowest to heal. Each inhalation threatened to drag her back into the darkness. Given time, her body would mend, a Lycan trait that usually served her well, but in this instance, it would mean a never-ending life of torture, or so she imagined, given what she’d seen of her captors so far. Her brief stint of consciousness in the packed truck had thankfully been short and yet long enough for the crude leader of the gang to tell her in gleeful detail the things he planned to do to her.

  She attempted to stretch, the clanking of the metal almost stifling her scream of agony as the bruises she’d earned in her attempt to escape woke with a vengeance and made a lie of her earlier assertion the silver was more painful. She attempted to console herself with the fact that the throbbing agony of her body was a badge of honor proving she’d acquitted herself well against the brutes who’d hunted her down like the vilest of bitches. The remembered bellows of pain and the blood she’d made them shed made her grimace in a parody of a smile.

  In the end, though, one female Lycan was no match for the strength of the dozen sent to capture her. Bullies.

  All the bravery in the world also wouldn’t stop what was to come because now the true nightmare would begin. The pain she endured at the moment would be nothing compared to the lifetime of humiliation and agony they planned to inflict. Female werewolves were rare. Rare enough that these males risked their lives to capture her. Rare enough that, even as they fought among themselves over who would claim her first, there was no question they would share her. Rare enough that she had no choice.

  Frustration spilled over, and Dana screamed. The sound, loud and piercing, was filled with the despair and unfairness of the situation. She’d escaped from one life of gentle servitude, only to end up roped into a warped one, rife with violence.

  Just wait until they try and bed me. I’ll rip their fucking cocks off, she thought savagely. I’ll make them bleed and hurt.

  Her primal cry received a response in the form of thumping footsteps. The click of the tumblers in the lock preceded the ominous squeak of the silver-plated door being swung open. Dana narrowed her eyes at the man who stepped into her cell.

  The pockmarked face of the prick who’d led the ambush leered down at her. “What’s wrong, bitch? Feeling lonely? Eager for the taste of a man?” He grabbed his crotch in an obscene gesture that made her stomach turn. Dana didn’t show her disgust, though. She wouldn’t give him the pleasure. Instead, she spit in his direction.

  “Pig. Only a coward needs to beat and tie up a woman to have her. Let me go and face me one-on-one, you chicken bastard. I’ll show you how eager I am to see you.” She grinned, a feral smile that didn’t scare him—yet. He’d soon regret his choice in kidnapping her.

  “Dirty-mouthed whore. I’ll make you choke on your words.” He unbuckled his belt, and Dana, still trapped by the silver, felt a frisson of fear dance up her spine. She didn’t stand a chance trussed like a turkey. She’d hoped to goad him into releasing her and at least giving her a chance to fight—and die. But the coward had no intention of playing fair.

  She stalled, for what she didn’t know. It’s not like I’ve got anybody to come rescue me. “How did you find me?”

  Her abductor sneered. “One of my men stopped for lunch and came back saying he’d smelt pussy, the Lycan kind.”

  Dana wanted to kick herself. She’d assumed her mill stench covered her own when she came off work and stopped for a meal. “Fine, so you figured out I was there and sent your little spy. Doesn’t explain how you knew where to find me in the woods.”

  “Our master told us,” he hissed, his eyes lighting in a way that made her shiver.

  “Master? You mean your alpha, don’t you?” She didn’t understand. She’d assumed this beast was the pack leader.

  “I am alpha,” he growled, thumping his chest. “The master just is and not to be talked about.”

  “So you’re just a lackey?” she goaded in the hopes he’d lose his temper and end her before he did something worse.

  Her comment dropped the miscreant to his knees, and he hauled her up by the chains, the pain so intense that she couldn’t even squeak out a scream. She did, however, moan as her eyes rolled back in her head, but darkness refused to claim her.

  His spittle sprayed her as he spoke with a tight voice. “Mouthy little bitch. I might be his servant, but because of the master, I’m more powerful than you can imagine. Now since you like working that mouth of yours so much, I’ll give you something to choke on.” He released her and she fell back on the floor, gasping as needles of agony radiated throughout her body.

  The news that someone pulled this pervert’s strings like a puppet didn’t have the power to stun her like the image of the dirty pig unbuttoning his pants. He’d prepared to shove them down when the sounds of screams came to them.

  With a frown, her pockmarked thug buttoned back up. “Fucking idiots. Now what the hell are they up to? Don’t go anywhere, my feisty slut. I’ll be right back to take care of you as soon as I knock a few heads together.”

  She’d hoped he would leave the door open in his distraction, but the door swung shut behind him with a clank. The sound of the key turning in the lock killed all hope of escape.

  Dana closed her eyes and couldn’t help the tear that leaked from the corner of an eye. How did my life come to this? When did dying become a choice more preferable than life? Even worse, in her current condition, she couldn’t even be preemptive and take her life before the brute would return to take her body.

  Misery engulfed her, and she shook on the cold floor, oblivious to anything but her pain, both physical and mental. Stupid. Stupid. I should have never left my pack. At least there I had a chance for happiness. Maybe I would have been one of the lucky ones who didn’t mind sharing my bed with more than one man. If I could turn back the clock, return to that time, I’d do things differently. I wouldn’t rely on my emotions to guide my action
s but take charge instead and make the situation one I could live with. Choose my fate instead of having someone else, someone who doesn’t care for me, decide my future instead.

  But as her father used to say with a sneer, wishes didn’t grow on trees, and all the recriminations in the world wouldn’t change her current situation.

  The noise outside battered through her despondency. She tried to block it out, knowing the savagery was somehow connected to her. Probably a rematch to decide who would get the first turn.

  However, the strident screams—death knells—were impossible to ignore.

  The chaos of violence moved closer, or so she judged by the increase in volume, until it appeared to have arrived right outside her cell door. She held her breath as she listened. The unmistakable sound of flesh striking flesh and heavy breathing drifted through the barred window in the door. With a thump and a gurgle, dead silence suddenly reigned.

  Dana’s stomach fluttered. Rescue? Could she finally be so lucky?

  Bang! Bang!

  Something heavy pounded at the door, denting it. What the fuck? Her eyes widened in disbelief. Solid steel did not dimple without tremendous force. Tell that to whatever is doing it. Something beat at the door, and bit by bit, incredible as it seemed, the silver barrier crumpled until seams appeared as the door separated from the frame. Fingers that ended in sharp claws curled around the edges, and with a groan and screech of bending metal, the door was torn off its hinges.

  Dear sweet fucking lord. Dana almost wet herself in fear.

  A beast stood in the doorway, literally. Taller than the doorframe, he loomed, blocking out the light but not enough that she couldn’t make out certain characteristics, such as the fact that he sprouted dark hair all over and sported pronounced canines and a muzzle. A wolf-man, or so it appeared, something she’d never seen or even heard of before. The beast moved closer, ducking to pass through the doorframe, and she pegged his height at close to seven feet. The hulking wolf-man snarled at the sight of her, and his yellow eyes flashed with ominous light.