Brady paced anxiously when his last group did not returned to the compound as expected. Fearing the worst, he called Rachel, Mark, and Louis down early. Their shift on patrol wasn’t for another hour, but he could not wait, wondering if his wolves were out there dying in the snow.
“You want to prove yourself? Then let’s go,” Brady ordered, as a bleary-eyed Louis ambled through the front door.
Louis looked as if he wanted to say something snarky, but he held his tongue, even without the support of his partner.
Mark looked even worse for wear, if possible, yawning as he stared out at the awaiting tree line.
“I know you’re tired. We all are. But we have two guys out there alone. Our job is to retrieve them and return here. Should we encounter any surprises, I will instruct you to return to the compound and alert the others.” He’d have preferred to go out with his own team, guys he could count on, but because no one trusted Mark and Louis, Brady was stuck with them.
Rachel at least would have his back, though he wasn’t sure how good she’d be in a fight.
Bringing up the rear, the girl in question was the last to arrive outside, but unlike the guys, she looked at least somewhat ready.
Brady shifted on the spot and took off, leading his group into the woods. Nose to the ground, he sniffed, looking for any unfamiliar scents.
Winter cleansed the air with a special kind of crispness. The blanket of snow muted out many of the more cloying scents in the forest. Brady breathed in deeply, picking up a musty odor. Faint, distant, almost hidden beneath the notes of pine, he nearly missed it. But the moment he recognized it for what it was, he took off, following it until it became all he could smell.
Two wolves came into view. They stood sniffing the snow with interest ahead of him.
He hoped they would turn out to be his missing patrol, but even as got closer, he couldn’t be certain. Gray was the most common of colors among wolves of his kind, with only a few like Rachel and Fallon, sporting special variations. These wolves were as-generic-as-they-come gray, and the way they stood, noses pinned to the ground, had him curious.
Brady slowed his pace and made sure he kept just out of sight and downwind. Rachel and the guys came up behind him and mimicked his movements. Brady dropped his tail and swept the snow with it to signal his group to stay put. He darted around to trees alongside where the two wolves were standing.
Snow crunched under his feet and immediately alerted the two wolves. Their heads perked up and they looked to Brady.
They were his. He recognized them once their eyes met and they lowered their heads in submission. Safe to approach, Brady walked forward but gave no signal to his waiting group, hoping they would remain where he’d left them.
The ground below where the two patrol wolves were standing had faint spots of blood; wolf, by the smell of it. Someone had been injured, but neither of these wolves standing in front of him was bleeding, nor were their snouts bloody from a fight.
They were right to be curious, but he wished they’d reported in and told him what they’d found rather than leave him pacing, wondering if they’d been attacked. He’d bring that up in their next review, but for the moment, he’d do a little investigating.
Brady sniffed, hoping to catch more of the scent. A few drops falling while an injured wolf ran would create a trail. If only he could find it...
Sniffing in circles for a few moments, he caught more of the scent, and found the faintest discoloration in the muddy snow. Tracks as well, but they were mixed with the footprints of his own group. Whoever had been bleeding had used this same path they were on. Even further on he caught the scent and found more blood; definitely a trail, but one that led further away from the compound and beyond the borders they had set for the day’s patrol.
Rachel and the guys, without his approval, came up to join him.
Brady growled at their disobedience and shifted on the spot. “Back to the compound.”
Rachel shifted next to him. “No.”
Disobedience was not a thing Brady accepted. He snarled at her and by instinct his hand rose, but he did not strike. “You will listen or I will order them to drag you back kicking and screaming all the way to the compound.”
“And that will alert anyone in the area to our presence,” she shot back at him.
“I need to investigate this,” Brady said bitterly. Her open disobedience was embarrassing in front of his wolves. “You will go and regroup with the others.”
“And what if you’re ambushed? Who will tell us what happened if you are?” she countered.
“If I’m not back in twenty minutes, send the cavalry,” Brady commanded. He looked down at his two soldiers and nodded, and they yipped in agreement.
Brady turned to Rachel. “I mean it. Go back with them.”
“No,” she responded.
“I will not have you follow me. You couldn’t hold your position a few moments ago.”
“But those wolves were clearly part of your team.”
“That is not the point. I told you to stay; you didn’t. And with the uncertainty of what I might find out there, I can’t have you accidentally alerting someone by not following orders.”
“Sorry... I just... I want to help you.” Rachel hung her head in shame.
“I’m doing this to keep you safe. If there are more out there, I can discover their whereabouts better alone. I know these woods. I know how to travel them unseen. But if I have to worry about you, I won’t be able to do my job. “
Rachel shifted down without another word, but the way her tail drooped said more than words how she felt about the situation.
He didn’t have time to try to smooth things over with her. Rachel would either get over it or not. Brady had a job to do. He shifted and took off in the direction of the blood, running deeper and deeper into the woods.
The scent of wolf increased the further into the forest he ran. There were more out there. As the scent of blood disappeared, the heavy musk of wolves took over. He approached a small clearing. Making sure to stick downwind, he padded lightly, keeping near the trees.
Down at the clearing, a few wolves – five, maybe six – were clustered together. Hardly a force to take on his pack, but definitely enough to pick off his people one at a time.
He watched closely, hoping to see if they might lead him in the direction of their camp. This far into the woods they’d need shelter. Cars could not penetrate this deeply. And from memory, no cabins existed in this part of the nature preserve.
Down below, they seemed to be congregating, as if waiting for someone or something. A few paced in circles, while others rested in the snow.
Brady waited, keeping an eye on the wolves who were pacing. It eventually became clear they were not going to move, and he didn’t want to wait too long before returning to get backup. Being alone put him at risk. He turned tail to run back and gather his pack, and came nose to nose with a rogue wolf.
Noting the fur as white as the fallen snow, at first he thought Rachel had followed him, but this wolf dwarfed her size. And with his color, the bastard was built for winter. Only the darkness of his eyes ruined his near-perfect camouflage.
Snarling, the wolf lunged at Brady, jaws snapping, and his teeth took hold of a chunk of fur before Brady could maneuver away.
The sting of his fur ripping from his skin made Brady yelp before he could stop himself. The moment the sound left his muzzle, he knew he’d alerted the other wolves in the clearing.
No time to think about them, though; as soon as Brady had wriggled out of the first strike, the other wolf was gunning for his hind quarters. Tucking and rolling out of reach of another snap of the jaws, Brady threw himself at a pile of newly fallen snow, hoping the explosion of loose powder would shield him for a moment so he could find a way to put some distance between him and the white wolf.
One on one he could handle. Hell, even two or maybe three on one he could do. But if those other wolves were on the way, he’d be gross
ly outnumbered, and he’d be the next dead wolf his pack would find in the snow.
His only option was to try to catch back up to the group he’d just sent home or to run into one of his security patrols for backup. And at the rate that wolf was gaining on him, he needed a bit of luck on his side.
Running as fast as his paws would take him, Brady let out a short, sharp howl to alert his people.
Teeth snapped again, grazing the fur on his hind legs. The white wolf was too close and too fast. He’d be overtaken soon and too tired to fight if he kept his current pace.
Brady came to a sudden stop, and the wolf giving chase passed him by before realizing what’d he’d done. It wasn’t much time, but Brady only needed those few seconds to set himself and lunge for an attack.
In this position he felt comfortable, being on the offensive, forcing the other to react to his attack. He studied his opponent’s movements as he went low for the paws, and then reared up like a bear and came down on top of the other wolf.
Howls in response to Brady’s earlier call carried through the air like a beacon of hope.
The white wolf hesitated, and Brady waited to see what he’d do. Surrender was an acceptable choice, and he’d honor that. But when the crunch of snow behind him sounded, Brady realized the truth of why his opponent had stopped.
He didn’t need to turn around to see them; the overpowering smell of wolf filled his senses. He’d already counted them in the clearing.
Running wasn’t going to be an option either. With one in front and the rest at his back, they’d be on him before he could get anywhere. Brady thought of shifting and trying to reason with them, or at the very least ask what they were doing, but the snarls and growls said they were after just one thing – blood.
Only one thing remained: go down fighting.
Brady squared himself off with the wolf in front. A fair fight meant one wolf would not attack while the other was in battle. He might be so lucky.
The white wolf met his eyes dead on, the Alpha in him speaking to the Alpha in Brady.
Bring it, Brady thought, and he took the initiative, diving low at the white wolf’s paws and pulling back just as quickly.
The white wolf snarled and backed up a step out of the way of Brady’s jaw, but it was the wolves behind that attacked in response. Before Brady knew what was happening, teeth were tearing into his back. Someone had hold of his tail, and another knocked him clear into the snow. Flat on his back, he kicked his paws against the blur of a wolf who came over the top at him. He snapped his jaw as he twisted and turned to avoid the attacks coming at him from all angles.
Blurs of snow, fur, and teeth all mixed with the pain of his flesh being opened up. Brady continued to struggle. If he was going down, he’d fight to the very last breath. To die a warrior was an honorable death.
Brady put all his strength into his hind legs, kicking hard at a blur of gray fur near him. He felt his claws sinking into the soft underbelly as he kicked hard and was rewarded with a yelp of pain from one of the other wolves.
With the one above him gone, Brady was able to squirm around and get back up to his paws, but no sooner than he had stood than another wolf was on his back, clamping its jaws down on the scruff of his neck. He went down on his front paws and pushed hard again with his hind, sending both himself and the wolf on top of him tumbling back down into the snow.
He dislodged the wolf at his back, but another was nipping at his heels. Brady growled in frustration and then let out a howl. No sooner had he let out his call for help than he felt teeth at his throat.
Brady tucked and rolled away before their fangs could break through his fur. His call for help had been cut off, but in the distance he heard an answer. Hope might still remain if he could last long enough.
The other wolves either hadn’t heard the call or they simply didn’t care, continuing their relentless attack.
Teeth bared, snapping his jaws, twisting this way and that, Brady fought against them as best he could, but pain and exhaustion began to slow his reaction times.
Avoiding the white wolf’s claws, he reared back, tripping over another wolf behind him, and landed wrong on his weak leg. The moment he went down, three of them were there above him. Teeth like daggers bit down on the side of his neck. The coppery tang of blood flooded the air, and like sharks the wolves frenzied, ready for the kill.
Pain forced a yelp from Brady’s throat, and the moment he tried to twist his body away, he felt skin shredding.
That was a bad wound; Brady knew it. The fur at his neck became sticky and wet, and warmth replaced the cold chill for only a moment before turning icy.
Still more wolves were snapping at him as he rolled over and over, not making it to his paws but still working to keep their teeth from finding a home in his neck again.
Searing pain in his leg stopped his momentum, and with a jerk of the attacking wolf’s head, Brady’s back leg snapped like a twig.
He yowled this time, pain taking full control over him, and the last thing he saw before the darkness gave him an escape was the white wolf’s smiling muzzle.
TWENTY-FOUR
Harsh lights from the infirmary greeted him. Brady had expected paradise – Nude girls on a white sand beach wearing nothing but a smile. He had earned a warrior’s death, after all. He was supposed to be rewarded in the afterlife. But Emma’s scowling face was the first thing he saw.
“Don’t you ever scare us like that again.” She punched him in the arm the moment his eyes focused on her.
Still extremely sore, Brady moaned.
“You were supposed to have a partner out there. Idiot. Going out all by yourself... what the hell were you thinking?” She looked as if she wanted to strike him again, but Rachel interrupted them.
“He’s an idiot, for sure, but maybe you should let him heal before you beat him to death.” She sounded just as mad, but at least her arm wasn’t cocked back, ready to strike him.
“He can take it. He’s seen much worse and come back from it,” Emma replied.
“How did I...” Brady started to say. His memory was too foggy to recall much after he went down.
“We got there just in time.” Rachel replied. “The whole pack was on you. They didn’t see us coming.”
Brady tried to sit up, but a sharp pain in his leg stopped him. He hissed as he tried to shift, but each movement sent spikes up through the injured limb.
“Easy now. You don’t heal that fast, and it wasn’t a clean break, so it’s going to take a little longer.” Emma placed a hand on his chest, urging him to lie back down on the bed.
“What about the others? There will be more. I have to get out there.” Downtime was not a luxury he had, with war looming on the horizon.
Emma fixed him with an angry glare. “You will stay put until I deem you well enough to return to the fight. Understand?”
He might have outranked her in pack hierarchy, but in that infirmary, she was the boss. Frustrated, Brady grumbled silently but let himself slip back down against the mattress.
“As for the others, we cleared out the pack that was on you. The injured are being questioned. The dead have already been burned,” Emma answered.
Rachel sat at the edge of Brady’s bed, her face a mask free of emotions, but behind it, Brady could see she was suffering.
“And our guys?” Brady asked.
“We lost one,” Emma answered. “Anders.”
Guilt struck harder than if Emma had punched him again. Brady should have brought them all up with him on his excursion into the woods. He didn’t have to go it alone, but in his arrogance, he’d sent the wolves who could have aided him away. Maybe if he’d had them at his side from the start, things would have played out differently. The loss of any wolf in his pack, especially under his command, was a tragedy. “I will personally deliver my condolences to his mate.”
“Only after you’re healed up,” Emma barked at him.
“What about our new recruits?” Brady asked,
turning his head to see if anyone else was lying on the infirmary beds.
“They’re with Aiden, questioning the prisoners.” Rachel answered this time, and though her mask covered any visible emotions, the warble in her voice gave them all away.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“This is all my fault, isn’t it? All I wanted was to escape, and look at the result,” she said.
“I’ve said it before – you might have played a part, albeit unknowingly, but this is not your doing,” Brady answered back. “Charles is manipulating us all into war, but for what reason, we just don’t know.”
Her eyes brightened a little, but guilt still showed clearly on her face. “What if I voluntarily go back? Then he has no recourse but to stop this stupid fight.”
Brady lifted his hand and caressed her cheek. “Don’t do this to yourself. You’re better than that. You returning will do nothing to stop the war, it will simply guarantee you’ll be the next casualty of it.”
She turned away as if his words hurt her, the opposite of what he’d tried to do.
“No one can blame you for trying to escape your situation. And the Olde Town is known for defending those who can’t do it themselves.” Brady sighed. Women were a confusing bunch.
When Rachel did not respond, he turned to Emma. “How long will it take me to heal? I need to get back into action.”
She looked down on her chart. “Broken ribs, multiple fractures, thirty-four stitches in your back and neck, and a shattered leg.” She chuckled. “Let’s get you fed and rested and see if you can shift in the morning.”
He let out a growl. Time wasted doing nothing, when the enemies could be at the gate, ready to attack again.
“Keep testing me,” Emma threatened, “and I’ll put you on bedrest for a week.”
“You can’t do that. You need me out there. I’m the best fighter the pack has,” Brady responded.
Mated (Olde Town Pack Book 2) Page 13