And with that, the Elders all left in unison through the front door, as if nothing had happened at all.
“Kaiser’s here,” Annie whispered, tears streaming down her face as her emotions finally ran free from everything that had just happened. When Lukas ran to Annie, not sweeping her in an embrace like he wanted to because of Kato’s presence, Kato ran to Thea. Kato hugged her, squeezing her to him, as Thea softly cried.
“Thea, I’m sorry,” Annie said, running to her, tears streaming down her face as she hugged both her and Kato at the same time. “I never thought this would happen. I don’t even know how the Elders found out. But . . . but I need to go protect my father.”
“Go, Annie,” Thea said, her own face full of tears, but with a slight smile there for reassurance. She reached out and squeezed Annie’s hand. “Go help him, I’ll be fine.”
“Kato, can you stay here and make sure the Elders don’t come back?” Annie asked him.
“I’m not leaving her side,” he said, still hugging Thea and not letting go. Lukas could only imagine what he was going through. From what Annie told him, Kato was in the dark about Thea this whole time–and they were all best friends. His worst nightmare probably just came to life.
“Let’s go,” Annie turned around and told Lukas, a new, steely gaze in her eyes. He nodded, thankful that she was okay but worried nonetheless.
Because their night wasn’t over yet.
Now, they had to face Kaiser.
Chapter 29
“I’m so sorry this happened,” Kato murmured to Thea, his face in her hair as he held her. Annie and Lukas had just left, and, while Kato hated that he wasn’t there defending his pack, he needed to be with Thea. He was so nervous that the Elders would come back and take her away forever.
Thea hadn’t let go of Kato since Annie and Lukas left, and slowly, they fell to the ground, with Thea almost in his lap. Both of them were shaking from the event, even though Kato tried to calm himself. He couldn’t, though. He couldn’t believe everything that had just happened.
First of all, he had no idea that Thea even knew about shifters. How could Annie and Thea keep this from him? Didn’t they trust him more than this? He also couldn’t believe how oblivious he’d been. Thea wasn’t dumb, she was the smartest person that he knew, shifter or human alike. How could he think that he could keep this from her?
“I’m sorry,” Thea whispered. “You must be mad at me.”
Kato just squeezed her tighter, breathing in the fruity smell of her shampoo. “Why in the world would I be mad at you? And don’t apologize, you’ve done nothing wrong.”
“Because I kept it a secret, that I knew about you and about shifters and everything.” He heard her sniffle a little, and he felt like his heart was slowly breaking. He didn’t know what he would do without Thea in his life.
Thea was . . . well, she was his best friend. She, Annie, and he, had basically been conjoined at the hip since they all met each other. But he and Thea . . . they were close. He considered her his closest friend, other than Annie.
“Thea, don’t apologize and don’t worry. I’m not mad at you,” he told her, rubbing her back in a soothing motion to try to calm her. He didn’t know what he was going to do if the Elders came back, and Annie and Lukas weren’t there. All three of them were no match for them, but him alone? They might just kill him.
“I don’t know how this happened,” she told him, leaning back a little and letting go of him so that she could look him in the eyes. Kato hurt all over when he saw how devastated and scared she was. “I don’t know how they found out . . . ”
“Listen, Thea,” he told her, grabbing her in his arms and meeting her icy blue eyes. He made sure to wipe all the fear and uncertainty from his own face, so as not to scare her. He needed her to feel safe with him. “No matter what happens, I will not let anyone hurt you. I swear, you will be protected. I’m not leaving anytime soon, and once Annie comes back, everything will be okay. She’ll tell Hann, and he’ll work this whole thing out.”
“But Kaiser . . . he’s here . . . is everyone going to be okay?”
Kato paused, truly not knowing. The wolf in him, surprisingly, was not howling at him to go and fight with his pack, instead, it was howling at him to stay and protect Thea. Interesting . . .
“I’m not sure,” Kato told her honestly, rubbing his hands over his face. He felt some dried blood there, but he knew that he would be all healed up soon. Thank God for fast healing. “I hope they are, and Hann is really certain that everything will be okay. I just hope he’s right. And, those Elders that were just here? They’re going to fight with us, so maybe we’ll all be okay in the end.”
Kato sure hoped so, at least.
“Those Elders? What’s wrong with their faces?”
“They’re the oldest shifters around,” Kato explained to her, thankful that she had calmed down a bit and asking questions. Thea was smart, and she liked to know things, asking questions and learning about things tended to make her forget about other situations. If that meant that she would forget about what she just went through, then Kato would spill all the Elder’s secrets. “No one truly knows how old they are or where they come from. But they’re basically like the leaders and the government of all the shifters in the world. They make the rules, and when people don’t follow them, they come to town to make sure they do. Or they banish them and make them rogues. They also deal with humans, if there is word that someone knows about shifters.”
“But Annie’s mom was human, right? The Elders just said it was okay for Hann to marry a human?”
“That’s a long story . . . and one that doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Kato admitted. “Hann is really well-respected and loved throughout the world, not just in this town. Rumor has it, he made some type of deal with the Elders so that he could marry the woman. But no one really knows. I think the Elders were worried that there would be an uprising if they denied him.”
“Why would there be an uprising?”
“Well, there are a lot of shifters out there that want a more lenient society when it comes to humans and rogues. They think that the rules the Elders enforce on everyone are outdated and don’t work, especially in a progressive pack like ours. I mean, it’s been a long time coming, and there’s no word on whether the Elders feel the pressure or not, but I think one day, probably in the far future, things will change. Shifters will have more control over their lives and over which pack they want to grow with, and the Elders will have less say in everything.”
“I don’t like those Elders,” Thea whispered to him, her eyes looking down in sadness.
“Thea, I’ll never let anyone hurt you. I promise.”
The look in her ice-blue eyes made Kato’s heart melt.
Chapter 30
They didn’t see him coming.
Kaiser strolled through the woods towards the Pack’s bar, reveling in the howls and sounds of bones breaking all around him. He couldn’t tell if his family was winning or losing, but he didn’t necessarily care at this point. He just loved the destruction.
A light breeze ruffled his wolf’s coat, and he smelled the air, taking in the blood and coppery smell that filled the air. He had called his pack to the town right after he made an anonymous tip to the Elders about Hann’s daughter’s female friend. Kaiser had made sure to watch the Elders enter the little halfie’s house from far away, and he could barely contain his glee when he saw the fear and surprise on her face.
He really hoped she showed up soon. He wanted to be able to tell her that her pleasant surprise was all because of him. He wanted to show her what he was capable of, and he wanted her to be afraid of him. He longed for it.
Kaiser hadn’t yet come across Hann, which was making him severely disappointed. He wondered where that murderer was hiding. He didn’t have all day. He had been waiting so long for this day, and now he couldn’t even find the damn guy.
Kaiser really thought his plan was genius, though. If he was being honest
with himself, he didn’t even have a plan when he first got to Maine. That’s why he wanted to scope the whole place out. He wanted to follow Hann and his daughter around to find their weak spots. He wanted to hit them where they were least expecting it. And when he saw that human with the daughter, he knew where he would hit them.
Kaiser laughed when he realized that there was the chance that the human didn’t know about shifters before today. Well, she knew now. Hopefully, she would keep the Elders busy for a bit longer, so he could take care of Hann. He really didn’t want those pesky old men trying to ruin his fun again. They always tried to ruin his fun.
As if in a dream, as if the universe was trying to show Kaiser where to go, a path was cleared, and Kaiser finally set his sights on Hann. The alpha wolf.
His coat was all grey now, and his eyes looked just like they did when he was a human. Kaiser started howling, wanting to get the alpha’s attention. Once he finished howling, he slowly walked forward to where Hann stood on his four legs, the chaos and violence around him not touching him at all. Hann’s vision narrowed in on Kaiser, making Kaiser giddy with everything that was about to come.
Oh, he was so ready for this moment. He had been preparing his whole life for this, and it was like he couldn’t breathe as he finally understood that he was about to accomplish everything his father couldn’t.
He would finally show everyone what they deserved. He would finally give Hann what he deserved.
He licked his lips in anticipation.
Chapter 31
“We have to find my father before we do anything else,” Annie told Lukas as they started jogging to the Pack’s bar, where they could both sense that something was happening. She could hear her pack members calling to everyone to come and fight in her head.
She was surprised that she and Kato hadn’t heard it earlier, but maybe with everything that was happening with Thea, because they were so scared and frightened, they weren’t able to pick up on it. Also, it was harder to hear the pack when she was in her human form, it all became much clearer when she shifted.
The pack, and all wolf packs, have a special bond where they can communicate when they are in their wolf form in thought without talking out loud. It’s harder to hear when they’re in human form, but some very strong shifters can still hear their wolf members. While this is normally strongest within packs, outsiders are able to hear and communicate with other wolves as well, though it’s not as easy or strong with the outsiders. The pack’s communication is the strongest and best.
As Annie and Lukas finally showed up to the bar, both of them out of breath because of all of the events that had happened in the last hour, they took in the sight in front of them. All around, wolves fought other wolves, blood was everywhere around the bar. Annie was grateful now that the bar was high up on a hill, secluded by the woods and from prying human eyes. No human would find themselves up here; that much she could count on. Especially at this hour.
Annie saw her pack fighting, trying to protect her father, and something came over her. It was a sense of pride, of respect, of . . . family. In that moment, as she watched the war unfold before her eyes, as she realized that this day was the worst day in her life, she came to the conclusion that she would never leave her pack, because of this. Because of this moment. She felt this intense feeling of love towards her pack that she had never felt before.
No matter what the past held, no matter how hard it was growing up with a bunch of shifters as a halfie, it suddenly didn’t matter anymore. Because her pack could’ve ran away with the knowledge that Kaiser was coming. They could’ve run away and never looked back. But they didn’t, they chose to stay and fight to protect her father, their alpha. And she couldn’t do anything but respect that.
Annie and Lukas nodded at each other, both of them on the same page. If it was any other time, Annie would’ve reveled that they knew each other so well in such a short time, but it wasn’t the time or the place. Right now, was the time to help her father and get rid of Kaiser. They both immediately shifted to their wolf form, their clothes shredding apart as they came into their animal form.
Annie began to run around the battles that were taking place, trying to find her father. Worry began to sink in as she searched, but she refused to think that anything bad had happened. Lukas trailed behind her, making sure that no rogue came too close to her. She was so thankful that she had him with her.
Suddenly, in the back of Annie’s head in the midst of all of her pack’s voices, she could hear someone . . . her father! She narrowed in on his voice, hoping that her senses would pick up on him, and she would be able to find him in this mess. She began to slow down as she focused on his voice, trying to figure out where her father was. She felt Lukas sidle up beside her, noticing that he, too, could hear Hann.
They both followed his voice in their head, their senses picking up his scent and his presence to be toward the middle of a clearing not that far from the bar. Finally, in a clearing, she saw her father circling around another wolf that was bleeding–Kaiser. When Annie saw all the blood coating her own father’s fur, she raced towards him, Lukas hot on her heels.
Annie leaped in front of her father, facing Kaiser and growling with all of the anger that she had built up from the moment she heard about his very existence.
“Oh, it’s the halfie,” she heard a slithery voice slide into her head. This must be Kaiser.
“Pleasure to meet you, murderer,” Annie sent back to him, standing her ground. She could hear her father stumbling and breathing heavily behind her, and she desperately wanted to help him get out of here. Lukas stood tall with Annie, facing Kaiser, his own, deep growl reverberating through the earth.
“Lukas, my friend,” Kaiser seemed to laugh, making Annie feel uneasy. She didn’t like having his voice in her head, but she couldn’t show him any weakness. “I knew you’d be here. You look well, I gotta admit.”
“You should leave, Kaiser,” Lukas sent to him. “This is only going to end in you and your pack’s death.”
“I highly doubt that,” Kaiser sent to them both, circling around them and the wounded Hann, who was somehow still managing to stand upright. “And even if it does, my message has already gotten to others. I’ve already inspired the outcasts and misfits of the shifter world, and my death will make me a form of a martyr. I gladly take on that role.”
“I’ll gladly kill you then, if you don’t mind,” Annie threatened him, wanting to get this over with and just pounce on him already.
“Oh, so confident for such a weak halfie,” Kaiser laughed. Annie wanted his voice out of her head, it was driving her crazy. “How is your human friend, by the way?”
Annie’s blood went cold, and she stopped her continuous low growl. Her human friend . . . Thea? Realization came flooding into Annie’s mind as she finally figured out who, in fact, told the Elders about Thea. It was Kaiser, but how? Was he watching them? How did he even find out about Thea? About how she knew about shifters?
“You,” Annie threatened, her growl starting up again. Her anger was gaining control of her, and while she normally kept it at bay because it made her stupid, she welcomed it this time. This was the person responsible for all of the agony she had just been through, and she would make him pay. For Thea. And for her father, who was still struggling to stand on his four paws behind her.
“Yes, I thought it would be a nice welcoming present,” Kaiser said, still circling around and around. “I thought you’d all enjoy it quite nicely. I am surprised that you got here this fast, though. A-plus for effort.”
Annie remembered that the Elders were supposed to be here, though she didn’t sense them or see any of them anywhere. Where the hell were they? They were supposed to be here to protect their pack, they had a deal. Annie prayed that they hadn’t gone back to her house to get Thea. She was glad Kato was there to protect her, though she knew that Kato wouldn’t be able to hold them off.
“You’re going to pay for this,” Annie threa
tened again, gathering all the anger she had in her body and focusing it on Kaiser.
“I’d like to see you try,” she heard him say in her head, suddenly standing still and narrowing in on her. The fury he had for her made her stop for a second. Why would he be so furious at her?
After quickly telling just Lukas to get her father inside and locked in the office in the bar, she pounced and tumbled into Kaiser, trying to rip his throat out. This was the shifter responsible for everything that had happened today, and she would make him pay. Even if she died in the process.
She felt Kaiser rip the skin toward the bottom of her leg apart, and she howled in pain and fury. Blood started gushing everywhere, covering her leg and the grass beneath them. She angrily bit at his neck, pulling apart as much as she could with her sharp teeth. She pounced again when she heard his own painful howl, trying to be on the offense continuously and not on the defense.
They both got up from the ground and circled each other again, both hurt greatly by the first few blows. Both of them were bleeding, but Kaiser seemed to be in worse shape because her father had also gotten to him first. Annie managed to look around quickly to make sure that Lukas had listened to her and gotten her father into a safe area. She looked around to see Ross running towards the bar, probably from the call of her father.
Those few seconds that she looked around were a mistake, and she knew that immediately when Kaiser tumbled into her, digging his teeth deep into her neck.
She could only manage to howl in pain before everything went black.
Chapter 32
Ross had just come into the bar’s office when Lukas heard Annie’s painful howl, making him tense with worry. He ran off, knowing that Ross was going to take care of the injured Hann, and protect him from any rogue drifter. Lukas ran out of the bar, leaping into the air to gain speed to get back to where he left Annie.
Lukas: Moonlight Wolves Book 1 Page 11