by Zoe Chant
Anna ran until she was out of sight. Then she found a good tree, grabbed at a branch, and started up.
It was only a temporary solution. They would eventually turn back. But maybe, if they bypassed her she could find a better hiding spot. Or maybe she could steal the car.
The wolves entered her sight again.
They were huge – much bigger than the gray wolves in zoos. Was Joshua that big when she met him? She couldn't remember. The one in front she assumed was Stephen; he was immense and so pale gray he was almost white in places. One of the others was a more classic gray color, and the third was a rusty brown.
There was no hesitation – a single sniff and the wolves turned towards her.
Anna cursed herself. The damn cayenne powder would still be incredibly strong. They'd smell her no matter where she was.
She put it on the clothing, not on her skin. Maybe if she could get away again she could ditch the clothes? And then run around naked in the woods. Great idea.
She met Stephen's eyes and he drew his lips back and snarled. Anna shivered and looked away.
The tree she chose was immense. Anna had been afraid the smaller trees in the clearing wouldn't hold her weight. She hesitated, then started climbing again.
She made it a good thirty feet further up the tree before the limbs started to shake and she had to stop. The branches obscured her view of the wolves, and presumably theirs of her.
Jumping from this height might kill her – or worse, leave her trapped for them with a broken leg. She must be almost fifty feet in the air. Could she make it to another tree?
She started back down; there were more sturdy branches ten feet below. Once she had carefully descended, she started inching her way out. The branch looked like it might reach all the way to the conifer nearby. Hopefully she wasn't so high up the conifer's branches would be brittle and broken.
If she cleared the leaf cover she'd be in sight again and right back where she started. Anna gritted her teeth and told herself there might be another escape path from the next tree. The trip out was terrifying. The branch started to shake and sway before she even breached the leaf cover, and she had to return.
Dammit. It looked like her only way out was to stall and hope Joshua came before they did – and hope Joshua could take three other wolves.
Anna braced her back against the trunk and sat back. She took out her phone after a while. She didn't have any reception here, but she could check the time.
The drive hadn't been long, apparently. Only an hour ago, Anna had told Joshua she'd be back soon. Anna tilted her head back against the trunk and wished she had changed her mind. She didn't know if they'd even need the car in the coming weeks, and it wasn't available to either of them now. The tracker had taken it. She wondered where he was. Would he arrive soon and up the odds against her even more?
She closed her eyes and reached out in the mate bond to Joshua. She felt his fear for her – and then felt him notice her attention. This far out, they couldn't use words. She felt a sudden rise in curiosity that might as well have been the question, What's going on?
She pictured the wolves at the tree's trunk. After a moment she felt him get it, and twin emotions of fear and triumph. Why triumph? she wondered, and sent her own curiosity over.
Frustration came across briefly. A mental image slowly rose in her mind of her pushing Stephen in wolf form back with one hand. What? she thought, and then realized – he felt triumphant his mate had got one over on Stephen.
He sent another feeling, a mix of concern, reassurance and determination. She decided to interpret it as I'll be there soon, and ignore the possibility that it was just wishful thinking.
It took a full forty minutes before anything changed.
She heard a strange, almost sick crunching noise. Wondering what was going on, she reluctantly climbed down enough to see the ground. The rusty red wolf was shifting back. Oh, god. She felt for Joshua. He was closer, but still not there. There would be more than enough time for the wolf to catch her.
The others just sat and watched. Maybe they needed more recovery time? Or they only told one to shift back, since it wasn't like more than one could come at her high up a tree trunk.
Anna climbed back up the tree to delay. If only she were lighter weight, she might be able to hide so far up the tree he'd break the wood if he came up, but she must weigh about the same he did.
Of course, the tree might not take both of them at the same time.
She was much more willing to risk falling than last time. If they caught her, they'd probably kill her, or torture her, or do other things she couldn't imagine.
Anna stopped when she felt confident going up more would be stupid. She reached in her pockets for anything she could throw at him to make him fall – and found the knife.
She didn't have time to use it earlier, or anywhere to run. But now, distance would be useful. But the knife was so short it might not help much.
Still, it gave her an idea. She snapped the knife open and carefully sawed at a thin but sturdy looking branch next to her.
The tree swayed abruptly and she clutched the trunk. The wolf must have finished changing now. He was climbing the tree.
She got the branch loose just as his face came into view among the leaves. She let out a cry and stabbed the sturdy end she cut off the trunk at his face.
He yelled, but the stick didn't connect. She jabbed again. The tree shifted as he retreated back down, out of her reach.
Confidence rose in her, and she snarled at him. It was true that she couldn't hold three wolves off, but up a tree, she could hold off one – and one was all she needed until Joshua returned. Only one wolf could come after her at a time.
Joshua would have to fight two, and she felt sick just thinking about it. If one of them stayed up the tree, it would make the odds better for him. Maybe she could injure this one and help him more. She came down a branch and stabbed at his face again. A satisfying yell came when she connected with something. She twisted the branch and smelled a coppery, tangy scent that her brain told her was blood.
The mate bond, maybe. She stabbed down again, but he'd moved out of her reach down the tree.
She came down again, carefully. He had one hand pressed to his neck. Not a bad injury, but enough to distract him and make it harder for him to climb with slippery hands.
Anna realized she had bared her teeth without realizing it. Did she have wolf instincts now, too? She decided to go with it and let out a growl. He raised his face to her, eyes wide with fear. She aimed the branch at his eyes, but missed as he ducked and then scrambled down the tree.
“What's going on up there?” Stephen shouted. The hair on the back of her neck rose. Another wolf had shifted back to pursue her.
“She stabbed me!” he called, watching her warily. “I need a weapon or something, Stephen!”
“You can't shoot up,” Stephen said with disgust. “The bullets would hit us coming back down. Look, what the hell has she got, a machete?”
“A tree branch!”
“You fucking coward –” Stephen called and kept swearing.
Anna stopped listening, instead creeping down the tree to get a better shot.
He noticed her just before she could thrust and scrambled down again, but the blood on his hands made him slip. He dangled by one hand. Anna rapidly hit his fingers with the side of the branch. At last he lost his grip and fell from the tree with a crunch.
She spared a moment to hope he wasn't dead. Even if he was a jerk who'd kidnapped her, the things Joshua had told her about the pack were horrible. Now that she wasn't so terrified of him, she realized he looked young. Maybe it wasn't even his fault.
She waited for Stephen to come after her next. Then the sweet kiss of relief flooded her suddenly, without explanation. She reached out, and knew Joshua was there.
Chapter Eight
Joshua came around a turn in the trail and saw them. Stephen stood at the base of an immense tree. He stared up
into the branches and shouted angrily. Hunter sat at the base of the tree in wolf form. Joshua smelled Jacky too, but didn't see him. When he got a little closer, he spotted him on the ground. He had a broken leg that made it very clear why he wasn't up and moving. The scent of blood – Jacky's blood, not Anna's – was strong in the air.
Had Stephen done it to punish him? Not likely on a job. He reached out for Anna to ask, What happened?
The red wolf came up after me. Her tone in his head was breathless. She sounded somewhere between jubilation and terror. I chased him down with a branch and he slipped and fell.
He wanted to applaud. His mate was more than a match, apparently, for even three wolves. But there was a more pressing concern.
Hunter finally noticed Joshua's scent over the blood and barked twice. Stephen whipped around and stared. Then he smirked.
“The prodigal son, home at last,” he said mockingly.
Tell him I'm not his son, Joshua thought at Anna.
“He's not yours!” she shouted down from the tree. Close enough.
“Stay out of this,” Stephen said dismissively. “You're still a human even if you're mated to a wolf.”
He walked towards Joshua. “Tell me, have you come to challenge me?”
Challenge? Joshua thought wildly. Then the thought connected.
There were still two wolves against one of him. Anna had knocked a wolf out of a tree and evened the odds. But she was a civilian and wouldn't be much help in a drag out fight – especially if the fighters were in wolf form.
If Joshua challenged Stephen for the pack's leadership, though, he would only have to fight him. Only mates could defend each other in a formal challenge. If he won, he'd never have to run again. Instead, he could help the others left behind. The others, like Lily.
He raised his head and tail proudly. Stephen nodded in acknowledgment.
Then Joshua retreated a few steps to shift back. A challenge fight had to take place between two wolves in the same form. Stephen had probably just returned to human. The only footprints coming into the clearing were Anna's.
But could he win against Stephen? Joshua had seen him kill three other wolves in challenges.
What's going on? Anna asked.
A challenge fight is for the position of alpha. There are rules. If this is a challenge, he can't just distract me and order Hunter to rip my throat out while I'm not looking. Or pull a gun from his jeans.
No one's allowed to help? she asked.
Mates can defend each other's claims, but don’t come down. I promise I'll teach you to fight if I win, but you don't know how right now.
Explaining the situation to Anna helped the racing adrenaline fade. He had to fight Stephen no matter what. At least this way he had a fair shot.
Joshua took his human form. He walked to face Stephen, then raised his eyebrows.
Stephen smiled. “Tell her to come down.”
“Why would I do that?” Joshua asked.
“We need an additional witness for a challenge. If she's your mate, she can witness. Tell her to come down.”
Of course, if Anna came down and Joshua lost, it would be much easier for them to tear her to pieces once he was dead. She might be okay in the tree even if he lost. Stephen had to leave to get Jacky medical care eventually
“It's up to you!” he called up the tree.
Anna didn't even wait to answer. Her legs came into view first, and then the rest of her. She dropped to the ground and went over to kiss his cheek.
“You're going to win this,” she told him. Her eyes shone with determination.
“I hope so,” he said.
He turned to find her lips. It was a short kiss, but full of passion. All too soon, she went to sit on the sidelines next to Jacky.
Then the fight began.
Joshua circled Stephen warily, sizing him up. Joshua was a little tired from running all day. Stephen had a shorter path from the car, but had probably sprinted after Anna. On the other hand, Stephen had time to rest while Anna hid in the tree.
He was shorter than Joshua, with a shorter reach, too, but he was damn fast. Joshua blocked out the memories of those previous fights. He couldn't give up now.
All of a sudden Stephen shot towards him. His teeth were bared and sharpened just a little bit with the wolf. Joshua leapt back to the side. The bite didn't connect.
There was normally very little violence in challenge fights. Joshua had heard in some packs the entire fight consisted of posturing. Stephen always killed, but usually in one blow.
He had to move in; he would only get more tired if he stalled. He didn't want to give Stephen more of an advantage. Joshua feigned a punch to the side, then to the other side, and kicked at the same time. His toe just brushed Stephen's leg before the alpha jumped to the side. He retaliated with a punch that Joshua ducked.
Nothing, still.
His right leg twinged. He realized with a sinking feeling that the trek must have strained it again. He saw Stephen's eyes dart to the side to follow the movement.
Well, he might be able to take advantage of it. On his next step, he exaggerated the limp sharply. Stephen pushed in suddenly. Joshua scrambled back, using the leg as well as he could – and again stumbled a little bit over it.
Shit.
He heard voices from the side. He couldn't concentrate on listening. But he spared a half an instant's thought to hope Hunter or Jacky would like Anna enough to protect her when he was dead. Jacky was a good kid, just a little brainless, and Hunter –
He twisted away from the next blow. It glanced off his hip, stinging but not worse. Still, he was giving ground rapidly. Joshua scrambled to the other side of the clearing to give himself time to meet Stephen's approach. Footwork was most of the work in these fights, and –
“Catch!” Anna called.
When he raised his hand reflexively, the closed pocket knife tumbled into his palm.
Oh. Oh.
He snicked it open and grinned, moving forward. Stephen's eyes darted to it and he snarled angrily, but gave ground. Joshua was injured, yes. But the knife more than made up for it.
Joshua backed Stephen into the tree. He slashed with the knife and drew blood on the arm Stephen raised to block. Then he stepped inside his reach and put the knife to his throat. And paused.
“Well?” Stephen snapped. “Do it!”
“Do you concede?” Joshua asked.
“You'd be an idiot to let me go,” he snarled. “I will not live like some starving exile, roaming from place to place –”
It was possible, Joshua thought, that Stephen absorbed a little more of the propaganda he spouted than Joshua always thought.
“Jacky,” he said. “You guys brought cuffs to use on Anna?”
“Back at the car, yeah.” Jacky's voice was thready with pain. Joshua hoped he'd be okay. “You want us to get them?”
“Is the car unlocked?”
“Yeah. She took off as soon as it stopped. There wasn't much time to worry about that.”
“Good. Hunter, go get the cuffs. If there's reception back at the car, I want you to call the cops. Tell them you've got a young woman here claiming a guy tried to kidnap her. You pulled the guy off her and cuffed him with his own kit.”
Hunter was in wolf form and couldn't talk. Joshua felt a nudge on his leg and looked down to see him wag his tail. Then Hunter took off at a sprint. He wasn't much good in a fight, but he was excellent at the chase.
“So you're going to have me arrested,” Stephen said dubiously. “I'll get what, a few years in prison?”
“You're going to confess,” Joshua said. “And not just to hurting Anna. You're going to confess to trying to kill me and kidnapping my girlfriend to get at me. You're going to confess to murdering Lily Wallace and her husband Dean Wallace. And you're going to confess to every other goddamn murder you can without getting the rest of the pack put in prison, too.”
“And why would I do that?” Stephen's eyes were cool and implacable.
Joshua burned to punch him. He wanted to sink the knife into his throat and remove the threat to his mate forever. But he remembered how killing always felt before. He didn't want to become someone who could do it without guilt.
Joshua leaned into Stephen and stared into his eyes. He let out a snarl directly into his face.
“I will not release you,” he said. “I am your alpha, and you will do as I say.”
Epilogue
Anna went to find Joshua in his dressing room when her makeup was done. The formal acceptance of the two of them as pack alphas was due to start very soon.
Joshua stared at his phone anxiously, sitting on the counter.
“Hey,” she said. “Waiting for someone?”
“Waiting for my little sister to text me back,” he said.
He had called his mother to apologize a few days ago, despite the terror. He spent an hour locked in the bedroom talking to her on the phone. Anna was barely able to restrain herself from breaking down the door when she heard him crying. But in the end, all had been well after the tearful apologies. Joshua was slowly picking up where he had left off with his family.
“She's probably gone to bed,” Anna said.
“Probably,” Joshua said. He didn't look up.
“It's one in the morning, and humans sleep at night.”
“Yeah.”
“Come help me get dressed?” she said. She hoped that would distract him.
He set the phone down then and finally got up. He turned to face her and his eyes widened. He licked his lips a little. She felt his arousal spike through the bond and shivered. It was still hard to believe that she could do that to him just by standing in front of him half dressed.
“What were you talking about?” Anna asked.
Joshua crossed the room to her and took her into his arms. “Stephen. How I got to talk to them again. Which reminds me. There's one thing I don't get about that fight,” Joshua said into Anna's ear. “How did you know to throw me the knife?”
She grinned at him in the mirror. In her reflection, she spotted a strand of hair that had fallen out of the circlet. She fixed it as she answered. “I asked Jacky if there was anything I could do to help. He saw me get the knife out in the tree. So he told me bladed weapons were allowed.”