by May Dawson
"You're okay," I said, pressing her shoulders down so that she wouldn’t shake the Quick-Clot off.
"Stop," she managed, her voice wet, "lying."
"You have to be okay, Piper," I said, and my voice sounded distant. "You've fucked up my life completely in two weeks, and I won't accept it going back to the way it was before."
A wolf sped past us, moving at breakneck speed, and slid down the hill toward Arthur.
Arthur whirled as he felt it coming. The wolf stumbled as it turned into a man again, jerkily rising to his feet. Still gasping from the run and the pain of the turn, the wolf called out that the witches had the cubs.
"If you want to save your young," the witch that had just stepped ashore called, "you'll surrender now. I offer mercy to your pack. No one else has to die today."
His voice echoed through the air unnaturally.
Arthur hesitated, but we all knew there was no other way for this to end.
He tossed his rifle carefully to his feet.
"Stand down," he commanded the pack.
Two of the other pack's wolves went after Arthur then, kicking his legs out from underneath him and beating him with the butts of their rifles. Horror spiked through my chest. I bent down to pick up Piper, who gasped as I lifted her in the air, squeezing her eyes shut tight against the wave of pain. I had to get her safe. Somehow.
The witch’s eyes swept up the hill toward us. His gaze seemed to have fixed on Piper, and he came toward her as if he was drawn.
He wore a scarf that wrapped across his entire throat and an enormous overcoat, and as he came closer, I recognized his face. Piper's ‘father’.
I was ready to fight him for her life, no matter what the orders were.
"Relax, dog," he said, and a smile spread across his face. "I'm here to save her."
I looked down at Piper’s face, to see how she would react, but her head lolled back helplessly. She was unconscious.
She was dying.
Maybe the goddamn witch was the only chance we had.
Chapter 10
Nick
Sebastian grabbed my shoulder. “We’re getting out of here,” he said, shoving me into the woods, away from the battle raging around us.
Up on the hill, Arthur had slung his rifle down to the ground and raised his hands in the air.
There was no time to debate. Sebastian was one of Piper’s wolves, so even though I didn’t know him, I trusted him. Just like I trusted Piper. Together, the two of us ran into the forest.
The forest was a green blur around us as we fled the battle. Behind us, in the distance—but not far enough—the Shenandoah wolves were howling.
Sebastian looked over his shoulder. “Think they’re following us?”
I didn’t answer him because I thought they probably were. Everyone else had surrendered. We’d had the chance to get free, though, to help the others later—and we had to take it. We had to do something to protect Piper and our packs.
A wolf shot out from between two trees and bounded toward us.
I looked to Seb, hesitating in case this was one of his pack.
The wolf slammed into Sebastian. Snarling jaws lunged at Sebastian’s throat as he threw up his arm desperately.
I threw myself onto the wolf’s back, grabbing the wolf around the neck and dragging him off Seb. I fell with the wolf on top of me, but I had a good grip across its heaving chest.
I buried my face in the back of its neck, so that even as it scrambled and snarled it didn’t manage to get its fangs into me. As I struggled to hold it, the seconds seemed to feel like minutes.
Then Seb’s weight fell against the wolf, making the pressure on my chest even more intense, and the wolf yelped. Seb rolled it away from me.
Suddenly I could see the green lacy leaves of the trees above, the sun shining through them. I drew a ragged breath.
“Thanks.” Seb held a bloody knife in one hand, and he offered me his other hand to help me up. “Next time, don’t hesitate.”
“I didn’t know if he was one of yours.”
Seb gave me a long look. “You didn’t know, or you didn’t want to kill another wolf? Because he didn’t look like a friend to me.”
Chagrined, I slapped my palm against his and let him help me up. My chest still ached from the weight of the wolf pinning me down.
“It was brave to tackle that wolf like that,” Seb said, and he grinned like he’d already forgotten that my hesitation had almost ended with a wolf’s teeth buried in his throat.
“I have my moments,” I said.
“Let’s have a lot more of them.” Seb scooped to pick up some leaves and wiped the blood off his knife before he tucked it into the sheath. “Our packs need us.”
I looked down at the big wolf at our feet. In the distance, I could hear screaming. My heart was still ricocheting along, so fast that it throbbed in my chest. My body was suddenly fever-hot. I shook my head, trying to press back the change that I felt coming on.
Seb put his hand on my shoulder. “Fight it back. If you switch to a wolf, you won’t be able to help going for blood. But the only way to help our packs is to run now, fight later.”
“Of course,” I said, my voice shaky. I shook my head again, trying to ignore the splitting pain in my fingertips, like my claws were about to burst through. “Maybe you should go on without me. I’m not…great…at control.”
I’d shifted when Piper’s father kidnapped her, when she’d needed me to be a man, and the shame of that still left me tossing and turning at night sometimes, hot and sleepless.
I looked him in the eyes and admitted, “You’d probably be better off without me.”
Sebastian gave me a long look, then clapped me on the shoulder. “That’s a brave thing to admit too.”
“I turned once,” I said. “When Piper needed me. When it was the worst thing—”
We’d never talked about it since. It was the first time I’d admitted it out loud.
“Then now is your chance to make up for it,” Seb said. “Because she really, really needs us both.”
He gave me a long look, and after a second, I nodded.
Together, the two of us headed through the woods.
Chapter 11
Fiona
I stood on the porch, sick to my stomach, as they dragged Arthur away. There was blood on his face and his steps seemed uneven. They’d slammed their rifle butts into him over and over again, kicking him until I wasn’t sure he would ever get up again.
Sometimes I hated him, but I also, always, appreciated how much he had tried to take care of me from the moment his brother Roderick chose to take me. I hadn’t realized just how much I cared about him as a friend until that moment, when it tore me apart that I couldn’t do anything to stop them from hurting him.
He had ordered us to stand down. It’s hard for a wolf, especially a young one, to disobey an order from their alpha.
That was part of why I had hated him, sometimes. He hadn’t been the one to take away my free will. But he was still there, bossy and furious and dangerous.
He opened one dark eye, since the other was swollen shut and bloody already, and our gazes met. One corner of his bloodied mouth turned up, encouragingly, as they dragged him past.
One of the Shenandoah wolves grabbed my shoulder. “Are you all right?”
I looked up at him in shock. But he seemed like he was serious; he regarded me with kind gray eyes.
“No, I’m not,” I managed. “would you be all right?”
He had the decency to look rueful. “I’m sorry.”
I shook my head. He could not possibly be sorry enough. They had betrayed us.
“They have our cubs,” he said, “but it’s no excuse for what’s happened here today. We just didn’t see a way out…”
Two witches slung Piper’s inert body into the back of a pickup truck. I bit down hard on my lower lip.
They prodded Arthur into the back of the truck with her, and his face twisted with grief
as he looked down at her. He really did love her. Caro and I used to say that Arthur could never love anyone, and now I felt disloyal to ever have said that. He was a good alpha, and he’d deserved better from me, no matter how angry I was about my fate.
“Gentle,” Rippedthroat scolded the two witches who had just thrown Piper into the truck. “I don’t like to see my daughter hurt. Well,” he smiled, a slow, evil smile, “Not without good reason.”
He turned around, taking us all in. “So. One alpha is dead, and one alpha might as well be. So who will step up to lead these packs, and work with me so that everyone else survives?”
“I will.” Inzel stepped up without hesitation. Despite the losses we had just taken, his eyes looked bright at the promise of power.
Rippedthroat looked him over. “And they will follow you?”
“I’m the old beta,” Inzel said proudly.
Rippedthroat looked at him as if that wasn’t much of a selling point. “Very well. And from the Shenandoah pack?”
The man next to me glanced away, then called reluctantly, “I will.”
His steps were heavy, reluctant, as he walked down the porch stairs and toward Rippedthroat. “I was beta for William Morgen.”
“Who?” Rippedthroat asked.
“The old alpha.” His jaw tightened. “The one you worked with for days, apparently, without knowing his name.”
Rippedthroat shrugged. “You don’t have to call a dog by name to get it to come. But what’s your name, boy, since you care so much about them?”
“Tuck,” he said.
Rippedthroat looked out at the crowd of wolves. His witches were stationed among them, in long black robes, their faces pale and cold.
“Would you follow this man to lead you?” he asked.
At first, everyone seemed to reluctant to speak, and then there were a series of low mumbled yeses.
“Then I won’t kill him,” Rippedthroat said, just before he threw his hand toward Tuck, his palm facing out.
Magic blazed between his hand and Tuck, who was suddenly immobilized, his arms and legs stiff. His face froze in an expression of horror and pain as bright white bolts of magic seemed to race across his body. His muscles seized, trembling, and then suddenly, Rippedthroat released him.
Tuck fell to his knees before Rippedthroat, grabbing at his throat as if he hadn’t been able to breathe.
“Don’t cross me again,” Rippedthroat said, his voice pleasant. “Don’t waste this chance to protect your pack.”
Tuck slowly climbed to his feet, his legs still shaky underneath him. He nodded. “I’ll do my best. For both the packs.”
“Good,” Rippedthroat said. “Then we have work to do.”
Chapter 12
Finn
"Take my hand," I told Maddie over the roar of the surf.
The two of us stood at the edge of the island, on the slick rocks that led into the surf. During low tide, it was possible to edge along the base of the cliffs that rose to our left, through waist-deep water, and duck through into the mouth of the cave hidden in the cliff.
Once the tide rose, it was a hell of a swim back out, but it was possible. I had done it before.
She flashed me a look full of skepticism, her pale eyebrows arching as she swiped strands of damp blond hair out of her face. The salt spray was slowly soaking her hair to her head.
That skepticism... She reminded me of Piper. I thought of Piper’s mix of exasperation and concern when I tumbled into her bedroom window on a rainy night. Remembering the arch of her eyebrows and the worry in her wide blue eyes made me feel lighter, no matter what was going on.
Maddie propped her hands on her hips. “You want me to walk into the ocean to get to your secret hiding place? Are you out of your mind? I am not the little mermaid over here."
Yeah, she definitely sounded like Piper.
"Trust me. We've got to get to hiding," I told her. "Piper asked me to keep you safe from the coven.”
"If she wants me to be safe, why isn't she here with me?"
"Because she thought you'd be in more danger if she was."
"Why?" She glared at me, drawing herself up to her full four-foot-something, which didn't even come up to my chest. She pointed a finger at me. "I'm not going anywhere with you until I get some answers."
"This is no place for a chat. I'll answer any question you have once we're safe." I ran my thumbs under the pack straps on my back, adjusting the weight. "But if you're not coming, I'm going without you."
She scoffed.
I would do anything for Piper, but I wasn’t here to be scoffed at by people who hadn’t even mastered writing in cursive yet.
"Suit yourself," I said. I began to pick my way across the rocky beach. The surf had already rolled in enough that I had to wade through knee-high water.
There was a splashing sound behind me. I flashed a look over my shoulder to see her trudging quickly through the water. Her small face was grouchy, with pursed lips and drawn-together, almost white-blond brows. The water rose higher on her, to her waist, and she struggled to stay upright in the constant push-and-pull of the surf.
I offered her my hand again. I wasn’t going to be a smart-ass to a nine-year-old.
Reluctantly, looking at me as if it hurt her pride, she slapped her hand into mine.
Together, the two of us fought the waves. Rocky cliffside loomed above us, and she stared out at the vast, deep blue ocean that seemed to press us against the rocks. When she turned back to me, worry was written across her face.
“We can walk the whole way to the caves as long as you stay right with me,” I promised. There was a narrow shelf along the cliff before it dropped away to deep water. “I know you don’t know me, but I promise. I’d do anything for your sister, and I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Her small mouth set. “I’m not scared.”
I smiled at her lie before I turned and led her on. The wind buffeted us, trying to push us into the rocky cliffside to our left.
"We're almost there," I told her, shouting over the sound of the surf and the wind that tried to whip away my words. "When I was a kid, my brother and I would come here to hide. Inside, no one will be able to track us."
"Is it even dry in there?" she blurted out.
"It's dry and warm. It seems to stay around sixty degrees year-round, because it's insulated from the temperatures outside. We'll be safe."
"You said that already."
"It seemed like it was worth repeating."
She sighed. I tugged her gently forward, pulling her behind me. The towering rock that rose above our heads was oppressive. I felt it now, seeing it as it might look to her for the first time.
When I was a kid, this place was a refuge. It was where I ate cold Spaghetti-o's out of the can with my brother and slept warm and safe in a sleeping bag that smelled like ocean salt. This had been my real home, a place to rest where I never woke up to someone beating me.
To be fair, I woke only a few times to knees on my chest pinning me down, my mother’s weight suffocating me, and a slap in the face.
But to be fair to myself, it really only takes a few times before you start sleeping lighter than any kid should.
She slipped, almost going under in the waves. Her eyes widened in panic, reminding me all over again how much she's just a kid. My hand squeezed hers tight as I grabbed her shoulder, steadying her. The ocean was not going to pull her out to sea today.
The look of fear on her face made me think of Piper, too. "Can you swim?"
Here on the island, every kid learns to swim almost as soon as they walk--or maybe before. It seemed unnatural to me that anyone wouldn’t teach their child to swim.
"I've been learning," she said, her voice steady even though her breath was still coming in quick flutters that gave away her panic, "but I'd rather not test it out in the ocean just yet."
"Almost there," I promised her.
We edged into a divot in the cliffside, one that meant we were c
ompletely hidden from view up and down the shore. In front of us was the low mouth of a cave, like a door to a castle.
She looked at the mouth of the cave in horror.
It had always seemed to me like the door to a castle. Clearly some people had different interpretations.
"It's not that bad," I said. "You're short. You barely have to duck."
"What if the water rises?" she hissed at me.
"It will rise," I said. It would flood the bottom floor of these caves. "But we're going up once we get inside the caves."
"What if we get stuck?"
I flashed my most winning, confident smile. "We won't. I've done this a hundred times."
She did not appear won over.
“There actually is another way out,” I promised her, pointing up. “I’ll show you once we’re inside.”
She stared at me skeptically, as the waves pounded against her waist and sent salty spray flying up into both our faces. She blinked it away, but droplets clung to her lashes.
"If we don't do this," I told her, dropping all attempts to cajole her in favor of brutal honesty, "the coven is going to find us. What do you think happens after that?”
Her lips set grimly. "All right.”
I put my hand on her shoulder to steer her ahead of me. The two of us ducked into the caves. Her little body was stiff with tension as I guided her ahead.
And then I straightened, in the cool alcove of waist-high water. The cave ceiling towered high above us. Sunlight seeped in through the cracks in the cave wall, and the water in front of us looked quiet and clear as a jewel. It was magical. When she looked up, her eyes suddenly filled with curiosity instead of wariness and fear, I knew she had begun to see the magic too.
"Come on. I'll show you where we're going to camp."
Together, the two of us waded through the pool to the wide, rocky shelf at the back of the cavern, then began to climb the narrow trails that led up from the alcove.