Suddenly, her body jerked forward, startling Jack. Her eyes snapped open. “No,” she growled, “no, no, no.” Her back arched while her foot slide forward. “I won’t,” she argued.
Jack made a distressed noise. She looked crazy. It hurt to him to watch. Her body fought against itself while she argued with no one. Her face was molted from crying. Her hair had leaves in it. Muscles along her body spasmed making her movements abrupt and unnatural.
Jack wanted to run to her. His wolf kept him planted where he was crouched. His instincts were telling him to wait.
From the depths of the forest a figure moved. Its progression was slow and deliberate. Once he saw it, Jack could see shapes making their way towards Grace.
The rogues.
They were in their wolf form. Leading them was a human. Jack could see them but there was no other indication that they were there. They didn’t carry a scent. The only thing he could smell was the decayed smell coming from Grace. They didn’t make sound but Jack watched them rustle brushes as they walked through.
He could make out fifteen wolves but if he hadn’t seen the ferns moving he never would have known they were there.
Grace was too busy struggling with herself to notice them until they were right in front of her. The man cocked his head taking her in. With a snap of his fingers, Grace’s spine straightened with a sickening crack. Her eyes were unblinking as she saw the rogues. The leader gestured for one of the wolves to shift.
“I won’t give it to you.” Grace’s voice sounded raw but strong.
“You don’t have a choice.” The man’s words lacked intonation. He lifted a finger. She grit her teeth groaning as she fought whatever magic he was working. Grace’s arm rose making his point. Clenched in her hand was the spell. Jack’s body tensed.
Desperation lit behind Grace’s bloodshot eyes. Her other hand frantically tried to lower her arm. She grabbed her wrist straining to control her possessed arm.
The rogue stood, human now. He walked towards her, his hand outstretched.
Grace lunged. Her body jerked as if she was being held in place. Grace snarled and swiped her free hand at the man reaching for her. She raked claws down his cheek. He yowled, rearing back.
“End this, we have places to be.” The leader turned to leave. The wolves turned to follow.
Jack burst from where he was hiding. Launching himself at the man trying to take the spell, he took the bastard to the ground.
Howls exploded from the forest. The Black Bird wolves dove into the clearing as the rogues tried to defend themselves. All hell broke loose.
Fighting broke out all around. The sounds of vicious roars filled the air as bodies hit each other attempting to tear the other apart.
Below Jack, the rogue struggles. Jack struck trying to bite the man’s throat but he threw his arm up. Jack tore flesh. The rogue punched Jack in the snout with his other hand. Jack bit down harder refusing to let go.
Jack cried a searing pain exploding in his side. He flinched away from the feeling letting go. Jack jumped away from the rogue.
The man staggered to his feet. His face twisted in satisfaction as he raised a switchblade covered in Jack’s blood. The bastard had stabbed him.
Jack circled him. The bastard smiled. Jack lunged wrapping his teeth around the wrist holding the knife. A knee connected with his ribs. Jack growled at the pain. He whipped his head shaking the rogue’s entire body. The knife dropped.
Jack used his body to toss the guy back on the ground. The instant he hit the ground, Jack went for the throat. The rogue didn’t have time to defend himself. Jack didn’t bother with suffocating him. Jack tore at his flesh. The man under him threw punches trying to get Jack to let go. They slammed into his body with brutal force. Jack thrashed using all of his body weight to kill the rogue.
The man’s blows got weaker. Jack didn’t stop. Finally, the rogue went limp. Jack kept his jaw around his throat. He gave the bastard a shake. He was dead.
Heaving air, Jack sat back. If the rogue had been in wolf form, Jack wouldn’t have beaten him.
Around him, chaos reigned. Fights were going on in patches around the forest. Everywhere groups of Black Bird wolves attacked singular rogues. It was vicious. Teeth flashed and pain filled roars echoed.
The rogues were tearing the Black Bird wolves apart. They were overpowering three of four wolves at a time. Jack smelled his Pack mates’ blood. Their movements were slowing down. They were exhausted. They couldn’t keep fighting like this. They outnumbered the rogues three to one but they were still losing. It was only a matter of time before the tide turned.
Jack didn’t have time to help. He shifted, feeling a knife wound he hadn’t noticed.
Grace was still suspended where the leader of the rogues had left her. She was clawing at the hand holding the spell. Her wrist was bloody from her nails. She was tearing herself apart trying to force the spell from her hand.
“Grace,” Jack rushed forward.
Her head popped up. She saw him and her face fell. “Jack,” she sobbed. “I didn’t mean to. I couldn’t stop myself.”
“I know, Gracie,” he promised trying to calm her down. She was choking on sobs. “I’m going to take care of this. Everything will be alright.”
He stopped in front of her, his hands pausing. He didn’t know anything about magic. The last thing Jack wanted to do was to make things worse. He glanced up smiling at Grace. “It’ll be fine.” He saw the fear in her eyes. Jack needed to save her. He reached out to take the spell from her.
“Don’t touch her!” Screamed a feminine voice. Jack jerked towards the sound. Ivy Stevens leaped off an ATV being driven by Ezra. She was sprinting towards them. “Do not touch that woman.” She skidded to a stop in front of Grace.
“Why shouldn’t I touch her?” Jack asked.
Ivy held her hands out, fingers wide, pressing into some force that Jack couldn’t see. “She’s under a spell. We do not need it transferring or amplifying or something.”
Ezra and Ezekiel ran towards them skirting groups of wolves fighting.
The witch walked around Grace searching the forest floor. She kept three feet away from Grace. Jack looked down but only saw dirt.
Ezekiel reached them. He took the leather satchel from earlier off his shoulder, handing it to Ivy. “We’re in the middle of a war zone here, Ivy. We don’t have time to examine things.”
“Shut up,” she ordered. “This makes things infinitely more complicated. We have to destroy the spell but now there’s a live element involved.” She dumped everything out of the bag. Frantically, she sifted through bags of herbs.
Jack honed in on that. “Live element? You mean Grace? Can’t you free Grace and then destroy the spell?”
Ivy shook her head. “I don’t have time to explain why that is not optional.” She pulled a curved knife from the pile. Grace cried out.
Jack grabbed Ivy’s wrist. He bared his teeth at her. “Don’t fucking go near her with that knife.”
A punch threw Jack to the ground. Ezra stood over him, a wild expression in his eyes. “Don’t touch her.”
Jack rubbed his jaw. “She’s about to stab my mate.”
Ivy snorted. “I’m not going to hurt her. I’m trying to save her. The spell she’s had cast on her is lethal.” She held up the knife. “I need blood to counter it.”
Jack looked at Grace. Her face was pale. Her whole body shook from strain. She wasn’t paying any attention to them. Her eyes were vacant. Tiny whimpering sounds came from her open mouth. Her pain was a physical presence.
“Take mine,” Jack held out his wrist.
Ivy grabbed a container of salt off of the ground. “Stupid wolf, your blood is useless. Only I can help her but,” she looked up, “I need time to prepare and cast. “Can you guys keep-”
A wolf leapt past Jack going straight for Ivy.
Ezekiel dove in front of her taking the full brunt of the attack.
The wolf tore into Ezekiel. He didn’t stand a chance a
s a human.
“We’ve got you covered,” Jack yelled as he shifted.
Jack threw his body against the rogue. The impact knocked the wolf off of Ezekiel. Jack bit anything near him. He felt teeth sinking into his flesh but ignored it. The rogue wrestled on top of jack. Before he could press his advantage, Ezra ran in.
Contending with a new opponent, the rogue ran at Ezra. Ezra braced his feet anticipating the collision. The rogue suddenly dropped, hitting his shoulder to the earth. The mud kept him moving forward. Ezra couldn’t react fast enough. The rogue used the slide to his benefit latching onto Ezra’s throat.
Jack and Ezekiel dove into the fray. They rent flesh. The rogue growled but dug deeper into Ezra.
Ezekiel went crazy. He shifted throwing himself onto the wolf’s back. His grabbed either side of the rogue’s face and dug his fingers into the animal’s eyes.
The rogue howled letting go of Ezra as he reared back, trying to shake Ezekiel loose. The force knocked the rogue off his feet.
Jack didn’t hesitate. He threw himself at the rogue tearing into his stomach. Hot blood filled his mouth as he tore the rogue apart. Jack was frenzied.
The rogue bucked still fighting. Ezekiel was thrown off landing onto Jack. Struggling, Jack jumped to his feet. Instinctively, he moved out of biting range. When his vision cleared he saw a half dead Ezra ripping the rogue’s throat out.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ivy’s arms raised as she chanted. Wind lashed her hair. Her voice rang out somehow louder than the sound of war. The mousy figure from Ben’s office was gone. In her place a creature of power stood wielding a force of nature.
All of the fighting had converged around Grace and Ivy. The Black Bird wolves formed a barrier around the women. They fought with renewed energy keeping the rogues from reaching Ivy.
A rogue took advantage of Jack’s distraction. He jumped onto Jack’s back latching onto Jack’s scruff shaking Jack viciously. The rogue tore a chunk out of Jack’s shoulder trying to rip out his throat.
Jack bucked and writhed. The rogue wouldn’t budge. His teeth ripped Jack’s hide. No matter how hard he tried, Jack couldn’t get the rogue off of him. The wolf was tearing him to pieces. He felt the rogue’s teeth bite into his throat. Jack knew it was over.
The rogue flew off of him. Jack leapt to his feet ready to fight.
The rogue didn’t move.
“Woo! One for Betsy.”
Jack turned to see Betsy standing astride an ATV, a hunting rifle in her hands. Her eyes zeroed in on a rogue creeping towards Ivy. Grabbing the bolt, she chambered another round. Bringing the sight to her eyes, Jack saw her exhale and pull the trigger. The rogue dropped. Betsy pumped her fist in the air. “Woo! Two for Betsy.”
Jack watched a group of Black Bird wolves being ripped to shreds by a team of rogues. They were outmanned. They were going to be slaughtered. Ignoring the pain wracking his body, he sprinted towards them.
The world exploded into blinding white. A deafening boom shook the ground. It was like being inside a lightning strike.
Stunned, Jack didn’t move. He lay on his side trying to figure out what had just happened. The earth spun. His ears were ringing. His brain couldn’t process anything.
Knowing he needed to get up, Jack tried to move. His body protested. Staggering to his feet, Jack saw a few wolves doing the same.
Movement to the side had Jack turning. He saw a few rouges running further into the woods. In the confusion, no one followed them.
Jack looked to see if Grace had made it through whatever had just happened.
She was gone.
Jack’s heart froze.
He sprinted to where she’d been. He didn’t realize he had shifted back until he pushed back a fallen branch with his hands.
Lying on the ground, covered in dirt was Grace. Small cuts covered every inch of exposed skin. The blood looked black against her deathly pale skin. She was so still.
“Grace,” Jack staggered forward. She didn’t move. “Gracie?” He fell down next to her. He put his hands on her cheek. They were freezing. He sobbed. “Gracie, I’m so sorry.” He wrapped his hands around her cold fingers.
He’d come as fast as he could. He’d fought as hard as he could and Grace was still dead. Regret swelled so strongly it threatened to drown him. His mate was dead. He hadn’t been able to save her.
Jack wanted to go back in time. He wanted to go back to the moment their hands had touched that first day in Black Bird. He would do everything differently. He would have mated her that day and spent the last year showing her how happy their life could be.
His pride had cost him everything.
“She’s unconscious, not dead.” Jack lifted his head from Grace’s hand. Ivy sat up in a pile of broken bark. She shook her head. Her hair was singed. Smudges of black covered her face. Her eyes were the size of dinner plates but she looked a little singed but unharmed. “She’s going to be dead to the world for a while,” Ivy yelled, too loud. She frowned and rubbed her ear. “She’s fine though.”
Jack looked back at Grace. He put his ear to her chest. He sagged, hearing the soft thump of her heart.
Ivy pat the ground around her trying to find something. Her face lit up. She lifted the spell like it was a wand. Turning over the paper she nodded then showed it to Jack. It was blank.
“The spell had been destroyed?” He had expected the thing to be burned to a crisp.
“Yes,” she smiled proudly. “We nulled the spell on the vellum and,” she gestured to Grace, “on your friend.”
A group approached them. Ben had his arm around Anne. The Robbins boys surrounded Betsy like guards. Their expressions were opposite to the smile Betsy was sporting. Ezra and Ezekiel picked Ivy off of the ground keeping her between them. Everyone was bloody and bruised.
Jack pulled Grace onto his lap, savoring the feeling of her body against him. He was not letting her out of his sight. He didn’t care how irrational that was.
“How many did we lose?” Mark limped up to where they were standing.
Ben shook his head. “I’m not sure, a few.”
“Those bastards lost more,” Betsy sneered.
“The rest ran away when the explosion happened.” Cal noted.
“What was that explosion?” Anne looked around.
Ivy raised her hand. “That was me. I had to counter the spell on the paper and the one on…”
“Grace,” Jack supplied.
“…Grace. It was a pretty powerful casting, hence the explosion.”
“I don’t care what it was.” Ben shook his head. “We were getting our asses handed to us. That thing saved our lives.” He glanced around the circle. “Did anyone manage to see where their leader ran off?”
Everyone shook their heads.
Ivy raised her hand again. “I didn’t see where he went but I did recognize him.” She paused. “That was Lawrence McDowell. He’s a member of the Monroe Springs’ Pack.”
Ben swore. “This just gets better every fucking minute.”
Ivy wilted. “I guess this means I can’t go home.”
“Not if you want to live.” Patrick said bluntly.
Ivy flinched and the Tate brothers growled at Patrick.
“Hey,” Betsy shouted. “You just saved one of my best friends. Your home is here. You need anything, you go it!”
“Yeah,” Anne agreed suddenly looking devious, “and you’re probably going to need a job won’t you?”
Ben sighed, his shoulders drooping. “Now, is not the time, Anne” He took in the destruction in the clearing. He looked wary, his eyes haunted. “We need to tend to our wounded and bury our dead. We can meet once everyone is accounted for. We need to start preparing for war.”
The enforcers nodded. This was not over
Grace groaned. She wasn’t even really awake and she already knew she hurt all over. Her eye cracked open. She also wasn’t in her bed. Carefully, she turned her head. She was in Jack’s house.
She tried to move but her body refused. Flopping back against the pillow Grace went to rub her eyes. Her left wrist was wrapped in gauze from palm to wrist. The white fabric was clean.
It all came back to Grace. She remembered everything that had happened. Her body flushed with shame. She had stolen the spell from Ben’s office and almost handed it over to the rogues. If her Pack hadn’t showed up, she would have.
“Hey.” Jack walked into the room smiling. “I didn’t expect you to be awake yet.”
He looked exhausted. His face was drawn. There was a scab healing on his forehead. His hair hung limp like he hadn’t washed it in a few days. He was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.
“Hey,” she croaked back.
Jack went to one of the side tables and poured her a glass of water. He came over and helped Grace sit up. She took a few sips of water and collapsed back into bed, out of breath.
“Damn, I am weak.” Her muscles were shaking just from being vertical for two seconds.
“You’ve been asleep for a few days. You also exploded. I’m pretty sure anyone would be feeling weak.” He joked.
Grace gaped at Jack. “What?”
Jack got into bed, drew her under his arm and caught her up on what had happened. She remembered Ms. Stevens pulling out her knife but things were fuzzy after that. She vaguely recalled someone blowing something pungent in her face. That was it.
“I’m glad I wasn’t awake for that.” Being in the middle of a magical explosion was not something she wanted to experience fully conscious.
Jack sighed, leaning back onto his headboard. “I am too. It was already too much watching you trying to fight that spell.” He shook his head. “I don’t think I could handle watching you have it ripped out of your body.”
Grace nodded but didn’t say anything. She didn’t want to tell jack that as bad as it had been to watch her fight the compulsion forcing her to do things; it felt worse feeling the magic violating her free will.
She was aware the entire time she was driving out to her cabin but she couldn’t stop herself. The need to get the spell to the woods overwhelmed everything else. Once she entered the woods and smelled the familiar scents a small part of Grace woke up.
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