Jack shifts and runs off. No sooner is he out of sight than my palms begin to sweat and blood rushes in my ears. The hunger in my stomach is so sharp now that it’s making my vision blur. I can’t wait this long between feedings again. My mind is foggy, and I have little doubt that if I were near people, I wouldn’t be able to control myself.
Crashes sound in the woods about ten yards ahead of me. I force myself to focus and prepare to run. The deer appears through the brush ahead of me, and I sprint after it. Even in human form, my speed is well beyond that of any normal person. When the doe catches sight of me, she changes direction, but she can’t get away from me fast enough. I leap, landing on her back and knocking her to the forest floor. My teeth burn as they lengthen, and I sink them into her soft neck. It must be some kind of vampire instinct, because I know exactly where to bite. The fur tickles my face, but I ignore it. I expect the animal to thrash, but instead she seems to calm as I drink. I wonder if there’s something in my bite making her docile.
It doesn’t taste as good as what Luke gave me at the mansion, and it’s different from when I drank from Jack, but it still satisfies me. When I’ve had enough to quench the hunger, I pull away and climb off the doe’s back. After spitting out some fur, I check to make sure she’s all right. A twig snaps behind me and I smell campfire. “Do you think she’ll be okay?”
Jack circles the doe, whose eyes are heavy. He strokes her head and peers at her. “I think so. She looks like she wants to take a snooze.”
“She didn’t fight. I expected her to fight.”
He nods like this doesn’t exactly surprise him. “I think vampire venom may have a mild paralytic in it.”
I pat the deer on the back and murmur a “thank you” before turning and heading toward the enclave. It’s strange how the place seems to pull me to it. I wait until Jack is at my side before speaking. “Venom?”
He nods. “I’m not sure entirely how it works, but I know vampires have venom. Maybe a couple kinds. A bite to feed won’t necessarily turn a human into a vampire. I think whatever venom they use for that needs to be specifically injected for that purpose.”
“So it’s different with wolves?”
“Yes. The way a person is turned into a werewolf works more like a virus than a venom. There are some immortals who dedicate their lives to figuring this stuff out. I only know a bit that I’ve picked up over the years.”
I can’t help smiling. “I guess with as many years as you’ve got under your belt, you can’t help having picked up some things.”
He looks at me out of the corner of his eye. “Are you trying to say I’m old?”
I hold my hands up innocently. “You look fabulous for over a hundred.”
Jack laughs and reaches for my hand, and we walk at a leisurely pace through the woods. I inhale deeply, allowing myself to relax on the exhale. For a few minutes, I push all the complications from my mind and pretend the two of us are just a normal couple out for a relaxing stroll. But as we near the enclave, Jack’s easy-going posture tightens and the smile slips from his face. I hear his voice in my head: Mel and Sawyer, meet me at my house. The words drip with a kind of authority I can’t put into words. Even though the command wasn’t aimed at me, I feel the weight of it.
“Someone told that witch about you being my half. We need to find out who.”
He shifts and takes off at a run toward his house. I do the same. I want to know who betrayed us just as badly as he does—perhaps more.
By the time we arrive, Jack’s front door is open, and Mel and Sawyer are standing inside. Sawyer wears a white tank top and a pair of sweatpants. His hair is damp with perspiration. He was probably down at the gym when he got the call. Mel’s appearance couldn’t be more different. She stands with her shoulders back, her long dark hair pulled into a low ponytail at the base of her neck. Her face is impassive.
“I’m assuming the meeting didn’t go as well as we’d hoped,” Sawyer says as Jack and I shift back into human form.
“You could say that,” Jack says, his voice cold.
Mel crosses her arms over her chest. “What’s this—”
Jack silences her with a look. “A witch on the council knew that Ava was my half. Who told her?”
His words aren’t a command. Jack wants the guilty party to come forward willingly. I look from Mel to Sawyer and back again. While Sawyer’s eyebrows have hiked upward, Mel’s expression hasn’t changed.
Seconds tick by before Mel finally speaks. “Maybe it was that witch friend of yours. Cassandra, is it?”
Jack shakes his head before she’s even finished speaking. “I was there. She was just as shocked as we were. Cassandra would never betray me.”
He says it with such certainty. I don’t doubt it’s true, but I can’t help wondering why he’s so convinced. What kind of history do the two of them have?
Mel shrugs. “Well, maybe it was Skye then.”
Jack steps in close to her, snarling. “Are you really going to try to hide behind the dead?”
Mel doesn’t shrink away. “If you have something to say, say it.”
“I know it was you,” Jack says, his voice low and dangerous. “I didn’t command secrecy when I told the three of you about Ava being my half because I believed I could trust you. And you probably would’ve kept my secret if Ava hadn’t bested you and taken your place as beta.”
Mel’s lips draw back, revealing her teeth. “I should be your alpha now! This halfbreed isn’t fit even to be a member of our pack. She’s the reason Skye is dead, but you can’t see that. You’re too smitten to see her for what she really is.”
Movement outside the still-open front door catches my attention. The rest of the pack is assembling at the base of the hill. “Jack, did you call them?”
“No,” Mel says, stalking toward the door. “I did.”
My stomach sinks. No good can come of this. Jack, Sawyer, and I follow as Mel addresses the pack. “Our alpha is putting us in danger by allowing this hybrid to live among us. It’s only a matter of time before more packs come for her. How many more of us will die protecting her? How many more will Jack sacrifice to save his half?”
A rumble of murmurs spreads through the crowd. I’m stabbed by this new betrayal. She has no right to be the one to tell the pack about Jack and me, yet here she is, announcing it to everyone.
“Stand down, Mel,” Jack growls, striding toward her. “You are no longer fit to be beta of this pack.”
She tips her head back and laughs. “That’s rich, coming from you. You’re no longer fit to be our alpha.”
Beside me, Sawyer inhales sharply. “Think about what you’re saying,” he murmurs, a hint of warning in his voice.
Her eyes flick to him for a moment. “I know what I’m saying.” She turns her attention back to the wolves. “Jack no longer has the best interests of this pack at heart. As beta female, I demand Jack leave this pack at once—or face the consequences.”
Another murmur ripples through the group, and all eyes turn to Jack. He squares his shoulders. “I will not leave this pack.”
The two of them start down the hill to where the pack is already forming a large circle. Sawyer begins walking toward them and I follow, keeping pace with him. “What’s going on?”
“What does it look like?” he asks, his voice barely above a whisper. “If an alpha or beta believes a member is a danger to the pack or to pack unity, they can cast them out. The exception is the alpha. An alpha can’t be cast out—he must be beaten. They’re going to fight, and whoever wins gets to stay.”
Icy dread trickles into the pit of my stomach. “What happens to the loser?”
Sawyer keeps his eyes trained ahead of him. “It’s a fight to the death.”
Chapter Sixteen
His words freeze me in place. I must’ve heard wrong. But the pack is arranging itself in a large circle, the same way it did both times I fought Mel. Except those times, the consequence of losing wasn’t so dire. “A fight to
the death?” I demand, chasing after Sawyer. “You can’t let them do that.”
He stops and rounds on me. “I can’t stop them. The challenge was issued and accepted. Unless someone forfeits, one of them has to die.” Without giving me a chance to absorb this information, Sawyer continues down the hill.
I inhale deeply, trying to will myself to relax. I like the idea of forfeit being an option. Maybe no one will have to die today. I jog down the hill and join the circle.
Sawyer walks into the center of the ring. “Mel has challenged Jack’s place in this pack. As you know, if neither party forfeits, one must die. As Jack is the one who has been challenged, he gets to choose which form they fight in.”
Lillie squeezes in beside me. There’s sadness in her eyes. As Jack announces he elects to fight in wolf form, my heartbeat begins to thunder in my ears. I was just getting used to the idea of Jack as my half—of him being in my life as a boyfriend, or something more. I don’t know if I can handle watching him kill someone right in front of me. “This won’t be so bad, right?” I murmur to Lillie, hoping she can help calm me down. “When Mel realizes she can’t win, she’ll forfeit and everything will be okay.”
She shifts uncomfortably. “It’s not that easy. Even if Mel wants to forfeit, she can’t stay in the pack after something like this. She’ll have to be strong enough to pull herself away from the pack bonds. If she can’t, Jack still has to kill her. He can’t have a disloyal wolf among us.”
I gulp. That wasn’t at all what I wanted to hear.
Sawyer rejoins the rest of the pack as Mel and Jack walk toward the center of the circle. They shift, Jack moving just a split second faster. I am more than a little relieved he’s chosen to change forms for the fight. I wouldn’t want Mel to pull some kind of dirty trick like she did on me with that silver knife.
As Mel darts forward, trying to get in an early hit, Lillie slips her hand into mine and squeezes it.
Jack twists to avoid Mel’s opening salvo, but he’s not fast enough to get in a hit. The two circle each other for several moments before Jack attempts his own offensive. A sharp yelp is enough for me to know he’s managed a bite on Mel’s back, but she doesn’t stop fighting. Once she shakes him off, she goes in for a swipe.
I don’t want to watch, but I can’t turn away. For each move one of them makes, the other responds in kind. The two are evenly matched. I don’t know how long the fight will go on. Are there time limits on a leadership challenge? Or could they be at this for hours? Jack is probably already tired from the run from the council meeting. What if he can’t keep up with Mel? For the first time, I wonder if there’s a possibility that Jack won’t come out the winner.
No. I won’t let that happen. I don’t know what I can do to stop it, but there’s no way I’m letting Mel kill Jack.
Mel backs up a few paces, and I wonder whether she’s considering giving up. But no sooner has the thought formed than Mel darts forward, catching Jack off guard and knocking him to the ground. Lillie’s grip on my hand tightens as I suck in a breath. Mel is on top of Jack, and despite the way he twists his body, he’s not able to get out from under her. I want to go to him, to knock her off and make sure he’s safe, but Lillie’s grip on my hand roots me to my spot.
Mel bears her teeth, but before she can go in for the kill, Jack rocks in such a way that he knocks her off balance. He draws his lips back, but I look away before he can clamp his mouth around Mel’s neck.
“Forfeit!” cries a choked human voice. The sound surprises me so much that I turn back to see Mel shifting slowly back into human form. “I forfeit!”
Jack releases his grip on her neck and backs away before shifting back to human himself. He looms over her, staring at her as if looking at a stranger. “Can you leave this pack?”
I expect her to answer, so when pain tears through my body, I’m taken so off guard I nearly double over. It’s as if someone has taken a knife to part of me and is carving it away.
In her spot on the ground, Mel pants and sweat beads on her forehead. I think I understand what’s happening: Since I am an alpha of the pack, I can feel Mel’s attempt to separate. The pain is blinding—worse than anything I’ve ever experienced, and that includes the night I was stabbed by the mugger. Does it feel like this for her, too?
A scream tears itself from Mel’s throat, and the stinging in my body ebbs. She’s done it. She’s pulled free from our pack bonds.
Jack lifts his chin. “Mel is cast out. As of this moment, she is a lone wolf, forbidden from ever stepping foot or paw on this territory again.”
With obvious effort, Mel drags herself to her feet. At the far side of the circle, pack members begin to separate, creating a hole through which she can pass. “He doesn’t care about any of you—not since he found his halfbreed half,” she calls as she staggers forward. “He won’t protect you if it means losing her.”
Jack steps forward into the sunlight, and I detect some of the injuries he sustained during the fight through the rips in his shirt. Even though the blood still glistens, the wounds are already knitting themselves back together. “I will release anyone who wants to go with her,” Jack says, his voice ringing clear through the air.
For several moments, no one moves. All the members of the pack are abnormally still. It’s not until Mel reaches a spot outside the circle and turns to face the rest of us that some begin to shuffle. There are a dozen in all. I’ve spoken with each of them in passing. Some—like a tall, burly man named Tanner—don’t surprise me. He’s regarded me with increasing trepidation since Mel failed to reclaim the spot I took from her. But the two women who step cautiously toward Mel send ripples of betrayal through my system. Fiona and Marisol are both submissive wolves who have been nothing but kind and welcoming to me since my arrival. Have they been lying the whole time? Or did their opinion of me change when they realized what I am?
More shocks of pain jolt through my system, but nothing as terrible as what happened when Mel separated herself. I think I understand why this is different: Jack is allowing these wolves to leave freely. Still, the pain of their separation slices through my soul.
As the defectors reach Mel, they all shift and take off into the woods. Once the thudding of their paws dissipates, Jack reaches his hand toward me, inviting me to join him. When I’m at his side, he addresses the remaining members of the pack. “Some of what Mel said is true: Ava is a hybrid, which you already knew. She’s also my half. I didn’t share this with the entire pack because I wanted to give her the chance to adjust to the news. And I will do anything to keep her safe.” He laces his fingers through mine. “But what Mel failed to realize is that promise extends to all of you. I’m still the same alpha you’ve known—some of you for decades. I will not willfully put any of you in undue danger. But you deserve to know that danger is coming. There are those who want to harm Ava, and we will protect her—not because she’s special or better, and not because she’s my half, but because she’s a member of this pack, and we take care of our own.”
Cheers of ascent shoot up around the circle, and even though I force a smile, my stomach twists. I don’t want anyone else put in danger because of me. We just lost thirteen members of our pack—wolves who have been with Jack longer than I’ve been changed, wolves who chose to abandon him because they don’t trust him anymore. No, it’s not him they don’t trust—it’s me. As much as I’d like to believe that those who remain are loyal and believe in me, I can’t shake a nagging feeling in the back of my mind.
In the weeks since I was turned, our pack is down fourteen members. How many more will we lose before all is said and done?
Chapter Seventeen
I lie on my back across Lillie’s bed, my eyes fixed on the ceiling. I don’t know if she’s even noticed I’m not paying attention anymore.
It’s been two days since Mel left the pack. Two days since Cassandra wasn’t able to escape from the witches whose council she used to lead. I want to be doing something—anything—to be
helpful. Instead I’m slowly losing my mind.
“I’m not sure if I should go for a pure white on the baseboard or something more like an eggshell,” Lillie says. She’s had me looking at color swatches for the last hour. I feel the last of my sanity slipping away. Yes, I can recognize that there are subtle differences between the colors she’s suggesting, but they don’t seem significant enough to warrant this kind of discussion. It seems every time I state an opinion, she goes out of her way to disagree—even when my opinion agrees with her initial stance.
My stomach growls and inspiration strikes. I prop myself on my elbow. “Let’s go grab something to eat. I bet there are leftovers in the cooler at the meeting house we could snag.”
Despite the fact that I have a fully functioning kitchen in the house, there’s virtually no food in the refrigerator. With everything that’s happened since I came to live here, I haven’t exactly had a chance to run to the grocery store. All that’s here now is what Lillie brought over from her old house, and those supplies are rapidly dwindling.
She bites her lower lip. “I’d feel much better taking a break if I knew I had my colors nailed down.”
I roll my eyes and stand. “If I have to stare at these color swatches anymore, I’m going to gouge out my eyes. I might have some clarity after I get some food in me.” I head out the door, and she’s at my side in an instant.
“We should go to a restaurant in town. After that, we could go to the grocery store. You know what they say—don’t go to the grocery store on an empty stomach or you’ll end up buying stuff you don’t need.”
I press my lips together, considering the options. I haven’t been around humans since I transitioned. While I still have deer blood in my system from the other day, I’m not sure I’m ready to risk being in public yet. I’d feel much better going if I knew I’d be outnumbered. Lillie is strong, but I don’t know if she would stand a chance against me if I go full-on blood hungry.
Fate Bound (Fate Bound Trilogy Book 1) Page 11
