by J. L. Wilder
She heard them before she saw them. Violent snarls. The sound of snapping teeth. She came to a halt and concealed herself behind a tree, momentarily panicked, trying to determine what would be the best thing to do.
Heather hunkered next to her. “Should we go in and see if we can stop them?”
“I think we should try to see what’s going on first,” Grace whispered. “We need to know who’s winning the fight before we intervene.”
Heather nodded and pointed straight up. Taking her meaning, Grace grabbed a low branch and began to climb.
Up in the tree, the two girls huddled against the trunk and looked down. Seven wolves were gathered below, facing off, their teeth bared. It looked as if they were moments away from attacking each other, and as Grace looked more closely, she was able to see that some fighting had already taken place. There was blood in the dirt, and several of the wolves had scratches and bite marks.
“Do you know who’s who?” Grace breathed.
“The brown one is Alex,” Heather said. She whimpered a little. “He’s so much smaller than the others.”
It was true. Every other wolf in the clearing was massive. Alex was closer to the size Grace herself was when she shifted.
But by his position, she was able to determine that the burly gray wolf standing right in front of him was Jonah. She had never seen her alpha in his wolf form before, and even through the haze of her terror, she couldn’t help admiring how muscular and commanding he looked. She couldn’t see how the others could possibly be courageous enough to stand up to him the way they were.
Then again, there were five of them.
The one at the front of the opposing group could only have been Aubrey’s alpha brother. Four slightly smaller wolves—still much bigger than Alex—ranged behind him. They looked as if they were trying to find the right moment to attack.
Grace’s heart hammered. She felt like she might drown in her own terror. Please don’t let them get hurt, she thought desperately. Please don’t let anything happen...
She was watching the alpha, assuming that the attack would come from him, and Jonah and Alex appeared to have made the same assumption, because when one of the betas leaped at Jonah, claws out, there was a tiny but vital second in which neither member of Grace’s pack seemed aware of what had happened.
The beta collided with Jonah and knocked him onto his back, rolling over him, claws slashing. Grace struggled to make out what was happening, to deconstruct the fight, but the only thing she could be certain of was a flash of bright red blood along the side of Jonah’s neck. She had to clap her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming.
Heather wrapped her arm around Grace’s waist and hung onto her tightly. “Quiet,” she breathed into Grace’s ear. “Quiet. Just wait.”
“They’re killing him.” It was a moan. It was too loud. Dangerously loud.
“He’s all right,” Heather said. “Just wait.”
Alex jumped into the fray, knocking the beta off of Jonah, but immediately the other three betas attacked him and pulled him off their brother. Alex let out a whine of pain as teeth sank into his shoulder and claws ripped his side.
Heather went limp in Grace’s arms. Grace looked down and realized that her new friend had passed out. It was all she could do to keep from dropping her into the fray below.
Carefully, she eased Heather into a sitting position on the tree branch upon which they stood and sat down beside her, propping her up. She had been debating whether or not to descend and try to interrupt the fighting, but there was no choice now. She had to stay where she was. If she let go of Heather, the girl would fall.
Terrified, she looked down.
The enemy alpha had now entered the fight. He had his teeth locked around Jonah’s throat, and Jonah was trying to throw him off with no success. A few yards away, Alex lay bleeding, struggling to regain his feet. Every time he started to rise, one of the three betas standing around him pushed him back down. He was alive, but he was badly injured, and he was completely defeated.
They're going to lose, Grace thought, awash in horror. The Prices are going to kill them for not claiming Aubrey. We should have run away when we had the chance.
Leaving only one beta to guard the defeated Alex, the others circled up around Jonah and began to swipe at him. One opened up a cut along his back. Another bit at his flank.
Grace had never felt more connected to the animal that dwelt within her. If she had been on the ground right now, it would have been no effort at all to shift into her wolf form and lash out at these monsters for hurting Jonah.
She focused as hard as she could on remaining human. She calmed her breathing. I can’t lose it, she told herself firmly. Heather needs me to keep it together.
Alex had resumed his human form and managed to sit up. Grace was glad that Heather wasn’t awake to see him. He was badly bloodied and looked on the verge of passing out.
“Ian,” he called, his voice weak.
The alpha stepped back from Jonah, allowing his betas to close in. He turned to face Alex. A moment later, a blond young man stood in the clearing, his eyes narrowed with dislike.
“You have something to say to me?” he asked.
“We don’t have to—” Alex drew in a shaky breath. “We don’t have to do this. It doesn’t have to be this way.”
“He disgraced our sister,” Ian said.
The betas surrounding Jonah snarled.
Jonah darted forward suddenly, testing a spot in their perimeter. The beta he had moved toward slashed him so viciously that he fell to the ground and struggled to rise, and Grace had to bite down on her lip to keep from crying out.
“Everyone will know what happened if he turns up dead,” Alex managed. “Everyone will know it was you.”
“Damn right,” Ian agreed. “Everyone will know what happens when you treat a member of the Price family the way this bastard did. Everyone will know that you don’t dishonor a Price.”
“You’ll be kicked out of school.”
Ian snorted. “You’re a child. Do you think that fucking matters? You know who my father is. You know what he can do. Do you think anyone’s going to care whether or not I have a diploma when I’m the alpha of the Price pack? We’re the most dominant pack in North America. We’ll take down anyone who opposes us.” He shook his head. “You’re deluding yourself if you think your alpha here is the first.”
Grace felt chilled. They’ve done this before. This wasn’t the first time the Price family had attacked someone to protect their reputation.
No wonder they could be so cold about it. No wonder they hadn’t hesitated.
And it made sense now, the fact that they had waited until all the teachers had gone away to make their move. They had known that they wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything with all those eyes on them, that they would be stopped. So they’d held off until they were able to act without being seen.
They had done everything right. And now they had Jonah at their mercy, and there was nothing he could do, and nothing Alex could do, to save the situation.
At that moment, Grace knew, she would have thrown herself from the tree if she could have. She would have jumped onto Ian’s shoulders and drawn the attention of the rest of the pack. She would happily have sacrificed her life if she could have saved Jonah by doing so.
But she couldn’t sacrifice Heather’s life.
Skye had been her only friend all these years. The only person who had stood by her side when she had felt as though everyone around her hated her. The only person she had trusted with her secrets.
Letting Skye’s sister fall now was out of the question. Grace simply wasn’t capable of that.
She tightened her grip on the unconscious girl beside her and buried her face in her shoulder, silent sobs shaking her body.
And then, suddenly, she heard a surprised yelp.
She looked down.
One of the betas who had been encircling Jonah was on the ground, panting, a knife
protruding from his shoulder. Grace looked around wildly. Where had that come from?
Then another man, one she didn’t know by sight, stepped through the trees and into view. He was short and scrawny, his face rather ratlike. “What’s going on here?” he asked.
Alex scrambled back against a tree. Grace’s heart sank. Anything that frightened Alex wasn’t good for her.
“Gabe,” Alex said.
“Looks like I missed the fight,” Gabe said, looking around.
“You’re in time for the finale,” Ian said. “You got a problem with this guy too?”
Gabe chuckled. “No,” he said. “Are you kidding? This guy’s a friend of mine.”
Alex made a small noise of disbelief.
Jonah, clearly taken aback, sat back on his haunches, no longer challenging the betas who stood around him.
“Yeah,” Gabe said casually. “I’m here to fight on his side, actually.” He looked around. “Looks like I already took out one of your pack. Jonah, how many are you good for? You can just bark out the number.”
“Listen, asshole—” Ian began.
“No, you listen,” Gabe said sharply. “I’m not about to let this turn into a scandal. Aubrey’s mine now—”
“Yours?”
“You were there at the goddamn ceremony,” Gabe said. “Didn’t you even pay attention to who claimed her after the dipshit passed her over? Or were you too blinded by having your expectations subverted to notice what was going on after that?”
“I don’t know who the fuck you think you are—”
“I think I’m Aubrey’s mate,” Gabe said. “Now, you can make a fuss and kill Jonah, and I’m sure you could take him—”
“Damn right I could take him!”
“But how’s that going to make Aubrey look? Right now, a few people know that she was hoping to be chosen by him and was disappointed. That sucks. Okay. But if her brothers slaughter an alpha right after the claiming ceremony, well, that’s part of history. People are going to remember that the top alpha in our class was murdered for choosing the wrong girl. People are going to talk for years about how Aubrey Price didn’t get claimed by the alpha she thought would want her.”
Grace’s breath caught in her throat. What Gabe was saying made sense. Was there a chance that Ian might listen?
“What’s it to you?” Ian asked. “Why do you care about any of that?”
“Because she’s my omega,” Gabe said. “Do you think I want people talking for generations about how my omega didn’t really want me, how she was hoping for another alpha?”
Ian appeared to consider it.
Then he sank into a crouch. “You shouldn’t have claimed her,” he said, baring his teeth. “She’s too good for anyone at this school. My father will find someone for her.”
Gabe glanced at Jonah. “I might be good for two,” he said quietly. “Maybe. You know I’m not as good a fighter as you are.”
Jonah inclined his head, and Grace thought she saw an understanding pass between them.
“Ian!” someone shrieked.
Aubrey came crashing into the clearing. The pure white dress she had worn for the claiming was dirty and torn, and her hair was in disarray.
“Stop it!” she cried, flinging herself in front of Gabe.
Ian stared at her. “Aubrey?”
“Don’t hurt him,” she begged.
“Aubrey, you can do better than this guy—”
“He wants me,” Aubrey said, and Grace saw that her old nemesis’ eyes were filled with tears. “That’s all that matters. He really cares about me.”
Ian looked as if he might tear a tree up by its roots.
He resumed his wolf form, turned, and ran off in the direction of Shifter U, his brothers following on his heels.
Aubrey allowed Gabe to lift her into his arms and carry her off into the woods. The two of them didn’t spare a glance at Jonah or Alex.
Only when they were gone did Grace finally permit herself to relax.
It’s going to be all right now.
Chapter Eighteen
JONAH
Jonah resumed his human form and scrambled across the dirt to where Alex lay. He was shaking, his hands hovering above his friend’s body, too frightened to touch him in case he made things worse.
“You hurt?” Alex asked him.
“Am I hurt?” Jonah said. “Jesus, Alex...”
“I’ll be all right,” Alex said.
“We need to get you back to campus,” Jonah said. “You need treatment, or you’re going to bleed out right here in the middle of the woods.”
Alex closed his eyes and chuckled. “Who would’ve thought...Gabe to the rescue.”
“Be quiet a minute. Let me think about what to do. We need help.”
A voice came from above. “Jonah?”
She sounded tearful, but he would have known that voice anywhere. He looked up, confused and worried. “Grace? Grace!”
“Up here,” she said. “We’re in the tree.”
“We?”
“Heather Morales is up here with me,” Grace said. “She’s unconscious. I don’t know how much longer I can hold her, Jonah.”
“Heather?” Alex struggled to get to his feet.
Jonah pressed a hand to his second’s shoulder, restraining him. “You stay down,” he said firmly. He got up and looked through the tree branches.
Sure enough, there was Grace, supporting another girl. She looked exhausted, as if she was moments away from tumbling out of the tree.
“What happened?” Jonah asked. “Is she hurt?”
“She passed out,” Grace said. “She was too upset by what was happening to Alex...Jonah, I’m scared I’m going to drop her.”
“Can you lower her down to me?” Jonah asked.
“I don’t know if I’m strong enough for that,” Grace said.
“Just try,” Jonah said. “Do the best you can. I promise to catch her, okay?”
Grace nodded. She carefully shifted Heather off the branch the two of them were perched upon.
She didn’t manage to hang on for very long. Heather’s fingers slipped through Grace’s, and Grace cried out as Heather crashed downward. Jonah planted himself beneath her and caught her against his chest.
“Heather!” Alex howled.
“She’s all right, I think.” Jonah dragged Heather over to Alex’s side, noting the way his second reached out and pulled her close. “You two are together, aren’t you?”
Alex nodded. “I meant to tell you,” he said. “I would have told you. We were going to ask you whether she could be a part of our pack. But you had enough to worry about with the claiming—”
“It’s all right,” Jonah said. “Of course she belongs with us if she’s your mate. But we can talk about that later.” He looked back up into the tree. “Grace, can you get down?”
“I think so.” She was already descending, and after a moment, she dropped at his feet. He held out a hand to her and helped her to stand.
“Are you hurt?” he asked her.
“No, I’m fine.” She was scanning his body, making a study of the places he’d been slashed. “You need to see a doctor.”
“No, I’m going to be fine,” he said. “I’m already healing up.”
“Jonah...”
“I’ll stop by the infirmary later tonight,” he said. “Right now, I want you to go and find someone who can help Alex and lead them back here. Can you do that?”
She hesitated. “I don’t want to leave you,” she admitted.
“I’ll be right here when you get back,” Jonah said. “I promise.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
He watched her disappear into the trees, then knelt beside Alex and Heather. “I told you I didn’t want you to fight,” he murmured, resting a hand on Alex’s forehead.
“Yeah, and I told you you would have to order me to stand down,” Alex said. “They would have killed you if I hadn’t been there and you know it. There were too many of the
m for you to fight on your own.”
Jonah nodded. There was no denying that. “You saved the pack. You paid for our future in blood. If there was any rank I could possibly promote you to, you’d be getting promoted right now.”
Alex closed his eyes and smiled. “Just make sure you tell the story to future generations,” he said. “I want to be a legend. I want my grandchildren to ask me if the tale of how Grandpa Alex saved the pack is a true one.”
“You can count on it,” Jonah said.
Beside them, Heather stirred and opened her eyes. “Alex,” she murmured.
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “It’s all right,” he said quietly. “Fight’s over. We’re all okay now.”
Grace came running back into view with two professors hot on her heels. The professors hurried to Alex’s side and helped him carefully to his feet, with Heather hovering anxiously beside them.
One of them looked over at Jonah. “Are you all right?” he asked.
“I’m fine.” Jonah was already tugging his clothes back on, concealing the injuries he had sustained. He would get them looked at later, but he wasn’t about to let Ian Price’s attack take him away from Grace and the mating ceremony.”
The professor nodded. “We’ll leave you alone, then,” he said. Together, the two professors, Alex, and Heather made their way out of the woods and back toward campus.
Grace wrapped her arms gingerly around Jonah. “I was so afraid,” she said, and he realized she was shaking. She had kept control the whole time she was in the tree. She had stayed strong long enough to go for help. Now she was finally starting to fall apart.
He wrapped his arms around her. “It’s all right,” he said quietly. “Everything’s fine.”
“Is Alex going to be okay? He looked so bad.”
“He’ll be fine,” Jonah said. “I’m not worried about him. He’s strong, and he heals well.”
She nodded. “Heather’s one of us now too, isn’t she?”
“Yes,” Jonah said. “She’ll be joining our pack too.” He kissed her forehead. “You saved her life today. No one will forget that. It’s a remarkable way to become part of a new pack.”
