by Ellen Lane
“Ah, this must be Georgia.” Solomon watched, somehow apart from himself, as two Dozier wolves snatched her struggling form from the porch. “Tell me, Hunter, is this your wife?”
“Vincent!?” Georgia stopped struggling long enough to stare, shocked, at the captive Hunter. “How did you get here?”
“You know him.” The words left Solomon before he could stop them - in a tone he barely recognized as his own. Georgia’s gray gaze jerked to his, terrified. “Your husband.”
“Solomon, no.” She was shaking her head but he could see the lie in her eyes, hear it in her voice. “He’s not my husband, we’ve been apart for years-”
“Deceitful little things, humans.” Ephraim clucked his tongue. “No doubt they were working together to infiltrate your settlement.”
Every additional word chipped away at Solomon’s heart.
“You fucking liar!” Georgia’s screams echoed through the trees. “I would never hurt him!”
“Oh, my dear,” Solomon approached her to tilt her chin up and examine her tear-streaked face triumphantly. “You already have.” When he turned from her, Georgia sagged against her captors, her body wracked with sobs. “Don’t you see, my friends?” Ephraim turned back to the crowd to address them formally. “I have come to lead you down the path to salvation. Our journey may have been rocky, but you now have the chance to be forgiven!
Your Alpha is a half-blood traitor that might have brought ruin to you all. Join my pack - make the blood bond - and I will allow you to retain your territory. Swear loyalty to me, and I will grant you your lives.” His expression hardened. “Refuse, and you will meet your end swiftly.”
However they meant to kill him; it could be no worse than the pain Solomon felt.
“I won’t.” All at once, Hunter’s voice rang out defiantly. Solomon’s head jerked up in horror to see his brother fighting against the wolves that held him. “I could give two shits what blood runs through his veins. Solomon will always be my Alpha.”
Solomon’s heart broke.
“No, Hunter.”
At his words, his brother looked to him in horror.
“Solomon, what-”
“Pledge to him.” The Alpha’s words booked no argument. “I won’t let you die without cause.”
“Solomon!” This time it was Tempest who pleaded with him. “You can’t be serious. Ephraim has Belleview blood on his hands!”
“And I might have too!” The words tore from him as his chest heaved. “I brought a human woman here carelessly and a Hunter came behind her. I’ve endangered my pack again and again.” His gaze hardened in determination. “No more killing. Not for me.”
He wouldn’t have it. How many had he already lost to violence? At least if they surrendered, Ephraim would spare them - the pups and those who had yet to truly live.
“Your selflessness is touching, Solomon.” Ephraim chuckled softly. “I’m sure your pack will remember your final sacrifice fondly, if nothing else.” Around him, the six wolves that comprised his guard began to change - and Solomon faced his death.
At least until an arrow found its way through Ephraim Dozier’s throat.
All hell broke loose.
With a wild cry, Hunter broke free of the wolves that held him and shifter a split second before leaping on his attackers. While Ephraim’s guard was shocked by the blood that spurted from their leader’s throat, Natalia leaped on the closest Dozier wolf and, following her lead, several Belleview females followed suit.
As the settlement turned into a whirlwind of fur and blood, all Solomon could think was how easily he’d been duped - how a human had broken through his shell and very nearly destroyed his pack as surely as Ephraim would -
“Get down you fucking idiot.” Within moments he sprawled across the forest floor, driven down by the weight of another male atop him. With Solomon instinctively rose, unsheathing wicked claws, he was shocked to see Titus astride him, the dark-haired male’s face livid with fury. “What the fuck was that?” He turned to take a Dozier wolf by the tail and drag him backwards so that Tempest could tear at his throat. “Now’s not the time to be selfless, Solomon! Don’t fucking let Ephraim manipulate you!”
The words - along with the frenzy of violence that surrounded them - snapped Solomon from his trance. “What the hell have you done!?”
“Saved your ass!” This time, it was Duke that spoke from where he tangled with the still human forms of two Dozier wolves. Of course it helped that he’d brought a crossbow to the party. “Ephraim will fucking kill half of the survivors anyway to make a point! Including your precious human!”
Solomon snarled at the very suggestion. Georgia had just ripped his heart out through his chest, but he couldn’t help but look for her among the fray. “We’ll get her, Solomon, just go!” Titus shouted. “Get after Ephraim!”
Solomon forced himself to his feet.
It was true - in the face of an actual battle, the Dozier wolves didn’t stand a chance. The pups had already been secured and Natalia was busy savaging those who had dared to threaten her brood. Around him, his pack fought for what he hadn’t - and Solomon realized what a grave error he’d made.
For all he’d blustered and boasted, Ephraim fled. He and those closest to him raced for the gates, and, moments after one of the fastest shifts of his life, Solomon pursued them. He might have faced six wolves or a hundred - at that moment, the odds were against Ephraim Dozier.
**
It was a nightmare.
When Georgia was first dragged from the porch, she thought she must be dreaming. She could have witnessed the horrors she did while awake. Hunter bound against a tree, the Elders all forced to their knees and blooded, helpless children surrounded by wolves intent on snapping their necks…
And in the middle of it all?
Solomon, her Solomon.
But she barely had the chance to call his name before Ephraim’s thugs had taken her. Just when she thought the nightmare couldn’t get any worse, Vincent was dragged onto the scene. Sure, it had taken four wolves to pin him down, but just the sight of his struggling form was enough to shock her into stillness.
She never thought he’d come this far for her - and beyond that, she’d never imagined someone as savage as Ephraim Dozier might have played the card he did.
When he exposed her secret, the hurt in Solomon’s eyes threatened to undo her. But what could she say to make him believe her? What could she do? She’d kept the truth from him, knowing what he was.
And unknowingly brought a Hunter into their midst.
Her world was ending.
Georgia didn’t know which pain was greater - the one that threatened to consume her, or knowing that Ephraim Dozier had won the fight. She had no idea what he’d do with her, but she knew she couldn’t watch them kill the man she loved.
She’d rather die.
When Duke’s arrow landed, she was almost too wrapped in her misery to notice. Ephraim’s howl of pain, however, broke through to her - as did the yelp of the wolf Tempest tore at beside her.
Turning, Georgia shoved at her second captor, gasping when his claws raked the air inches from her face. When his grip on her arm refused to break, she screamed.
And Titus was there.
If she thought Solomon was savage in a fight, Titus was a veritable God of war. He all but ripped her assailants arm clean off, freeing both her and the bloody appendage. When Georgia toppled backward, hastily dashing coppery splatter from her face, she almost collided with Hunter and Lucas, who were busy cowing the wolves that had beat the Elders.
Georgia ran away as fast as she could on her injured leg, hoping she could reach the safety of a cabin before she lost a limb of her own.
And Solomon...Christ, where was he? Ephraim was injured, but was an arrow through the throat enough to take down a Shifter? And how could Solomon possibly face six wolves alone, even if Ephraim was dead?
Even as she reached the steps of the nearest cabin, Georgia could hardl
y think straight. She dragged herself up the stairs before standing unsteadily. As she reached for the door, however, an arm around her middle yanked her backward savagely.
She screamed, turning to pummel her attacker - only to moan in horror as he caught her hands easily in his.
Even bloodied and injured, Vincent was a terrifying sight to behold. “I’ve got you, my darling.”
**
From the moment he began to hunt him, Ephraim Dozier didn’t stand a chance.
Solomon streaked from the settlement in a dark blur, hot on the heels of the fleeing wolves. Whatever loyalty they had to Ephraim would soon be tested, as Solomon had no intention of leaving a single one of them alive.
The moment they were among the trees, they scattered, attempting to flank him.
Solomon caught the first one by the throat when he lunged, ripping fiercely until blood gushed against his fur. He snapped the perpetrators neck in an instant, and when two more wolves came for him, pure adrenaline fueled his attack.
One of them caught him by the nape of the neck, and Solomon whipped around, using his body weight to crush the smaller wolf against the unyielding trunk of a nearby pine. Once he was down, he dispatched his enemy with a single bite, puncturing his skull.
When the third turned tail and ran, Solomon chased him until they ran along the edge of the mountain, a hundred-foot drop looming beside them. It was here that another wolf caught up with them and, together, they attempted to edge Solomon off the incline.
They should have known better.
Within short order, Solomon sent them tumbling to their deaths. He barely to a moment to breathe before darting back into the forest.
It took him less than a minute to pick up Ephraim’s scent. He still had two more wolves with him, but the sight of Solomon, bloody and snarling was enough to intimidate them both. They fought only to save their lives, making them sloppy and reckless.
They were dead within seconds.
Ephraim was faster than his brethren, but that only prolonged the inevitable. By the time Solomon caught up with him, his limbs were shaking from exhaustion, blood dribbling from his fangs.
He was finally alone.
The two wolves stared one another down, eyes gleaming in through the shadowy forest - and then Ephraim leaped.
Solomon couldn’t recall the last time he’d fought in such a blind rage. Ephraim tore at him, slashing his muzzle and going for his throat like a thing possessed, but Solomon refused to let him get the upper hand. This time, Ephraim would not walk away.
He would answer for his crimes.
When Solomons immense paws crushed the smaller wolf’s chest, caving it in brutally, Ephraim’s animalistic howl turned to a very human scream of pain. The grievous injury triggered his shift back to his weaker form, and, within moments, he lied beneath Solomon, hatred bright in his eyes.
“Half-breed.” Even moments from death, he refused to be cowed. “Traitor.”
Solomon’s jaws closed around his face, silencing him forever.
He didn’t feel his wounds until he was halfway back to the settlement, and even then, all Solomon could think about was returning to Georgia. He’s lost sight of her in the fray, and despite the truth she’d hidden from him, he needed to know if she was alright.
If something had happened to her…
He increased his pace, loping through the trees until he reached the still open gate.
Within, the Belleviews were celebrating.
It seemed that once the tides had turned, there were relatively few casualties. Solomon saw some of the Doziers confined, but very few of them had been killed outright. Even despite their losses, it heartened him to know his people weren’t as savage as most humans believed.
If they even were his people anymore.
When Solomon appeared, the pack grew silent. Many of them shifted back from their wolf forms to watch him make his way across the immense clearing towards his cabin.
They had every right to cast him out. Solomon had known he couldn’t keep his heritage a secret forever - he only wished he had been the one to tell his people, rather than an Alpha that only meant to turn them against one another.
When he could bear the silence no more, Solomon let the change take him. Within moments, he stood before his pack, head held high, awaiting their judgment.
“Is it true?” Lucas was the first to speak, his tone disbelieving.
Before Solomon could answer him, however, Hunter’s voice rang out over the crowd. “Yeah, it’s true - so what? Who the hell cares who his mother was?” He shoved his way to the front of the pack to take his place by Solomon’s side.
“She was Hunter!” A female tone trembled with anger. “She killed our kind!”
“The boy’s mother never took a life.” To Solomon’s surprise, his grandfather spoke. The old man’s voice was husky, his jaw still sore where it had been pushed back into place. Hobbling forward, he leaned on Tempest’s shoulder for balance. “She met my son before her family called upon her to make her first kill. When the bond took her, she couldn’t touch a wolf in hatred.” His expression sobered. “Her own family refused to accept her decision. They killed one of her own rather than bring her shifter child into their fold.”
“A Hunter gave birth to a shifter!?”
“Impossible!”
Thomas silenced the murmurs with a loud cough. “The bond works in mysterious ways...as I’m sure our Alpha is still learning.”
Solomon swallowed past the emotion in his throat. None of the Elders spoke against Thomas. Though his uncles looked thunderous, they made no move to depose him. “You...honor me. You always have.”
“Honor my ass.” Hunter rolled his eyes. “No one wants to run this show but you, Solomon. You’re stuck with us.”
Tempest beamed at him and Solomon’s heart filled. How could he ever have doubted them? Even if Georgia hadn’t been truthful with him, he still had the devotion of his pack…
Georgia.
Suddenly frantic, he searched for Duke and Titus among the crowd. When he turned to Hunter, his brother’s expression had sobered. “The Hunter...he escaped. I think he took Georgia with him. Titus and Duke went after him, but they might have been waylaid-”
Solomon was gone before he finished speaking.
His grandfather was right, the bond was a dangerous thing. Georgia had lied to him - he was no longer sure what her intentions were. Still, he couldn’t rest if he knew she might be in danger. Whatever drove him was powerful - irrational and dangerous.
It could only be the bond.
Chapter 16
Georgia struggled all the way back to Dockery.
Of course, with Vincent’s inhuman strength, they made pretty good time. Georgia thrashed enough to give a normal man whiplash, but Vincent barely flinched, despite the wounds that covered his body.
The triumph that radiated from him sickened her. Before, Georgia had always believed she was safe - a single call to the sheriff and the restraining order would be enforced. Now, she realized how foolish she’d been. Vincent was never going to give her up.
His truck was parked at the edge of the jogging trail she had abandoned when she was chased - but instead of putting her in the passenger seat, Vincent shoved her in the covered bed, locking her inside.
Georgia screamed.
She beat her fists against the metal and struggled and cried - not only out of fear, but in despair at what she had lost. Solomon hated her - if he was even still alive. She had been dragged back into a hell she thought she had escaped.
She had never meant to hurt Solomon. Given time, she might have told him in her own way. Once everything was said and done, she doubted there were many secrets she could have kept from him.
This was her punishment.
Georgia spent the past few years of her life running from her past - and now it had caught up with her.
If only she’d never met Solomon - if it hadn’t showed her what being with a man could be like. If
he hadn’t triggered in her a bond she should have been incapable of feeling. If he hadn’t taught her how it felt to be truly alive…
Vincent was always one for emotional impact. When he dragged Georgia from the bed of the truck, the sight of the house he’d imprisoned her in for the duration of their marriage loomed, and she moaned in terror.
“You’re home, love.” Vincent unlocked the door one-handed, shoving his way inside. “Where you belong.”
When he sat Georgia in a nearby dining chair, she immediately sprang to her feet in an attempt to bolt.
Vincent slapped her hard enough to bloody her lip. While she was stunned, he bound her wrists to the arms of the chair with zip-ties pulled tight enough to cut off her circulation. Her groan of pain rose to an outraged scream as she forced herself to refocus, glaring at him.
“Now, now. Don’t look at me like that. You know I never wanted you to leave.”
“Fuck you.” Georgia was long past caring if he hurt her. There were worse things.
“Now, honey, you’re going to have to be a little more cordial.” Vincent knelt before her, taking hold of her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “Remember, your sister still has some life in her. We can always bring her out to play.”
Georgia’s heart dropped into her stomach. Everly.
Her snarl was just as fierce as Solomon’s. “If you touch her, I’ll fucking kill you.”
“Sweetheart. Looks like those Shifter manners rubbed off on you! No worries.” Vincent looked positively gleeful as he strode across the dining room to a locked cabinet Georgia remembered all too well.
She couldn’t help the sob of fear that escaped her.
“Now that’s what I like to hear, darling.”
He took his time choosing his weapon. Of course, Vincent never hurt her enough to leave any lasting marks, but that was hardly Georgia’s concern while he was doing it.
She forced herself to take deep breaths and mentally prepare for what was coming. She could hardly believe that less than twenty-four hours ago, she’d hoped for a new life. For something that could never be.
