by Holly Hook
But his dark spirits might warn him.
If I sense them, I'll retreat. The last thing we need is another loss.
After making the deal with myself, I enter the tree line. The land rises as soon as I enter, and I climb the mountain as the land gets steeper and steeper. Soon, trees scatter among frigid boulders and cracked snow. Towards the top, layers of snow rest, waiting for someone or something to open the cracks and send them downward to eat everything below. I can't let that happen.
But as I pause, I hear nothing shifting. And Brett's scent continues to grow.
“I've got you,” I say.
The mountain gets less and less friendly as I climb, but my strength allows me to keep going. I scale boulders and rocks. Some of them slip and tumble under my boots as I leave the trees behind, climbing higher into the winter sky. The stars peek overhead, promising a bitter night. I could shift and continue the climb. The cold won't get to me as much. At least I'd be more graceful than this.
No. I'd have to leave my clothes here. I won't transform unless I need to.
Brett's scent reaches a peak, and I hear his voice riding on the wind, cut off by howls and whispers.
“I....no choice. The tree...I'm sorry.”
Brett sounds terrified.
Pausing between two large boulders, and still with most of the mountain looming overhead with its silent snow and dancing silver clouds, I strain my ears. Brett's on the other side of the mountain.
I smell no one with him. No humans or Wolves. That means he's talking on the phone. The wind blows my hair back as it curves around the peak. Even if there were Wolves with him, they wouldn't smell me coming. I have an advantage.
And no shadows dance around the corners of my vision, threatening to strike.
A small game trail curves around the mountain. My vision brings it into focus as I follow. It's made of gravel and taken by brave human hikers during the summer, and ice has sneaked in between the gravel and settled there until late spring. Boulders shelter me. Most of the forest now spreads out below me and I can see the distant lights of town from here, buried within the lush pines. I don't come up here often as the mountain doesn't offer much shelter, but tonight, everything looks magical.
“I swear...no, please don't. ...hurting her. I know.”
Then I catch a whiff of something metallic. His fear. I can smell his terror.
A part of me is glad. Is he in trouble for the tree? For almost hurting me?
The Savage King wants me alive if Mr. Hayde was right.
I sense I should duck low. Brett must be a few hundred feet ahead. His voice and echo tells me he's tucked himself into a natural ring of boulders. He's crouching in gravel and hiding from the world. Still no shadows dance around him. He's let his guard down tonight or he forgot to protect himself. It's as if he's waiting for someone to approach.
A button beeps.
He's ended the call.
Now is my chance. I up my pace, curving around the mountain as the natural boulder ring comes into view. I can't see Brett from here, but I can hear him pacing around inside a space large enough for the high school band to perform.
He's about to get a lot more nervous.
“Brett...” I start as I close the final twenty feet between me and the boulder ring.
But then another scent hits me.
A wall of pure decay washes over me as I reach the outside of the ring. I freeze. There's something sharp in it, something that promises death to everything that gets in its way. I grab the boulder in front of me, ducking. A hole between this boulder and the next lets me peek into a space illuminated by just starlight.
Brett, clad in leather, paces around inside, kicking a circle in the gravel that makes up the small arena's floor. He hyperventilates as his terror smell leaks out of the hole and surrounds me, but it's nothing compared to the evil scent that grows stronger by the moment. It comes from somewhere down the mountain on the opposite side of town, close and distant at the same time. Sticks snap. A monster approaches from deep in the wilderness as if it's risen from a slumber of millennia.
I hold my breath.
I know what's coming, and it's too late to run.
A low growl fills the air. Ice spreads through my veins as massive claws rake the rocks on the other side of Brett.
“No,” he mutters, facing the threat. “I didn't mean to try hurting her. That's my promise. I only had to get her away from me so we can keep working on it.”
The Savage King is here.
Romulus, the ancient, immortal Savage Wolf that gave rise to the entire Savage species. The one who killed Remus, the first Noble Wolf. The one who wants to end the Nobles for good.
A loud squeal follows as the monster on the other side rakes his claws down the rock. Brett scrambles to the center and kneels, bowing his head. He waits. I smell his salty sweat. Even in his long leather coat and his sunglasses, he looks like a small child.
A massive paw, grayish-brown, grips the top of the boulder opposite me.
Brie, what's going on? I feel your terror. Cayden's thoughts burst into my head again.
Breathing out, I force my mind to close and clear. If Cayden senses this he'll come back. I should run. But I know if I do, this monster will hear me. He'll catch up with me. Even if I shift, I won't be fast enough to outrun something this powerful.
So my best chance is to sit and stay still, hoping Romulus doesn't see me. The wind blows in my favor.
Brett lets out a breath.
A second paw grips the boulder and with a low, terrifying growl beyond anything I've heard, the monster that is the Savage King crests the boulder.
Chapter Five
Romulus is something out of the most terrifying myths any culture could create. He looks more like a Norse monster on the cover of a black metal album than anything else. Romulus stands four or five feet high including ears and hackles. His eyes, maybe formerly human, glow with a faint red. His stench overtakes everything and I struggle to breathe. The air has become a pure evil.
“I did not hurt her,” Brett begs. “Don‘t punish me. The curse is maintained. I won't reverse it. You have my promise.”
Romulus's hackles turn to needles of fur. He peels his lips back to reveal two rows of sharp teeth long enough to shred other Wolves. How he knows about the falling tree, I can't guess. Well, I can, but the answer starts with J.
“I declared my loyalty to you, just as you ordered.” Brett faces the ground. He shakes in terror.
Romulus snorts as if he doesn't believe it.
“My sister and I are both loyal,” Brett begs.
Another snort. Romulus steps to Brett, who still kneels in the gravel and waits for death. The Savage King makes the ground vibrate as he walks. If he senses me, it's all over. I must stay so still I don't exist.
What if he can hear my heartbeat?
But if Brett dies, I'll never get the cure.
“We are both working for you now,” he continues, as if he senses the Savage King's skepticism. “I have taken the place of my father and even Matthew agrees that I'm loyal. He told you himself.”
Brett is trying to stay alive in the new order.
The presence of this monster would make anyone beg.
Romulus lifts one massive paw—the size of a dinner plate—and smashes it on Brett's back.
“No! We'll bring her to you.”
Romulus growls. Though I can't understand the Savages well—there's too much of a rift between us—I know what it means. Why isn't the alpha dead?
Brett doesn't answer.
Romulus pushes him down. Though he's crouching, Brett can't resist. His knees give out and he stretches his legs to keep from getting crushed. Brett lies on his stomach as Romulus shifts his weight, threatening to claw and crush. His huge claws make indents in the back of Brett's leather coat.
“I'll kill the alpha,” he says. “We just have to lure him back. He won't stay away for long. We've got her. I promise.”
Romulus
pauses and then growls again. The sound will haunt me forever. It's the sound of something lurking under the earth.
Then utter silence falls as the Savage King considers.
Then he moves his paw to Brett's left arm. The monster shifts his body weight and presses down.
“No!” Brett screams. The word echoes off the rocks.
Snap.
Brett seethes, trying to hold in the cry of pain. Then he whimpers like an injured puppy as Romulus removes his paw from his now-broken elbow. It lies at a strange angle. The message is clear.
I force a slow, quiet breath. The world spins. Brett‘s seething covers the sound. The Savage King backs away. With one final growl, he climbs the boulder in one bound, jumps down on the other side, and runs into the night, carrying his aura of death and decay.
Brett stays still as if waiting for another blow. Then he pushes himself up, looks around, and cradles his ruined elbow with one arm. His grimace almost makes me feel sorry for him. He has no medical aid out here.
I watch in silence as the stench fades. An owl dares to hoot somewhere behind me. Things died while the Savage King was here and now they dare to stir again.
Brett faces the dark beyond the rocks.
He‘s trapped.
“What have I done?”
I could approach him now. I could demand he fixes Cayden, but there's no hope of that. Not with the Savage King tracking him and ordering him around. He'll never come back to our side, even if he wanted to. And if he does, he'll kill Cayden. Brett will find a sneaky way to end his life.
And if the Savage King has his sister...
Brett would die for her.
“Shit,” Brett mutters, cradling his elbow. I smell more adrenaline and another scent, an almost spicy one that marks inflammation. He's not bleeding, but he doesn't have to do that to be in danger. He turns his gaze to the ground. “Karina. Do nothing stupid, please. Don't run.”
Brett, still cradling his arm, climbs over another rock and stalks off into the night.
* * * * *
Every instinct tells me to run back to the Lowe residence as soon as possible, so I do. The thought of that monster being out there, even within twenty miles, sends a primal terror through my veins.
The wind and Brett's cries of pain were the only things that saved me. I was lucky. Brett hadn't been using magic at that moment. Maybe the Savage King forbids it when he's around. He might not want his warlocks to threaten him.
Either way, I can't hang around with even the tiniest possibility of that monster coming back. What I saw was more than just a Wolf, or even a Savage Wolf. It was the embodiment death and cruelty and pain. The wind pushes me toward town and I reach the bottom of the mountain just in time for a new, horrifying thought to hit me.
The Savage King came right into our territory.
And not just to the edge, either: he came miles into our lands.
I up my pace through the trees and emerge onto the street. There, I break into a full run, faster than a normal human. I don't dare look back, even though the wind continues to blow from the Savage King‘s direction, I smell no trace of him. That he came and left so fast and undetected increases the horror.
Maybe I should get to Leonora first. I can ask her if she's heard anything from Cayden he hasn't told me. We can't just text right now. Calling him has to come before anything else.
But what can I tell him? That he can sense any danger I'm in from hundreds of miles away? Maybe I can make him think he's just worrying. While I hate that he's so far away, I hate the thought of him dying even more. I might not have admitted it at the bus station, but he was right to do what he did.
And seeing the Savage King just reinforced that.
Considering the Lowes, I shake my head once I reach the corner of the side street and Main. Then I turn towards Leonora's cabin and bolt in that direction. After seeing the monster for real, I don't want to venture into the woods, knowing he could show up at any moment.
We're violated.
The Savage King violated our territory without breaking a sweat, a feat that would make most werewolves balk.
So when I reach Leonora's drive, I stick to the drive and bolt up it as fast as I can. Romulus could still be in the area for all I know, and I won't scent him until it's too late. Far too late. I can only guess what plans he has for me.
And that's if Mr. Hayde was right.
“Leonora!” I shout, banging on the front door. “I need your phone yesterday!”
I hear and smell the Russells inside the cabin. They've just finished a dinner of venison and potatoes, all wild and gamey. The area smells of stirred dirt though I detect no bodies. I chuckle to myself. What a thought.
Leonora opens the door. “Cayden is okay,” she says before she even cracks it all the way. “He sent me a message a few minutes ago. Text, right?” She turns her freckles down and frowns.
“Yeah. Text. That's what it's called,” I say, nodding and motioning to the inside of her house.
“I knew you'd come here,” she says with a forced grin.
“Why didn't you warn me Cayden was leaving?” I ask. I know why but I'm still angry. Leonora and I are supposed to be friends.
Leonora pales. She's tense and now gives off faint adrenaline. “He made me swear to keep it quiet until after he left. I didn't want to do this to you or the pack. But my parents...they suggested I keep my mouth shut.”
“Oh. But I'm not here to talk about that.” I don't want to argue, not in the light of what happened. “I need your phone. And Cayden. Right now. Something happened and I have to make sure he doesn‘t rush back yet.”
Leonora stuffs her hand in her pocket—her jeans pocket—and pulls out her new phone. “If you can figure out how to use it.”
“Leonora?” her father asks, walking into the room from the kitchen. He's holding an old plate and finishing his dinner. Mr. Russell smiles at me, which is a big improvement considering the revelation he gave us two weeks ago. He and his wife alerted the Savage Wolves my father was still alive by mistake.
“Hey.” I don't want him to feel like he's at fault, because I've done worse. How can I judge? “I need Leonora's phone.”
“Why can't you call Cayden?” she asks me.
“I want him to feel comfortable, knowing we‘re hanging around each other,” I say. “He'll believe that if I'm calling from your phone. He can‘t come back right now.” It's my shot to convince Cayden everything's fine.
Without him, I have to decide how to deal with the Savage King.
“Good point,” Leonora says. “Here you go. And good luck.”
Poor Leonora doesn't know how to use a phone. But I take it and find Cayden's text. Then I click on his name and pull up his number.
The phone rings three times before he picks up. “Do you have news to report?”
“Cayden,” I say. “Yes. I do. I heard your voice in my head a little while ago. And earlier, when the tree fell. What was that about?” I'm so glad to hear his voice that my words slip out without effort. But I still need to keep up the act. Cayden has amazing hearing. He can detect a lot in my words even if I'm using every acting skill I can think of.
“Why are you using Leonora's phone?"
“We were playing a board game," I lie. I hate myself right away. But we have to keep Cayden safe because it‘s the only thing keeping the pack--and the Nobles--together. Not an easy decision, but a necessary one.
“Oh, good.”
“I still heard your voice in my head.” If I focus, I can feel Cayden‘s touch on my skin. Our connection warms my body. I almost feel like he‘s right here.
“Well, I was in my hotel room, just flopping down on the bed, and I had this feeling of dread. Like you were in danger.”
I have to lie again. “You might just be worried because you‘re away from the pack. I‘ve never been alpha, but I know it has to be hard.”
“You have no idea.” Cayden‘s feet shuffle. I hear shoes scraping worn carpet. A TV pla
ys in the distance, maybe in an adjacent room. “Maybe we shouldn‘t talk like this too much while I'm gone. Hearing your voice makes me feel like you‘re right here, Brie. But it also makes me want to shift and run right back home. But I can‘t do that. Did you know I had another pain attack on the bus?”
“On the bus? Why?” My heart sinks.
“I was trying to protect you by leaving. It wasn‘t a big one and you might not have sensed it, but the driver had to ask if I was okay. That tells me I did the right thing by leaving.”
“Maybe. Cayden, make sure you don‘t come back. Not yet, anyway.” The words should sound as if I'm pushing them out, but they‘re strong. Certain. I'm not letting enough pain slip through.
“You sound sure about that. I'll try, but you keep calling to me. I felt that first round of dread when the tree fell. Are you hiding something?”
“Cayden,” I say. “No. I‘m not. But I think you‘re right that I‘m safe so long as you live. Listen right now. Before you hang up--”
“Before I hang up," he repeats. “Hurry. Or I'll run out of this hotel room right now.”
My body trembles. If I tell Cayden about the Savage King, he will come back. He‘s too dedicated not to. And then he dies. I have to handle this on my own. “I love you, Cayden,” I say. “Even if you're somewhere halfway across the country, I love you. And I don't want you to hurt yourself. Just stay where you are, okay? I'll be strong. We both know I can be.”
“I love you too, Brie.”
"I hope we can be together again soon." My throat tightens.
I end the call. Tears try to gather in my eyes, but I hold them back. There is no room for emotion here. Right now I'm in charge. But I feel like I have no protection, even if the Savage King can't take me as a mate while Cayden still lives.
He came into our territory.
He's watching and waiting, with Brett and probably Jansen as his eyes.
“That was it?” Leonora asks.
I face her. “Don't tell Cayden the truth or he'll come back. He already suspects things are wrong. I saw the Savage King.”
Her jaw drops.
