by J. L. Wilder
But the pack was relentless, and there were enough of them to cover enough ground that she began to feel as though she might never get away.
Echo kept on, putting as much distance between her and them as she could, the woods turning into a blur of green and brown all around her. She began to run so fast that she could barely see where she was or keep track of the direction that she was headed.
I'm losing them, she thought, looking and around and not seeing any sign of the bears.
But she kept on, and right at the moment she was about to allow herself to feel relief, the bears burst from the woods on both sides of her. She let out a yelp of panic and kept on, running faster than she ever had in her life.
She began to feel hopeless, like there was no getting away from them.
But she ran, so fast that she hardly noticed the cliff face over the water until she ran over the edge and went tumbling down into the lake below.
CHAPTER 28
ECHO
The first thing Echo noticed upon waking up was her throbbing headache.
The second was that she was tied down.
She looked all around, her eyes bleary as she tried to process her surroundings.
Echo realized she was in the living room of an enormous house, one situated on a peak that looked out over the woods and far into the distance. The décor was of light brown wood, chairs and couches and bookshelves that seemed hand carved. The ceilings were tall and vaulted, and a large fire roared in the fireplace. It appeared to her like some rich person's rustic retreat.
But she decided she wasn't there to take in the scenery. She struggled right away against her restraints, trying to rip through them, to no avail—they were made of some kind of steel, one there'd be no chance of her breaking in her human form.
"Boss!" shouted a man from behind her. "She's up!"
She heard the sounds of running footfalls on the floor that faded into the distance. Moments later, the familiar banging of Stone's heavy boots on the wooden floor drew closer and closer by the second.
Echo was gripped with fear, her blood like ice water in her veins.
He was there. She could feel it.
"Is my girl awake?" he asked. "Boy, I sure hope she is."
Sure enough, Stone strode in front of her, a bottle of whiskey in his hands.
"Damn," he said. "Only girl I know who could take a tumble off a cliff and still look good enough to eat."
"Fuck you," she hissed.
His eyebrows rose.
"And still got the attitude to match," said Stone. "Damn, you haven't lost a step."
"Where's Jack?" she asked, panic gripping her as she remembered what had happened before she'd run off.
"Who?" he asked, confused. "Oh, you mean that little prick who tried to step up to me? You don't need to spend another second thinking about his sorry ass, if you know what I mean."
Echo slumped over in her seat, the news hitting her like a truck. Jack had died so that she could get away, and he'd failed. There she was, in the custody of the last man she wanted to see.
"But don't you worry about all that," said Stone as he yanked the top off the bottle and tossed it aside. "We've got bigger fish to fry."
Hot tears formed in Echo's eyes.
"You...you fucking prick," she said. "You'll pay for this."
He let out a snort of a laugh.
"Not going to happen," he said. "The only thing that's paying for me is this little campaign I've been waging with my personal army."
He gestured to the surroundings, the handful of guards in the room staying still as statues.
"You like the place?" he asked. "It belonged to some clan, the uh, Blood Stones, or the Stone Ravens—some shit like that. Anyway, they're not around anymore. Well, they kind of are if you consider being piled up in a bloody heap in the back yard to be ‘around'."
"What?" she asked.
"That little war you and your boys had been planning?" he asked. "I decided to get it started a little early. Right now, my army's making its way across the region, stomping out those sorry ass little clans you guys managed to get on your side."
Echo said nothing, fear running through her.
"What?" he asked. "Did you really think I was going to sit around and wait for you to attack? What the hell kind of strategy would that be?"
"How did you know?" asked Echo.
"Because I'm not an idiot," he said. "When one of my men turned up dead during the first search for you, I figured you had some help. So, I did a little asking around, found out about those guys you'd be shacking up with. And then when I saw that you were in Montreal with one of them...that was all I needed to know."
He took a swig from his bottle, letting out a long, satisfied "ahh" after it went down the hatch.
"If anything, this all worked out for the best. I'm finally able to start the war for conquest that I've been dreaming of, and my prize would be getting you back."
He held his hands out, the thumb and forefinger of one of them wrapped around the whiskey bottle.
"And look at this!" he said. "I've got you back. It's like a little early present."
He stepped closer, until he was only a few inches away from Echo.
"And man, I can't wait to finally do what I've been waiting for since the fire told me that you were mine."
His breath stank of whiskey, and his eyes moved slowly up and down Echo's body as he dragged the back of his hand over her cheek.
"Hell, I don't even care all that much that you've been passed around like a cheap whore between those three guys for the last month. I mean, don't get me wrong—I'm gonna slowly torture those pricks to death no matter what. But just knowing that I've got you and that womb of yours back...it's enough to put a big smile on a bear's face, you know?"
"I'll never give myself to you," said Echo. "Not on your life."
He dropped back onto one of the couches, his arms spanning over the top.
"You remember that little conversation we had the night of the ceremony?" he asked. "About how it doesn't fucking matter what you want, about how I'm the alpha and what I say goes?"
Echo said nothing, her expression hard.
"Well, that's what's going to happen. Once this war's over and I've got this region under my control, the next phase in the plan's going to be putting out as much of my progeny as I can. Which means that you can kiss whatever freedom you've gotten used to goodbye—I'm gonna keep you pumping out babies until that womb of yours looks like a deflated balloon."
He thoughts turned to the babies already inside of her. And as if able to read her mind, a smile spread on Stone's lips.
"And we did a little more research," he said. "Found out what you found out when you went to town. Took a little torturing, but I learned. Maybe I should be saying ‘congratulations!' You're fucking pregnant!"
Echo kept her mouth shut, doing her best to not let the fear she felt on the inside show on the outside.
But a tear trickled down her face in spite of herself.
"Aw," he said. "Poor baby, worried about her kids. Well, lucky for you I haven't figured out to do with those little fucks. I could always send you back to town, make that doctor we put through the wringer do a little ‘reverse-the-pregnancy' procedure."
"No," said Echo, feeling weaker and more helpless than she ever had.
"Or...," he said, tilting his head to the side as if considering his options. "I could keep those men of yours alive, let you have the kids, and kill them right in front of them before I finish the job—let their last moments alive be seeing their kid's dead bodies before I slice their throats open."
He went on.
"Then again, I could let you have the kids, never let you see them, and make them soldiers in my army. I'd never let them know who their fathers and mother was and keep them as far away from you as possible. Might be a nice little ‘fuck you' to those pricks to leave this earth knowing that their kids will be nice, obedient little soldiers in my army."
He clasped his hands together like a kid trying to figure out which of his toys he wanted to play with first.
"So many exciting options," he said. "But I can worry about all that later. Right now, my army's on the move, and we're ready to crush your shitty little alliance. And I'm going to give you a front-row seat to watch it all happen."
He stood up and slowly made his way to Echo.
"So," he said. "The only question to ask is—are you ready?"
CHAPTER 29
CUTTER
Jack looked bad—beat to shit. He couldn't believe that he was still standing. The two of them were in his bedroom at the estate, Jack sprawled out on the bed like he'd just fallen from the sky. It'd been pure luck that Jack had managed to make the trek back to the estate without passing out.
"Tell me again what happened," said Cutter. "I don't want to miss a single detail."
"Just what I said," said Jack. "They have her."
"But how did it happen?" asked Cutter.
"They stopped us on the road," he said. "Fuckers must've been watching, waiting. Echo took off into the woods and the rest of the pack followed. Then it was just me and Stone. It was all I could think to do to give her the chance to get the fuck away."
"You made the right call," said Cutter.
Jack coughed.
"Didn't do her a damn bit of good, though," he said. "If she'd have gotten away, she'd be here by now."
"No sense in worrying about that now," said Cutter. "But you fought with Stone?"
"Yeah," said Jack. "He's a tough motherfucker—could barely go toe-to-toe with him. But I got in some good hits, enough to get him to back off when one of his men showed up and said that Echo fell off that cliff."
Cutter's stomach tensed. He knew that Echo falling could very well mean her death. But he vowed to keep hope alive.
"Got distracted by the news," Jack said, "And Stone played dirty—slashed me when I wasn't looking and ran off. Guess he figured that I'd bleed out in the dirt. Fucker wrecked my car, too. Prick."
"Didn't count on what a tough motherfucker you'd be," said Cutter.
Jack allowed himself a smile.
"Still," he said. "Came close to getting my ass handed to me right then and there."
Cutter looked him over.
"You think you need more time to recover?" he asked. "Because shit's getting bad out there."
"Not a chance I'm sitting this one out," said Jack. "If you think I'm gonna be in bed like some kid while you and Mace fight the battle to end all fucking battles..."
He sat up, a pained expression on his face as he did.
"Fucking hell," he said. "Goddamn ribs."
"Lay back down if you need to," said Cutter. "No sense in making yourself worse."
"No," he said. "I'm fine."
He sat up further, this time with more ease.
Behind them a pair of footsteps sounded out.
"There he is," said Mace as he strode back into the room and to Jack's side, pulling him into a tight hug.
"Whoa!" shouted Jack. "Fucking ease up! I did just get my ass beat, you know."
"Just good to see you in one piece," said Mace.
Cutter wanted to get right to it.
"What happened?" he asked. "What's the story with the clans?"
"Stone's on the move," he said. "Already took out a few clans on his way through. But our people are ready, even got a few of the Montreal shifter clans on our side. Everyone's on the move, and they'll be gathered here by the time the evening's on."
"Shit," said Cutter. "It's really happening."
"Yeah," said Jack. "If we get the clans here then we'll be able to meet the Hearteaters and their allies in time. We can take advantage of the estate's height and have the high ground."
"It's going to be brutal," said Mace. "No matter what."
"It doesn't have to be, though," said Cutter.
"What are you talking about?" asked Jack.
Right at that moment, Marx entered the room.
"Sorry to interrupt," he said. "But the Saw Tooth clan is ready and waiting. Just showed up and eager to get this shit going."
"Marx," said Cutter. "How do you feel so far leading the clan in my place?"
"It's hard as hell," he said. "But I'm an alpha—it's in my blood, I suppose. Why?"
"How do you feel about...leading all the clans?"
He looked confused as hell.
"What? What do you mean?"
"Yeah," said Mace. "What the hell do you mean?"
"Stone's the leader of their army, right?" he asked.
"Yeah," said Jack. "Fucker's like a warlord out there."
"And if he were to get taken out, then that might mean the entire army would fall to pieces."
"Sure," said Marx. "No army can exist without a general."
"At the very least," said Jack. "It'd make them confused enough to beat."
"Get to it, Cut," said Mace. "Tell us what you're thinking."
"What I'm thinking is that the three of us do a little wet works mission. Marx here leads the army, while we sneak behind enemy lines. We find the Hearteater clan, and once we find them, we find Stone. And once we find Stone..."
"We take him out," said Mace, nodding his head. "It's fucking crazy as hell, but it could work."
"Are you serious?" asked Jack. "You want to try and sneak around his army and into his camp? And take him on?"
"Yeah," said Cutter. "I do. And get Echo back in the process."
Cutter felt a pulse of rage running through him at the idea of Echo being held hostage.
Especially after the news Jack had shared, that single word that had come out of his mouth when he stumbled onto the porch, battered and bruised.
"Pregnant."
"Think about it," said Cutter. "We fight, we battle it out, and hundreds of shifters die. But if we can kill Stone and pull the heart out of their army..."
"We could put a stop to the bloodshed," said Marx. "It could work."
"That is," said Cutter. "Assuming you can move."
Jack winced as he heaved himself out of bed. With a little doing, the man was on his feet and ready to go.
"It's fucking insane, but shit, insane's what I live for."
Mace nodded.
"Let's do it."
CHAPTER 30
MACE
"Holy fucking shit," said Mace. "It's really happening."
The four men stood on the balcony of the estate; their army was gathered before them. Hundreds of shifters, all ready to fight on their command. The setting sun cast the forces in a golden glow, like they were from some other planet. The forest stretched out behind them into infinity.
And in the distance, down the sharp drop-off just past the grounds of the estate, were Stone's men. The forces were as large as the men's army, hundreds of fighters ready to shift and kill.
"What do you think, Marx?" asked Mace, clapping his hand down on his shoulder. "Feel like being a general?"
He swallowed, and for a moment fear seemed to take hold. Mace was briefly worried until Marx's expression turned hard and determined.
"Ready," he said.
"We're on the defensive," said Cutter. "Stone's eagerness to win this war in one battle is going to fuck him over if we play our cards right. We just need to hold the line, make sure they don't get up to the house."
"I think I can do it," said Marx.
"Think?" asked Jack.
"I know," said Marx, a small smile forming on his lips.
"There you go," said Cutter, clapping his hand down on his shoulder.
By this point, the army had noticed that they were gathered in front. Dozens and dozens of pairs of eyes were locked onto them, the shifters waiting for their orders.
"No time like the present," said Cutter. "And we need to move."
Marx cleared his throat and spoke, his voice booming out over the crowd.
"Alright, you mangy fucks! You ready to live forever?"
A cheer shot up from the crowd, the thr
ee men sharing a look that suggested they knew the fight was in good hands.
"Let's move," said Mace once they'd reached the property grounds.
"To where?" Jack asked.
"Down," said Cutter. "We sneak down, get to the woods, and loop around back of the army. There's that village that belonged to the Sharp Fang clan near where the army's posted—I'd bet you anything that's where they're holed up.
"Got it."
"And we stick together," said Cutter. "We get broken up and we're screwed."
"Good call," said Jack. "And we don't stop until we find her. Because it's not just her we're saving..."
He didn't finish his sentence—Mace knew what he meant. They were saving the babies inside of her, not to mention the lives of the shifters who would be spared from a violent battlefield death.
Together, the three men scaled down the cliff side, making sure to stay out of sight of Stone's army. It took some doing, and by the time they put boots on the ground the sun had long set, the full moon high up in the night sky, the forest cast in a silvery light.
They moved into the woods, staying close and not letting one another out of each other's sight.
Then Mace heard something, a rustling in the distance followed by the scent of shifter in the air.
"Smell that?" he asked.
Cutter and Jack stopped in their tracks.
"Yeah," said Cutter. "I do."
"Look," said Jack.
He pointed ahead, far into the distance. Mace focused his eyes and saw what he was referring to—three pairs of sharp eyes, glowing in the night air, were ahead.
"Shifters," said Jack. "Wolves."
"Looks like a patrol," said Cutter. "On the lookout for dumbasses like us trying to sneak around the army."
"We have to move," said Mace. "If we stay put, they'll notice—"
Right as he said the word, the pairs of eyes stopped in place. Now that he was focused on them, Mace could make out the dark outlines of the wolves in the distance. They whipped their heads in the direction of the men.
