Merle

by Catherine Lievens

  Nootaw looked at his son. “He is.”

  “Where’s Merle?”

  Nootaw frowned at his brother. “I don’t know. I saw him when I got here, but not since then.”

  “Me either.”

  Nootaw hadn’t seen where Merle had gone, but he’d been preoccupied with Nepi and Aranck. That didn’t explain why Merle hadn’t come to him, though. “Is he all right?”

  “As far as I know.”

  “Why isn’t he here, then?”

  Chogan pressed his lips together. “You two haven’t been together long.”

  It wasn’t a question, but Nootaw answered anyway. “A week, more or less.”

  “Did he know about Nepi? About what she was to you?”

  “She wasn’t anything.”

  “But he knew.”

  “Yes. He knew she was the last female I had sex with before leaving the tribe and that there was a possibility she was pregnant.”

  “Right.” Chogan looked like he didn’t want to say whatever he had to say. “I’m not saying this is in any way your fault, but Merle knew Nepi was something to you. Then he sees you coming back home with her and a baby, your baby. Can you see why he thought it might be better for him to leave?”

  “That and the fact that I told him to go home,” Zach said from behind them.

  Nootaw turned and Zach grinned at Aranck. “He’s a cutie. Looks like you.”

  “What were you saying about Merle?”

  The grin slid off Zach’s lips. “I told him to go home. The last thing he needs is to see Tom, and he’s not fit to fight anyway.”

  Nootaw nodded. He felt like he needed to find Merle right now and explain, even though he didn’t know what he’d say. He didn’t like the thought of Merle thinking it better to stay away, especially right now, just before a battle.

  “She’ll be fine, but I need to take her to the hospital,” Jared said.

  Nootaw nodded. “How?”

  “Noem should be here in a few seconds. Jago will stay here, and I’ll come back as soon as I can. She’ll be in good hands at the hospital.” He looked at Aranck. “Do you need me to look him over?”

  “I think he’s fine.”

  “Nepi won’t be able to take care of him for a little while. Her wound should be easy to heal with a Nix, but she’s underfed and weak, and breastfeeding isn’t helping her.”

  “But I need to go fight.”

  Zach tapped Nootaw’s arm. “Give him to me. I’m about to go to my sister’s house anyway. Her son is a bit older, but I’m sure they can play together.”

  “What if something happens?”

  “One of the council’s Nix is coming, just in case.”

  Nootaw didn’t want to hand his son away, but Noem shimmered in and took Jared and Nepi away right when Kameron came in and said, “They’re coming. Ten minutes.”

  Kameron looked at Aranck and arched a brow at Nootaw, but Nootaw knew they didn’t have time for explanations. He kissed Aranck’s hair and handed him to Zach. Aranck seemed fascinated by Zach’s blond hair and tried to pull some of it out, but Zach looked well versed at dealing with babies. He kissed Kameron goodbye and paused at Nootaw’s side before leaving. “He’ll be fine, I swear. We’ll get out of pack territory if something happens.”

  Nootaw nodded. “If I...”

  “Nothing will happen to you.”

  They both knew it might not be true, but Nootaw nodded anyway. He watched Zach leave with Aranck and turned to look at Kameron only once they were gone. The alpha looked dead serious. “What happened?”

  “Tom sought me out earlier, when I was in town. My tribe is with him, but he doesn’t think they’re good enough to protect him, and after seeing them, I agree. He offered me the spot, threatening me with Aranck and his mother’s life. He broke my phone. I followed him, grabbed Aranck and Nepi as soon as I could, and left, but Nepi was hurt.”

  “Will she be all right?”

  “Apparently.”

  “Good. Do you know how many men Tom has with him?”

  “I saw only a few in the settlement he’s using as base camp, but it doesn’t mean he hasn’t stopped somewhere on the way to gather some more, although I don’t think so. If he’s already here, he didn’t have the time.”

  “Could he have asked help from the other council members?”

  “It’s possible, but from the little he said, I don’t think they trust each other. He probably doesn’t want them to know he was weak enough to lose his new bodyguard and two members of the tribe in one night, one of which a baby.”

  Kameron tapped his finger on his lower lip. “It looks like Tom might still be the impulsive man he was when I knew him.”

  A man wearing the enforcers’ uniform hurried in. “Alpha? Five minutes.”

  “How many men?” Kameron asked.

  “From what we’ve been able to see, no more than thirty, probably less.”

  Kameron grinned. “Either Tom doesn’t know about the enforcers living here, or he’s underestimating what we can do. Nootaw, what do you want to do?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re not an enforcer, and you’re not officially part of the pack’s security. You’re also bound to have to fight against some members of your family, so I’d understand it if you wanted to bow out of this fight.”

  Nootaw shook his head. “No. This is my home now, and I want to defend it.”

  “You don’t have anything to prove to anyone.”

  “I know.”

  “Fine. Stay here and report to Duncan. He should be in front of the house.”

  Nootaw looked around as he made his way outside, hoping against all odds to see Merle. He was glad Zach had thought of sending him away, but he’d wanted to see him again, just in case something happened. He couldn’t stand the thought that Merle might think he’d been discarded and that he hadn’t been able to sooth his mate.

  Nootaw pinched his hand and tried to stop thinking about it. There was nothing he could do now. He’d have to wait until the battle was over and hope nothing happened so he could explain and hopefully get some sense into Merle.

  “Ready to fight?” Duncan asked as Nootaw stopped beside him.

  “Yes.” Nootaw looked around the clearing. It was emptier than he’d expected. “Where is everyone?”

  “Kameron took a bunch of men and went ahead. He won’t be able to stop all of Tom’s men, but that’s what we’re here for.”

  Nootaw noticed Noah standing by Duncan’s other side, looking nervous but determined. “He fights?”

  Noah huffed. “I’m here, so you can talk to me. And no, I don’t fight, not like you’re thinking anyway.”

  “What are you doing here, then?”

  Noah raised his hands and flexed his fingers. Sparks crackled, briefly illuminating the night. “I’m here to target practice, and to see if I can be useful at least for something.”

  Duncan leaned sideways and kissed Noah’s cheek. “You are useful. You just need to learn how to control your powers.”

  “Yeah, well, I hope I’ll be able to do it tonight. I wouldn’t want to make Kam’s house explode instead of an enemy.”

  Yells suddenly rose from the forest to their left and everyone left in the clearing looked that way.

  “They’re coming,” Duncan said grimly. He started yelling out orders and Nootaw took his place. Duncan had stuck him close to the forest, to the right of the house. That way Nootaw was further away from the fight coming their way and he could see exactly who was coming. He’d be able to identify any wendigo and take them.

  A wolf burst from between the trees on the left. Nootaw checked for the red stripe Kameron had wanted painted on the back of all the shifters on their side, and when he didn’t see it, he knew the battle had started for them, too.

  * * * *

  Merle hadn’t had time to go home. To be honest, he hadn’t really tried that hard—he was fighting the p
rimal instinct that was telling him to run as far and fast as he could away from Tom. The only thing that made his inner fight possible was thinking about Nootaw.

  It had taken Merle a handful of minutes to decide he was being an ass and that Nootaw wasn’t casting him away. Yes, Nootaw was now a father, and yes, he’d brought his baby’s mother along, but wasn’t that more than natural? The kid couldn’t be more than a few months old. He needed his mother, and of course Nepi wouldn’t have given away her baby without trying to go with him.

  So Merle had turned around and walked back toward Kameron’s house, just in time to see that Nootaw was defending the alpha’s house. Merle didn’t have the time to go to his mate and talk to him before the first shifters not belonging to their pack burst into the clearing.

  The sight made Merle freeze. He hid behind a tree and leaned around it just enough that he could see what was happening. He knew he should have been there, fighting with everyone else, defending his home, and he felt guilty. He was also surprised that he wasn’t cowering like he’d thought he would if he ever happened to be in a battle.

  Tom had left him scared of his own shadow, and while he hated it, Merle hadn’t thought there was a way out of it. That was why he’d stopped going to training, but it looked like he was wrong.

  What he’d learned from Craig was there, and he knew he’d be able to fight if he wanted to. He decided to stay behind his tree and examine the battlefield first, though. No one knew he was there, so he might as well take advantage of that. He also wanted to make sure Tom was nowhere to be seen, because he wasn’t sure he’d be able to fight him. Merle didn’t see him, though, and he wasn’t surprised. Tom was probably looking for Kameron, and if there was one thing Merle was sure of, it was that Kameron wouldn’t let Tom get to the alpha’s house.

  Merle looked around the clearing, but his gaze kept on slipping to Nootaw. Merle had never seen him fight, but he wasn’t surprised that Nootaw had already put down two wolf shifters, even though he hadn’t even shifted yet.

  The thought of seeing Nootaw shift made Merle nervous. He’d meant it when he’d said he wasn’t afraid of Nootaw, but it didn’t mean he’d take Nootaw shifting well. He’d researched wendigoes, and he knew what they looked like. It wasn’t pretty, and Merle wasn’t sure he’d be able to reconcile that kind of creature with the man who shared his bed every night.

  A loud roar echoed in the clearing and Merle snapped out of his thoughts. He looked at his mate just as Nootaw flung aside a wolf, and Merle cringed when the wolf hit a nearby tree with his back and didn’t get up.

  A huge form ran toward Nootaw, and Merle knew it had to be another wendigo. No one else could be that tall, and when the thing finally barreled in front of the house and under the spotlights, Merle got a good look at it.

  He shivered at the sight of the gray skin, bony limbs, and blood running from the wendigo’s mouth. His red eyes glinted in the light as he made a beeline for Nootaw. Nootaw saw him and quickly took his T-shirt off, flinging it on the ground. He toed his boots off next, and Merle stared as his mate shifted into his wendigo form.

  Merle had thought that maybe Nootaw in wendigo form would be different from the others, but he looked almost exactly like the one that had now reached him and was snarling at him. Both were tall, with gray skin stretched over bones, although Nootaw wasn’t as thin as the other wendigo.

  Nootaw’s black hair was now a white mane around his wendigo face and down his back. His fingernails had shifted to claws, and fangs protruded from his mouth. Merle suddenly realized he’d been bitten by those fangs and he shivered.

  The two wendigoes clashed together, claws reaching for each other, fangs snapping. Merle could recognize Nootaw thanks to the jeans that covered his crotch. They were in tatters, but at least Merle would know who was winning.

  He quickly looked around the clearing to check if everyone else was all right. The wolf Nootaw had slung against the tree earlier was shaking himself, so Merle crept closer. He grabbed a heavy branch from the forest ground and raised it high, then brought it down on the wolf’s head. The wolf whimpered and went back down.

  Merle swore, because he’d forgone the recruits’ uniforms since his capture by Tom, and he needed the plastic bindings he usually kept in his uniforms pockets to tie the wolf. He looked around again, searching for someone who wasn’t fighting, and saw one of his recruit friends sitting against a tree, his arm bleeding in the dirt. He hurried toward David and crouched next to him. David’s head snapped toward Merle, but he relaxed when he recognized him.

  “How bad are you hurt?” Merle asked.

  “I’ll be fine. I thought you weren’t fighting, though.”

  “I’m not, not really. I need some of your plastic bindings.”

  David nodded and gestured at the pocket on his right knee. “Take them.”

  Merle left David there and went to tie the wolf. He looked toward Nootaw again, his stomach lurching when he saw his mate was hurt.

  There was a deep gash in Nootaw’s thigh and it was steadily dripping blood. It didn’t seem to have slowed Nootaw down, because the other wendigo had bloody scratches on his chest and on his face. The skin of the wendigo’s cheek flapped down and Merle grimaced. He might be a recruit, but he’d never actually been in a fight, and he wasn’t sure he was ready to take the gore.

  Something moved in the forest behind Nootaw. Merle squinted at it, and he was grateful the wendigo creeping there hadn’t seen him. He was obviously trying to take Nootaw by surprise, and Merle knew that if he let him, Nootaw would be as good as dead.

  Swallowing his fears, Merle stripped and shifted. He kept his belly low as he moved forward, making sure the wendigo wouldn’t see him. He waited until the last moment, when the wendigo stepped into the clearing, to run toward it and jump.

  Merle was aiming for the throat, and he had the element of surprise on his side. His claws scrambled on the wendigo’s chest and he managed to hook his paws on the wendigo’s arm when he tried to catch Merle.

  Merle reached up, his jaw open, and sank his fangs in the pale skin of the wendigo’s throat. He almost gagged at the stench of putrefied meat, but he tightened his hold and pulled. Thick blood spurted out of the wound and the wendigo made a horrible sound that went straight to Merle’s stomach.

  The wendigo tried to push Merle away, but Merle wasn’t about to let go, not even when he felt the pain of claws raking against his stomach. The flesh in his mouth was yielding, and the wendigo made another strangled noise when Merle tugged.

  Merle tumbled to the ground, his mouth full of blood and flesh. He spat it out and took a defensive stance, but the wendigo crumbled on his knees, his hands pressed against his throat. Merle didn’t think he’d be a problem for much longer, so he turned to check on Nootaw.

  Nootaw was hissing something at the wendigo who’d attacked him and pinning him to the ground. The other wendigo shook his head and tried to lunge, but Nootaw bit down on his throat, very much like Merle had just done. The wendigo went lax and Nootaw let go, roaring and making Merle shiver.

  Then something hit Merle’s side and he tumbled down.

  * * * *

  Nootaw didn’t know what made him turn around when he heard the thump and whine. He was just in time to see a wolf hitting another one and pushing him to the ground. The wolf on the ground scrambled to get up and something tugged deep inside Nootaw’s mind.

  The wolf who’d pushed the other one snarled and lunged. The wolf on the ground tried to defend himself, but the other one bit his muzzle. Blood dripped down and Nootaw didn’t have to be close to know who it belonged to, who the wolf was.

  He roared again, even louder, briefly startling the attacking wolf. He took advantage of that, throwing himself at the wolf. He grabbed it with only one hand and flung it away. He heard the sound of bones breaking, the thud of flesh hitting a hard surface, but he didn’t look away from Merle for more than the second he needed to make sure he wouldn’t
be attacked.

  Nootaw kneeled next to his mate. Merle whined and tried to move away, and Nootaw wondered if maybe he hadn’t recognized him. He didn’t know why Merle was there when he should have been back home. He looked around, noticing the dead wendigo on the ground. It wasn’t Achak, who Nootaw had just killed, and he wondered when he’d crept behind him. Merle had saved his life, and now he was unable to even touch his mate.

  Giving another glance around and seeing that the battle was just about finished, he shifted back to his human form and offered Merle his hand to sniff. “Come on, Merle. It’s me.”

  Merle whined and licked Nootaw’s hand. Nootaw patted his head. “Come on, shift for me.”

  Merle was panting by the time he was back in human form. Nootaw examined the wounds on his chest and was relieved to see that while they were deep, they didn’t put Merle’s life in danger. His face was covered in blood and it was hard for Nootaw to tell how wounded he was.

  He spat in his hand and gently tried to remove the blood. He only managed to smear it even more, but he was able to see that most of the blood didn’t come from Merle.

  “How bad is he?” Jago asked as he kneeled next to Nootaw.

  “The wounds on his chest are the worst, but I don’t think it’s too bad.”

  “Why is he here, anyway?” Jago asked as he started to clean the wounds.

  “I don’t know. I thought he’d gone home, but he took out the wendigo who tried to attack me from behind.”

  Jago gave Nootaw a brief glance. “That’s mates for you. He probably stayed around here to make sure you were okay. That hurts?”

  Nootaw looked at the wound in his thigh. “I’ve had worse. Take care of him.”

  “Look around and fetch me a Nix, will you?”

  It wasn’t hard to find a free one. There weren’t many wounded on their side, and the Nix didn’t take care of Tom’s men unless they were dying. Nootaw waited for Noem to finish healing David’s arm. When the Nix got up, his face looked just a bit paler than it’d been before he started. “Are you up for healing one more person?” he asked.