“Yeah. Will Bass be there?”
“It’s a girls’ night.”
“He’ll be lurking around outside then.”
“Probably.” Anna laughed. Katalina used to come to her for girls’ night, but since the latest attack, Anna now had to go to her. It didn’t bother Anna all that much—other than it was hard to have a girls’ night in a pack with overprotective men.
“So you’ve no plans to work out today?” Cage asked her, caution in his tone.
Anna frowned. “Work out? Why would I do that?” She did yoga once in a blue moon, but Anna didn’t do exercise.
Cage waved a hand down her body. Anna’s gaze followed suit. “Oh,” she breathed. “I don’t even remember dressing.” She was indeed dressed for exercise, right down to the sneakers.
“Maybe you were subconsciously thinking about starting?” Cage suggested, walking from the kitchen with a plate.
“Hmm…” Anna picked up the bagel Cage had put down in front of her. “Maybe,” she murmured before taking a bite. Chewing in silence, Anna searched her mind for a reason for her attire but came up with nothing.
Cage let her think, his quiet presence grounding. Halfway through her bagel, Anna looked up and met his gaze. “I’m stumped.”
Smiling reassuringly, Cage reached across the table and took her hand. “Don’t worry. It will come to you.”
As the words tumbled from his mouth, Anna was hit with a vision. Images sailed through her mind in rapid concession. The bagel fell from her hand.
Snapping into sharp focus, Anna jumped to her feet, her chair falling backward as she did. Gripping Cage’s hand tighter, she gasped, “Run.”
Cage needed no encouragement following her as Anna dashed for the back door. Grabbing his phone off the kitchen counter as they passed, Cage then retrieved the backpack waiting nearby, which he’d had packed since the day they’d moved in.
Racing through the backyard, Cage leading, his hold on her hand remained unbreakable. They dashed into the trees that backed onto their house. Anna was out of breath within minutes, sweat coating her brow. Cage, on the other hand, looked like he could keep up the pace for days, and probably would, carrying Anna if need be.
“Cage,” Anna rasped. “Slow down for a minute. You need to ring Jackson.”
Obeying, Cage’s phone was to his ear, his focus on Anna as he nodded for her to explain.
“There’s going to be an attack. Very soon, possibly within minutes. But not on pack land, on those outside of it.” Anna sucked in a breath, before giving the names. “Nico, Olivia, Caroline, Toby, the twins, and their parents. Anyone outside of pack land is in danger.”
“Did you get all that?” Cage said into the phone. “Yep, we’re already moving. ETA thirty minutes to pick up point... understood.”
Cage ended the call and turning toward her, he scooped her into his arms. “Cage,” she squeaked, surprised. “I wore sneakers so I could run.”
Laughing as he set off, not slightly breathless, he answered, “Our ETA will be more than likely an hour if we go at your pace.”
“Fine,” Anna grumbled. “When did you set up a pickup point?”
“Before we moved in. Best to be prepared when you live in my world.”
Anna shook her head, saying nothing. She loved her new life, but occasionally, there were no words to describe the craziness of it, and she’d had a lifetime of crazy. With more likely to come if fate had its way.
Chapter 17
Toby
Toby had been in class for twenty minutes, and he was already struggling to keep focus. It wasn’t that he regretted his decision to join a human high school; it would have just been cool if school had fewer classes and more socializing. Breaks and lunch were what he came for. He had a few friends who invited him over to their house regularly, and being at their houses playing online games and chatting about mundane teenage things were some of the most surreal and amazing moments he’d ever experienced. Their lives were vastly different to his, their worries not at all life and death. Toby could only imagine their faces if he told them what his real life was like.
Unfortunately for Toby, he knew life and death situations weren’t going to be absent from his future anytime soon, so he made the most of the mundane as much as he could and carried on, hoping all those he loved made it out of the war alive.
A gentle knock on the classroom door drew Toby’s attention from the whiteboard. The teacher went to the door as it opened, the conversation they shared hushed, but Toby heard every word. Heart beating wildly in his chest, his face heated as he waited for them to call him out, his entire body primed for whatever was to come.
“Mr. Sinclair?”
“Yeah?” Toby answered.
“There’s a message for you at reception,” his teacher explained, nodding toward the receptionist waiting outside.
“Okay.” Picking up his backpack, Toby stuffed his textbooks inside. He was half relieved he didn’t have to listen to Mr. Edwards drivel for another forty minutes and half concerned about what the message awaiting him would say. Because messages didn’t come for him at school unless it was urgent. And urgent in his life meant someone might die.
“What did the message say?” Toby asked as they began their walk through the school. Toby’s stomach dropped; the look at her face said it wasn’t good.
“A relative from Indiana has fallen ill, and you need to get there straight away.”
Toby only heard one word, Indiana. He had no relatives there, and what the message meant was you’re in danger, get home now. He’d had many arguments with both his parents and Jackson since the battle that was brewing grew closer and closer; they didn’t understand his need to attend a public human school and didn’t see it as a necessity when everyone else had been grounded to pack lands. Surprisingly, it had been his brother who’d backed him and convinced Jackson to let him stay. Clearly having a human mate was rubbing off on his “usually a stickler for rules” brother.
Toby tried his best to look concerned. “I best get going then.”
“I just need you to sign out at reception first,” she said.
Toby redirected his steps toward the reception and away from the exit. Urgency pumped through his veins, his senses coming to life. Suddenly, the mundane he’d been craving seemed like a stupid endeavor compared to his duty to protect his pack.
Scribbling his details on the sign-out sheet as fast as possible, Toby strode for the doors and took the steps three at a time. He hadn’t even reached the school gates when he spotted a car creeping down the road.
How the hell do they know I go to school? Stomach doing a flip, Toby pushed his fear away and allowed his inner wolf to take control in all ways but skin.
Keeping his pace fast but not urgent, Toby changed direction and headed across the green. The sound of a car door opening and slamming had him pushing off into a run. A quick glance over his shoulder confirmed what he’d dreaded. Two of Indiana’s pack were pursuing him.
Toby sprinted across the grass, heading for the cover of trees. His only option was to shift and outrun them in wolf form. He could attempt to take the two of them on—he’d faced worse odds before—but from past experience, Toby knew the Indiana pack tended to carry guns, and no amount of skill could stop a bullet.
Their tendency toward weapons was a cowardly trait in Toby’s opinion. Being a shifter meant fighting with teeth and claws, connecting with the animal that was their other half. Yet Indiana had forgotten that. Or maybe it was Castor who’d forgot. Castor simply wanted to win. It didn’t matter who he killed or what he destroyed as long as he finished on top. But being an alpha meant more than winning. It took loyalty and trust, all things Castor didn’t possess.
Crashing through the tree line, the Indiana pack fast on his heels, Toby threw his backpack into the nearest tree and shifted. With no time to strip his clothes, they shredded around him as his body twisted and morphed, changing forms. As a wolf, Toby wasn’t big, but his size would be
his advantage today. Quick and nimble, he dashed through the trees, undergrowth pulling at his limbs and snagging on his fur.
Slowly the landscape opened, the trees becoming less dense, giving the Indiana men chasing him the opportunity to open fire. Bullets sank into trunks and sent dirt flying into the air. Adrenaline pumped through Toby’s veins as he concentrated on the quickest route through the forest. Turning sharply, Toby headed for a dense crop of trees, slipping through and slowing his pursuers down.
He had no chance of reaching the heart of his home before being caught or worse. His only chance was to make it to the shared patrol line and hope whoever was there was ready to take on his pursuers.
Dragging in a breath, Toby let the howl build in his chest before releasing the keening sound. Silence followed for one, two beats, and then Dark Shadow answered.
Indiana were close enough for him to feel the vibrations of their pounding feet chasing him through the earth. The border was too far away. He wouldn’t make it. Fear began its slow, icy creep through his blood. His lungs burned from exertion, his mind becoming foggy as dread took over. He could sense the bullet being aimed; his body tensed, anticipating the pain. Gunfire echoed around him, deafening, but instead of pain, a commotion followed.
Whipping around and bracing for attack, relief flooded him. One of Indiana’s men laid dead under the dripping jaws of the large sooty wolf as the other took flight, running in the opposite direction.
Toby’s first instinct was to give chase, but the sooty wolf shook his head, and two seconds later, Mia shot out of the trees, taking the guy to the ground. He aimed his gun, but Mia had already anticipated his move and grabbed his hand, twisting until Toby heard an audible crack. His scream of pain lasted only a moment, the gleam of Mia’s sharp claw running across his throat a beat later, the life draining from Toby’s attacker and coating the earth blood red.
“Are you hurt?” Mia asked as she made her way over, wiping her hand on her jeans.
Toby shifted. “No. Thanks for coming to my call.” Toby eyed the wolf. “Evan, right?”
The wolf nodded as Mia replied, “We were already on high alert. You weren’t the only one attacked, and luckily, Anna managed to get off a warning seconds before they hit.”
“What’s the plan?” he asked Mia.
“All we know so far is this doesn’t seem to be the final attack. As usual, Castor’s being a coward and going for the sly attacks instead of hitting us head-on. There’s more of them out in the forest, but they aren’t putting in a real effort to cross our borders as far as we can tell. Head to Dark Shadow and stay there until you hear more.”
Nodding his agreement, Toby left Mia and Evan, shifting back into wolf form before heading deeper into Dark Shadow territory. He let off a low howl before reaching the second line of defense, letting them know he was a friend, not foe.
“Toby,” Katalina breathed, appearing through the trees, John at her back. “Are you okay?”
Turning to their human form so they could talk, Toby answered, “Yeah, assholes were waiting outside school grounds for me, but Mia and Evan helped finish them off. Do you know any more?”
Katalina’s expression grew hard as John growled the word “Cowards.”
“Bass and Jackson and a select few are out past the outer border tracking the group sent to hit our lands, but they were merely a distraction while they targeted those who live in town,” Katalina explained.
“Shit. Anyone back yet?” The twins popped into his mind, with their mischievous smiles. The pair were always getting up to no good, their childhood innocence not yet stolen by reality.
Katalina shook her head sadly. “I haven’t heard from Bass since he left. Nico and Liv are out there too,” Katalina said.
“Nico’s tough, Kat.”
“I know, but Indiana don’t fight fair.”
“I can’t see how we can sit back and allow them to keep chipping away at us. We’ve no choice. We’ve got to take this to them first,” Toby answered.
“I agree,” John said.
But Katalina said nothing at all, and it was the absence of her words and the secrets clouding her eyes that sent Toby’s stomach diving. Katalina knew something he didn’t, some horrible truth she’d been keeping inside, and as Toby studied her, he knew better than to ask what nightmares she hid within.
Since the day Katalina stepped into his life, she’d taken risks to save others; it was who she was. And whatever burden she carried, she’d do so until the day she died. Toby could only hope it was on a day in the distant future after a long, fulfilling life.
“It’s probably best you head further in, Toby,” Katalina suggested. “Be ready though, in case some of them do get passed both lines of defense.”
“I will,” Toby answered. “Be safe, Kat.”
Once shifted, Toby headed through Dark Shadow, a place he was beginning to know as well as the lands he’d grown up on. Lands he’d protected from the moment he was old enough to fight, and he would keep doing so until the day he died.
Chapter 18
Nico
Olivia hadn’t been back from New York all that long when Nico had been scolded for neglecting his mother. So, a weekly breakfast at his mother’s was his way of making sure he didn’t continue to do that, even if he sometimes felt guilty for taking time out of pack life to see his mom.
Glancing at Olivia in the passenger seat next to him, his heart did a double flip as she smiled, then blew him a kiss. Some days it still shocked him she’d come home, and other days he wished she was still in New York safe from the dangers currently threatening their home. But whatever the day, Nico was stupidly in love, and in awe, he got to call Olivia his.
“You’ve got that happy, gooey look on your face again,” she teased.
“I can’t help it,” Nico replied. “You’re here. You are all mine.”
“I was always yours, silly.” Olivia stretched across and kissed him, her lips tasting of the strawberry lip gloss she’d taken to wearing.
She’d changed in many ways. Some Nico had expected, others were a surprise. But she was still his Livy. She’d left healing and returned whole. A weaker man might have been offended she hadn’t needed him to heal fully, but Nico was nothing but proud. So damn proud of the woman she’d become.
Brave. Beautiful. And all his.
“I just feel….” Nico searched his mind, trying to put the complexity of his feelings into words.
“Complete?” Olivia finished.
Nico smiled. “Yeah, complete. I guess I got used to the heartache, and now it’s gone.”
“Happy, gooey face.” Olivia kissed him, laughing.
“That doesn’t sound very manly, Liv.”
She kissed him some more, giggling quietly under her breath. “Am I ruining your reputation?”
Nico narrowed his eyes, holding Olivia back by the shoulders to study her. She was enjoying teasing him far too much, and he wanted nothing more than to kiss, but out of the corner of his eye, Nico could see his mother in the open doorway.
“We have an audience,” he warned.
Olivia pulled back. “Come on then. I love your mother’s baking.” He climbed out of the car, locking it when Olivia followed suit. “Dibs on all the bagels too!” she sang.
“I don’t think so.”
Sticking out her tongue, Olivia raced for the house. Shocked, Nico didn’t respond right away; she’d made it to the door, greeted his mother, and slipped inside before his brain managed to make his legs compute.
Chasing after her, a growl in his chest and a smile on his face, Nico leaped past his mother, mumbling a greeting, and crashed through the kitchen door to find Olivia behind the kitchen island, smiling wickedly, her gaze glistening with challenge. Lifting her plate, piled high with bagels into the air, Olivia laughed, triumphant.
“I’d kill for my mother’s bagels,” Nico warned.
“I think I could take you.”
When he lunged forward, Olivia squealed and
danced out of his reach. It took him all of two seconds to catch her and lift her into the air. Bagels tumbled to the floor, forgotten, as Nico sought out the real prize. Crushing his lips to hers, his heart sang with joy as he wrapped her into his embrace.
“Hey, Nico, did you invite anyone else?” his mother asked as she entered the kitchen.
“Hmm?” Nico untangled himself from Olivia. “What do you mean?”
“Another car’s parked on the roadside,” she explained.
“Oh. Maybe it’s Kat. I mentioned we were coming, but she wasn’t sure Bass would have time.” Olivia jogged out of the kitchen, heading for the front door.
“Liv, wait,” Nico said, his senses coming to life as Olivia reached the front door. “Livy, no!”
“What?” she questioned, turning toward him as the door swung open.
All his happiness drained from his body as a hand clamped over Olivia’s mouth and dragged her from the house.
“Let her go.” A vicious snarled left his throat as his mother screamed.
“Now, why would I go and do a thing like that?” the man answered, holding Olivia roughly.
Nico’s skin was on fire, fury uncurling in his gut, savage and hungry. It took every ounce of his control to not attack. If something happened to Olivia, no one would stop him from hunting down every last one of the Indiana pack. He wanted blood. He wanted to rip the shifter holding his mate to pieces.
Nico met Olivia’s fearful gaze, but something else resided there. Determination. Strength. Olivia picked up her foot, slamming it down on top of her attacker’s. The heel of her boot caused just enough pain for her to drag his arm down to her collarbone and swing her body from his hold. Within seconds, she was free, her knee slamming up into his groin.
All hell broke loose as gunfire echoed around them, mingling with his mother’s terrified screams. Olivia hurtled toward him, slamming the door closed behind her. It slowed Indiana down by mere seconds, but it was enough time for Nico to grab his mother’s keys and race into the internal garage.
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