by W. J. May
They both caught the soft sound of footsteps at the same moment, Caleb standing and transforming back into his wolf as the first arrow whizzed through the air. He pushed her hard and she rolled with him, fear rushing in to heighten all of her senses. They needed to move—fast.
She bolted for the coverage of the woods, Caleb’s large body right beside her. Another arrow flew by them, and he muscled her to the left as they continued to run. They could easily outrun a human, but the trick would be avoiding leading the bastards to their campsite and starting a bloodbath all over again.
They took the long way around the forest and, when the coast was completely clear, made a sharp left and jogged into the belly of the camp. Dru stopped and turned with a goofy grin on her muzzle, the adventure scary and exhilarating all at once. She moved toward Caleb as he dropped to the ground, crimson stain coating his left side.
He’d been hit.
CHAPTER SEVEN
"No, no, no!" Drucilia yelled as she moved into her human form, running to Caleb’s side. "Prepare the table and get a healer to fix his wound."
Derik moved from his tent and bent down, picking up Caleb in one swoop and looking at Dru. "Go get dressed. I will make sure he's taken care of. Are the humans headed this way again, Dru?"
"No. We ran the length of the forest after running into them. There is no way they would know to come this way." She shook her head and reached out to touch the white wolf’s fur as he shuddered. "He took that arrow for me. Don't let anything happen to him."
Derik didn't respond but turned and left. Dru ran to her tent and slipped on the dress from the night before, her sister stirring in the bed next to her.
"What's wrong? Are you hurt?"
"No. The damn Hunters were on the trail near the berry patch this morning. They’re searching for us again, and unfortunately, we didn't make it a hard find." She sighed and reached up to pull the small tie from her long hair, fiery crimson locks falling around her face and covering her shoulders.
"Why do you smell like fear?"
"Caleb was with me and took an arrow to the side for me. I need to go make sure he's going to be okay." She reached over and touched her sister's shoulder before slipping from the warmth of the tent.
The healer in their pack was an old woman named Merilla. Her mother had served in the same position before her, and her grandmother before her. She’d been close to Drucilia's father and couldn't stand Derik, so they had always been fast friends. Dru walked through the new line of tents, her nose lifted in the air until she found Merilla.
She pushed through the tent opening, the smell of rubbing alcohol filling her nose and burning its way through her sinuses. Merilla was bent over her cottonwood table, her long gray hair pulled into a bun and her tall, willowy frame contorted.
"You're not hurt as well, are you, child?" her voice rasped.
"No, just worried about him." Dru moved to the other side of Merilla and put her hands on the strong wooden bed that held Caleb. He was still, as if sleeping. His breathing was subtle, but steady. "Is he okay?"
"He will be shortly, I hope." She moved down the line of his body to his ribcage, the arrow long and half buried in his side. "I'm assuming the arrow was lined with poison, but one gets lucky every so often, so let us hope that I’m wrong."
"You're rarely ever wrong." Dru reached out to put her hand on Caleb's chest, the smooth, soft skin cold to her touch. "Just save him, okay?"
The older woman looked up, her hazel-shaded eyes filled with questions. A smile touched the side of her mouth and she simply nodded. Dru rubbed Caleb's chest for another minute before moving back and taking a seat in the small chair beside his bed.
Merilla began to hum something, the song bringing back memories of Dru's mother and the years of her youth. Sadness clung tightly to her as she rocked back and forth, her desire to know the man dying in front of her tearing at the fabric of her stability. He couldn't die. It was a small arrow, and Merilla was more than talented. Caleb was an Alpha and more capable of overcoming than any other wolf might be … right?
"Stop your worrying. It's creating a dark cloud in the universe."
Dru looked up as her brow creased. "What do you mean?"
Merilla looked over, the sound of the arrow loudly breaking following. Dru flinched as Caleb shuddered.
"The dark clouds in the sky are the essence of worry, doubt and fear. When the rain comes from the heavens it's the washing away of those harmful emotions. When they become so heavy that cleansing is needed, our ancestors wash them away. You, child, are creating more of them this morning."
A long sigh left Dru's lips. "I suppose. This is just the second time in two days that this wolf has protected me and been hurt in the process."
"I think it's quite telling that he's willing to protect you. He's not your Alpha … yet."
Dru huffed. "As if Derik would ever allow that to happen."
"I think a time is coming when Derik might not have a choice, but for now … stop worrying. Your mate is in good hands with me." Merilla went back to humming, which Dru knew good and well was her cue to hush.
Mate? Does Merilla know the dreams Karis is having? The feeling of rightness I get around him?
She let herself drift away as the older woman continued to work and hum. Caleb lay perfectly still, the strong line of his masculine figure drawing Dru's attention. He was magnificent, the perfect light to Derik's darkness. Each of them had been blessed with good looks and regal attraction, but where Derik was manipulative and self-serving, Caleb seemed to be the opposite.
His hair was wet and matted to his forehead, his body feverish, no doubt.
"Do you know the story of your Mom and Dad mating?"
Dru coughed into her hand and laughed. "I'm not sure that's a story I care to know."
Merilla looked over her shoulder with a motherly glare. "That's not what I meant and you know it."
Dru held her hands up in surrender. "Okay, tell me the story, just leave out the full moon parts."
Merilla moved to the other side of Caleb. The arrow was now gone and a long bandage was in its place. Dru stood and moved to him as the pack's healer began cleaning her tools. Brushing her fingers down Caleb’s chest and around the bandage, Dru yearned for the chance to know him completely.
"You know your mother and I were the best of friends. We never left each other's side, well, for the most part." Merilla laughed and continued to wipe down her knife and needles with a stark white cloth. "Anyway, her father was the Alpha of the pack at the time, and though he was a good man, he was weak, much like your Seth."
Dru moved up toward Caleb's head and brushed her fingers through his hair, stopping here and there to wipe something from his face or clean something from his neck and chest. "I don't think I knew who was Alpha before my dad. Funny how I imagined him to have always been the Alpha."
"Yes, well, he wasn't. Your grandfather was, and the pack suffered horribly under his rule. He bargained with humans and dealt with vampires, his main concerns wealth and comfort. He knew nothing of being a true leader of the pack." She paused and shook her head. "I remember my own parents often talking quietly about him and questioning whether he really was 'wolf' at all."
"I never knew him, but I cannot imagine letting someone like Seth rule the pack. He was frightened by his own shadow, which obviously didn't bode well for him." Dru looked up as sadness stretched across her for a moment.
Merilla shrugged. "Anyway, when we were about seventeen and the time had come for us to begin looking for a mate, your mother, being the rebel that she was, decided that she wasn't interested in any of the males the pack had to offer, so she was going on the hunt."
Dru snorted; the very idea of her mother being a rebel seemed so foreign. She had been sweet and loving, kind and very traditional. "You're making this up as you go."
Merilla laughed. "No, but stick with me and learn something new. You are very much your mother's child. The rebel in her settled down quickly at the arrival of her grea
test gift—you."
Memories pulled at Dru as her eyes swam with tears. She wiped them away and looked back down on Caleb, trying to tuck her memories and the pain of loss away. "Is he going to be okay, Meri?"
"Yes, baby. He'll need to rest for a few hours, but all of the poison is gone, and he’s incredibly strong. He will live a very long and prosperous life."
"Okay. Tell me more about Mom." Dru absently rubbed Caleb's hair, a sense of serenity settling over her as she stayed by his side.
"There was a neighboring pack back in those days, the Graybacks."
"We're the Graybacks."
"Well yes, but that's because your father was one. We were originally the Chippewa under your grandfather." She moved to sit and continued, "Your mother had her eye on the Alpha's second in command, the wolf young, but strong and fearless. He was the biggest wolf I'd ever seen. Your mother took me with her several times to see him because it was too suspicious to go out by herself. She, of course, didn't want her family to know what she was doing."
"Didn't she know that bringing in a Beta would lead to the death or removal of her family from their pack?"
"She did, but it didn't matter. She'd fallen in love with your father, and nothing could stop that bond from maturing inside of each of them. It was a sad day when your father dismissed your grandfather, the older man far too weak and timid to fight for his position."
"Did you see the confrontation?"
"No, but my parents did. Your dad was still very young, but authority sat on him like a cloak and goodness like a halo. He was benevolent and yet vicious." Merilla smiled and started to hum again, her attention on her fingernails and not Dru.
"I hate Derik for killing him."
Merilla looked up. "I know you do, but it is the way of our people, Dru. Your dad brought Seth and Derik in at an early age because they had no place to go. He knew the risks, since I and several other seers had glimpsed into the future. The greatest of Alphas will always accept death under the wolf that they've raised to protect and grow their pack."
"Yeah, but Derik is a bastard. He's nothing like my father. Daddy wouldn't have raised someone to be so mean and filled with rage," Dru scoffed.
"Wouldn't he?" Merilla left the question in the air, Dru slipping into her own thoughts for a few minutes.
The curtain opened at the side of the tent and Karis slipped in, her short hair messy and her eyes swollen with lack of sleep. "How is he?"
"He's healing, but he will be well in a few hours," Merilla answered her.
Karis moved toward the bed and looked at Dru, a weary smile on her sister's face. "Are you okay?"
Dru nodded. "Yeah, I'm good. I just hate that he got hurt trying to save me again. I need to start being more aware. If I get another person killed, or even hurt, you guys should beat me good."
Karis puffed up, her brow clenching as she growled, "No one will beat you. I'll beat them."
Dru and Merilla laughed as Caleb groaned in his sleep softly.
"She's more like Daddy than we thought."
Merilla stood and opened the curtain, nodding to the two of them. "God help us all then. Get out and let the boy sleep. He will be healed and fully yours in a few hours."
Karis wagged her eyebrows at Dru and they laughed as they left the tent.
Merilla's words haunted her as she walked toward Derik.
He's not your Alpha … yet.
Did she mean that he soon would be? And if so … what did that mean for Derik? For her? For the rest of the pack?
CHAPTER EIGHT
"How is he?" Derik moved toward Dru as she walked languidly to his side. The other wolves he'd been standing near disbursed, leaving the two of them and Karis.
"He will be well soon. I'm convinced that Merilla is a magician of sorts." She smiled, trying to keep things light and friendly between them. It would take very little to throw him toward his normal sense of angst and have them at one another's throats.
She was weary from the trip earlier that morning and emotionally stripped bare by Caleb getting hurt. To say that she wasn't sure that their futures were deeply intertwined would be a lie. The oppression she felt at not being beside him as he healed spoke truth far beyond what she was comfortable acknowledging.
"Once we've scouted the lands and are assured of the threat around us, I want him gone." Derik moved closer, reaching out to place his hands on Dru's shoulders.
Karis waved and made her leave, Dru scowling at her sister's back as she abandoned her with their Alpha.
"Then tell him that. I’m not your second in command." He flinched and she felt horrible for her choice of words. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."
"I know you're not," he said, seeming to ignore her apology. "I don't need a second in command, but what I do need is a strong mate."
She stiffened in his grasp. "You made the decision years ago that if the Alpha were to mate, it would be a weakness, a way for others to stab at you and weaken our pack."
He nodded. "I did, and I'm changing my mind."
She fought hard against everything inside of her that screamed to pull back from the large wolf in front of her. "What changed your mind?"
He scowled and jerked his head toward Merilla's tent. "He did."
Dru pulled back a little and Derik's hands dropped from her. She crossed her arms over her chest, defiance beckoning her to host it. "You broke my heart five years ago when you denounced our mating and then killed my father. Why in the world would you ever think that I would want another chance at a future with you?"
His expression changed immediately and she regretted her words. Telling Derik the truth of her feelings offered nothing positive, and his anger raged at the very mention of denial of any sort. He moved forward and took her back in his grasp, his fingers biting into her upper arms.
"This is not about love and fairy tales, Drucilia. It's about strengthening the pack. We have enemies everywhere, and I will not dismiss the fact that, without Seth, I'm less protected. You will be my mate and you will be loyal to me. If you disagree with either of those things, I'm more than happy to let the magic of my position force you into submission below me. That part will be up to you." He growled and pulled her against his body, his lips inches from her forehead as he glared at her.
"I'm glad I have a choice in something," she bit back.
She fought against him as she moved back. His strength was far beyond hers, and he won the small struggle, her body trapped to his as he angrily captured her mouth and groped at her. She refused to appear weak in front of the pack. With few options, she leaned her head back and thrust it forward quickly, her forehead coming into contact with his perfect nose. Blood exploded from the trauma and he moved back, holding his face.
"Aww … you bitch. You're going to pay for that one." He wiped his face once before pulling off his shirt and holding it to his wound, a smile on his face and wickedness in his eyes. "When he wakes up … he's gone. I see the way you look at him, and you'd better get prepared."
"For what?" she barked out and moved back a step, more than ready to leave him.
"To look at me like that. You're mine, and whether I threw you away years ago or not is irrelevant." He laughed, pulling the shirt from his face. "We will be mated on the next full moon, and you will stand beside me like I'm everything you've ever dreamed of."
"Doubtful." She narrowed her eyes, the feeling in her stomach doing nothing to offer comfort. He had the power to make all of his threats come to fruition, and she would be helpless against the demands of her Alpha. Derik had yet to use his powerful position and the strong magic of his command to force her to do anything, but that was sure to change.
He tilted his head as his eyes moved down her body. She jolted as warmth spread from her belly out across her body, the deep desire of lust grabbing her violently. She moaned, unable to help herself, and his smile deepened as he moved toward her and wrapped her tightly against him. She looked up, hating herself for the emotions he had the
power to cause, which left her weak and useless against him.
"I don't want to force you into wanting us to be one. Know that I could not create something that doesn't already exist. I can only cause it to grow." He leaned down and licked at her lips, his smell intoxicating. "You want me, whether you know it or not. I just plan to fulfill that want soon."
She growled low in her chest, her wolf not liking the power of his pull. He smiled and kissed her quickly, releasing her and walking toward the tent where Caleb lay. Dru turned and tried to catch her breath, the power of their Alpha palatable. She needed to run before Derik used the fullness of his power to rein her in. To live a life of servitude to a madman wasn't in the cards for her.
Something had to give.
"Where are you going?"
Dru turned toward her sister's voice, the pensive look on her face giving her pause. "I need to get out of here for a little while. I assume Caleb is safe with Merilla, so now is my chance."
"I'll come with you." Her sister jogged up to her.
A feeling of trepidation slithered across Dru’s senses, but she ignored it, chalking it up to the situation with Derik. His power was far greater than she'd given him credit for.
"Okay, but I'm not in the best of moods."
Her sister laughed and snorted, the sound causing Dru's lips to turn up in her own smile. It had been a while since the two of them had spent quality time together alone. The idea of it calmed her nerves and soothed her a little.
"Can't say I'd be in the best of moods either with my future mate laid up in the infirmary and my ex working hard to get my attention." Karis shrugged as Dru stared at her.
Despite Karis’s handicaps, she was the most beautifully sensitive creature to all that happened around her. She was far more graceful and aware than most of the pack gave her credit for.
They walked toward the edge of the camp, Dru taking a quick look over her shoulder before they slipped through the dense brush. "Yes, well, it doesn't seem like Derik has to try too hard at all. He had me groaning in his arms for his attention a few minutes ago."
