Promises Reveal

by Sarah McCarty

  Garret supposed it was. He moved to the left, flanking the two soldiers who comprised his targets. The scum didn’t know it yet but they were surrounded. He switched to Cur’s frequency.

  “I’m just glad he’s on our side,” Daire was a big son of a bitch, even for a were, and he wore the violence of his history in the scars on his body. It took a hell of a lot to scar a were.

  “Thought when he went freelance he went rogue?”

  “I’m not sure he hasn’t.”

  He wasn’t sure of anything when it came to this new Pack, least of all Daire’s reasons for joining this mission. His and Cur’s motivations were easy to see. Neither had chosen to become part of the packless lost, and when the McGowans had approached them in the bar they ran and offered them Pack status, they hadn’t hesitated. The McGowans were legend. Fierce fighters. Old school Protectors that put pack and honor first. It would have been an honor for any Protector to be asked to join forces with the McGowans. For outlawed rogues like he and Cur, it was a prize without equal.

  Below, there was movement. Garret sighted his rifle on one of the soldiers closing in on Kelon McGowan, just in case. He switched his transceiver back to all frequencies. “You’ve got trouble on your tail, Kelon.”

  Through the sight, he could clearly see the smile flash across Kelon’s face. “Thanks.”

  The enemy leapt straight for Kelon’s seemingly unprotected back. The rogue might be a soldier but Kelon was a Protector and that much faster, that much stronger, and that much more pissed. He spun and caught the wolf mid leap, evaded the swipe of the soldiers claws through the simple expedience of breaking his arm, and then in the spit second while the man hung helpless, gutted him with lethal efficiency. Justice delivered with a graceful simplicity Garrett admired. And when the call came, he’d do the same to the two men marked as his. These men hunted the women and children of his new Pack. They would not survive the night.

  The sense of rightness strengthened as Garrett slid the rifle into the scabbard on his back and moved forward, ears tuned for the call to battle, adrenaline pumping through his body in a familiar rush, enhancing the drive of muscle, the acuteness of his senses, as for the first time he entered battle not to defend himself, or an ideal, but in defense of his Pack. Satisfaction and pride blended with cold calculation as he crouched and waited, his marks in sight, one moving up the slide of rock to the cave entrance, the other tucked behind a tree ten feet away, gun aimed at the cave mouth. Garret smiled, claws extending. He’d never get that shot off.

  “Everyone in position?”

  Donovan McGowan’s question whispered through his earpiece.

  Four echoes of “Go” whispered back.

  He looked up toward the entrance. His second target had reached it, fanatically dedicated to his mission, clearly confident he could take the women inside. He didn’t have much more time.

  Gun fire flashed from the mouth of the cave.

  A second later the McGowan war cry split the night, reverberating across the valley. Garrett leapt for the sniper, the element of surprise making the kill simple. Too simple for the rage pumping through him. Without hesitating, he picked up the battle cry echoing around him and raced up the hill. A hint of a woman’s fear blew down on the wind, catching on some instinctive recognition inside. Pulling it forward, centering his rage, his focus. A baby screamed.

  He sent his promise ahead on another howl.

  Touch them and die.

  SARAH MCCARTY has traveled extensively throughout her life, living in other cultures—sometimes in areas where electricity was a concept awaiting fruition and a book was an extreme luxury. While she could easily adjust to the lack of electricity, living without the comfort of a good book was intolerable. To fill the void, she bought pencil and paper, and sketched out her own story. In the process, Sarah discovered the job of writing.

  Sarah writes what she loves to read: fast-paced stories with vivid dialogue, intense emotion, and well-developed characters. Her attention to detail in her stories has earned her multiple awards and reserved her novels a spot on keeper shelves everywhere.

  For more information on Sarah and her books, visit www.sarahmccarty.net