by Mary Lindsey
With a growl, she turned loose of Thomas, then focused her gaze on Klaus Weigl, growling a challenge deep in her chest.
“No, Freddie,” Thomas shouted. “This is what he wants. Kill me and end it. You’ll be Alpha.”
She swiveled her head from Klaus to Thomas and back again, tail rigid behind her, paws planted firmly apart. The only thing familiar were her icy-blue eyes, which narrowed on Klaus.
“You’re not willing to die for her, Thomas. You’ve never been that strong. Forfeit and call me in, son,” Klaus ordered.
“Kill me, Freds. Please. End it.”
“Forfeit, you little piece of shit,” his father shouted, “or I’ll make you wish she’d killed you.”
Well, that answered that. The second stepped in if the primary couldn’t continue but was still alive and called him in. Shit.
Saliva and blood dripped from Freddie’s jaws as she drew her lips back in a snarl. She was terrifying and magnificent, and Rain knew then and there that without a weapon, he didn’t stand a chance against a wolf.
“Thomas Weigl forfeits and calls his second,” Klaus announced.
“You may not do that,” the guy with the beard said. “Only the combatant can call you in.”
Klaus sneered. “Only the combatant can name a second, and you didn’t enforce that.”
“Because last night, you said—”
“I said a lot of things last night. So did you. Would you like to revisit everything you said last night about how to incapacitate Ulrich and Merrick? Let everyone know what you did and where they are?”
Oh shit. They’d hurt Freddie’s uncle and Merrick.
The man’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times, his beard quivering with the movement. He looked like one of those puppets on strings Rain had seen when a theater company had visited the homeless shelter. In fact, the guy probably was a puppet who’d gotten in too deep with Klaus’s twisted plan.
The pack had grown agitated. Four dozen or so freaked-out werewolves couldn’t be a good thing. Rain fought the urge to take a step back.
“Where is Ulrich?” a woman shouted.
“The culling is invalid,” yelled a man near Rain.
Klaus squared his shoulders. “The only thing invalid is the Burkhart family’s leadership. Everyone in that room tonight agreed it was time for a change. I am that change.”
Freddie shifted back into her human form, standing naked in the middle of the circle. No one seemed to even notice she was there, except Rain. All the rest were focused on Klaus Weigl.
“No!” someone shouted. “Your son was going to fight her, prove himself, and step up as her mate. You were going to run off the human. Where is Ulrich?”
Klaus’s voice was level and calm. “Perhaps you should ask our esteemed rule keeper.”
All eyes turned to the man with the beard.
“You guys all were in on this?” Freddie said. “The entire pack? Are you shitting me? This whole thing was a setup? To what, get rid of Rain Ryland? This is so fucked up.”
As Rain looked around at all the angry faces and the naked girl in the middle of a circle of torches, he couldn’t agree more.
And then, fucked up took on a whole new meaning.
Klaus Weigl, without removing any clothes, crouched, and in a span of less than a breath, morphed into the black wolf.
Forty-One
“Run, Rain!” Freddie screamed, crouching to shift forms.
Like hell, he’d run. He had never run from a fight in his life. He lifted his fists and spun to face the black wolf stalking his way, fangs bared. Half of the animal’s tail was missing, but the wound appeared fully healed. As Rain readied for the wolf’s lunge, a blur of white and gray fur sailed through the air, knocking the larger animal to the ground. The black wolf wasn’t down long, though, and immediately spun to bite Freddie in the side of her face and drag her to the edge of the circle. The Watchers parted.
“You must stay within the circle,” the man with the beard shouted, and the guy next to him punched him in the mouth. All the Watchers seemed on the edge of frenzy. Rain understood this, the pack mentality—it was the same with the gangs he’d encountered. One trigger and they would all be out for blood. Hopefully not his.
“You tricked us,” the man shouted at the bearded guy. “Where’s Ulrich?”
Two men morphed into wolves and stalked closer to the guy with the beard. Rain didn’t wait for the man’s answer. He darted away from the circle and ran down the row of vines, searching for Freddie and Klaus. When he looked back, the circle had closed in on itself and the man who, no doubt, would pay for betraying his pack.
He sprinted faster between the rows of vines but saw no sign of Freddie or the black wolf. A man’s cry of pain came from somewhere behind, followed by a chorus of howls.
After some distance, he paused to listen, stretching the cramp in his side and gulping air. The wolves were much better equipped for this sort of thing. The pack had moved to the far end of the vineyard, still snarling and howling, but he couldn’t detect any sign of Freddie or the black wolf.
And then he heard it. He couldn’t make out any words, but it was Freddie’s voice. If he were a wolf, he’d be able to hear what she was saying and locate her. He turned toward the northwest corner with dread. Klaus had taken her to the spot where her father had died.
He ducked down and slipped through the vines and, once he was two rows over, sprinted back toward the dead spot. Freddie’s voice sounded as outraged as it did pained. And human.
“You killed my father, didn’t you?”
Rain crept on all fours to not be seen over the vines, stopping when he was even with them. At the far end of the vineyard, the pack of Watchers had gone feral, snarling and snapping and yelping, Freddie and Klaus forgotten in their blood frenzy.
“Someone had to stop him.” Klaus’s voice sounded choked, like he was about to lose control. “He wanted us to continue serving Weavers. The Weavers should serve us. We are the real power. But I didn’t kill him. I didn’t need to.”
Rain carefully pushed aside some leaves to peek through. Everything in him wanted to rush in with his fists flying, but he knew he was at a huge disadvantage against a wolf if the guy shifted. His objective was to keep Freddie safe, and that meant waiting until he could for sure gain the upper hand. Klaus held Freddie by the hair, bending her almost backward over the wire where her father’s body had been found. Blood oozed from the bite mark on the side of her face.
“But I’m going to kill you.” Klaus wound her hair around the top wire and tied it off in a knot, binding her to the wire as she thrashed and clawed at his face. He grabbed her wrists and held them to her sides. “Look at you,” he taunted. “You can’t even maintain your wolf.” She kicked and twisted to free herself. “And the beautiful thing about my whole plan is, your precious Rain Ryland will take the blame. Human bites are very distinctive. I will have witnessed the murder with my very own eyes. He bit your neck. Ripped out your throat—like an animal. And the Weavers will believe me. What self-respecting Watcher would kill in his inferior human form?”
“And the bite mark on my face?” she said, eyes narrowed.
“A scavenger. In fact, your insides will no doubt be devoured by some wild animal.” Howls sounded from behind. “A whole pack of them, perhaps. The chief will have her hands full hiding this one from the human press. Maybe she shouldn’t. Maybe I’ll call the local news station. The humans should know what’s coming their way when we’re finally liberated.”
Before Rain could react, Klaus bit her neck, and she screamed. By the time Rain crashed through the vines, she had shifted and twisted out of the man’s grip, leaving him with a mouthful of fur. Klaus snarled as he shifted, then lunged, catching her back leg and chomping down. The crunch of bone was unmistakable, and she collapsed into a writhing ball, whimpering, tail tucked. He must have smelled or heard Rain over the commotion, because he released her and spun, hackles raised, teeth bared, then he stretc
hed and twisted into his human shape.
“Rain! No!” Freddie screamed, having shifted back to her human form. She tried to stand but fell back to the ground with a shudder. No doubt her leg was broken in multiple places.
“Oh, but he can’t help himself. He has to fulfill his destiny. Don’t you, Aaron?”
He stood his ground, watching the man for clues as to his next move. If he could catch him before he shifted back to a wolf, Rain had no doubt he could take him. The wolves behind him launched into a chorus of howls.
“They’re still hungry,” Klaus said with a sickening smile. “Didn’t you eat one of Helga Goff’s cookies, Friederike?”
She didn’t answer. She simply rocked, clutching her leg, with a look that could kill.
“I did,” he said. “Aaron cast it off during his first trip out there. Thomas brought it to me after he found it while looking for you. You had disappeared. You do that a lot, I’m told. Maybe you were having trouble keeping your form…”
She growled.
“See, I’m doing the pack a favor. You’re not fit to lead.”
Rain hated guys like this. Guys who had to talk shit all the time. Usually it was nothing but a bluff. With this guy, though, he was certain it was the real deal. He genuinely enjoyed torturing them.
“Tell her what your destiny is, Aaron Ryland. Tell her what you saw when you ate one of Mrs. Goff’s cookies. I saw the same vision. Just from a different viewpoint.”
Rain stood very still so as not to provoke him. Freddie struggled to get to her feet again but fell back with a grunt. Klaus didn’t even turn to look at her.
“Grant told his sister you’d eaten one. She told her mom, who told her dad, who told me, of course. Charles Ericksen and I have an understanding…sort of. I understand him, and he thinks he understands me.” He arched a black eyebrow. “He didn’t see this coming, though. None of them did. Surprise!”
This was off. The guy was way too relaxed and chatty. Maybe Rain could lunge and take him by surprise. He’d need to break something quickly so that he couldn’t fight well in wolf form.
“So, are you going to tell her what happens next?”
I’m going to kick you in the gut, then dislocate or break both shoulders and hopefully some ribs in the process.
“Because I plan to kill her first, and I’m sure she’d like to know what will become of you.”
Behind Klaus, Freddie got to her knees and bowed her back. She changed into a wolf almost instantly and leaped, three-legged, at his back just as Rain lunged for Klaus and kicked as hard as he could, waist-high.
In horror, he watched as his boot made contact, not with a man’s gut but with Freddie’s face as Klaus dropped in wolf form to all fours between them.
Freddie was catapulted backward by the blow that was strong enough to shatter bones.
“My God!” Rain shouted, lunging to her and falling to his hands and knees over her body, insides twisting as if he were the one who had received the blow. He buried his face in her soft gray and white fur. “Freddie, no. No!”
She curled up and whimpered. Her eyes opened, and she took a deep breath. And then she licked his face and closed her eyes. For a moment, he thought she was dead, then he remembered what Petra had said about returning to human form when they died. Freddie remained a wolf. Beautiful, powerful.
Behind him, a low rumble began and then got louder.
A puff of wind rustled the leaves of the vines around him, and he sat back on his heels and stared up at the stars for a moment, his chest too tight to expand for a breath. He has to fulfill his destiny, Klaus had said. Yeah. Maybe so. But he sure as shit wasn’t going to do it without a fight. He was going to inflict as much damage as possible before that vision played out.
The rumble behind him got closer, and the hairs on the back of his neck prickled.
The chief’s voice rang in his head. Aaron Ryland, right now, your life means everything. Make it count. The constriction of his chest loosened and was replaced by hot fury.
He got on all fours again, hovering over Freddie’s unconscious wolf form, pretending to grieve. He had to keep her safe. Get the wolf away from her and inflict as much damage as possible and buy her time to heal or get to safety. The black wolf behind him was so close, he could feel its breath through his T-shirt.
“I’m so sorry, Freddie,” he said, hoping the wolf thought he was drawing up his knee to his chest from pain. Make it count, the chief’s voice echoed in his brain again. Damn right he would. After a slow, deep inhale, he kicked back with all his might, making solid contact with the wolf’s chest in a loud thunk, followed by a yelp.
He leaped to his feet and spun, chasing the black wolf down the row of vines, then tackling him. Once the wolf was off balance, Rain delivered another solid kick to the beast’s abdomen. Then another and another. When he kicked out a fourth time, the wolf caught his calf in its jaws, biting down, sending pain like boiling water shooting up his leg to his thigh. The animal yanked hard and pulled Rain off balance. The wind was knocked from his body as he hit the dirt, and his skull hit something with a loud crack and he found himself unable to move. He could only stare at the star-filled sky above him. Nothing like the skies back home in the big city. No. The city wasn’t home. This was his home. Freddie was his home, and from the corner of his eye, he saw she was no longer lying at the end of the row of vines. He’d done it. She’d escaped.
He grunted as a weight pushed in the center of his stomach when the black wolf crawled up his body snarling and wheezing. Good. He’d hurt it. He wanted to kill it, but he couldn’t make his body move. He’d hit the ground too hard. Maybe he’d hurt Klaus Weigl enough to keep him from defending himself against the pack, and all of this wouldn’t be for nothing.
The stars twinkled like the Christmas lights on the huge tree they used to put up in the church near his shelter. He and Moth used to sneak in at the end of services to get a look at it. Moth. At least his friend had lived.
Fire shot through his leg from the bite, as if he’d been branded or something.
The wolf’s black head now blocked his view of the stars. He could lift his arms, but the rock to his skull had done something to him, and he couldn’t make a fist. This was it.
You’ll make a difference. It’s not for nothing, Petra had said. He hoped that was right.
The animal snarled and drew its lips from its teeth, and his thoughts went to Aunt Ruby. The wolf went blurry for a moment, and a hot tear slid down his temple. All his life he’d brought nothing but unhappiness until he came to New Wurzburg. Without rain, the world would be desolate—like me before you came here, Ruby had said.
Maybe the chief was wrong, and he wasn’t totally disposable. Even if he disappeared without a trace tonight, Ruby would feel it. Freddie would, too. And Petra and Moth. So would Grant and Merrick and Kurt and maybe even Thomas. A disposable had no loved ones. He did. Petra was right. It hadn’t been for nothing.
A fierce growl came from the black wolf, and a drip of hot drool and blood hit Rain’s cheek. Another attempt to make a fist failed.
In the silent vision at Mrs. Goff’s house, he thought he had yelled for help, but that wasn’t it at all.
“Do it!” His voice came out as a bare whisper. “Just fucking do it.”
And the black wolf did. The pain was so overwhelming it was almost like it was happening to someone else, which didn’t really make sense, but then, maybe the thoughts of a dying person never made sense. His breath choked off with a gurgle, and the wolf pulled back with blood and tissue in its teeth, then bit again, tugging so hard Rain’s head fell back. He raised his hands to his throat, mouth opening and closing silently as the wolf seemed to grin around what Rain knew to be a chunk of his own flesh.
Like a band of fire, pain encircled his body, overshadowing the searing in his neck. And mercifully, the pain receded. So did the stars as his field of vision faded to black from the outside. Home, he mouthed. As his head lolled to the side, the last
thing he saw in a shrinking ring of vision was the moon, beautiful and clear blue, like Freddie’s eyes.
Forty-Two
The ceiling of the tank room at Haven Winery wasn’t something Rain had ever expected to see again. Even if he was fool enough to think the white ceiling was heaven, the pain in his body let him know it was closer to hell. Flames of pain scorched his body from the inside out.
Definitely hell.
His groan sounded distant, like it was coming from somewhere else.
And then it all came back. The torches, the fight, the black wolf, Freddie.
He tried to sit up, but something pinned him down, and the pain flared.
“Easy, dude. Relax.” He recognized the voice as Merrick’s “We thought you were a goner.”
“How long does it take?” That one sounded like Kurt.
An adult male voice answered. “I’ve never witnessed it before.”
“It shouldn’t be happening here,” Merrick added. “It shouldn’t be possible.”
Gotta get to Freddie. Rain cracked his eyes to find Kurt, Merrick, and Ulrich Burkhart huddled over him.
Ignoring the searing deep inside his bones, he tried to sit up again but hardly budged. “Freddie!” His voice came out in an indistinguishable growl.
“Easy,” Ulrich said. “You lost a lot of blood. It’s going to take you a while to heal.”
“We should bring him outside,” Merrick said.
“No, he’s safer in here. The pack will tear him apart.” Ulrich’s voice was calm.
“But he’ll—”
“I said no! He’s doing fine inside. He’s clearly not like us.” A heavy hand patted his shoulder, and pain raged through his body from the touch. “Relax and let the beast take over. Here, drink some more of this.”
Rain swallowed, and a familiar bitter taste made his stomach roll. He tried to sit up. What the hell? The guy was holding him down. They all were. He struck out and froze mid-punch when he got a glimpse of his forearm. A sickening churn joined the unchecked fire under his skin as he stared at his elongated bones and thick hair covering his limb. He uncurled his fingers tipped in razor-sharp black claws.
