Summit of the Wolf

by Tera Shanley

  Dean and Rachel waited in a fog of despair just outside the door. The pained noise that came from Morgan’s throat was enough to rip his guts out. She slammed an iron door on the bond between them so quickly and unexpectedly that it made him queasy. Rachel caught her as Morgan slid to her knees sobbing. Lana clung unsteadily to Grey’s leg, and he patted the little girl’s hair. He needed to take his eyes away from his mate’s pain but couldn’t.

  Dean gathered Lana into his arms. “Those wolves in there are going to be coming out of those doors any second now. They don’t need to see her like this.”

  Numbly, Grey picked Morgan up. He held her tightly against his chest and walked her straight to the cabin.

  “I had to do it,” he gritted out, desperate for her to understand he wasn’t trying to hurt her. “They were going to take you away from me if I didn’t buy us some time.”

  Morgan’s quiet crying gutted him.

  When they were inside, Rachel followed Morgan into her room and crawled into bed with her. Grey kept his distance. The last wisp of emotion he had received just before she shut their bond down was the sharp crack of betrayal.

  A knock on the door pulled him out of his thoughts, and Marissa stuck her head inside.

  “Can I talk to you?” She had been crying, too.

  “What are you doing back so soon? Are you all right?”

  Marissa nodded and wiped her face. “I have to tell you something.” She looked worriedly over at the bed where Morgan was crying and Rachel was rubbing her back. Grey shook his head. Best for her not to ask right then.

  “Um, I might need to tell Dean, too. It involves his new wolf.” Grey rubbed a hand over his face and nodded, opening the door into the joint living area. Dean sat at the table with his head in his hands while Lana devoured a chocolate chip granola bar.

  Marissa took the seat across from him. “When I was running with everyone, the boys did a good job of staying close to me. I don’t think they can tell where I am without seeing me since I’m not in their pack anymore. They got ahead of me, and these two wolves separated me from the rest of the pack. I was trying to get back, but they worked together to steer me farther and farther away. They were rubbing against me and nipping at me, and I was so scared. But all of a sudden Levi jumped in between them. I mean, it was pretty dumb of him because they were both way more dominant than him, and they were really big. Anyway, he fought them off long enough for Wade and Logan to figure out I was missing and come find me to help.”

  “Geez, are you all right?” Grey was patting her arms as if he could fix it by touching her.

  “Yes, I’m fine, thanks to the new wolf. The point of this is that I know the wolves who did it. They are the ones who were stalking you and Morgan in the woods this afternoon.”

  Grey frowned. “How do you know?”

  “I was out with Rachel and Lana when we heard some of the packs talking about Morgan. Rachel took Lana back to the cabin, but I was pissed at how they were talking about her, so I stuck around to listen. I heard the two wolves who were spreading the gossip. They were giving first-hand accounts, and I smelled them so I could remember them. These were the same wolves that came after me, Grey. They stalk women. It’s a game for them.”

  He shook with the overwhelming rage inside of him. Berserker. Wolf was about to go completely out of control. The past hour had gone so horribly wrong. He wanted to roar as loud as he could and pound his fists against the table until it was nothing but tiny splinters and dust. Lana was looking at him curiously now, and he had no outlet for his rage.

  Dean’s eyes shown bright gray, and his face flushed red. “Grey, the fights start in a couple minutes. I was waiting to tell you so it would give you less time to think about it, but I signed you up yesterday.”

  Dean, that wise old wolf, was giving him his outlet.

  “I don’t know if I should be fighting right now,” Grey growled.

  “Right now is exactly when you should be fighting. Challenge those animals. Beat them. Fight the next one and the next one and the next one until they are all defeated. Teach them a lesson, and then show every single son of a bitch who thinks he has a chance of challenging you in six months that you will murder them. Be Demon Wolf, Grey. Let. Him. Out.”

  “Marissa, do you need to see it?” Grey asked. Marissa was still a child, but did she need to see her alpha defend her?

  “Of course, I do.”

  Grey grunted. Both members of his pack could be bloodthirsty little creatures when they wanted to be, and Wolf approved.

  “Take care of my family?” he asked Dean.

  Dean nodded. “Of course I will, brother.”

  Grey clapped him on the shoulder before he led Marissa to the mess hall.

  When they arrived, Marissa immediately found and pointed out the men who had attacked her. Grey called them out in challenge, and Marissa scrambled to the wolf with the sign-up sheet to set it up. As she passed them, she flipped them off, letting her eyes slide into an eerie light blue. Grey smirked. Morgan was definitely rubbing off on her.

  When she was safely seated next to Sarah, Grey turned his cold gaze onto his first challenger.

  And then he handed Beast the reins.

  Chapter 10

  A bell rang, and Grey ran straight for the sneering face of the man. He grabbed his throat and hooked a foot behind his legs just before slamming him to the ground. He pummeled his face until the referee called it. The gray-eyed man wasn’t sneering anymore.

  The second man had taken notes. He was smarter about his approach, ducking out of the way immediately and landing a few punches in between getting hammered by Grey’s unrelenting fists. Grey spat red after getting punched in the face and offered the rangy shifter an empty smile. The blood that flowed from his nose and lip were only a minor nuisance. Black Wolf didn’t feel it. Other than to mock the second fighter, Grey never flinched or reacted to the furious fists he absorbed. The man drew back farther to hit harder, giving Grey more time to work him over. It wasn’t long before he had handled him like the first one.

  “For my pack,” Grey snarled as the man lay gasping for air on the ground.

  His next fight was against the man who had won the first round. The referee had asked Grey if he wanted a rest, but he declined.

  Better to get it done with.

  Wolf was ready.

  * * * *

  “Where’s Grey?” Morgan asked Dean quietly.

  “Mess hall. He’s gone to fight.”

  She stared vacantly at the stone fireplace for a moment. She had to see him, to be there for him as he had always been there for her. She was angry and felt betrayed, but he’d done this for a reason. She hadn’t heard the Old Ones’ plans like he had. She could only imagine what they’d suggested doing with her. Grey had done what he did for a reason, and there was no doubt in her mind he’d done it to protect her. She couldn’t fault him for that, no matter how scared she was over the deal he’d struck. “When do they start?”

  “He’s probably fighting right now.”

  “We’ll be right back,” she told him, then wiped her puffy eyes on the sleeve of her hoodie and followed Rachel out the door.

  She walked in on his fourth fight. Sarah and Marissa waved them over to the side where they had commandeered a group of chairs. By the time they were sitting comfortably, Grey had finished his opponent off. He jumped and shifted his weight from side to side, and then hit the air in a flurry of blurred motion to stay warm and loose. He was mesmerizing. His scars stood out against skin stretched taught against a firmly muscled torso, stomach, and arms. A beautiful death-bringer.

  “He’s killing it,” Sarah whispered excitedly.

  His nostrils flared, and he turned his head. His gaze collided with hers like two meteors. She waved and smiled weakly. He cocked his head to the side. Come closer. Slowly, she approached him. He smelled of adrenaline, and his skin was slick with sweat and blood. If the big grin on his f
ace was any indication, Wolf was utterly in his element. His hand snaked gently around her waist, and he kissed her. The blood on his lips tasted dangerous, and the contrast of his unshaven face against hers was arousing.

  “I had a reason for what I did,” he said into her ear. “Everything I do is for you, Morgan.”

  The deep rumble of his voice against her earlobe sent a shiver through her. “We’ll talk about this later. I’m not going anywhere.”

  He nodded and kissed her hands before she left to go find her seat again. It would hold until they could get back home.

  The next fights were a blur. Marissa rushed to see who was fighting next and let Morgan know that a number of the wolves who had signed up had backed out after Grey’s first few fights. He was so graceful and fluid when he fought. He had a raw power and strength about him few others could match. A couple of his fights were closer than others, but he won them all. Summit crowned its new champion.

  He didn’t stay to gloat or do a victory lap or anything like that. He was humble and quiet, and his eyes scanned the room for her. Morgan made her way through the crowd and met up with him just as someone handed him a towel to wipe the blood off his face and chest. He had flung his dark gray T-shirt carelessly over his shoulder, and he draped his arm around her as they searched for Marissa. No one had signed up for a girl’s strength challenge, so everyone filed toward the doors that led back to the cabins.

  “I challenge Silver Wolf.”

  How amazing what those four little words did to her and her wolf. The crowd stopped their escape and shuffled around in confusion. Alexis stood on a chair that leaned against a pillar in the very middle of the room. Her arms were crossed, and irritating smugness etched into the cocky curve of her lips and the high arch of her brows.

  Morgan offered her a vacant smile and said, “No thanks,” as chipper as she could muster.

  “Chicken.”

  “Tastes delicious, but last time I checked, I was all wolf.”

  The masses parted as Alexis jumped off her chair and closed the short distance between them. She slapped Morgan hard across her face. Morgan froze. She tasted the iron of her bloody lip. Oh, for shit’s sake, she hated it when people fought with rings on.

  “Oh, Alexis. You stupid, stupid girl,” Marissa murmured.

  A smug smile tugged at the edges of Grey’s lips, and he nodded. “Give them room,” he demanded quietly. He leaned against a table and crossed his arms. Entertain me, his stance suggested.

  Morgan slid a hard gaze to Alexis. “Accepted.”

  Alexis swung before she had even finished the word, but she was too quick and ducked. She stood, and using the force of her body’s forward motion, she gave a diagonal kick to Alexis’s shin that snapped it in half. Before the pain had even registered, Morgan punched her so hard in the face her head snapped back like a dashboard bobble-head. She instantly caught Alexis by the throat with her other hand and lifted her off her feet. She’d make her scream for all she had done. She walked Alexis to the pillar in the middle of the room and smacked her against it. Raking her cold gaze slowly up and down Alexis’s strained face, she smiled a bloody smile.

  “Morgan?” Alexis whimpered.

  “Morgan’s not here.” An unrecognizable voice growled out of Morgan’s lips, shocking even her that her wolf was so close to the surface. “I should kill you for all of the pain you have caused us.” She cocked her head to the side, weighing her options. “You tried to kill me. You told the others about me. You put my family and friends in danger, and then blamed Brandon’s death on me. And after every horrible thing you did, you swayed that meeting to try and ruin any life I managed to put together despite your efforts to ruin me.”

  Morgan let go of her neck, and Alexis fell hard on her bad leg and landed with a thud on the floor. The sound of her pain-filled gasp tasted like hot cocoa for the soul. The instant Alexis’s body touched cement, Morgan sat on top of her. The cruel woman’s arms were pinned under Morgan’s legs lest she think about offering a pesky little face slap again.

  “All because Grey likes my bunny more than yours?” Morgan lifted a fist slowly in the air so that Alexis could watch it.

  “Little wolf,” Grey said almost inaudibly. Had he said it through the bond?

  She moved her face so her ear was angled toward Grey.

  “You can kill her, but it won’t fix anything.”

  “He’s right,” Morgan said. She brought her fist down and Alexis flinched as she stopped it at the last second. Instead, she opened her hand and patted her cheek a couple of times as Alexis emitted a shuttering whimper. “Oh shut your dumpster hole, Alexis. Nobody likes a sore loser,” she whispered, grinning.

  Alexis’s face went from fearful to furious. “You don’t even know what is coming for you,” she whispered harshly. “And when the time comes, I hope you remember who arranged your demise.”

  The threat was so sincere that a wave of gooseflesh washed across the back of her neck. She stood and straightened her shirt as a bewildered referee declared her Summit’s new female champion. Marissa and Rachel started the clapping, and it slowly picked up steam as the shock wore off the crowd. Grey chuckled as if he couldn’t get a funny joke out of his head. As they filed slowly out of the mess hall, his golden eyes found her time and time again.

  “What?” she asked.

  “I’m just proud you’re my mate,” Grey said against her ear as he pulled her against his side.

  Marissa and Rachel followed close behind as the crowd dissipated to their cabins.

  Morgan inhaled a long, steadying breath as her wolf settled again. “I think I need a vacation from vacation,” she said to the unanimous agreement of the others.

  Chapter 11

  Nail biting was never an attractive habit on anyone. That’s what Morgan’s mother, Hannah, had told her growing up. She didn’t care about that now. Her stomach fluttered. Nerves? She put a lead foot down on the gas and hoped Marissa wouldn’t hear her racing heartbeat from the passenger seat where she sat. Lana sat in the back seat of the truck, humming along to the radio, and thankfully oblivious to Morgan’s apprehension.

  Her wolf urged her to speed up with the quiet need to be close to her mate. Although life had changed incredibly in the five months since Summit, her connection to Grey hadn’t faltered. Not on her end.

  The packs had gone through some growing pains. Dean’s had expanded with the new addition of Levi to the ranks after his three-month trial period. He still had a lot to learn, as most men, werewolves or human, his age did, but he was reliable and proving to be a contributing member of the pack.

  Grey had hired him part-time to help with their business, which was threatening to become overwhelming due to the sheer volume of orders for their recipe boxes. Levi and Marissa were both turning out to be worthy apprentices in the woodshop, though they still avoided each other when possible. Sarah had travelled from Michigan to visit as often as she was able to get off work and would be a permanent member soon as well. She and Brent were still going strong, and by months end, she would be transferring to a job in Dallas and going through the pack Initiation Ritual. She had become a fast friend and easy confidant, and she often stayed at the Crawford Cabin when she came to visit. Between Dean and Grey, they would now have the monopoly on the pack with the most females, which Logan still jokingly complained about.

  In an utterly shocking announcement, Wade had admitted he was dating a human. He said it was easier navigating that territory after seeing Grey go through it, and he asked for his advice often. Brent and Grey were becoming closer, but at a cost. Brent spent a lot of time at their cabin, and it caused some unwarranted tension between the alphas of the two packs. Despite this strain, Grey had created a gap in the fence between their properties, and full moon hunts were now something the growing packs could do over both pieces of land. Wade’s too, if they felt inclined to hunt farther out.

  When they had arrived back at the cabin after Summi
t, there had been a package waiting for Morgan. It was a belated wedding gift from her mate. Grey had seen how comfortable she was wielding the set of silver blades in the pack war and had ordered a set just like them. He had them engraved to read, Silver Wolf, may my body provide the protection you need that you may never have cause to use these. It was written in script down the curve of the large blade, and the pack emblem was etched into the hilt of both in the set. They were perfect. A good man knew the way to his woman’s heart, and he had fortunately caught on early that the way to hers was through gifting weapons.

  Frantically, they had been trying for a baby, but months with no results had them panicked and dreading the future. Grey never talked about it. Quite the opposite. He hunched into himself as if he could protect her from his worry. It wasn’t fair to put such a time constraint on something that should happen naturally. Their couplings had become desperate, and lately they hadn’t talked about the need for a child at all because, surely, if they admitted their fears, they would drown in them. Wolf pushed heavily for control, but whether it was from Grey escaping his perceived failures, or from Wolf seeing the necessity to prepare for formal challenges again, she couldn’t be certain. Helplessly watching her mate struggle was a slow journey into hellfire.

  Morgan pulled the truck down the long drive to Dean’s house. “Did you do your homework?” she asked Marissa. “You know that is the first thing Rachel is going to ask.”

  “I finished everything but a book report, and I’ll have to do that one when I get home.” She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Are you feeling alright?”

  Morgan calmed her fidgety leg that was pumping in rhythm to the pop song on the radio. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Rein it in. Too shrill. “Why?”

  “Because you’ve been acting like a weirdo for the past week.” She leaned deeper into the passenger seat and muttered, “You are making everyone jumpy.”