by Unknown
They fell silent as the new wolves streamed toward them. They leapt over their comrades, skidding in the bloodied mud but coming closer and closer. Keira shot as soon as they were in range until a pile of furred bodies lay only yards away, and still they came.
She was going to die. It would only take one of these wolves to break through the hail of bullets and hit one of them. She couldn’t beat a shifted werewolf in hand to hand combat. She’d fight ‘til her last breath and Lachlan would too but it wouldn’t matter.
Time slowed down. Each bullet seemed to take an eon to reach its target, the recoil shattering up her arm as she watched yet another body explode in blood, stagger, fall. Before the wolf hit the ground she pointed her weapon at another wolf and it started all over again.
Everything seemed crystal clear. She had tried to fight her feelings, tried to avoid the huge change in her life that being Lachlan’s mate would bring, but it didn’t matter. As soon as they’d entered the Stronghold, her life had changed and it would never go back again.
Especially now, since she was about to die.
If she could live, though...if she could live, she’d stop fighting with Lachlan and give in. They had a long way to go, but she knew the symptoms. What she felt for him was love, or the beginnings of it. She didn’t want to be apart from him. She didn’t want to leave him. And no way in hell would she let him die while she had breath left in her body.
A wolf catapulted over the pile of corpses, coming within two feet of her before falling to her bullets.
“Run, Keira. For the love of the Gods,” Lachlan growled.
“Never.” She didn’t say it loudly but she didn’t have to. He’d hear her.
Another wolf leapt at her. She took two steps back, going almost into the tent itself. The wolf fell where she’d been standing.
This was it. The next one would get her.
Then everything stopped. Five men in camo leapt over the pile of dead wolves. Keira hit one in the chest and he stepped backward and tripped over the body of one of his comrades before falling. Another man’s chest bloomed with red as either Lachlan or Niall hit it.
“Stop!” The three remaining men stood before them pointing automatic rifles at them. The one speaking had dark hair cut short in a conventional business style and dark brown eyes. His clothes were all black and looked neat and tidy. “You’re surrounded, Lachlan. Surrender.”
That must be Sebastian. Asshole.
“We both know there’s no surrender,” Lachlan said. “There’s just one thing I ask. Let my mate go before you kill me.”
“No!” Keira fought the urge to take her gun off the enemy and turn to Lachlan. “I’m not leaving.”
“I can’t let you die.”
Sebastian laughed. “Sounds like she doesn’t want to go. Nothing I can do about that. But there’s no reason for you to die here, Lachlan. Surrender. I’ll give you an honest trial.”
#
An honest trial? Lachlan knew exactly what that would look like. But what could he do? Sebastian had him in a stalemate and Lachlan’s mate was in the line of fire.
But where the hell was the backup Niall had called for? How had things gone so wrong so quickly? If Lachlan drug this out, would someone show up to help?
“You say we’re surrounded but I see only the three of you,” Lachlan said.
Sebastian’s eyes slid to the side. “You see anyone riding to your rescue? That’s because we’ve got them all wrapped up. I have more wolves than you. You had to expect this.”
“Not possible,” Niall murmured. “No way I missed them.”
So–was Sebastian bluffing or was Lachlan in as bad a position as he said? “I could just kill you,” Lachlan said.
Sebastian adjusted his grip on his rifle. “Not before I kill your mate.”
Chapter 12
Lachlan’s skin felt stretched tight. What the hell was he supposed to do? He hated not knowing what to do.
He couldn’t surrender. Not without knowing for sure that things were as bad as Sebastian said. If backup showed up, Lachlan could still win the day. If Sebastian’s backup showed first, then Lachlan would lose, which was still better than surrendering.
Lachlan lifted his weapon a little higher, keeping it trained on Sebastian. Only choice was to wait it out.
The sound of a vehicle roaring reached them from the North. A few seconds later, a Jeep raced out of the trees and skidded to a halt next to the tent. Lachlan couldn’t take his eyes off of Sebastian long enough to look.
A lone figure raced to stand at the edge of their killing ground. “Stop it, both of you.”
Greer.
Gods damn it. Now two of the women he should be protecting were in harm’s way. “What the bloody hell are you doing here?” Lachlan growled.
“Stopping this madness. Stand down, Sebastian.” Greer’s usually kept her dark blond hair in a neat bob but today it looked messy and tousled.
Sebastian laughed but his shoulders hunched just a little. “You must be mad.”
“If you hurt my brother, I’ll never forgive you. And you–you can’t kill him, Lachlan.”
“Why the fuck not?”
“He’s my mate.”
What was she thinking? “You’re daft. Cousins can’t be mates.”
Greer took a step forward, closer to the line of fire. “You think I don’t know that? I don’t know how this happened but it did. Tell him, Sebastian.”
Sebastian straightened, his rifle lowering just a little. “It’s true. I first scented her in London. And now...” His dark gaze flickered toward Greer. “Your mother must’ve stepped out on your father.”
Lachlan growled, gripping his weapon tighter. “You take that back.”
Greer laughed. “Have you seen my family? We all look alike, every one of us. And we’re the spitting image of Da as well as Mum. If anyone stepped out, it must’ve been your mum, Sebastian.”
Sebastian growled. “I’ll not have you insulting my mother.”
The sound of rustling leaves and heavy breathing reached Lachlan. Wolves, lots of them. But so quiet he couldn’t tell which direction they came from.
“Surrender,” Sebastian said. “You can’t kill me or it’ll kill your sister. Surrender, and I’ll let your mate go.”
“Nice try. You no doubt hear the same thing I do,” Lachlan said. “If those are my wolves, I win. If they’re yours, you win. No way in hell I’m surrendering without knowing who’s coming.”
Sebastian swung his weapon and pointed it at Keira. “Surrender or I’ll kill her.”
Greer jumped out in front of Keira. “Shoot her and you’ll kill yourself.”
Sebastian growled. “Move.”
“No.”
The squish of paws impacting the soft ground grew louder just before the first wolves broke out of the tree cover into the clearing around the tent. Then they were everywhere–hundreds of wolves streaming in from behind, from the West. Their scent surrounded Lachlan and he knew.
He’d won.
Lachlan smiled. “Stand down. Don’t worry; you’ll have a fair trial.” There was a problem, though. What about Greer? Normally the punishment for treason would be death–but if he killed Greer’s mate, he’d kill her too.
They’d have to figure that out later.
Sebastian and his two wolves continued to hold their guns on Lachlan.
“It’s over,” Lachlan said. “You can’t expect to gain anything at this point.”
“You’re in the wrong,” Sebastian said. “You know it.”
Lachlan took a step forward. “You’re in the wrong. You should have challenged me directly but instead you dragged our wolves to war and killed who knows how many of them. And now when you’re clearly beaten, you think to lecture me about right and wrong? Put your damned rifles down.”
Sebastian and his wolves hesitated a moment longer then put their weapons on the ground and lifted their hands in the air. Several of Lachlan’s wolves had already shifted and quick
ly took the three English wolves into custody.
Greer stalked over to Lachlan, her blue eyes flashing. “The English Alpha position is vacant. What will you do now?”
“Iain will have to take it,” Lachlan said. “I can’t have another English wolf in there for a good long time.”
She growled. “Iain doesn’t want the position. I do.”
Not this again. “We’ve talked about this. A woman can’t be the Alpha.”
Keira stepped closer to them. The blood spatter on her cheek reminded him how close she’d come to dying. “Why on earth not?”
“Tradition,” he ground out. “I’m a little busy here.”
Behind Greer, Lachlan’s wolves pulled Sebastian to the ground and bound his hands behind him. It wasn’t possible to shift tied like that–he’d dislocate his shoulders.
“Bugger tradition,” Greer said. “Tradition got you into this spot. Tradition is why Sebastian’s wolves thought they had the right to go to war. It’s time for a change. I’d be a great Alpha and you know it.”
Beside his sister, Keira stood, gazing at him. All of a sudden, he knew this was a test. Would he accept a strong woman? If he couldn’t accept his sister as an Alpha, how could he accept a woman like Keira as his partner and equal?
It wasn’t that he didn’t think Greer would do a good job. It was that he didn’t think the other wolves would accept her. But could that really be worse than Sebastian? “It wouldn’t be easy. The English wolves would fight you all the way–not just because you’re female but also because you’re Scottish.”
The side of her mouth lifted. “I have an ace in the hole. Now that Sebastian’s my mate, it gives me a certain amount of protection. If they kill me, they’ll kill him too. And they wouldn’t dare do that.”
They’d say he was crazy for doing this but it made the most sense–for his relationship as well as for politics. Greer was right; Iain didn’t want to be the English Alpha. And because of that, he wouldn’t put his heart into it. She would. If she could get past the hatred, she’d do a damned fine job. “All right. I’ll give you a shot.”
Her face nearly glowed. “If I didn’t need to be dignified, I might whoop.”
“There are problems. For starters, you’re mated to a traitor. By all rights, I should keep him at the Stronghold but you’ll wither if you go to London without him.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Greer said. “Thank you.” She threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you.”
“I’m glad you got out in one piece.”
“Thanks to you.”
“Do me a favor and load your traitor mate into one of my trucks and then guard him, will you?”
“You’re cruel, you know that? I hate the man’s guts.”
She hated her mate. Heaven help them. “Then you have a serious problem.”
“Don’t I know it.” Greer turned and headed for Sebastian.
Lachlan dropped his arm around Keira’s shoulders. “Thank the gods I don’t have that problem.”
“I’ll drink to that.” Keira slid her arm around his waist.
Something had changed in the fight. He didn’t have time right now to tease it all out but her not being willing to leave–her being willing to die to protect him–that meant something. He needed to make sure she saw it too.
Iain arrived and, after hugging Greer, got the run-down on what had happened and what would happen next. Lachlan had never seen anyone so happy not to get a promotion. Iain had actually hugged Lachlan when he told him he didn’t have to be the English Alpha.
Then Lachlan and Iain arranged the clean-up. All the uninjured Scottish wolves were sent across the battlefield to try to find any injured. Medics were hard at work on the wounded.
The English wolves who hadn’t turned tail and run at the end of the battle–and many of them had–got down on their knees and swore fealty to Lachlan and then to Greer. Then their names were taken down. Lachlan and Greer could figure out punishments, where appropriate, later. For now, Lachlan had no place to take all the English wolves prisoner and he didn’t see the point, either. At the end of a war, you didn’t imprison the foot solders; you sent them home. So he did.
Last, they had to tend to their dead. A contingent got to work identifying the dead wolves and sending them home to their families as quickly as possible. There were fewer dead than Lachlan had thought but more than he’d hoped.
Fighting as wolves had done the trick, resulting in fewer mortal injuries and more wounds that the wolves themselves could heal. He had to think it was more than that, though. It seemed wolves on both sides had opted for incapacitating their opponents rather than going for the kill. If they could do that even in the heat of battle, it gave Lachlan hope for the future.
Lachlan sent Greer and Sebastian back to the Stronghold. Hours later, he and Keira had done everything they could and climbed into a troop transport. Keira relaxed against him and quickly fell asleep. Lachlan wouldn’t have thought he could do the same with the truck bouncing along on bad shocks and the wind rushing past the canvas of the supports but a few hours later he woke as they pulled through the gate into the Stronghold.
Lachlan shook Keira awake. “We’re here.” As soon as the truck rolled to a halt they got out. He slipped his arm around her shoulders. “Let’s get something to eat.”
“I need to clean up first. I’ll meet you at the dining hall.”
For a second, he wondered if she planned to split. Then he shook it off. If he couldn’t trust her now, he’d never be able to. “I’ll get food for you. Anything in particular you want?”
“Steak, if they’ve got it.” Before he headed for the dining hall, he couldn’t help himself. He pulled her close and laid a kiss on her lips. “See you in a few.”
She smiled and he could have been wrong but it sure looked genuine.
#
Keira headed back to Lachlan’s rooms–scratch that, their rooms–and immediately stripped. She didn’t remember the last time she felt so grungy and disgusting. It wasn’t all physical, either. She knew they’d been in battle and that if she hadn’t killed those werewolves they would have killed Lachlan and her. But she still struggled not to think about them as human beings. And she’d killed them.
She climbed into the shower. She still had to finish things with the Guild and tell Gillian. And Lachlan of course. At least he’d be excited. The guild would be livid and Gill...she didn’t know how Gill would take it.
She scrubbed her skin ‘til every bit of blood was gone and washed her hair at least three times. Back in the room, she sat down on the bed, wrapped in her robe, and pulled out her cell phone. May as well get the hardest part over with. She dialed Gill.
It went immediately to voicemail. She must have her phone off. After the beep, Keira said, “Hey, Gillie. I have some news but I don’t want to leave it in a message. Call me back, okay?”
She hated that she felt a little relieved that her sister hadn’t picked up. Telling Gill that their partnership was over wouldn’t be easy.
Since that call hadn’t taken any time, she called Harris.
“What?” he said.
No need to sugar coat it. “I’m resigning.”
For a moment, she heard dead silence. “You can’t do that. Dragon slayers don’t resign.”
“Well, I am.”
“Does this have to do with that wolf who thinks you’re his mate?”
It wouldn’t hurt for him to know, although it wasn’t any of his business either. “Yes. I’m staying with him. So fill out whatever paperwork you need to.”
“You can’t resign.”
“You can’t make me stay. Come after me and I’m pretty sure my mate will have something to say about it.”
“Aye.” Lachlan’s voice came from behind her. He stood in the doorway holding two plates and grinning.
She couldn’t help the flutter in her belly. “Bye.” She hung up. “I didn’t mean for you to find out this way.”
Lachlan sauntered
into the room, kicking the door closed behind him then putting the plates on the table. “I’m not sorry about it. It’s the nicest thing I’ve heard in a long time.”
Keira moved to the table and picked up a fork. “Looks good.”
Trailing his hand down her cheek, he said, “Sure does. I’m not so interested in the food anymore.”
“Really? I’m starved.” As she shoved a forkful of food in her mouth she knew she wouldn’t last long. Just his fingers on her cheek made her shiver. She could tease him, make him think what she wanted was food, but before long her desire would take over.
Lachlan slid his hands around her waist. “Lass, dinna make me wait any longer.” He nuzzled her throat. “I want you so verra badly.”
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she was reminded once again how tall Lachlan was. Tall and broad and hard. “Don’t you think we should eat to get our strength up?”
He nipped at the underside of her jaw. “We’ll do that after the first round.”
She laughed, pulling herself closer to him. “Our food will get cold.”
“Did you not notice? I brought mostly cold non-perishables. It’ll keep.” Laying kisses on her throat and collarbone, he walked her backward toward the bed.
Clever, clever mate. “How did you know I’d say yes?”
Chapter 13
His forehead rested against hers, his eyes gazing at her. “On the battlefield, you would not leave me to save yourself. Foolish as it was, you insisted on staying in order to protect me. I did not know for sure you’d say yes this morning but I had great hope I’d make you see the light.”
“Well. Success.”
“I love you, Keira Harlow. You may tell me I don’t know you well enough but I care nothing for that. I love you and I always will. And one day you’ll love me back.”
Her chest felt tight. “One day is here.”
He didn’t breathe. “What are you saying, lass?”
“I love you too. Even though I don’t know you well enough and there’s no way this should be happening. Doesn’t matter. I love you.”
