"I have friends in law enforcement," Jake said. "We'll keep this out of the press. If the children have families, then I'll see to it that they're reunited. If not, they won't wind up in the system. There are families willing to take in orphans."
She frowned. "They'd be raised by hunters."
His teeth flashed in a fierce grin. "Better than being raised by wolves."
Victoria's frown became a glare. "So you say."
"At least they'd have adults around them who will understand the nature of their trauma," Jake said. "Adults who know monsters are real. These kids are gonna suffer from nightmares for the rest of their lives."
He has the right of it. So much so that she shut her mouth and said nothing more. "Go on," she said.
"I'll drop Skinner at the hospital and get the children to safety," Jake said. "I'll meet you back here with the boy. Don't do anything stupid like calling your pack."
"I won't," Victoria said. She had considered calling for help, but Rand and the others would refuse to give her up without a fight. Another confrontation with the hunters would only get the rest of her people killed. Still, she was worried about them and she lacked the energy necessary to open the pack bond. No one had responded to her distress while she battled the krampus, which meant they were out of range or in trouble.
She helped Jake move Skinner into the front passenger seat of an SUV. Offering assurances, she buckled the three children into the back seat. Sorrow made her throat close so she could barely speak as she bid them goodbye, and it was all she could do not to cry in front of them. To her secret delight, Michael insisted upon taking the stray Rottweiler with them.
"Damn mutt probably has fleas," Jake grumbled but loaded the dog into the back and closed the tailgate.
"When will you be back?" she asked.
"I'll be an hour." Jake glared, meeting her gaze with hard brown eyes. The man had a relentless stare.
Victoria's upper lip pulled back to reveal her teeth. "If you've harmed a hair on Jasper's head, I'll drag your soul to hell and pitch you in head first."
The corner of his mouth tugged in what might have been a reluctant smile but he turned away before she knew for certain. As she watched, he climbed into the vehicle and drove away into the night, taking the three children, the stray dog, and his injured friend to safety.
Chapter Six
Victoria waited for an hour, pacing the perimeter of the parking lot. Time ticked past one excruciating minute after another, and she abandoned her resolution not to call her pack. She had to know what had happened to them.
Sylvie answered on the first ring, and her tone communicated her distress. "Thank the Goddess, Victory," she said. "Where have you been? We've been worried sick waiting for you to call."
"I'm fine but there's no time to explain," Victoria said. "Quick, tell me where you are and what's happened. Is Rand okay?"
"Rand, damn fool, ran into a group of hunters in front of the tavern," Sylvie said. "He got hit with a concussion grenade and knocked out. Stone cold. We managed to grab him and drive away."
"Goddess, is he okay?" Victoria asked.
"Yes. He's just now starting to come around but Jasper's still missing."
"I'm working on getting Jasper back," Victoria said, interrupting to offer reassurance. She infused her voice with confidence that she did not really feel in her heart. "Is everyone else safe?"
"Yes, for now. We're on the northern outskirts of town," Sylvie said. "We couldn't go any farther without losing all of the bars on the phone."
"The plan hasn't changed," Victoria said. "Wait there until dawn. If Jasper and I aren't back by sunrise, then head north to Santa Fe." Her voice caught in her throat. "Sylvie..."
Sylvie's voice grew tight. "What is it, Victory?"
"If I'm not with Jasper, then you're to keep going. Don't allow Rand to come after me, even if you have to club him over the head again. As your Alpha, that's an order. Do you understand me?"
A long pause ensued, and then Sylvie gave a clipped reply. "I understand."
"Goddess watch over us," Victoria said, sending a quick prayer to Freya.
Sounding displeased, Sylvie echoed her words. "Goddess watch over you, Victoria Storm."
They ended the call. Victoria's wolf roiled with turmoil as she checked the clock on her phone. Thirty minutes late. Her teeth sank into her lower lip, and she tasted the salt of blood on her tongue. Her instincts told her that something was very, very wrong. She felt it in her gut.
Using her phone's call log, Victoria located Jake Barrett's number and hit dial. It rang twice before he answered.
"Hold on a second," Jake said, breathing hard.
"Barrett, what the hell is going on?" Victoria demanded. In the background, she heard men shouting, and she recognized Jasper's voice, full of fear and anger, raised in a yell, but his words were unrecognizable.
"Damn it, Jake, tell me—"
The blast of a shotgun deafened her.
Through the pack bond, Victoria experienced Jasper's death as a blow to the heart, a severed limb, the demise of soul. An agonized howl tore from her throat and she fell to her knees on the black pavement of the lot. Her cry of loss and sorrow rose above the din of city sounds, soaring into the night.
Jasper dead. Her fault, her fault, her fault—
Through the pack bond, she knew her packmates heard her howl even though they were miles distant, beyond the range of sound. They also experienced the brutal reality of Jasper's death. Through their shared connection, she felt each of them suffering for the loss—Rand, Sylvie, Paul, Morena and Sophia—hurting because Victoria had failed to protect a child of the pack.
Victoria's howl ended on a gasp as she drew air into her starved lungs and abruptly she remembered the phone in her hand. She brought the device to her face.
"Why?" she asked, croaking the question.
"He wasn't supposed to get hurt," Jake said, sounding distant. Disbelieving.
Rage. Cruel, vicious rage crashed through her heart, blinding her to all else. "You're the same as that devil, Jake Barrett," she hissed into the phone. "A child thief who murders innocents. If it's the last thing I do, I'll make you pay."
Before he replied, she hurled the phone at the side of the building with all of her immense strength. The device exploded into a hundred pieces and the components rained to the ground.
In that moment she would have gladly ripped every member of the Barrett family to bloody shreds. Hatred defined her existence and she initiated the transformation—teeth and hands changing, fur springing up across her skin, bones lengthening. She roared her fury, committed in her heart to rending Jake Barrett from limb to limb.
The voice of her goddess broke through her rage. Freya's silken contralto filled her mind, imposing inner peace. Abide, my priestess. Jasper gave his life for you. He refused to allow your sacrifice.
Victoria's transformation halted while she remained bipedal. Tears streaking her cheeks, she wrapped her arms about her torso in a self-hug, rocking back and forth. "Goddess, why would he kill Jasper?" she asked. "I was going to give myself up."
Jasper tried to escape and they murdered him. His soul is lost to us. He has gone to Niflheim—Hel's domain. He is damned.
"Oh Goddess, no." Sobbing, she curled into a fetal position upon the icy asphalt. She had never known a greater failure—not even her inability to save Daniel from death.
Freya's golden voice filled her mind, drowning out all else, even thoughts of revenge. Run, my priestess. Run. For the sake of your pack, run. They need you. Death awaits you if you confront the hunters now.
"I'll avenge him. If it's the last thing I ever do. I'll avenge Daniel, my parents, my pack. Everyone." A broken woman, Victoria climbed to her feet and took an unsteady step.
To exact revenge for this cruelty would break you, Victoria. For the sake of your pack, for those who love you and whom you love, run.
"I pledge my soul to revenge," Victoria swore to her goddess. "On my hon
or, and my family's name."
Freya's voice grew assertive. Swear to seek justice, not revenge, and I shall witness your oath.
Victoria opened her mouth to argue, but stopped herself. Revenge? Justice? What is the difference? What does it matter?
"I pledge my soul to justice," Victoria said, giving her goddess the necessary words to receive Freya's blessing. "On my honor, and my family's name."
Blinding light destroyed her vision for a full minute. Your pledge is witnessed.
Staggering forward, Victoria took a faltering step, and then another. Gradually, her vision restored and she could see again. Abruptly, she broke into a run, shedding her borrowed coat, and completing the transformation into the form of her wolf. She ran because her goddess commanded it, swearing revenge in her heart because she no longer believed in justice, whether she was sworn to it or not.
About the Author
Melissa Snark is a resident of Northern California, where she lives with her husband, three children, and three cats.
Visit Melissa at
www.melissasnark.com
or
http://melissasnark.blogspot.com/
Coming Soon
HUNGER MOON
By
Melissa Snark
Hunger Moon is an intense urban fantasy that follows the story of Valkyrie Victoria Storm as she evades hunters and battles a Norse winter witch intent upon enslaving her people. Victoria desires nothing more than to provide her wolf pack with a safe haven, but her position as priestess to the Goddess Freya also brings with it certain... obligations. Not to mention complications.
War with the Barrett family resulted in the deaths of her parents and most of her pack. Now, hunters are hot on the trail of the remaining pack members. Sawyer Barrett, a human hunter hell bent on revenge, is convinced that Victoria murdered his brother. He will stop at nothing to see her dead.
Victoria must defend the survivors and somehow lead them to safety. Months on the run has weakened the pack, and there are newborn pups to protect, making swift travel impossible. Ahead, the promise of refuge beckons.
Their best chance for survival lies in Sierra Pines, California: Arik Koenig, a powerful, dominant male wolf. He promises to protect and provide for the pack, something Victoria knows the pack needs for survival. His mysterious past is riddled with violence and death, including the slaughter of his entire family twenty years before. His wife died under mysterious circumstances and his son, Logan, is rumored to be her killer.
What is truth? Who can she trust? The desperate spirit of Arik's murdered wife calls out for help, and Logan begs for assistance in clearing his name. Victoria must solve a murder that has pitted father against son, rooted in a mystery reaching back two decades. Her quest starts her on a journey from the human world to Odin's Valhalla and back again.
Victoria will find salvation or face destruction beneath the Hunger Moon…
The Child Thief (Loki's Wolves) Page 5
