Hour of the Wolf

by Bell, Dana Marie

  “I think so, yes.”

  Damn. Sometimes she hated it when she was right, and as the Mind of the Forest, she often was. “Could he be using them somehow?”

  “I have no idea. Selena’s the witch, not me.” Rock glanced back. “But I can tell you we’re not far now.”

  “Wonderful.” Iva couldn’t wait for them to discover what lay ahead. Really.

  “Is there going to be a walking skeleton?” Amara’s voice was shaky with fear.

  “Maybe.” Rock sounded so blasé that Iva had to stop and think about his answer for a second. Skeletons, walking around by themselves? That shit belonged only in video games or horror movies.

  “Bloody hell.” Amara sounded horrified.

  “We’re here.” Trajan spoke softly but his light flared even brighter. Beyond him, Rock and Noah, Iva could barely make out walls dripping in lichen. The faint sound of trickling water echoed now that their footsteps were no longer masking it.

  As the men made room Iva stepped into the cave. The stench was so strong here she bent over, clutching her stomach as she emptied it. She wasn’t the only one either. Both shifters were puking, the smell too much for them. Amara was gagging. Only Ash and Rock were holding steady, neither one reacting to the smell.

  Iva wiped the back of her hand over her mouth and wished desperately that she’d brought a bottle of water. She’d give anything to be able to rinse out her mouth.

  “Are you okay?” Noah’s voice trembled and his face was still a bit green around the gills. He’d shifted right after puking.

  “About as good as you.” Iva stroked his cheek. “Let’s kill this sick fuck and get out of here.”

  “I like your style, lady.” Noah gave her a game grin, but he still appeared ready to upchuck at a moment’s notice. The fact that he remained naked couldn’t divert her attention from the horrifying smell, no matter how wonderful he looked. Not even the burn scars could distract from the beauty of his naked body. He rippled with muscles, every inch of him showing the strength of a prime alpha.

  Okay, maybe he can sidetrack me a little.

  “Then you’ll love this.” Rock pointed toward the other side of the cave.

  Iva was ready to puke all over again. There was a skeleton there, all right, but that wasn’t what was being used as an energy source. No. It was the fresh, dead body, somehow impaled to the wall that was the source of the stench. His eyes were pure black, no whites left. His skin was greenish black, his mouth missing its teeth. The fingers were twisted, so broken they were bent backward over the backs of his hands. His feet were gone entirely. They had been ripped off, leaving jagged edges of flesh and bone. He was completely naked, allowing them to view the brutality that had been directed at the man’s genitals.

  Iva didn’t even have a penis and yet she desperately wanted to cross her legs and protect her privates. The trickling sound was the black blood coming from the stumps of his legs. It pooled beneath him, swirling with its own energy.

  Trajan began speaking in his native language so rapidly she was surprised he wasn’t stuttering. It sounded like a prayer, but it could have been his disgust spilling over.

  “Who is it?” Ash’s voice was full of quiet rage.

  Rock stepped forward as if he saw tortured bodies every day, and twice on Sundays. He examined the broken man’s features. “I don’t know. Could be one of the Van Helsings, or some poor innocent who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’m going to go with the latter, since it’s a demon we’re dealing with. And no. He’s not one of us.”

  “Thank God,” Trajan breathed out.

  Iva noted the black line that led to the skeleton. It was slowly creeping up, the edges already near the skull. “Uh, guys?”

  Noah’s gaze followed hers. “Shit.”

  A cracking sound filled the cavern, echoing off the walls. The crunch of bones breaking and rearranging themselves was eerily loud, the echoes making it sound even worse. The black blood that had made its way to the skeleton darkened it, turning the bones from bleached white to gunmetal gray. The skull descended down the rib cage, the ribs themselves elongating. All of the limbs elongated, the finger bones stretching, bone melding until what stood before them no longer resembled a man at all. It was a giant spider made of blackened bone, the edges of its long legs sharp and lethal. It dripped black blood from the long fangs that now decorated its skull, and the eye sockets glowed with the same dark light that Iva’s did.

  “Son of a bitch.” Trajan backed up until he stood beside Noah.

  “I hate spiders.” For the first time Rock sounded frightened.

  Noah shifted back into his big-ass wolf form. Iva had never seen a wolf as large as Noah before. His shoulder was easily in line with her own. He had to be at least double the size of a normal wolf, maybe more. He crouched low, ready to attack, snarling at the thing that had once been a man and was now a monster.

  Iva set herself into an attack stance, her sword at the ready. Ash’s sword glowed with a tree of life symbol flaring along the blade, the rainbow hues an exact match for his mate’s markings.

  Trajan’s eyes changed, the color becoming deep purple, the pupils shaped like those of a salamander. Phantom scales covered his arms. They too were deep purple, the color of his dragon form. His hands flamed to life, his nails turning to claws.

  Rock’s skin became the multicolored gray, pink and green color of the stone of the mountain. His hands cracked like stone as he made fists, ready to use his power to fight.

  But it was Amara’s transformation that startled her the most. The gentle redhead grew to at least eight feet tall. Her skin was covered in brown bark that moved with her. Red maple leaves swirled around her in a nonexistent wind. Her eyes glowed angrily, the green totally obscuring the whites. Her voice was deep, filled with the creak of the forest in high winds. “Time to die, asshole.”

  Thank the Goddess she’s on our side. Iva shouted her own battle cry and ran forward, aiming for one of the front legs. It would attack with those first, trying to pin them down. If she could take them out, it would be crippled, forced to use its bite attack. Like a real spider it probably needed the six rear legs for stability.

  Those would be her second target.

  She swung, smiling when the thing shrieked in pain. She’d chipped the bone. A few more blows like that and she’d hit the marrow.

  She sensed more than saw Rock rumble after her, the sound of grinding stone on stone louder even than the creaks of the hamadryad. Noah’s enraged howl sounded as he landed on the spider skeleton’s back, tearing at the thing with his claws.

  “Don’t let it bite you!” Ash kept the head occupied, using his sword to bat at it. Something about his sword made the head shy away, forcing the rest of the spider to dance back.

  Amara howled in triumph and the spider stumbled. She held one of its back legs in her hand and waved it over her head like a war trophy.

  Unfortunately, Amara’s yell had pulled Iva’s attention away from the leg she was currently battling. There was a sudden, deep pain as her arm was pierced. Iva shrieked, her sword falling to the ground and disappearing. Her arm began to throb as her blood dripped down, mingling with the black blood that the skeleton was coated in.

  Damn it. Was she reinfected? Was she going to have to fight off yet another invasion of her mind, her soul?

  Amara was there before Noah could jump down. “Hold still.” She yanked hard, pulling the leg free.

  Iva screamed. She could swear that her arm was being ripped in half. She was pretty sure the bone was broken, either from the initial attack or from Amara’s “help.” Her vision was going dark as she desperately fought to stay conscious.

  When she could see again, Amara had taken her place, fighting the leg that now dripped not only with black blood but Iva’s red. She concentrated, forcing her sword to reappear. She picked it up with her
left hand. She wasn’t as good with her off hand, but she could at least defend her wounded ass.

  Noah was ripping into the skeleton with fangs and claws, tearing savagely at the head. It couldn’t reach there to pry him off, so Noah at least was as safe as he could be in this situation.

  Rock ripped another leg off the thing, tossing it aside like it meant nothing before moving on. Trajan was using his fire to hold the spider thing at bay and burn away the black blood. He was concentrating on the original pool, depleting its supply. Ash concentrated on one of the back legs.

  The leg that Rock had thrown started shuddering. Before Iva could take a step toward it, it rejoined the spider, socketing in with a sickening snap. The creature howled in triumph, a grating sound of bone rubbing on bone.

  Kill the totem.

  She shivered as the voice spoke in her head, but damn if it wasn’t right. Iva ran behind the spider to join Trajan. They had to take away the source of the creature’s power. Frying the black blood pool was a good start, but the totem just kept creating more. They had one chance at this before the spider overwhelmed them, and this was it. “We need to kill the totem.”

  Trajan nodded and turned his flame on the body of the man pinned to the wall. She was glad she hadn’t had to explain, because she was in so much pain she would have snapped his poor head off.

  The spider’s cry was like millions of nails on thousands of chalkboards. The screech ran down Iva’s spine, making her scream with horror. She couldn’t cover her ears to block the shriek, but she desperately wanted to.

  Trajan merely screamed back, the roar of an enraged dragon filling the cave, and turned up the heat.

  The spider thing began to wobble, the magic holding it together disappearing with the burning of the totem. The damn voice had been right. All of the magic was in that totem. The spider had to be a defense against someone trying to eradicate it. Whoever had set it up hadn’t counted on there being enough people to occupy the spider and destroy the totem at the same time.

  The totem was burning on its own now, so Trajan focused back on the pool of blood. Iva kept watch on the totem itself, making sure it didn’t go out or worse, come to life to defend itself. Either was a possibility.

  The stench of burning flesh mingled with the sulfur smell and the unique scent of the black blood to make a scent she hoped she never got to experience again. Her eyes were watering from the smoke and the stench, making it difficult to keep an eye on things. “Ash!”

  “Busy, sis.”

  “I need your eyes.” Iva wiped at her own with her good hand, careful not to accidentally stab Trajan.

  “Shit.” Ash was there, his arm around her shoulder as he crouched next to her.

  When had she sat down?

  “You’re losing too much blood.” Ash tore off a piece of his T-shirt, using his sword to make the first cut. “We need to bandage your arm and get you out of here.”

  Trajan knelt on her other side. “I could flame it, very carefully. It would cauterize the wound so she stopped losing blood, but she would scar and she will more than likely pass out.”

  Noah was there, gloriously naked, her face in his hands. He appeared worried, scared, but his tone was firm and unwavering. “Do it.” He kissed her forehead. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart, but believe me, this is going to hurt.”

  Before she could protest there was a bright flash of pain right before she passed out.

  Chapter Ten

  Noah coughed as the smoke continued to pour from the lichen and mold. “What the fuck was that thing?”

  “The source of the evil, a totem made from a living sacrifice,” Trajan snarled. “It’s destroyed. It can’t influence anyone anymore. Now get her out of here.”

  Noah followed the dragon’s instructions. He only wanted to make sure that the...totem...wouldn’t come back to bite them in the ass. That thing had freaked him the hell out.

  Especially what had been done to its genitals. He shuddered. He’d be seeing that in his nightmares for the rest of his life.

  Soon Trajan was also outside the cave. The dragon shook his hands as the last of his flame died down. He’d chosen to burn both the cavern with the totem in it as well as the front of the cave. The lichen and mold had taken some time to go up. The whole front of the cave was damp, making it difficult to set it on fire. But a dragon’s flame was stronger even than a fire elemental’s and Trajan had persevered until it was done.

  The cave was cleansed physically. Now they had to make sure it was done psychically. Noah had recommended that Lore come to the site with Selena and Greer to assess whether or not they’d gotten rid of the evil influence on the mountain. None of them had thought to bring the witch doctor and the Singer, something Noah was regretting bitterly as he listened to his mate moan in pain. Between the three of them nothing would get away.

  Once he was sure that everything was burned up, Noah shifted to his dire wolf form and allowed Ash to put Iva on his back. He would carry his mate all the way to the hospital while the others went and informed Dragos of the outcome of their venture. Blake should be doing much better now that the totem was gone.

  “Noah?”

  He grumbled, acknowledging his mate’s sleepy voice.

  “Is it over?”

  He nodded.

  “Good.” Her relieved voice flowed through him. “Hospital now?”

  He nodded again. They were almost down the mountain. Once in the forest proper he’d pick up speed and be at the hospital in two shakes of his tail.

  She’d been injected with black blood a second time in her life. That fucking nightmare skeleton had burned brightly when Trajan turned his fire on it. The dragon seemed to have been pissed as hell that Iva was injured. Amara, who’d reverted to her human form, had done some kind of crazy victory dance as it burned. Now she was chatting cheerfully with Rock, something about the coming group of kids from the local school. She and Rock worked together as rangers.

  When Amara saw that Noah was leaving, she leapt at him, throwing her arms around his neck. “I love it when you go all furry.” She rubbed at his head. “You’re so fluffy!”

  He shook her off, growling softly but playfully. She was as nuts as her mate, and he adored her like the sister he’d never had.

  Amare glanced at Iva. “Take care of her, okay?”

  He snorted. As if that was even in question.

  Before long they were at the base of the mountain, the forest beginning to surround them once more. He took off, wishing he could tell his mate to hold on tight. He tried to accelerate in increments so she’d realize what he was up to.

  When her good arm wrapped around his neck and held on tight, he went for it, moving with the grace only an alpha wolf held.

  They left the forest and were soon on the edge of town. No one said a word about the alpha carrying his mate on his back like he was some sort of Clydesdale, but it was so early in the morning not many people moved about. They’d been up on the mountain for hours, longer than he’d thought. False dawn was lighting the sky, or was it real dawn? He wasn’t certain, but either way it was later than he’d realized.

  It didn’t take that long to reach the hospital once he was in town. He ran right up to the sliding glass doors, slowing to let them open, then carried his wounded mate inside. He immediately howled for attention.

  The next hour was a blur of activity as they took Iva from him. Someone, one of his wolves, brought him clothing so he could be decent in a public place. That the clothing was scrubs and Crocs didn’t bother him. What did was not being able to watch while they worked on Iva. Not being able to keep an eye on her was making his wolf agitated.

  “Here, alpha.” An orderly, another wolf, brought him coffee and a donut. “Beta Hayes called and said the kids want to know if you’re all right.”

  “Thank you.” He didn’t have his cell phone on him, so he
’d have to ask to use the hospital phone. “Can you check on Iva Yamauchi? She was brought in with an arm wound.”

  “I’ll do that right after I bring you a phone, sir.” The orderly left, his shoes squeaking on the shiny linoleum.

  Noah smiled. To be that young again, eager to serve the alpha any way you could. Noah couldn’t remember ever having the drive to serve. He’d always had the urge to lead, and both he and his former alpha understood what it meant. When the alpha retired Noah was the logical choice to replace him. Instead of a fight for dominance, the old alpha had given way, allowing Noah to step up.

  Because of that, the tranquil, peaceful way he’d taken over, he’d been forced to fight off more than one challenge to his rule. He eventually challenged others to test his strength, becoming the Alpha Prime of the US.

  Luckily, few challenges were to the death, so while Noah had killed, more often than not it had been to protect either his pack or his town. One of the wolves he’d defeated had even become one of his own. Cole had mated and become a father, and was a happy citizen of Maggie’s Grove.

  “Here, alpha.” The orderly was back with a phone. “I’ll go check on the alpha mate now.”

  “Thank you.” He touched the neck of the young orderly to show him how pleased Noah was with him.

  The orderly blushed and ran from the room. That reaction was normal from young wolves, and rarely sexual in nature. It was like praising a child, but not, since the orderly was clearly in his early twenties. It elicited the same chemical reaction, and therefore the same blushes, stuttering and shyness. Noah never took it personally, and eventually the young wolf would outgrow it.

  Noah dialed Paisley’s number. It rang only once before Paisley picked up. “Hello?”

  “Hey. Put the kids on.”

  “Sure thing, boss man.”

  Some fumbling on the other side, then a sleepy little girl’s voice was there. “Uncle Noah?”

  “Good morning, Sana.” He made sure to keep his tone awake and cheerful when all he wanted to do was curl up in his wolf form and sleep for a week. “I’m okay.”