Ted looked at me and Allegra, and didn’t get up. No greeting of respect for an alpha that would never equal him in power. He nodded to Allegra who nodded back. I’d forgotten they knew each other better now.
“I’d like to talk to you,” Ted said, finally getting up. “Alone, if you don’t mind.”
I looked at Allegra, who nodded and scooped Kurt up.
“Chocolate chip pancakes for daddy!” she said and Kurt started chanting with her. Ted and I watched them walk into the house.
We turned away from the house and walked down the road. “Your little wolf has a lot of power,” Ted said. “He’s going to be a force to be reckoned with when he comes of age.”
“I’m not sure when that will be,” I said. “He’s already running with us during full moon.”
Ted looked at me, blinked, looked away again.
“He doesn’t change, I’ve watched him.”
“He only changes when I’m home. I think it’s got something to do with Allegra’s power. Or ability. Whatever. He’s just a normal kid when I’m gone, she says. When I’m home, that’s when the fun starts.”
Ted looked at me like he was considering my words. I didn’t know if he believed me, but it didn’t matter.
“What’s going on?” I asked. We’d walked to a vacant lot around the corner from our house, with grass growing about knee height.
“Sarelle is part of a pack. She’s been lying low for the past two months so I found her and followed her. She’s dating the alpha now, but their bond isn’t very strong. It’s new. I think she’d been part of it much longer than her position as alpha’s mate.”
“That’s good,” I said. Maybe she would forget about me kicking her out of our pack. Especially now if she was higher up in a new pack. That was all she wanted, anyway. But Ted shook his head.
“I don’t know if it’s good. The alpha might be alpha, but he’s a walk over. I don’t know how he got there. For all intents and purposes she’s running the pack. So if she wants a war…”
I nodded. I understood what he was getting at. If Sarelle had it in for us then she could convince the alpha to war against us. If that happened, it wasn’t just between her and Allegra anymore. It was pack against pack, and we were all involved.
“Our pack isn’t very big,” I said. “How many are they?”
“Almost twenty, but a few of them are young wolves and not all of them military. They won’t put them all in. Still, I think it’s fair to prepare for the worst.”
He looked around the vacant lot as if he was waiting for something to jump out at us from the grass. But I felt it too, the sense of foreboding that had come with this conversation.
“That’s more than two to one,” I said.
“But you’re stronger. And if you’re ready, you can take them.”
“With Allegra? She’s not even a wolf and she might need to face more than two? That’s almost ten times her strength.”
Ted looked at me and I struggled to read his face. No one ever really knew what he was thinking – that was probably part of why he was so scary.
“She’s a lot stronger than you think, Reid,” he said. “Just let her do what she does best, and it will work out.”
Ted walked away from me, leaving me alone in that vacant lot. I took a deep breath, smelling the air, but I was alone. The danger hadn’t come, not yet.
Allegra was strong, but it was emotional strength, not physical. How was she going to last in a pack of wolves when it was a free for all? She was human, I could bargain for the first blood rule. But what happened if she was turned? If a wolf lost control? What if they just didn’t respect the rule? There were so many things that could go wrong.
I turned and headed toward home. I needed to tell her, at least. For better or worse, that was what we’d both promised. But this was going to get a lot worse before it was going to get better, and I didn’t know how she was going to survive it.
And if she didn’t survive it, I didn’t know how I was going to survive it.
I got home to the smell of pancakes. The kitchen was hot and Kurt’s face was half-covered in flour.
“Pancakes!” he said and held out one to me. I walked up to him, taking a bite out of it from his hand and realized only afterward how animalistic it was.
“Yum,” I said and swallowed. I looked at Allegra. She was worried. She could sense my tension.
“She’s found a pack,” I said, dusting Kurt’s face. I kept my voice light, like it wasn’t a big deal, but I felt Allegra still next to me.
“I don’t suppose she’s just going to get on with her life and let it go?”
I shook my head. Allegra knew that Ted wouldn’t have been here to talk to me if that had been the case.
“Full moon is coming. I wouldn’t be surprised if its soon.”
She nodded. She understood how it worked. Probably more than I thought she did.
“How will you prepare them?” she asked, and I knew she was talking about the pack. It was amazing how we were on the same page, even when we went months without seeing each other.
The bond between an alpha and his mate was powerful. Even when it was with a human. But then again, I was starting to think Allegra was less human than she was wolf, even if she didn’t change during the full moon. Even if she didn’t have shape, she was part animal.
She was more part of us than she was part of the human society.
And I loved that about her.
No matter what came, I would make sure nothing happened to her.
“What are we doing to do with Kurt? With you here we can’t expect Charlene to watch him.”
He would turn during the full moon and Charlene wasn’t equipped for that. And we couldn’t spare the other wolves to babysit.
“When the time comes we’ll find a way. Until then we prepare, make sure we’re ready for them.”
It hadn’t happened yet. But the danger hung in the air, we could all feel it. And it was coming soon.
Chapter 8
Allegra
It did come. Sarelle arrived on our doorstep three days later. Two days before full moon. And she challenged me. Just like that. “I challenge you to a duel.”
Reid appeared behind me and I could feel his wolf. I glanced around at him because I wasn’t sure he was human or not. But he was, towering over both of us, and he seemed even bigger than usual.
“If you challenge my mate, you challenge me,” he said. He’d heard her speak before he’d come to the room. Fear wrapped around me like a blanket, but Reid and Sarelle both seemed calm. Whatever it was in the air, it didn’t bother them.
“It’s different now, Reid,” she said. “If you fight me, you challenge my alpha. And if you do that, you’re offering your pack against mine.”
Reid nodded slowly. I knew that, too. Ted had explained the politics. But it seemed ridiculous to do that when it was just a grudge between me and Sarelle.
“Don’t do this,” I said, looking at Reid. “It doesn’t have to be about everyone.”
Sarelle laughed, and my skin crawled with the sound of it.
“Do you really think he’s going to let you fight me? He’s too scared I’ll win.”
Reid didn’t fall for the bait, but he looked at me, and I knew she was right.
“Full moon,” he said to Sarelle. “The lake.”
She nodded, turned, and left. Reid closed the door and looked at me.
“Two days, Allegra. We have to get as many wolves as we can ready for this.”
“Why did you do that? It’s me she wants, and you’re sacrificing all of them. This is going to be a pack fight. None of the others deserve this.”
“If they don’t get involved and it’s pack against pack, you die. This way we all stand a chance. We might win.”
I took a deep breath, tried to calm down the hysterics that pushed up in my throat.
“You say might like you’re not sure.” He shrugged and turned away from. And I was suddenly scared. He had
n’t reassured me. He hadn’t argued his fear. So it as real. It was true. We could lose.
If we lost the entire pack because of a stupid girl fight I wouldn’t forgive myself.
Full moon came quicker than any moon I’d ever experienced. We drove Kurt to the werewolf medical center where he was born, and asked for Dr. Amelia. She was there before the nurse had a chance to look for her.
Reid explained our situation. Kurt was going to change. We were going to war. He couldn’t come with us, and Charlene couldn’t watch him. Amelia was the only other wolf that understood what he was.
She agreed to watch him, but Kurt didn’t want to stay with her. He was on the verge of tears when Amelia forced a change. As a medical doctor and not part of a pack her reaction to the moon was different, but she was still a wolf. Kurt stilled and watched her change until she was a large white wolf. He frowned and held out his hand. Amelia sniffed him and pushed herself up into Kurt’s arms. He giggled.
He looked up at Reid, a question on his face that I didn’t catch. Reid did, and he nodded. Kurt changed, too. When he was a wolf, he pushed his nose against Amelia’s and walked through her front legs the way a cat does with a human.
“He’s happy to stay with her,” Reid said to me, watching him. “He’s identified with her wolf. He’ll be okay.”
“How do you know?” I asked.
“The bond,” Reid said to me like it was obvious. I nodded. I crouched down and Kurt came to me, licking my hand. I cuddled him and he licked my face.
“Be good, okay? We’ll come for you in the morning.”
He ran toward Amelia. We turned away. Leaving him was hard, but we had no choice. Here he would be safe.
“Come on, we don’t have much time,” Reid said and we hurried to the car.
Reid drove out of the base and to a part of the woods I didn’t know at all. He drove as far as the car could make it so I didn’t have to walk so far, and then he parked and got out. He took my hand and we walked into the trees. It was dark despite the full moon, and the forest around us was alive. I didn’t believe in fairy tales, talking trees and things like that, but tonight it felt like everything had a soul.
And everything held a collective breath, waiting for the bloodbath.
“It’s going to be okay,” Reid said, squeezing my hand. “Just breathe.”
I hadn’t realized I’d been holding my breath, and I blew it out and inhaled deeply. A shadow made me jump, but then Ted appeared from the trees.
“You’re here,” I breathed. He wasn’t pack. He wasn’t any pack, I’d found that out a short while ago. But he didn’t have to fight for us.
“I am,” he said, and we carried on in silence. Once by one our pack joined us. They appeared from the trees like ghosts, and even though they were in human form still, there was something animalistic about them. Their eyes were fierce. Their faces were hard and it promised death. The fell into step behind us, flanking Reid, Ted, and I. They accepted Ted as part of the leadership tonight. We were suddenly a triumvirate of sorts.
When we reached the clearing the magic hummed through me before we stepped into the power circle.
“Is this their power circle?” I asked. Reid shook his head.
“This is the battle ground.”
I hadn’t known there was a place for that.
“What happens here stays between the wolves. Government has no say. This is wolf ground.” Ted’s voice was deep when he spoke, deeper than usual. Goose bumps marched over my skin. I didn’t know there were cases where the government turned a blind eye.
We were nine. Five of Reid’s ranger friends, Ted, Maria who looked more terrified than I felt, and me, the human. It was a small pack. I knew that, but Ted had told me more about the size of a pack. Some could be up to fifty or sixty large. The other pack was twenty, apparently.
The moon was full and round, a disk of silver in the black sky. Stars stretched across the black canvas like pinpricks of night and the lake lay to one side, a dark slice of water that didn’t seem to reflect anything despite the bright natural light.
“They’re here,” Reid breathed, and I looked around. There was nothing. It looked like we were alone. But then they started appearing from the trees one by one. First a tall, skinny wolf that must have been the alpha because he was first. He didn’t look like he could be an alpha, though. Next was Sarelle, and her power was strong. I felt it all the way over where I was standing. More wolves appeared. They were all tall, but they weren’t muscled. Not like the rangers in our pack. There were more though. When they were all present they stopped, just inside the clearing, and I counted eighteen. Two of them for each one of us.
I took a deep breath and tried to swallow my fear.
The alpha of their pack stepped forward. Reid stepped forward to.
“You’ve challenged my mate, and our pack has answered,” the alpha said. He sounded like a teenager when he spoke, but there was some power that flowed form his words. It danced over my skin but it wasn’t serious. Sarelle was the real danger between the two of them.
I looked at her and something lurched inside of me. Her eyes were black, deep and pitiless, and she was looking right at me.
“You’re mate challenged mine, and so challenged me,” Reid said. “There is no other way.”
The alpha shrugged. Reid nodded. As if summoned our pack stepped up and formed a half circle around Reid. I could feel the pull, and I followed the magic to a spot that was open. The other pack did the same. Their circle was bigger.
I tried not to focus on that.
Reid pulled his shirt off. He stood topless, wearing loose shorts. He lowering himself into the fighting stance. The other alpha did the same. His body looked small and weak against Reid’s bulk, but if there was one thing I’d learned, it was that looks could be deceiving. This man was alpha for a reason.
He took a fighting stance too, and the two started circling each other, sizing each other up. They didn’t make a move. I glanced out our wolves. They were all alert, ready to attack, but they didn’t. Neither did the others.
“First blood gives them the right to jump in,” Ted whispered. He stood a few feet away from me.
First blood? I didn’t have time to wonder. The two men attacked each other. Reid had the upper hand very quickly. His military training kicked in and he was stronger and faster. The other man seemed to realize he was going to lose this. Reid would be careful not to draw blood if it meant he could keep the fight between just the two of them.
But if that happened the other alpha was going to lose. He lashed out at Reid and somehow managed to break skin.
Power washed over me and the others felt it, too. They surged forward in an attack. Some of them started shifting. Some ran forward on human legs. With our pack pushing forward, the others responded, and suddenly everyone was running forward.
Everyone except Ted.
He stayed behind with me. A wolf came at us, with black fur and white feet like a cat. Ted forced a change and took wolf form so fast I almost missed it. The big red wolf jumped at the other and they tackled each other. Growls and yelps filled the air.
I took a step back. A woman was suddenly in front of me. She had black hair and eyes that shone red. It looked pure evil, and made me think vampire instead of wolf.
“First blood, human,” she said to me. Her voice sounded more like a hiss. I was relieved she was following the first-blood rule with me. But she was tall and strong, and I didn’t think I was up for fighting her even if she was just human.
She rushed me, and I waited for her. I fought the urge to run. I wasn’t going to desert my pack, my family.
She had her hand on my throat, and instinct kicked in. I locked her elbow with one arm and hit her chin with the heel of my hand, so hard her head snapped back and I heard a crunch. She was stunned for two full seconds. So was I – Randall’s method had actually worked. If I survived tonight I would thank him.
It would have broken any human’s teeth and cau
sed a whiplash of note. But this wasn’t a human. She shook her head, and she was back. She pulled her lips back bearing teeth at me, and they were pointed fangs. She wasn’t completely human anymore.
If she drew blood now, I was going to turn werewolf. I had to do it first, or none of this would matter as much as it did now.
She might have recovered from the blow but her perception was a little off. It was enough for me to be able to get away when she lunged at me with hands outstretched. Her hands weren’t human anymore. They were long claws with bits of black fur covering human skin. I managed to evade them by a hair.
She flew past me, almost lost her balance. I had enough time to crouch down and I fumbled on the ground for anything that would work. I found a rock. It was about the size of my fist. I grabbed onto it and straightened myself up in time to face my attacker.
I turned to the side a little and hid the rock behind my thigh. She was coming fast, almost a blur. I ducked twice as early as I thought I should have to make up for her preternatural speed, and somehow I managed to evade her attack. In the passing I struck down the rock on her, hoping to hit something, anything. She screamed, a very human scream, and went down.
When she was on the ground I noticed blood pouring from a gash just under her hairline, and blood poured into her face.
“You bitch!” she screamed and changed.
I didn’t have a lot of time before she was a pitch black wolf. Her red eyes glowed like coals and it was disconcerting. The rock wouldn’t help me now, but I wasn’t going to drop it. She jumped for me, fangs bare, and I was sure this was the end.
Reid’s wolf was suddenly in front of me. His beige coat was matted with blood on his shoulder, but I had the feeling it wasn’t his blood. He met the wolf full on, and they tumbled to the ground in a tangle of fur and limbs. Jaws snapped and growls tore from their throats.
I heard another wolf howl and when I turned it ran closer. I wasn’t sure about the first-blood rule with humans. Was it first blood for every wolf, or just the one time and then that was that? I didn’t have time to think. I turned to face the wolf full on, but a red wolf tackled him from the side and they went down.
BAD BOY ROMANCE: DIESEL: Contemporary Bad Boy Biker MC Romance (Box Set) (New Adult Sports Romance Short Stories Boxset) Page 127
