by D. Fischer
At the same time, all four men start to shift forms. Ben and Evo are quicker to shift, which means they’re a stronger wolf than their opponent. That gives me small hope that they’ll succeed.
Evo’s wolf lunges for George and clasps his teeth around his leg before George can fully shift. George releases a bellow of pain that transforms into a howl as his wolf stands on all fours. Evo’s wolf yanks, causing George’s tan colored wolf to fall to the snowy ground.
Ben’s black wolf and the Gray Beta, a wolf of brown fur, circle each other. The brown wolf lunges, but Ben’s wolf anticipates this move and steps to the side. The brown wolf lunges and misses again. Several times these moves are replicated before I understand my mate’s strategy—he’s trying to tire the brown wolf. He’s letting his opponent do all the work while he easily avoids injury.
A fierce growl pulls my attention back to Evo and George. Evo’s wolf has his jaws clamped around the back of George’s tan wolf before Evo’s wolf slams him to the ground. Evo’s wolf takes the open opportunity and bites a chunk out of the tan wolf’s shoulder. The wolf yelps and it’s almost lost in the howling wind.
As I’m trying to watch both challenges at once, I feel Jacob put a warm coat over my shoulders. Sparing him a glance, I nod my thanks and return my eyes to the snarling wolves.
Ben’s wolf tackles the brown wolf to the snow, my heart skipping beats as they roll around. All I can see is their fur flying.
Bre, what the hell is going on? Kenna sends.
I knew it’d only be a matter of time before she contacted one of us. She doesn’t like being left behind and not knowing what’s happening to her wolves. It’s the Alpha female in her.
A double challenge. I can’t talk right now, baby girl. I try to reassure her with a steady and calm mental voice instead of the terror that’s ceasing my breath. She sends me more telepathy but I ignore it. I need to focus on what’s going on in front of me. I don’t have it in me to comfort someone else when there’s not a whole lot someone can do to comfort me right now.
Ben’s wolf pins the brown wolf onto his back and latches his jaw around the brown wolf’s throat. Before he can clamp down, the brown wolf bites Ben’s ear, causing Ben’s wolf to yelp and throw his head back. This gives the enemy wolf opportunity to get out from under my mate.
Evo’s wolf has George’s tan wolf on the ground. I notice the tan wolf seems to be spending a lot of time in the snow. My worry lessens for my brother—he’s handling this situation with ease. George’s back leg dangles at an odd angle as he tries to right himself into a standing position. Taking the vulnerable opportunity, Evo’s wolf bites George’s belly and slashes into the flesh. He howls in pain and Darla screams, falling to the ground. I make my way to her and pull her up into my lap, cradling through her pain. She’s about to go through a world of hurt and there’s a very high chance she won’t live through it.
“What’s wrong with her?” Jacob asks me.
“Their mating bond—it’s breaking,” I answer.
Evo’s wolf straddles George’s dying wolf. His jaws swiftly snap around George’s neck and rips it out. Darla screams in agony while gripping her chest. Their bond broke as soon as George’s life ended. Before I can figure out something to do for her, she collapses unconscious in my arms. Evo, now in human form, marches over to Darla and me while pulling on a pair of shorts. His wounds are bleeding sluggishly—it’s good thing that it’s so cold.
Concern etches Evo’s face as he checks Darla for a pulse. “It’s there, but it’s weak.”
Jacob lifts Darla from my arms and cradles her to his chest while we watch the rest of the double challenge.
The brown wolf bites into Ben’s shoulder. Ben’s wolf doesn’t yelp, but I feel the pain as if it were my own. My mate grabs him by the leg and yanks it out from under him, causing the brown wolf to crash to the ground. Slow to rise from exhaustion, the brown wolf attempts to lift himself to his feet. Ben’s wolf takes hold of the brown wolf’s shoulder and vigorously shakes his head, tearing into the flesh. Blood splatters the white ground.
“He’s toying with him,” Evo tells me. “End it, Ben.”
Just as Ben’s wolf was going to take another chunk from his opponent, the brown wolf grasps his throat and slams him to the ground. My breath seizes inside my chest.
Ben’s wolf rakes his back legs across the unguarded stomach of the brown wolf, blood dribbling out of the fresh wounds. He staggers back, freeing my mate. Ben’s wolf growls fiercely, his hackles raised, and springs at the brown wolf, knocking him to the ground. Ben’s wolf straddles his enemy and clamps his jaws around his throat. He rips it out so quickly that I barely catch the movement.
The crowd, still in shock, remains motionless. All is quiet except for the howling wind as Ben’s wolf stands over the dead brown wolf. Evo nudges me forward with his shoulder, bumping me in the direction of Ben. He has yet to shift back, but I know he isn’t in the same state that Flint was in. I can feel through our bond that he’s trying to calm his anger before he shifts back.
Stepping into the blood-soaked circle, I clear my throat noisily. Ben’s wolf shifts his head in my direction. I slowly make my way to my mate, taking careful measured steps. When I’m a few feet from him, I lower myself to my knees resting in the snow and wait for him to respond. Ben’s black wolf closes the distance and rubs his jaw against mine. Hot blood smears across my cheek and I can feel my scent and presence calming him through our bond. After taking a few moments to anchor himself, relief floods through me as his bones begin to crack and reform.
I grab Ben’s snow-covered clothes off the ground and shake them out. Now fully shifted back to human form, I hand Ben his clothes and he kisses my cheek before pulling on his pants. As he dresses, I survey the damage to Ben’s body.
He has several bite marks all over his chest. His ear has a rip in it and it’s bleeding down the side of his neck. Before I can consider the rest of the wounds, Ben pulls his shirt over his head, effectively hiding them from my sight. I let out a breath that I’ve been holding and reassure myself that he’ll get a full work up with the doctor, Reese, when we get home. I wrap my arms around his waist and he kisses the top of my forehead. I breathe him in, letting him calm me and my wolf.
I shift my head when Evo begins to speak to the small crowd of Gray wolf shifters, curious about what he’s going to say. “Your leaders are dead. I’m now your Alpha, but I’m giving you a choice. You can either come live with my Pack on Cloven territory, or you can find a new home with another Pack.” Evo continues talking, but I tune him out as Ben and I make our way back to Jacob.
“How’s she doing?” I ask Jacob while pushing a stray hair from Darla’s forehead. The poor lady—she didn’t ask for any of this. She didn’t choose to have such a shitty mate. She’s spent her life trying to survive him.
“Her heart beat is slow, but it’s a good sign that she isn’t dead yet. She just may survive this,” Jacob comments.
I bend down to Flint’s wolf, who’s still unconsciously sedated. “These wounds are deep, Ben. Though they aren’t bleeding much now, they will once he’s in a warm environment. We should put a temporary bandage on these before we move him,” I suggest.
Ben waves over Michael who is carrying a few medical supplies in his backpack. He hands me the bag and I pull out several pieces of gauze and bandages and begin the task of wrapping Flint’s leg. Michael holds the medical supplies in place as I continue my work.
Once finished, Ben lifts Flint’s wolf from the ground and turns to Jacob. “We need to get him home if we want him to survive. Where’s Dyson?”
Jacob scans his eyes over Flint, assessing his wounds. “He’s already on his way back with some of my Pack. He’s not as bad off as this one, but he’s got a few injuries.”
Evo takes a moment from greeting the other wolves and nods for us to go. Jacob stays behind while Lincoln and Michael follow us back to our car.
Chapter Ten
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Brenna Johnson
A small whine from the back of the car causes me to turn my head. Lincoln and Michael are in the front, Ben and I are in the middle seats, and Flint’s wolf, who’s waking, lies in the back on top of the folded down seats.
I glance at Ben. He’s lost in thought while staring out the window and didn’t hear the noise. I gently place my hand on Ben’s shoulder. “Flint’s waking,” I say softly.
As I spoke, the Riva Pack members glance in the back. We still have half an hour left of driving. If Flint wakes in the same state as he was in the shed, then this large SUV will become very small.
Michael, who’s seated on the passenger side, turns back to the front and rifles through his backpack. He pulls out the small tranquilizer gun and passes it back to us. “I’ve replaced it with a smaller dose.”
Tears well in my eyes and I shift my gaze from the gun to Ben. He searches my face for the answers I know he feels through our bond. “I can’t,” I whisper. “Not again.”
Ben squeezes my hand and grabs the tranquilizer gun, his haunted facial features changing to determination as he prepares himself to do what needs to be done. “Sorry, Flint,” he whispers before shooting the dart into Flint’s wolf’s shoulder.
It hurts to see Flint like this—so damaged that he doesn’t trust his own Pack mates. I’ve seen patients who were so traumatized that they’d hurt anyone who came close. It’s heartbreaking to see, but it hurts more than I imagined it would when you watch someone you hold dear going through the same thing.
After passing the tranquilizer gun back up front, Ben squeezes my hand again. “It’ll be okay, baby. We’ll get him home and assess the situation.”
I can feel Ben’s worry. I’m not sure the exact cause of it, but I imagine it’s a little bit of everything. Flint’s condition, leaving Evo on the Gray territory, killing a Beta wolf, Kenna’s mom’s survival, Jazz’s attacks on our territory, and me—that’s a lot of weight on one’s shoulder, Beta or not. I feel his worry as my own because I also have no idea how we plan to juggle all of this at once.
Half an hour later, we arrive at our Pack house. Flint is still unconscious, but it won’t be long before he wakes. Kelsey and Jeremy run out of the house and head toward the car as soon as it’s parked.
Kelsey folds me into a hug. “I’ve been so worried. How’d it go? Is everyone alright?” Ben steps out of the car and she sucks in a breath at the sight of his injuries. Dried blood is smeared across his face and his wounds are bleeding through his shirt and dribbling down his skin. I can feel his pain, but he’s refusing to show it. When Ben lifts Flint’s bloody wolf from the car, her hand flies to her mouth. “Holy shit,” she comments.
Jeremy’s hands ball into fists and his face turns red with anger. “What the fuck happened?” he asks. My eyes widen in shock at his display of emotion. Hardly anything ever phases him to such a degree of anger. He’s such a quiet man who rarely ever curses. It’s what makes him and Kelsey such a good match. Kelsey can be a wild child, whereas Jeremy is the calm and level-headed one.
“I don’t know all the details, but from what it looks like, they tortured him. Where’s Dyson?” Ben asks.
Jeremy brushes a hand through Flint’s fur. He pulls his hand away and examines the blood on his fingers. “He’s inside with the Reese and Kenna—he’ll be fine. Either he doesn’t remember much, or he doesn’t want to talk about it. He’s been asking about Flint. What should I tell him?” Jeremy asks while still looking at Flint’s wolf with anger.
Ben rakes a hand through his messy hair. “Tell him … I don’t know. Tell him Flint will be okay, but he’s injured. Flint’s wolf wouldn’t allow him to shift back, so we had to tranquilize him to get him back home,” Ben says.
Jeremy nods, gives Flint’s wolf one last look, and heads back toward the house to update Kenna and Dyson. Lincoln and Michael stay with their car as Kelsey, Ben, and I begin pushing against the blizzarding winds to Flint’s quarters.
“It’ll be helpful if Flint’s wolf wakes in familiar surroundings,” Ben says as I open Flint’s door. We make our way through the living room to Flint’s bedroom and Ben gently lays him on the bed. “Kelsey, go see if you can find some steel bars to cage him in here.”
Kelsey looks taken aback. “Why would we keep him in here?”
Tears spill over my cheeks and I run my hand through Flint’s fur, assessing his wounds. “Because he saw us as a threat. He was going to attack us before we tranquilized him. He’s traumatized and will need some time before we can allow him out of here.”
Kelsey ran a hand through her tangled red hair. “Shit,” she whispers before disappearing back into the blizzard. Jeremy and Reese appear with medical supplies seconds after she left. We move quickly to stitch him up before the drugs wear off.
Benjamin Grobin
Bre and I watch as Flint’s wolf tries to stand. His wolf hasn’t seen us yet, but it won’t be long before he does. That’s when we will know for sure if he’s safe to shift back or be let out.
I had just finished the placement of the metal bars against Flint’s bedroom door as Flint’s wolf began to lift his head. As much as I tried to get Bre to let me do this alone, she had insisted on staying in the room with me to check on Flint’s state of mind. She had argued that if he opens his stitches, she needed to be here to fix them. She had a point, and since Reese had returned to the house when Evo, Jacob, and the other wolves arrived home, she had left Bre in charge of Flint’s care without actually verbalizing it. I don’t like Bre being here one bit. I don’t want her in harm’s way if Flint’s wolf decides we are still a threat, and I can feel how much this is hurting her to see him so … broken. I never knew Bre cared so much for Flint’s well-being.
Bre’s back is against my chest and I raise my hands to rub her shoulders. “It’ll be okay,” I say as I kiss the back of her head.
At the sound of my voice, Flint’s wolf becomes aware that he isn’t alone. He whips his head around and freezes when he sees us standing outside the bars. Bre’s body stiffens as she waits to see his reaction.
Slowly, Flint’s wolf lowers his ears and lifts his lips to bare his teeth. He takes one measured step at a time in our direction, a rumbling growl escaping his chest. When he’s walked a few feet, he leaps and attacks the bars.
Bre jumps at the ferocious sounds coming from Flint’s wolf. She turns and buries her head in my chest as sobs shake her body. I wrap my arms around her comfortingly and watch as Flint’s wolf continues attacking the bars. They’re holding up to his assault, but he isn’t backing down.
“We should leave him be for a little while, baby. He needs to adjust,” I mumble into her hair. “Let’s give him some time, okay?” She nods into my chest and I turn her to steer her from Flint’s quarters.
We make the short distance to our quarters and step through the door. “We’ll get cleaned up before we go see Evo, okay, baby?” I ask before she nods.
I slip my shoes off and hold Bre’s hand as she steps out of her shoes. Slowly, I peel her clothes off and drop them to the floor. I wipe a tear from her cheek before she helps me with my clothes. She runs her hands over my injuries, concern etching her features. “You don’t have to hide your pain around me, Ben,” she comments quietly.
I am in quite a bit of pain, but it’s nothing compared to Bre’s emotional pain. She’s been through a lot tonight and her well-being is my number one priority. “I’ll be fine,” I say.
I grab her hands from examining my wounds and bend my knees to look into her eyes. I peck her lips softly and lead her to the shower. Turning on the water, I hold her hand as I guide her under the hot water with me. I put shampoo in my hand and slowly massage it into her hair, watching as my mate sheds more tears. I tilt her head back to rinse out the soap and slowly bend my head to kiss her lips. To my relief, she responds to me immediately and moves her lips against mine. I can feel how much emotional pain she’s in and how her body is trying to m
ake her feel numb. She needs to deal with the pain instead of burying it away. As we continue to kiss, I can feel her use me as a lifeline to keep her sanity and to ease her grief.
She breaks from the kiss and squirts soap into a wash cloth. Gently, she wipes dried blood from my face and cleans out my wounds. It stings, but I leave her to the task of caring for my injuries because I can feel how much she needs to feel useful. “Some of these we need to stitch up,” she mumbles. I grunt my response, intent on letting her finish her task.
She washes the rest of me before I return the favor. Once she rinses off her soap, I tilt her chin up. “You know I had to do it, baby. I had to challenge him. It was the best way to keep you safe, to keep the Pack safe.” She blinks wet eyes at me. “I didn’t mean to scare you,” I say before rubbing my nose against hers. We rest our foreheads against each other’s, breathing in our scents as the warm water beats against our skin. When the water starts to lose its heat, I shut it off and grab two fluffy white towels.
Bre steps out of the shower after drying off and goes in search of some clothes. “We need to get to the Alpha quarters. I’m sure Evo has an update for us,” she comments while slipping on her clothes.
Brenna Johnson
Numb is what I feel as we step through the Alpha’s sliding glass door. My body fights my grief by making me feel nothing. Ben is my only anchor, otherwise, I’m not sure if I would be much more than an empty shell while I try to work through the events of tonight. I’m sure exhaustion has a lot to do with my current state since it’s almost morning.
