Mac (Mammoth Forest Wolves Book 2)

by Kimber White

  Joel Wisher.

  “Sir, I’ve tried to explain how things work. Chris is still young. He needs more training,” Joel said.

  “You son of a bitch,” Chris Woods’s voice was bitter and full of rage.

  Sir? Who were they talking to? Trey’s frozen posture beside me made my own blood run cold. He turned to me.

  “Don’t make a sound,” he said, his voice so low I had to strain to hear it. He pressed his back to the wall, shielding himself in shadow. On instinct, I followed suit. My heart raced.

  Hard footsteps clicked against the marble floors. It was an awkward, shuffling gait. The owner of it must walk with a limp.

  “You are owed nothing, son.” The third voice made Trey break into a sweat. He squeezed his eyes shut. When he opened them, for a split second, they went from gold to red. Then, he came back into himself, gasping for air.

  A thud hit the ground down the hall. I strained to see through the open doorway. I could only make out shadowy shapes, but there were four men inside. Joel stood to the left, beside him, a figure knelt on the ground. It was Chris. Another man stood over him, with the bent posture of advanced age. Beside him, a behemoth of a man stood tall and straight in a military posture with his legs slightly parted and his hands clasped at the small of his back.

  With cold clarity, I realized who this was.

  “The Alpha?” I whispered. I asked it more of myself, but Trey’s slow, terrified nod confirmed it. He raised a single finger to his lips, gesturing for my silence. My heart hammered, nearly drowning out all other sound.

  The Alpha was here. God. If Mac and the others got close...if that old bastard gave Chris Woods permission to mark me…

  “He’s right, you’re young,” the Alpha said, his voice creaking. As scared as I was, the urge to get closer, to see him, burned strong through me. This man....this creature...he had the power to ruin so many lives. I wanted to stare into his face and learn something about the man inside. “You’ve yet to prove yourself. There are so many others in line before you. This girl you want, I don’t know her.”

  “Sir,” Chris said. I didn’t know Pack politics, but even I had the sense the Alpha was someone you didn’t speak to without his solicitation. “This girl is nothing to you. This is her second year here. No other wolf has shown any interest in her. Plus, she’s got an attitude. The sooner she’s marked and brought under Pack control, the better it will be for everyone. She’ll start trouble otherwise. I can feel it.”

  This girl. He was talking about me. This asshole actually thought I was going to let him mark me and bring me under Pack control. I didn’t realize I’d moved. Trey’s firm hand on my shoulder brought me back into the shadows. His eyes were wide with fear and he shook his head in warning.

  “Let go of me,” I whispered. It was probably foolish, but I railed against any attempts to control me, even Trey’s.

  God, where was Mac? We were supposed to meet him soon. I wanted desperately to still my heart, close my eyes, and reach out. He hadn’t yet marked me, but I knew I’d be able to sense him when he got close. It was also the very thing that probably put us both in grave danger.

  “Do you realize who that is in there?” Trey whispered back.

  “You think you’re in a position to tell me what to do?” The Alpha’s craggy voice echoed off the walls. Trey’s eyes went red again and my heart stopped. An instant later, he seemed to come back into himself. Each time he did, it clearly cost him something. His body twitched and sweat now poured freely from his temple.

  “I thought I was stronger,” Trey said, shaking his head. I realized he wasn’t talking to me. He was trying desperately to stay in control.

  He grabbed me, shoving me forward, and we ducked into an empty room on the other side of the hall. Trey paced the floor, tearing his hand through his hair. Whatever the hell was going on, it seemed Trey hadn’t planned for the Alpha’s presence. If anything, he was just as terrified by it as I was. I knew in the back of my mind that meant something. For now, I was too damn scared myself to figure out what.

  “He’s going to find out,” Trey said. He was still talking to himself more than me. “It’ll all be for nothing. All of it.”

  A growl cut the air on the other side of the hall. Whatever edict the Alpha handed down, it was swift and violent. Had he killed Chris? Could I be that lucky?

  Trey pressed his back against the wall, hiding himself from the window in the door. Anyone peering inside wouldn’t be able to see him. I should have followed suit. I should have done a lot of things.

  I wasn’t a shifter. I wasn’t part of this Pack. And yet, the Alpha’s presence drew me too. He was so close. I wanted to get a glimpse of him, as if I needed to stare into the face of evil so that I could better fight against it.

  The door opened across the hall. I flattened myself against the wall near Trey, but dared to peer out the window. Joel and Chris filed out. Chris was bleeding from a gash near his temple, but he was otherwise whole, unfortunately. His eyes blazed red as he walked by. He was like a zombie. Whatever the Alpha had done, Chris was now firmly back under his control. What that meant for me, I couldn’t guess.

  Standing on my tiptoes, I grew bold, stealing a glance into the room across the hall. What I saw there made my throat run dry, as if I’d swallowed ash.

  The Alpha’s general stayed in his military stance. He was grotesque in size with bulging, veiny muscles covering every inch of him. He looked like some sort of twisted, roided-up monster with blood red eyes. There was a man behind them…somewhere. But, whatever this guy was before, he was more beast now. I shuddered, thinking what his wolf must be like when he was allowed to let it out.

  Then, there was the Alpha himself. For the power he wielded, the sight of him shocked me even more than his gargantuan companion. The Alpha was an old man. He had coal black eyes and thick wisps of white hair covering his head. His back was straight, but his fingers were gnarled, his skin withered as he pointed at the behemoth beside him.

  “Let him think what he wants,” he said. “Mr. Sobel, you understand why I had to let him believe there’s hope?”

  Sobel. He had blond hair in a crew cut. His tanned skin bulged even over his temples. Sobel nodded. “As you wish, Mr. Valent.”

  Valent. The Alpha’s name was Valent. It seemed important to remember. As if it gave me some sort of power over him.

  Valent. He was old. Ancient. I didn’t know how shifters aged, but if he were just a man, he had to be at least eighty. How could someone like that hold so much power? Couldn’t someone younger or stronger easily overtake him? He couldn’t live forever. Could he?

  “Sir,” Sobel said. “With respect, you ordered me to protect you here. With my life, you know I will.”

  A slow smile curved Valent’s mouth. I saw him in profile, but he turned just enough so I could see the icy stare he gave Sobel. I drank in every detail. Though, I wouldn’t be likely to forget this man’s face. Not ever. His hair might have been brown once. I could still see some sable wisps at the temple. His eyes were so dark, they just looked like two wide pupils, his jaw square and hard.

  “You worry too much, Mr. Sobel,” Valent said.

  “Yes, sir,” he said. “But, it would be better to have you safe and away before any of it starts. I think we should leave now. Will you allow me to get you home?”

  Valent let out a growl, but he nodded. “You’re a good man, Mr. Sobel,” he said. “Though I’d really like to stay and watch the show.”

  “Yes, sir,” Sobel said. “If you wish, sir.”

  Valent reached up and touched the larger man’s cheek. Sobel stood stone still, his eyes straight ahead. He looked like a statue, or a robot. Valent’s control of him was total and absolute. It sickened me. I turned to Trey. He still had his back pressed against the wall, but he held his head down, fists tightly squeezed as well as his eyes. He was fighting against whatever thrall the Alpha held. At the same time, he’d brought me here like a lamb to the slaughter. Was I fo
r Chris, then? Only I knew I’d die before I let that happen.

  Valent and Sobel finally emerged from the room across the hall. I wished I could make myself invisible. But, Valent and Sobel didn’t seem to sense either of us behind the other door. They weren’t looking. I had no intention to give them cause.

  I wanted to breathe easier as the Alpha and his general exited the building. When we heard the outer door slam, only then did Trey let the tension out of his shoulders. He grabbed my arm again and pulled me back into the hallway.

  “Come on,” he said. “Hurry up. Before they get away.”

  I had no idea who they were in Trey’s equation. As he led me outside, the black SUV was gone in a squeal of tires. I wished that could bring me relief. It didn’t. For, as soon as the gravel kicked up behind it, leaving a cloud of dust, disaster came to me in the form of the second pulse behind my own.

  Mac.

  He was close. He was moving fast. And he was heading straight into the path of the Alpha.

  Nineteen

  Mac

  I was beyond sense. Beyond reason. Beyond thought. Payne seized as we got him to his feet. His eyes went from red to green then back again. Gunnar slapped him hard, rattling his jaw.

  “You don’t feel it?” Payne said, stabbing his fingers through his hair. Thankfully, his eyes stayed emerald green. “He’s here. The Alpha.”

  Two words shattered my world. If the Alpha was here, there was only one reason why. He’d come to sanction a mating. We were out of time.

  I don’t remember making a conscious choice to breach the boundary line of Birch Haven. I only knew I had one chance to get to Eve. She was close. I sensed her immediately, heart pounding with fear. She was surrounded by other shifters. I couldn’t even stop to try and sort out who. It didn’t matter. I’d kill them. I’d let them kill me. Whatever I had to do to keep her safe.

  “Mac, don’t!” Payne called after me. I couldn’t stop. I headed straight through campus. Full night had fallen. It should have registered that the place was deserted. No guards. No police. Only a handful of shifters. The majority of the Pack members were on the other side of town, beyond campus.

  I headed for Eve’s dorm, even though I knew she wasn’t there. She was further away. A big, square, red brick building loomed ahead of us. I saw the white paddy wagon parked behind and only then did I stop in my tracks.

  Eve had been led out, her hands bound behind her. Lena was in that van. Her familiar scent hit me at the same time I saw Eve.

  “Payne!” I turned to him as he and Gunnar caught up with me. “You got your shit straight?”

  I grabbed him, making him meet my eyes. His blazed green; his wolf simmered, but he was in control. He nodded.

  “Lena’s in that van.” I pointed. Payne’s eyes narrowed. The Pack was closing in, but the Alpha was moving away. Cold realization snaked its way through me. This whole thing had been a trap. I’d been right that Eve, Lena, and the others were bait, but for us.

  Payne and Gunnar knew it too. It was Gunnar who shrugged. “Fuck it,” he said. “We’re in this now. We go out, we go out raising hell.”

  One shifter had a hold of Eve. She pleaded with her eyes and my heart shredded. If he hurt her...God.

  Two other shifters emerged from the side of the building. Instinct told me one of them was Chris Woods; the other had to be that fucker Joel. Behind them, five other shifters dressed in campus police uniforms came forward. The Alpha had put out the call for reinforcements.

  “Mother fuck,” Mac said. “Eight on three. I like the odds.”

  But, behind us, three more Pack members made their approach.

  “You had to open your fat mouth,” Payne muttered. I flicked a glance toward him.

  A black SUV screeched to a halt on the far side of the parking lot. My nerves jolted. I tried to still my heart and my mind as the driver side door opened and the biggest shifter I’d ever seen got out. He had a blond crew cut, a real muscle head, but they looked enhanced somehow. Like he’d been genetically altered. He opened the passenger side and my heart dropped.

  “Fuck me,” Gunnar whispered. “Is that him?”

  Only Payne knew for sure on sight. The rest of us knew it in our bones. This was the Alpha. He was ancient, just like the rumors I’d always heard. But even from here, his cold, black eyes cut across the distance.

  The big meathead stood a little in front of him, shielding the Alpha from view. But, there was no shield from his power. My knees buckled.

  “Mac!” Eve’s cry cut through the fog. She tethered me to my own soul. I would not, could not give in. If I did, we were both lost. Payne shuddered beside me, but he still had control.

  “We are seriously fucked,” Gunnar said.

  I let out a warning growl. Joel and Chris returned theirs. Driven by the telepathic commands of the Alpha, Joel signaled to the wolves behind him and those behind us. They moved in, forming a circle of threat around us.

  “You got any bright ideas?” Gunnar whispered to me from the side of his mouth.

  We had one huge advantage. The shifters around us were deprived of their own instincts. They couldn’t move without the Alpha directing them. I only hoped that would buy me the time I needed. I knew in my heart we couldn’t all make it out of this alive. Hopefully, it wouldn’t matter.

  Payne got closer. He dropped his head and signaled with his eyes toward the Alpha. My own widened in shock as I realized what he had in mind. Gunnar did too.

  “It’s suicide,” I said. “You’ll never make it.”

  “Just have to drive him off,” Payne said. “The Pack will move to protect him. Might be all the time you need.”

  I dropped my head and clenched my fists. Gunnar was so keyed up beside me, his shoulders rolled as he tried to hold back his shift.

  “Fuck it,” Gunnar said, cracking a wicked smile. “We’re never going to get this close to that son of a bitch again. If I go down, I’d rather do it taking a bite out of him than being controlled like these poor assholes.”

  “Are you sure?” I said through gritted teeth. My heart was torn. We weren’t pack, but Payne, Gunnar, and I shared a brotherhood that might even go beyond that.

  Payne and Gunnar nodded in unison. “Won’t take long,” Payne said. “Might buy you a minute or two. You better make good use of it.”

  I dropped my head and nodded. “Fucking A. Try not to die.”

  With that Gunnar and Payne committed. They would go after the Alpha head on. With any luck, the chaos would buy me enough time to get the girls away from the Pack. It was insane. It was the only shot we had.

  Gunnar shifted first. When he did, the other shifters’ attention was drawn straight to him. Smart, but risky as hell. Payne stayed human, broke from our little circle and ran straight for the big dude guarding the Alpha.

  Just as we figured, most of the shifters surrounding us broke away and gave chase, sensing the threat to their leader. As Payne leaped and shifted in midair, I hoped to God it wouldn’t be the last I saw of him. I didn’t get a chance to wonder. Joel, Chris, and two other shifters stayed behind and came straight for me.

  Payne and Gunnar carved out their fight. I had mine.

  “Mac!” Eve’s scream gutted me.

  Now, my fight was three against one. Chris, Joel, and a third shifter threw Eve behind him and came for me. I couldn’t hold my wolf back a second longer. Fists became claws, my vision tunneled, and I gave in to the blood lust.

  The other wolves shifted in unison. I could feel the thrum of the Alpha’s command, but Gunnar and Payne’s gambit had worked so far. The Alpha wasn’t focused on me, for now.

  Joel threw Eve to the side. She hit the ground hard, but scrambled to her feet. It took everything in me not to go to her. My place was by her side, but these three fuckers were coming fast. I took a blow to the side and tumbled end over end. I dug my claws into the flank of my attacker, drawing first blood.

  Joel’s wolf yelped as his silver fur turned crimson, but he kept
on coming. The black wolf beside him bared his teeth and leaped for me, landing on my back. This was Chris. The rage inside me bubbled over. He wanted to kill me for Eve. I got my paws up just in time and sank my claws into his belly.

  We rolled again, landing hard against the curb. I felt a rib crack but didn’t have time for pain. In the distance, I heard a sickening yelp as Payne and Gunnar’s battle raged.

  I was torn in half. Gunnar and Payne were outnumbered and within ten feet of the Alpha himself. They needed me. But, Eve needed me more. As Chris’s wolf rallied, he came at me again, swiping his front paw in a murderous arc. Had he landed it, he would have torn my throat open. I rolled just in time. My head felt like it had exploded as Chris’s glancing blow still ripped my ear off.

  The third wolf, big and brown, hung back from the others. He swung his head low, growling. From the corner of my eye, I saw his fade from red to silver and back again. It was as if I was suspended outside of myself for a moment, watching the battle rage. Why didn’t the third wolf charge? He lifted his head and let out a howl that split the air.

  I got to my feet and looked for Eve. She’d run to the van and pulled open the back doors. Good girl, I thought. Run.

  Lena came out and my heart broke. She looked gaunt, scared and scarred. If I lived through this, there would be a blood price to pay.

  Joel came at me again, barreling into my side. More ribs cracked, but I sank my fangs into his neck. He was strong enough to break away, but left a chunk of skin behind.

  Chris and Joel got their heads then. Whether the Alpha commanded them through the melee, I don’t know. But they did the one thing I knew would turn the tide. They stood shoulder to shoulder, ready to coordinate their attack. I got my feet under me and stood my ground, but they had me backed up against the wall.

  I snapped my teeth, making a deadly threat. But, I knew in my heart this was the end. When Chris and Joel’s wolves sprang, I couldn’t hold both of them off at once. I dropped my head low and growled. Precious seconds. It was the only thing I had left to give. In the distance, Eve stood at the back of the band. Everything seemed to play out in slow motion. Eve screamed my name, but it was as if no sound came out. She tried to run toward me, but another one of the girls had a firm grip on her shoulders, pulling her back.