Heart of the Pack

by Jenny Frame

  That’s my thinking. Blaze—take Flash and loop round to the left and meet us at the back of the property. The Second and I will take the right.

  Yes, Alpha.

  Once they had moved off, Caden asked, What’s wrong, Alpha? I can feel your concern.

  You know me too well, Second. There’s something not right. I can feel it.

  How so?

  Do you not think it’s all been too easy? Why pick a spot only a few hours from Wolfgang pack land, if Leroux didn’t want us to track them? The scent was so strong, she made no effort to cover her tracks.

  You think this is a trap?

  It may be, but we have no other choice than to walk into it, Second. The cubs are depending on us.

  The two wolves padded quietly toward the back of the old farm building. There was no sign of any of Leroux’s wolves, and that made Caden uneasy. She spotted Blaze and Flash up ahead and signaled them to stay down while she checked the back door.

  She crept up to the back door and listened carefully to what was happening inside. There was no movement, which was worrying in itself. She pushed her snout through the door, which was ajar. Immediately she could scent both cubs and Leroux strongly.

  Alpha, Leroux wants us in there. Whatever the trap, it’s set in that structure.

  Caden, the Alpha replied, signal Blaze and Flash. We’re going to give Leroux what she wants.

  *

  Lena watched Vance look up at the clock, his eyes red with tears. “Flash and I normally go up to bed at this time, and we look in Marco’s bedroom and watch him sleeping soundly, not a care in the world. It’s my favorite time of day, because I know he’s safe.”

  He broke down in tears again, and Stella joined him. She put her arm round his shoulders, while Lena and Eden looked on.

  “Why didn’t I just insist Tia come with me? I had to leave early to set up the food, and I just left her to play with Marco,” Stella said.

  “The Alpha’s hunting party will bring them back. You can be sure of that,” Eden reassured them.

  Conan was fussing, picking up on everyone’s stress. “Bear, Mama.”

  Eden sighed. “I forgot his cuddle bear. He’s not going to settle without it. Stella, could you take him until I run back to the den to pick it up?”

  “You can’t go outside, Eden,” Stella said. “Who knows who’s out there?”

  “Stella, Xander hasn’t come across anyone on her patrols as yet, and we have the best security in the world. Our perimeter is secure. Anyway, I’ll only be five minutes. If I don’t get the bear, Conan won’t sleep.”

  “Why not send one of the guards?” Vance suggested.

  “They wouldn’t know where to look. I need to go.”

  Lena, who had kept very quiet, said, “I’ll come with you. Keep you company. I could do with some air.”

  “Okay, sure. Stella, if we’re not back in an hour, send out the search parties,” Eden joked.

  Outside Stella’s there were two guards at the door, and others patrolling the grounds. One of the young wolves on the door stopped them before they went any farther. “Mater, the Alpha’s orders were that you weren’t to leave Stella’s den.”

  Eden sighed. “But, Jinx, my cub needs his cuddle bear. Lena and I will only be five minutes. You can tell the Alpha it was my fault.”

  Jinx looked extremely distressed at the thought of disobeying the Alpha’s orders. “I can’t let you go, Mater. Please tell us where it is, and we’ll get it for you.”

  “Jinx, I am your Mater, and I will go back to my den, but you may accompany us if you like.”

  Jinx considered this for a minute and agreed. “Of course, Mater.” Then she called over two more wolves and told him they wouldn’t be long. “Stay at your post, no matter what.”

  “Yes, Jinx,” they replied.

  Eden said to Lena, “So much trouble, just to find a cuddle bear. I hope Conan appreciates this.”

  *

  Dante and Caden crept softly into the house and followed the cubs’ scents. They came to a door and took position on either side.

  On three, Second. One, two, three.

  The two wolves burst through the door and found themselves in darkness. After a few seconds, the light was switched on to reveal the cubs tied to chairs and gagged, in the middle of the room. Standing beside them was Leroux in her human form, looking completely relaxed.

  “Dante. You join us at last, and, Caden, wonderful to see you.”

  Dante growled and bared her teeth, looking as intimidating as possible. We’ve come for the cubs.

  Marco and Tia strained at their bonds, looking as if they were trying to tell them something. Marco finally reached Caden telepathically. Tell the Alpha. It’s a trap.

  Calm yourself, cub. We will handle this, Caden assured him.

  “What a pathetic pair of cubs these two are. They’ve been crying for their mommies the whole time. Pathetic whelps.” Leroux casually stroked Tia’s head.

  Dante and Caden both growled a fierce warning, and Dante warned Leroux, Don’t touch them. Caden, untie them and take them outside.

  Caden shifted to skin and approached the chair.

  “Oh, allow me.” Leroux began to untie them, and as soon as they were free, Tia leaped into Caden’s arms, and Marco held on to her sleeve. She handed the cubs over to Blaze and Flash outside and came back into the room.

  Leroux sat in one of the now-vacated seats and crossed her legs. “So, Dante?”

  You think I don’t know this is a trap? I don’t walk into traps without a plan.

  Leroux started to laugh. “Oh, I assure you, I have no other Lupa wolves than the ones you’ve already seen at the front door, and I’m sure your arrogant wolves would be quite efficient in defending you against them. No, I have different purposes.”

  Caden growled and said, “Let me tear her apart.”

  Hold your wolf, Second. Have patience.

  Dante shifted to skin and stood tall and intimidating.

  Leroux taunted Dante. “My, what a physical specimen you are. All the bitches you encounter seem to think so. Eden, Suzy.”

  “Suzy Mitchell?”

  Leroux stood and casually walked over to her opponent. “Yes, you were all she could talk about—she was like a bitch in heat for you. What happened? Did you fuck her and never call back?”

  Caden watched their back and forth silently, ready to protect the Alpha should she need her help. But this was Dante’s battle to fight.

  Dante growled and pulled back her lips into a sneer. “Never. I am loyal to my mate, as I should be. I may not have liked Suzy, but you tore her apart, like all the other humans you’ve encountered recently.”

  “You’ve been keeping track of me? How flattering. What can I say? Her constant whining about you became annoying.”

  “You’re very confident for a wolf I left for dead and who has scars all over her body. You really think you’re going to survive another fight with me?”

  “You did leave me for dead, with injuries my wolf couldn’t heal overnight. But you are not going to fight me today. Our battle lies in the future, when I have my strength back, and my pack mates have all rejoined me.”

  Dante grabbed Leroux’s throat and began to squeeze. “Do you think I’m going to let you walk away today, just because we retrieved the cubs?” She slammed Leroux up against the wall, causing the plaster to crack and fall. Dante’s teeth and eyes shifted, making her look terrifying. “You took two of my wolves, and you touched my mate. I’m going to rip your limbs off, one by one, then let Blaze and Flash rip you to pieces.”

  Leroux grasped at Dante’s hand, struggling for air. “Yes…I clawed open Eden’s mate mark and tasted her blood. She…tastes so sweet.”

  Dante lifted Leroux off the floor and flung her through the air. She smashed into the wall and crashed to the ground. In an instant Dante was over her, teeth bared and ready to strike. “Any last words, Mutt?”

  Leroux coughed and spat blood. “After our last
fight, I was broken. I was so badly injured, but recovery gives you a lot of time to think. And I thought, I don’t want to simply kill Dante and take her riches, that’s not enough anymore.” She smiled as the blood ran down her chin. “I want to break you, Dante. I want you to hurt and live a long life, feeling that hurt every single second, minute, and hour you spend on this earth.” Leroux raised her hand and glanced at her watch. “And the method of your torment should be happening any minute now.”

  Caden had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, and she could sense her Alpha felt the same.

  “What do you mean?” Dante roared.

  “Didn’t you wonder why I made this so easy for you? I needed to get you out of Wolfgang County.”

  A look of horror passed over Dante’s face. “What have you done?”

  “Tell me, Dante? What do you prize above everything?”

  The answer hit Caden like a lead weight. Eden.

  Dante didn’t say a word, but shifted and burst out the door. Caden shifted as well and was fast on her heels.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Alpha. Stop. Caden chased Dante down and leaped in front of her.

  Out of my way, Second. They have my mate. This was all a ruse to get me out of the county.

  I know, but we can get there faster in the truck. Try and keep the fury from clouding your judgment, Alpha.

  Dante growled but turned and ran back to the others. She and Caden shifted and quickly pulled their clothes back on.

  “Get in, wolves. Our land and our mates are under attack,” Caden said as she jumped behind the wheel, Dante beside her in the passenger seat.

  Blaze, Flash, and the two crying and shocked cubs got in the back, and the truck zoomed off into the night.

  “We must get Xander and my elite wolves to the Mater,” Dante ordered.

  Caden called Xander’s number and it rang out. “She must be out on patrol.”

  “Try the sheriff’s office, Second,” Blaze said. “My deputy should be there.”

  “Anything?” Dante asked.

  “The line’s busy, I can’t get through.”

  “Fuck.” Dante smashed her fist off the dashboard. “Keep trying. We need to get our message to them.”

  “Alpha, this is our fault,” Tia’s small voice said. “We shouldn’t have walked up to Kurtis’s van. Jasper said he wanted to show us something.”

  “Kurtis.” Dante roared. “His family betrays us again. He and Leroux will pay for whatever harm she has caused.”

  *

  Eden and Lena were in the nursery when they heard some commotion from downstairs. They crept along the landing and saw their two guards and one intruder lying on the floor.

  They both gasped.

  “Oh my God,” Lena said.

  “Leroux. It must be.”

  “Is this an attack from the Lupa pack? Caden was telling me about them.”

  “Yes. We have to get back to the cubs. Stay behind me, Lena,” Eden ordered.

  “But you’re pregnant, Eden.”

  “I’m also a wolf, Lena. I have a better chance than you, especially with that broken arm.”

  Lena nodded, and they crept down the wide staircase. Seeing no one around, Eden crouched to check the intruder and, satisfied he was dead, turned her attention to the first wolf guard. “He’s dead.” She placed a hand on his chest and whispered, “May the Great Mother bless you on your journey. Run free in the Great Forest, Wolf.” Eden shut her eyes for a few seconds to honor him.

  Lena saw the other guard move and pull herself up against the wall. “Eden, Jinx is alive.”

  They rushed to her side. “Jinx, are you all right? You need to shift,” Eden told the young wolf.

  “I can’t, Mater. They have crossbows with silver bolts. I’m poisoned.”

  “Cowards,” Eden said angrily.

  Lena was confused. From what Caden had told her, wolves could heal from most injuries by shifting to pelt. “What does that mean, Eden?”

  “The traditional way to kill a werewolf is to shoot a silver bolt to the heart. The silver then enters the bloodstream in seconds, and death follows immediately. These weapons have been left in the past by all the civilized wolf packs, but the Lupas are not civilized. Jinx put up a great fight and was shot in the side, and we wolves can’t shift while there is silver in our bodies. It means the silver and any tissue around it must be removed if the wolf is to heal.”

  Jinx groaned in pain. “I’m sorry I failed you, Mater.”

  Eden stroked the young wolf’s head. “You did not fail me, Wolf. You nearly died trying to protect me. They’re coming.”

  “Who’s coming?” Lena said in panic.

  “Leroux’s wolves. I can hear them. Jinx, if we’re to have any chance, we need the element of surprise. This is what we’ll do.”

  *

  Eden’s white wolf stood defiantly in front of the bodies and Lena, who was right behind her. A dark dominant female wolf walked in, holding a crossbow pointed right at her. She smirked when she saw Eden ready to defend herself.

  “The Wolfgang Mater, I presume? Allow me to introduce myself. I am Ovid, Leroux’s Second, and who is the mousy-looking human behind you, Mater?”

  Lena figured if she was going to die, she might as well die being true to herself. “I am Selena, the Wolfgang Second’s mate.”

  Ovid began to laugh loudly. “My, my. Leroux was right. The Wolfgangs have sunk to low depths. The Second has a human for a mate? Well, it’s just all too perfect, then. I can destroy the entire heart of the pack in one go. Dante and Caden will be crushed.”

  Eden growled. You are a coward, wolf. Are you going to shoot two submissives with a silver bolt? What kind of weak dominants do the Lupas breed?

  Ovid growled low in her throat. “I am not going to shoot you, but someone else is. Get in here, Kurtis.”

  You traitor, Kurtis. How could you betray your pack?

  “Because Dante and those before her have made us weak. It’s time to change.”

  Ovid pointed to his crossbow and said, “It’s time to prove your loyalty to the Lupas. Shoot the Mater.”

  Lena jumped in front of Eden and shouted, “No. You can’t do this.”

  “What bravery! Who knew humans had any?” Ovid pushed Lena clear across the room. “Do it, Kurtis. Now,” Ovid ordered.

  Kurtis walked up to Eden’s wolf and directed the crossbow to her heart. His hand shook with the recognition of what he was about to do.

  Look me in the eye when you shoot me, Kurtis, because I don’t think you have the courage to shoot that bolt.

  Kurtis turned his head away from her and prepared to squeeze. Just then, Jinx rose up and barreled toward him.

  Kurtis dropped his arm and ran out the door. The confusion gave Eden the distraction she needed to pounce on Ovid.

  Ovid shifted to pelt in a second and swiped Eden across her shoulder, leaving a deep, bloody gash.

  Lena ran forward to get between the dark wolf and her friend. “Eden, no!”

  *

  Dante, Caden, Blaze, and Flash jumped from the truck and ran into the Alpha’s den to find a terrifying scene.

  Eden lay on the floor in skin form, blood flowing from deep scratches and bite wounds. Next to her, Lena lay with gashes down her right side. Dante fell to her knees and howled her rage to all who would hear her.

  Caden followed suit and howled along with her.

  “Cade,” Lena murmured.

  “You’re alive,” Caden said.

  Dante checked Eden’s neck for a pulse. “Flash. Get the EMTs here now.”

  “Yes, Alpha.”

  Tears rolled down Dante’s face. “There’s still a chance. Please, Great Mother, keep her alive. We need her.”

  “Cade? It hurts,” Lena said.

  Caden stroked her mate’s brow. “Just lie still, Goddess, I’m here now.”

  “Jinx saved us.”

  Dante looked up as one of her wolves checked Jinx’s pulse and shook her head. �
��We will mourn her as a hero when we have gotten our mates to safety.”

  Caden looked between Lena’s and the Mater’s bodies. Both lay in a pool of blood still flowing from the deep gashes they both had on their shoulders and arms. There was so much blood.

  She held her face in her hands and cursed the Lupas who had done this. Oh, Great Mother, no.

  *

  The Mater and Lena were brought straight to the hospital. The Mater was rushed into surgery to treat flesh that was grazed by a silver bolt.

  Lena was in a hospital room after having her wounds stitched and drugs administered. Caden sat at her bedside, waiting to get Lena’s blood test results and for her mate to wake up.

  Lena’s blood had mixed with the Mater’s. If there was sufficient transfer, if she was turned, there was a chance she wouldn’t survive the change.

  Caden brought Lena’s hand up to her lips and placed a soft kiss there. When she looked at her mate now, hooked up to a drip with machines beeping in the background, she looked so fragile. How could you ever go through the change, my Goddess?

  There was a knock on the door and Dr. Riley, who had been doing Lena’s test, came in.

  Caden jumped up immediately. “Any news, Doctor?”

  “Yes, we have the test results, Second.”

  “Well?”

  Doctor Riley looked down at Lena’s notes before saying, “Ms. Miller was infected by the Mater’s blood, but we managed to irrigate the wound sufficiently so only a small level of infection occurred.”

  Caden ran her hand through her hair. “What does that mean? Is she going to change?”

  “We don’t believe so, no. The level of pathogen wasn’t high enough to alter her genetic material entirely, Second.”

  Caden breathed a huge sigh of relief. “So she’ll be okay?”

  Dr. Riley smiled. “I believe so. She may experience some minor changes in temperament, but we expect that’s all.”

  Caden slumped into her chair and scrubbed her face with her hands. “Thank you, Great Mother, and thank you, Doctor. How is the Mater?”

  The doctor looked altogether more nervous at that question. “Dr. Jaycen is with the Alpha now.”

  “Please, tell me.”

  “The Mater will recover but she lost the cub. It wasn’t strong enough to fight the silver coursing through the Mater’s blood. I’m sorry, Second.” As the doctor told her this news, a loud painful roar erupted in another part of the hospital, and then the sound of furniture and glass being smashed.