by Unknown
“The shots came from a distance—probably a sniper stationed in the cliffs waiting for us. Damn it! Kelt knew I’d come back here the minute I figured out what he was doing.” Grey made a gesture for me to turn around. I did so and he cinched the sword’s holder over my shoulders. Then he slid the blade inside. The tip of the sword stopped just short of my tailbone, and the large inlaid handle rested against my head. Once again, I noted that it wasn’t as heavy as I thought a sword should be. While wearing it on my back was uncomfortable because it didn’t fit well, at least I could bear the weight.
I turned around and saw my husband stripping off his clothes.
“I’m going to shift,” he said as he tossed his shirt to the ground and unbelted his pants.
“Grey, why aren’t we dead, too?”
“My assumption is that Kelt wants to assert himself as the new alpha by killing us in front of the pack. Sam was shot after the car stopped. He was taken out.” Anger stuck to Grey’s tone like hot tar. “Kelt’s out for blood, Arabelle. He won’t settle for making us outcasts.” In seconds, Grey was completely naked. “Enforcers are probably on the way. We’re not far from Bleed City, but it’ll take me at least half an hour to get to Aunt Lila’s. As soon I become wolf, get on my back—and hold on as tight as you can.”
I’d seen werewolves, of course. You couldn’t live in Bleed City without seeing one or two lope through a street or behind a building ever now and again. But I’d never seen one fully shift.
Grey dropped to all fours, and I immediately saw fur ripple down his hunched back. His knees buckled inward and his calves shrank into the thick, furred legs of a beast. A large tail unfurled like a flag from the end of his spine. Then his face lengthened into a massive maw, and his bones clicked and clacked as his handsome human face assumed the shape of a very, very large wolf with gray-blue eyes.
When the transformation was complete, I was staring at my alpha husband in his purest form.
Werewolf.
His silvery gray pelt gleamed like found treasure even in the faint light of the half moon. The black stripe on his head was the only splash of contrasting color on his gorgeous hide, as though someone with a paintbrush had playfully swiped at his fur.
Grey was as handsome in this form as his other. However, I’d seen smaller horses than the massive creature that stood before me now.
He looked at me, tilting his head and uttering a sharp bark. I didn’t need to speak wolf to understand that meant, “Hurry!”
I grabbed at his scruff, my elbows and knees digging into his flesh as I scrambled onto him with no grace at all. I balanced across his back, pressing my legs in at his sides and clutching his thick fur. “I’m ready!” I cried.
Grey took off.
He set a crazed, supernatural pace that made me afraid to do anything but hold on as tightly as I could. Wind snapped at my face. Sand bit at my ankles. My flip-flops became instant casualties, and the sword handle bumped against my skull with a painful rhythm. Though we were headed toward the fight of our lives with the dire hope we would arrive in time to save those we loved, I couldn’t stop the thrill that raced down my spine and settled into my belly like balled lightning.
I felt fierce.
The wild blasts of dry desert air forced tears from my eyes. I closed them against the assault. I lay against Grey, my face buried in his neck, as he raced through the bleak Nevada landscape.
Would we be able to save my parents and the other citizens of Bleed City? Who among the pack was still loyal to Grey? And the biggest question of all: Could we defeat Kelt?
GREY STOPPED RUNNING. I opened my eyes and pushed myself into a sitting position. I had no idea how much time had passed, but I did recognize the area. He crept forward, nose raised to sniff the air. We were headed toward a jumbled set of boulders that looked like a giant child’s discarded toys. The stones abutted a colossal red cliff. This was the primary landmark that signified the southern border of Bleed City.
Grey crouched, bunching his muscles and emitting a low growl. Seconds later, I saw what got his dander up. Another werewolf slunk around one of the massive rocks. It was smaller than Grey and had fur the color of dark roast coffee. The wolf stopped a couple of feet away and bowed, its head touching the ground in complete submission.
Grey barked.
The wolf raised up, but kept its head lowered, and then it turned around and trotted away. Grey took off after it.
The wolf led us around the rocks to the towering escarpment, slipping into a large crevice hidden by boulders. As Grey cautiously followed, I tightly held on to his fur, my heart tripling its beat as we descended into cool darkness. The crack immediately widened into a large cave, a fact I only knew because torches lit the interior.
Mac sat on a flat rock, his attention riveted to a map spread on the ground between his feet.
He looked up as we arrived and caught my gaze. He didn’t exactly look sorry about kidnapping me and giving me to Rick as a blood penance. I slid off Grey and stepped away. The coffee-colored wolf had already begun a transformation into a human female. When she was done, she crouched on the floor, her curtain of curly brunette locks giving away her identity.
Neela.
She rose to her feet and strode to a pile of clothes near Mac. As Grey resumed his own human form, she efficiently dressed in the leather attire she seemed to prefer.
“We brought you some clothes, Grey,” said Mac. He avoided my gaze, and in fact, seemed to be pretending that I wasn’t here at all.
Neela scooped up a folded pair of jeans and a black T-shirt, which she tossed to Grey. My husband dressed in silence, no doubt assessing the situation carefully. Were Neela and Mac our friends…or our foes?
Neela’s gaze roved over me, lingering on my dirty, bare feet. “You need shoes.” She grabbed the silver-chained black boots she hadn’t yet put on—and handed them to me.
“I can’t take your boots.”
“I can shift. You can’t. These are heavy—there’s steel in toes. If you kick anyone, it’ll hurt ‘em.”
“Okay.” I really wanted to kick her and Mac, but I kept that thought to myself as I put on the boots. They were two sizes too big, but still better than bare feet or plastic flip-flops.
“How did you get out of prison, Mac?” asked Grey. He hadn’t yet approached the beta. In fact, he hung back, away from the two werewolves. I stayed near him, ready to spring out of the way if he needed to throw a punch.
“I let him out. He was the only one I could trust,” said Neela. “My father has his claws into nearly half the enforcers.”
“And the rest?”
Her expression turned bitter. “Dead, imprisoned, or with the few humans who escaped the round-up.”
“You chose me over your father?” His question held doubt, suspicion.
“Father,” she spit. “He lost that privilege when he decided to go against the alpha. Against the pack.”
“We’re both loyal to you,” interjected Mac.
“Are you?” asked Grey. “You handed over my bride to the Blood Pack. You sanctioned her murder.”
“Blood for blood,” snapped Mac. He got to his feet, slowly, his head bowed submissively, but his hands clenched into fists. “Besides, I was convinced that Arabelle killed Murdock, too. I believed my daughter.”
“Your daughter?” Grey bared his teeth. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“A youthful indiscretion more than nineteen years ago. The child was not born a shifter, so I didn’t claim her before the pack. Her mother raised her as a human with no knowledge of her heritage.”
“Until Kelt told her.” Neela’s gaze flicked to me. “Mac’s daughter was the witness who testified against you for Murdock’s death. Of course, I didn’t know that at the time.”
Murdock. He was the enforcer who’d been killed before the Choosing ceremony—his murder and the circumstantial evidence linking me to it had gotten me imprisoned.
“She was also one of the brides
,” continued Neela. “Her name is Cacie Lynn.”
My knees almost buckled. Cacie Lynn was my friend. Just a naïve, clueless girl who thought being engaged to a werewolf was the epitome of her life.
“Cacie Lynn is Mac’s daughter?” My voice held tears. Grief and disbelief cascaded through me. Cacie Lynn had betrayed me? It made no sense. “Why would she accuse me of murder?”
“Because she thinks she’s in love with my father,” snapped Neela. “He recruited Cacie Lynn months ago, around the time he started all this insane plotting crap with Rick. Then you came along and screwed up their plans, first by killing Cody, and second, by being chosen as the alpha’s mate prior to the Choosing. Before that, they were planning for Grey to choose Cacie Lynn as his mate.”
As Grey’s wife I wanted to ask why they believed Grey would pick Cacie Lynn. Did he prefer blondes? The jealousy pricked at my pride, but I put it away. I could hardly indulge in such petty emotions when so much was at stake. Right now, we needed to focus on our survival and our plan to defeat Kelt—who was a far more nefarious individual than I’d previously thought. He made the murderous Rick look like a newborn kitten.
“Cody’s death was supposed to be laid at Grey’s feet. The Blood Pack alpha is an unstable, vengeful bitch. She would’ve gone after Grey with everything she had,” added Mac.
“And Kelt’s enforcers would’ve led him right to slaughter,” I said softly.
“Exactly.” Neela started pacing. “Then when Grey was killed in revenge for Cody’s death—Cacie Lynn would take Kelt as her husband.”
“What difference would that make?” I asked.
“If the alpha dies while still in the leadership position, tradition dictates that his mate can choose a new spouse. And that spouse would be considered the interim alpha,” said Grey.
“All it would’ve have taken was a pack vote and my father would be named alpha. He had a spotless record of service—he was respected. Beloved.” Neela choked out the words. She pressed a fist against her mouth, and her eyes glittered with tears I knew she would never shed.
“If it had gone down that way,” said Mac, “Kelt would’ve been alpha with no fuss, no muss.”
“And your daughter would be the alpha’s mate,” I accused Mac. Grey’s arms tensed around me, as though he feared I would break free and attack his ex-beta.
“No! I had no part of this! I didn’t know about Cacie Lynn’s involvement until Neela told me. I swear, Grey.” Mac’s gaze sought forgiveness from his alpha. “Kelt came to me and said he’d been contacted by the Blood Pack’s beta. When I talked to Rick, he told me if I turned Arabelle over to them for penance, they’d consider the matter closed. Damn it, Grey! She killed their alpha’s mate. I didn’t want a pack war!”
“You’re a fool. Kelt used you to get rid of Arabelle and keep his plan in motion,” said Grey. “Whether he took the Shadow Pack through peaceful or forceful means is irrelevant. Kelt wants war for the same reason that pathetic asshole Rick wanted war. He wants power. He wants to dissemble the current pack system and rebuild it his way.”
“Everything I did,” said Mac through gritted teeth, “I did for the pack. I made the hard decisions because I knew you couldn’t!”
“Is that what you’re telling yourself?” asked Grey quietly. “That you lied to protect the Shadows? That you betrayed me because I wouldn’t give my wife to the Bloods?”Anger unfurled in each word he uttered. Grey tensed, and this time it was I who held on to him. It seems we both wished to pummel Mac. “You kept your daughter a secret—even from me. I’m the alpha, but more than that, I am—I was—your friend. You aren’t even worthy of being beta. When this is over, you will pay for your mistakes.”
Mac nodded. A muscle ticked in his jaw. I didn’t trust him. For that matter, I didn’t trust Neela. What if they were colluding with Kelt and planned to lead us into a trap?
“My father’s in Bleed City,” said Neela. “They’re rooting out the people who’re hiding.”
“Has he gotten to Aunt Lila’s place?”
“Twice,” said Neela. “Nobody’s there.”
“They were taken?” I asked.
Neela lifted an eyebrow. “There was no one to take. Her place was empty.”
I didn’t understand. I had just talked to my mother and she’d said they were holed up at Aunt Lila’s. Had they moved elsewhere? Had they decided to flee?
Grey squeezed me, either in comfort or in an effort to keep from asking questions. I pressed my lips together and swallowed the knot lodged in my throat.
“How do you know what your father’s doing?”
“We have an insider,” she said. “My father killed Murdock because the man was about to betray him—to you. Between the time the elder and I had exited the tunnel and Belle entered it, he’d cut the man’s throat and disappeared through one of the offshoot tunnels.”
Wrong place. Wrong time. I really did have a knack for it.
“And you trust this insider?” asked Grey.
“Murdock’s younger brother, Chris. His brother had come to him before the Choosing, told him what was going on and what he planned to do. Chris is a new enforcer trainee—and hadn’t been part of the conspiracy. Once Kelt made his move, Chris pretended to follow Kelt so he could keep tabs for me.”
“Why aren’t you with your father?” I asked.
“Because what he’s doing is wrong. He tried to get me to join up, but I refused and then bolted.” Neela’s eyes were pure fury. “He doesn’t care about the pack. About his family. About me. He’s selfish and cold-hearted. He needs to be put down like the dog he is!”
“Neela.” Mac reached out and touched her shoulder, but she shrugged off his hand.
A ringing sound filling the cavern, and Neela dug into her back pocket and pulled out a slim cell phone. “Yeah?” She listened for a moment and then ended the call, tucking the phone away. “That was Chris. My father’s at the library taking a personal approach to torturing the human prisoners. He’s trying to find out where the others are hiding.”
WE HUDDLED BEHIND the small home of poor old Mr. Sanders. In less than three days, I had come full circle. I stood right in the place where my life had changed forever—and might well be the very place where it ended.
Neela and Mac were in werewolf form. Grey remained human and I—well, I only had the one option. Light spilled out from the building’s anterior though the backside remained in relative darkness. Chris had told Neela that Kelt planned to drag three humans out at time from their basement confinement onto the library’s xeriscaped front gardens. He wanted one person to torture and two to watch the inhumane treatment—the goal, of course, was to get someone to talk.
From our vantage point at the corner of the tiny house, we saw that the rear of the library only had two sentries.
They prowled back and forth, sniffing at the air, and would no doubt soon catch our scent.
A scream split the air—an ax of utter pain chopping right through me.
My stomach clenched, and I pressed a hand over my mouth to keep from giving voice to my anguish. I knew nearly every soul in this town. I couldn’t imagine one being tormented by the pack who was supposed to protect us.
Grey nodded toward the wolves.
Neela and Mac took off, straight at them. Snarling, barking, and snapping ensued. While they fought each other, Grey and I took off for the library.
The plan was simple. While Chris and I rescued the Bleed City citizens from their imprisonment, Grey would go after Kelt. Pack law dictated that two alphas vying to lead the pack would be left alone to battle it out.
Since those who followed Kelt didn’t seem to give a damn about the pack, much less its laws, I had little faith that they would step aside and allow a fair fight.
Grey felt strongly that pack law would be honored if he challenged Kelt outright in front of the werewolves.
I had to trust his instincts.
But still, I worried. Though we’d been together for mere da
ys, it felt like so much longer. Grey putting himself in peril tore at me. As Grey took off to confront his enemy, my hatred for Kelt grew a hundredfold. Please, dear Lord, protect him. Keep my alpha safe.
I entered the library. A leanly muscled boy, no more than eighteen or nineteen years old, appeared from the shadowy confines of what appeared to be a storage room.
“Arabelle?”
“Belle. And you’re Chris.”
He nodded. “The stairs are over there. I’m the guard at the top. We’ve got two enforcers below. Five are out front with Kelt. A least a dozen were left at the compound to keep order—and another half dozen or so are combing the town for the other citizens and for Grey.”
“So many,” I whispered.
Chris grimaced. “Sucks, I know.” He gestured for me to follow and turned, leading me to the staircase. “Go ahead of me, like I caught you.” He gaze flicked to the sword I still wore strapped to my back. Colt’s weapon had become my talisman. “Can you use that thing?”
“Yes,” I lied. I started down the dimly lit concrete steps, Chris right behind me.
“What’s going on?” The gravelly voice came from a scar-faced man who was the roughly the size and shape of a boulder. His gray-streaked locks, including his beard, sported many tiny braids. “Who’s she?”
“Arabelle Burke,” said Chris. He unsheathed my sword, as though to take it from me. “I caught her sneaking in to the library.”
“Where’s your husband?”
I glared at him. The man laughed. His compatriot was smaller, but not by much. He, too, had long hair, but wore his in a ponytail.
Behind them cowered more than two dozen Bleed City residents. Men. Women. Children. They huddled against the wall, protecting each other, their wrists bound with plastic ties. Their feet remained unbound, but what idiot human would dare go against a werewolf?
Well, I would, of course.
Rage exploded, flowing through me like fear-melting lava. I grabbed the sword out of Chris’s hands and used it like a baseball bat, thwacking Braid Man across the abdomen.
