by Eden Beck
And of course.
That’s when it hits me, a thought that I’m sure has crossed Romulus’ mind weeks before mine. It was Remus’ pack that slaughtered those animals in the first place. There were so many signs pointing to their approach, to the growing boldness of his pack.
In the distraction of the wedding, my turning, and eventual poisoning—I’d forgotten all about it.
But that was when it really began. When they realized how close they could get to us without getting killed.
But more than that, what I’m seeing in front of me isn’t where Remus was. It’s where he now is.
The movement of the deer have given him away. And he never did get very far.
In the midst of the tagged deer’s paths is a growing blank spot, an area that, as the weeks have passed, they’ve grown skittish to travel. That is where Remus and his pack have been hunting and hiding out since they disappeared after my turning ceremony.
They never went far after all.
They always stayed near, close enough to act should Remus’ plan have not worked.
But it did work.
I press one hand to my stomach as a wave of nausea tries to overtake me. It takes me a moment to stand steady on my feet again.
When it’s passed, I’m overwhelmed with a new emotion.
Rage.
The location is in the Free Territory, of course, but I’m surprised they haven’t gone farther away than they have. I’m also surprised that Romulus and the boys haven’t acted before now. Surely, they must have been able to track them there already.
What have they been waiting for?
I wish I knew what their plan was. Or, at the very least, if they even have one.
After last night, I can’t be sure that they didn’t just go barreling headfirst into Remus’ pack like I once did.
But I suppose it doesn’t matter though, because I know that’s where the boys have gone now.
And I also know that they should have been back by now.
Long before now, with Remus’ pack so close.
That nagging paranoia that’s been clawing at my spine isn’t just a hunch, it’s my wolf instinct kicking in. I may not have been able to complete my first transformation yet, but those shifter abilities are still buried within me. Deep within me, but still there.
Even if I can’t smell the way I could for a moment, or see in the dark, or hear a mouse scuttling through the leaves outside. Even with the change in our bond—I can feel them.
And I never should have ignored the aching dread building in be earlier.
The boys and Romulus have gone hunting for Remus and they’re going to get themselves killed. There’s no way that the four of them can stand up to Remus and his entire pack and they know it.
All noble causes aside; it’s a suicide mission.
I have to go and stop them, even though I know the Free Territory is a dangerous place for me to go alone. I won’t let them get killed over me. I cannot lose them. I’ve already lost too much as it is … my mother, my turning ceremony, my chance to have their pups. For all I know, I’ve already lost myself.
It’s too much.
Too much.
I refuse to lose anything else.
I summon all the strength that I have and push down any feelings of sickness as I push my arms into my coat sleeves and race out the door, my face step toward the Free Territory.
I don’t so much as make it past the front door before I run straight into Lydia.
I take a half step back, one hand held out in front of me as my eyes flicker back over to the door.
She takes one look at me, my disheveled, sick self … and the coat tugged on over my shoulders.
“Where are you going?”
“Don’t try to stop me or talk me out of this, Lydia. I won’t listen,” I say, trying to decide if she’ll be able to stop me before I get through the door. I know in my current state, it’d be futile to go up against her if she tries to stop me. “I know where Romulus and the boys are. I tracked the deer and Remus and his pack are hiding out on the Free Territory. The boys have been gone all day. We both know they’re not chopping firewood. They’ve gone to attack Remus and his pack. They’re going to get themselves killed and I need to get to them before they do.”
“You’re likely going to get your own self killed in the process,” she says in a voice that is much calmer than I expected.
I find myself letting my arm fall back down to my side.
“Doesn’t matter anymore,” I say, quietly. “I don’t have anything left to live for without them. If even one of them dies, I die too.”
Lydia nods but doesn’t move out of my way.
Then she says something truly surprising.
“I’m coming with you.”
I stammer for words.
“You … you don’t need to do that,” I say.
The way she eyes me make me feel immediately stupid.
She suddenly doesn’t look like the soft, gentle woman anymore. For a moment, all I see in her is her wolf.
“I know, but you can’t keep me from coming either. Romulus is my husband and those are my sons. All three of them. It’s time to stop letting the men play soldier and handle this ourselves now too.”
“Are you sure?” I ask, feeling once again in awe of Lydia’s strength and determination. She may be a gentle soul, but she is every bit as fierce as the guys are.
Maybe even more so.
“Yes, I’m sure. If we don’t go help, they’re going to get themselves killed. And then it won’t be long after that before Remus and the other packs come for us.”
She stands a little taller. “You and I are different, Sabrina, and they don’t want anything different in the packs. Without Romulus and the boys here to protect us, Remus will not hold back in sending every last one of his pack members to hunt us down and kills us.”
Of course.
Poisoning me was just an act of cruelty meant to drive Romulus to attack first.
No one could really blame Remus if it was his brother who made the first move. If it was his brother, the shifter always toting peace that attacked, then it would look like Remus was acting in self-defense.
Lydia steps past me and sets down the basket of herbs that she had been holding in her hands. She opens a closet next to the door and pulls out two guns. Then she hands one to me. I hesitate even taking it.
I’d always insisted on using a tagging gun when we went hunting. I’ve never used a real one. I’ve never so much as held one.
Now, just looking at it, I feel the weight of its power.
Lydia sees my hesitation, but it only makes her shove the gun into my hands by force.
“Sabrina, we’ve tried everything else, haven’t we? If it comes down to saving Kaleb, or Marlowe, or Rory, what will you do?”
She’s right. There’s nothing that I wouldn’t do to protect them.
I take the gun.
17
Sabrina
Not for the first time, I find myself struggling to keep up with a shifter racing to save one of my boys from danger in the Free Territory.
But this time, it isn’t just one of them. It’s all three of them.
Lydia is faster than me, but I’m surprised by how much faster I am than I thought I would be. Even with how sick and weak I’ve been, and even though I’m still struggling to match Lydia’s pace, I am still faster than I’ve ever been on my two human legs. The wolf in me is in there, deep inside just waiting to be able to come out and run.
Just the thought of it spurs me even faster.
We took the car first, driving until the roads were too dangerous to travel. Even though their temporary territory has changed, the drive and ensuing furious hike through the forest is strangely familiar. It’s not unlike the trek with Vivian last year.
Vivian.
What I would do to have her here, now. With her help, we would have surely found them already.
As it is, every second that pas
ses feels like a second that takes me further and further away from them. From the chance of saving them.
Branches snap back into my face, thorns catch at my arms and legs, roots reach up from the earth trying to make me stumble—but nothing slows us this time.
Nothing until Lydia spots something up ahead in the seconds before I do, her words finally sending us skittering to a halt beneath the overhanging trees.
“There!” Lydia shouts as she points up ahead.
We’re too late.
As soon as the first flash of movement becomes visible, suddenly the whole forest comes alive all around us.
They’ve already started to fight.
The scene before us is a bloody and vicious one. It’s all claws and snapping jaws, but even amongst the flurry of snarls and howls, I can see that our pack is vastly outnumbered, even with the fringe members of Romulus’ pack here fighting alongside them. I scan my eyes through the clashing bodies until I am able to spot Rory, Marlowe, and … where is Kaleb?
I don’t see him at first.
The flashes of movement through the trees dart so quickly, it’s not easy to make out individual shapes. He has to be here somewhere …
And then he is.
I scream.
The shrill sound of it echoes through the forest, drowning out all other noise.
Kaleb is here, but his body is slouched motionless against the base of a tree. From what I can see, he’s already badly wounded, holding onto his bleeding side and he tries to fend off oncoming attacks from Remus’ pack.
I ignore Lydia’s outstretched hand trying to hold me back and run toward him as I try to balance the rifle on my shoulder and the sudden crushing fatigue of the run here. Adrenaline keeps trying to kick in to override the pain and exhaustion, but there’s a point at which even that trick of the brain and body fails to work.
When I reach Kaleb, I stand protectively next to him and try to lift the rifle onto my shoulder to shoot whoever comes to attack him, but I can barely lift it. The effort of moving my muscles right now is causing my vision to blur and those little starts to sprout back into view.
“Sabrina …” Kaleb’s voice is weak as he tries to plead with me to leave him be. He doesn’t have to finish speaking, I can see what he wants in the look on his face.
More stars spring into my vision as I shake my head, turning back to hold the gun aloft at anyone who dares approach us. Even as I lift the rifle higher, a heady dizziness rushes in, making my knees almost give way beneath me.
No, no, no … I can’t pass out right now.
A shifter prowls closer through the trees, stepping out of the underbrush to circle just out of reach. Its head is bowed, its eyes on me—watching me, reading me, waiting for a moment to strike.
I fight with my body to stay coherent, to look stronger than I am. I know that if I don’t, Kaleb will die.
The shifter stops right ahead of me. It lifts its head, sniffs, then levels me with an intense glare.
Now.
I lift the gun higher, ready to shoot …
But then a pain explodes into my lower abdomen, a pain that resonates in my memory as the same pain that I felt the morning Remus first poisoned me. It’s the same pain I felt just before I lost consciousness. It radiates throughout my entire body until my knees, already unsteady beneath me, give way entirely.
It isn’t the shifter in front of me who lunges forward. Another shape appears from my peripherals, and even in my blinding pain, I recognize it.
I recognize him.
I see Remus himself coming toward me as if in slow motion. He alone of his pack is still in human form, but his jaw is opened wide and his canine teeth visible.
I know what’s going to happen next.
He’s going to kill me and there is absolutely nothing that I can do to stop it. I hear Kaleb cry out in both pain and fear as he sees Remus coming too and knows that he can’t protect me now. Even in his broken state, he tries to reach up, to tug me out of the way, but his muscles have no strength. His fingers can’t even grasp at the fabric of my pants.
I know that if I close my eyes I’ll pass out, and I don’t want to give Remus the satisfaction of making this easy. I keep my eyes wide-open despite my fear and despite the most excruciating pain that I have ever felt in all of my life.
Just as Remus is within arm’s length, ready to sink his teeth into the side of my neck as Kaleb struggles futilely to place his mortally wounded body between us, a sound pierces through the air. Like my scream earlier, it cuts through the sounds of fighting—drowning everything else out.
But this isn’t just a scream.
It’s a shrill howl that hurts my ears and rattles my brain. It’s a sound that appears to have stopped everyone in their tracks, even Remus. When I look to see where the source of the noise is coming from, I’m shocked to see that it’s the wolf girl that hates me who’s making the howl, the one who had been promised to Rory.
Her single, powerful sound has brought all of the shifters on both sides to a frozen and obliging halt. It’s the strangest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s as if someone literally pushed a pause button and the battle has frozen in place.
Everyone stares at her in disbelief, even Romulus and Remus, waiting with bated breath.
“Stop!” the girl screams once her howl has abated and she’s able to use her human voice. Her body has shifted forms again, so swiftly that even she didn’t manage to keep her clothes with her this time. Somehow, she’s an even more frightening creature in the nude—her body smeared with blood and grime.
It’s her face though, that keeps all eyes on her, that stops all breath. “Stop this at once and all of us be damned for what’s happened,” she spits. “Do you know what we’ve done? Do you know what they’ve done?”
The girl glares at Rory, Marlowe, and Kaleb, while everyone stares at her in utter confusion.
“This is blasphemy! This is a curse! Don’t you see? Can’t any of you sense it too?” she wails. Her eyes are rolling wildly now, her head thrown back as she takes in a huge lungful of chest-heaving air.
Although he still looks uneasy, Remus makes a low growl at her, a signal for his subordinate to back down and allow the rest of the packs to resume the battle. But it doesn’t work. She doesn’t back down. Whatever is fueling her outburst is more important that following the directive of her alpha, which I thought was impossible to refuse.
“Look!” she screams as she points in my direction, all eyes following her to rest on me as I still struggle to stay conscious. “Look at her with more than just your eyes, you fools!”
There’s a silence that follows, as everyone finally draws a collective breath.
In the moment, the silence, that follows … the wolf-girl’s words ring loud and clear.
“It didn’t work, Remus. She’s carrying a pup.”
What?
Remus eyes me with such fevered rage, his eyes could ignite the whole fire ablaze. “Abomination,” he whispers, his gaze turning from me to his brother, Romulus, who’s appeared in the forest at my side. “The girl is pregnant by your sons.”
Pregnant?
If I had the energy to, I would laugh.
“That changes nothing,” he snaps. Remus bares his canine teeth, spitting out those last few poisonous words before his body shifts into wolf form.
“No,” Romulus responds, in the moment before he follows suit. “That changes everything.”
He straightens himself up, his voice carrying through the darkness like a judge’s gavel. “You know the laws, Remus. Even you won’t dare to touch her now.”
The laws.
More unspoken wolf law.
But from what I see, and it’s one of the last things I see, Remus very much would dare. If it were entirely up to him, I’m pretty sure he would break every wolf law here, in this moment.
But his pack …
For once, they hesitate to mirror him. For once, they seem uncertain.
And that moment of hes
itation is all we need.
I’m too dizzy now to even stand up anymore. I fall to the ground and Kaleb catches me with a pained groan in his arms before my head hits the dirt. Rory and Marlowe are around us within seconds, with Lydia running to stand at our flank. Romulus tears through the underbrush, wrestling with his brother in a blur of claws, teeth, and fur.
Everything is spinning, including my thoughts.
One second, we were in the midst of a battle. A losing battle.
Now … now …
Now … I’m pregnant? But I thought I was barren. I can hear the thoughts of the boys in my mind as if they are speaking to me without their lips even moving. They’re in shock.
Remus’ pack finally descends behind us into a chaotic frenzy. He’s their Alpha and therefore his wishes dictate their own emotions and actions. They uphold the pure-blooded train of thought because Remus does, and Remus still very much wants to kill me.
But this announcement has sent them all momentarily spinning in confusion and unrest. Even Remus is unable to call the battle back to an instant restart as the low growls and tense angst in the air brews controversy and tests allegiances.
Some of his pack members are ready to resume the fight, some are outraged that he has let the situation get this far and that I have become pregnant at all, and still others are hesitant to continue fighting when there is now an unborn pup in the mix. It’s caused enough discord and confusion to allow us to escape.
It’s Romulus who stumbles away from his tussle with his brother as several males from his pack step in to fill the void behind him. He limps, his body shifting back to human as Remus’ pack descends on their wounded leader. In the moment that follows, my pack wastes no time.
I feel the rifle drop from my hand as Romulus lifts me up to carry me. I am, for some reason, surprised that it is him who will carry me now instead of one of the boys. Lydia puts her hand on my shoulder as she runs quickly beside her husband, and Rory and Marlowe pick up Kaleb to carry him back to the house.
I’d call it a miracle that we got away, but I know it’s more than that.
I remember the keening sound of the girl’s wail, how it brough the entire forest to a standstill. There was something mournful and feral in that sound. Something that shattered through pack rivalries to something so primal it couldn’t be ignored.
