by K A Faul
Mina and Anna took deep breaths, both having finished their shifts. Both charged into the forest, taking opposite paths.
The echoes of the loud shots overlapped. Dirt and rock pelted Mina from a nearby shot, but she ignored it and her pounding heart to continue her run. She hurried behind a tree trunk near her acting alpha. Anna arrived a second later.
Thomas put his back against a thick tree trunk. “This guy can’t have an unlimited number of gold bullets, and I’m pretty sure he just emptied an entire magazine with that latest. I’m going to keep insulting him and trying to draw his fire, while you guys move from tree to tree. Eventually, he’ll run out and have to come play on the ground, and that’s when we take him out. I’ll shift while you have him busy.”
The two wolves bobbed their heads and let out low growls.
Mina wondered how the Hunter even knew they’d be in the forest. A mage stumbling through a portal from Esper made more sense than a random Hunter of the Church happening upon their forest.
She filed that away for the future. There wasn’t time to think about the why and how now until they’d defeated the Hunter.
“Get ready,” Thomas said, holding up three fingers. “Three.” A finger dropped. “Two. One.”
All three of the pack burst from their hiding spots, heading toward the tree hosting the Hunter. Their enemy blasted away, throwing bullet after bullet in the ground, but the erratic and fast movement of his targets kept him from landing a shot.
Another three-count preceded their dash toward their target tree. The dark-clothed Hunter leapt from his tree, catching a nearby branch, before throwing himself up on another tree. His hand moved behind his back, and he yanked out a long dagger from a belt sheath. The gold plating glinted in the sunlight.
I think I’d rather be fighting a manticore about now.
Chapter 23
Despite the new weapon, the Hunter didn’t come down to play, but instead leapt to another tree.
Mina and Anna tore after him, but there wasn’t much they could do until he dared come down. The slashing and tearing claws that werewolves had in their wolf forms might make them more dangerous than normal wolves, but they still couldn’t climb trees worth a damn.
Mina growled up at the Hunter.
Damn it. I can’t even really do anything to taunt him.
Their prey continued leaping between trees and branches, occasionally spinning a few times to build up momentum. The wolves howled and growled, and after about a minute, Mina stopped abruptly. Anna jumped to the side, almost barreling into her.
Why did you stop, Mina?
He’s leading us away from Thomas. I don’t like it. We’re not hunting him now. He’s leading us somewhere.
Mina spun around and ran toward where they’d last see their alpha. Anna fell in behind her without a single thought back.
“You fear your doom, hellhounds?” the Hunter shouted. “As you should.”
A chance glance behind Mina proved the Hunter had decided to chase them again.
The shaking of the branches sounded from overhead. A shadow fell over the wolves.
They looked up in time to see the Hunter dropping to the ground, his golden blade pointed down. Both wolves jumped away, with the weapon missing Anna’s head by inches.
Mina charged, going for his leg, but changed direction as he swiped with the golden dagger.
The Hunter let out a dark chuckle. “I’ve seen you hellhounds take round after round with a normal gun and keep coming, but a little bit of gold, and you’re cowards, afraid of the slightest nick.”
So I can talk to birds and squirrels, but I can’t send a few choice curse words to a human. Just my luck.
Instead, Mina growled and circled around the Hunter. Anna paralleled her movements on the other side.
The Hunter reached into another sheath and pulled out another shorter golden blade, his eyes darting back and forth. “As a pack of five, you might have stood a chance, but two of you? If you surrender now, I’ll make your deaths quick and merciful.”
Mina’s only response with a low, drawn-out growl.
“So be it. You’re filthy, rotten, and soulless monsters, and the world will be better off without you in it.”
We need to stall him until Thomas arrives, Mina sent. The guy won’t be able to guard from three directions.
Anna circled the man more. We just need one good hit.
Mina’s heart thundered. She’d been in more than a few fights in her life, but they were all pointless posturing like her encounter with Garett. In the back of her mind, she always knew her life or the lives of those she cared about weren’t on the line.
That wasn’t true now. This crazed Hunter wouldn’t stop because an alpha showed up and yelled. He wouldn’t stop because anyone asked. He wouldn’t stop until either he was dead or they were dead.
Okay, I can see now where Garrett might be useful.
Thomas let out a loud howl in the distance. Far. Too far. Mina hadn’t realized the distance of the Hunter’s feigned escape.
Mina kept her eyes focused on the hunter and howled back. Her enemy was right about the strength of the pack.
The Hunter wouldn’t wait. He darted toward Anna, swinging with his left blade while keeping his right blade pointed at Mina.
Anna rolled to the side, growling. Mina took the opportunity to charge, swiping at him with a claw, but her opponent nimbly dodged and swiped with his weapon. His blade took off the tips of some guard hairs but didn’t find any flesh.
I’ll try and keep his focus on me, and you get him from the back.
Okay, Anna sent.
Mina ran back and forth, growling, snarling, and snapping her jaws. She lunged a few times but stepped back in time to avoid either of the blades.
Come on, asshole, pay attention to me.
Anna circled around, not making any noise and waiting for her chance. If the man held only one weapon or neither were gold, the fight would have already been over.
Thomas’s loud growl sounded from behind Mina.
About time you showed up, she sent.
If we rush him from three different directions, we’ll be able to get past his defenses.
Mina snarled. I’ll take front.
Thomas and Anna padded to the Hunter’s flanks.
The man kept his weapons ready, his attention shifting between the three. For all his bluster before, the silence suggested he didn’t have confidence he could win against three wolves at close range.
Your ass is ours now, you Hunter bastard.
Get ready, Thomas sent. Three… two… one…
The three wolves charged the Hunter. Mina leapt at the last moment, snapping her jaw closed on the man’s left arm. To the Hunter’s credit, he didn’t cry out, but his weapon dropped to the ground.
Thomas swiped his claws across the man’s chest. This time, the hunter grunted and stumbled back. He swung his undamaged arm back in a hard arc toward his right.
Anna yelped as the golden dagger slammed into her body.
Rage poured into Mina, and she raked her claws across the body of the Hunter. Thomas locked his jaw around the man’s other arm. The red blood stained his light fur. He thrashed back and forth until the man dropped the weapon.
Mina pounced on the disarmed hunter and raked away at his torn chest with her claws. Thomas released his grip on the man’s arm and went for his neck.
The Hunter’s body fell limp, but the wolves continued their attack for several long moments.
Mina jumped from the body, the taste of the man’s blood still in her mouth.
Don’t ever mess with my pack, asshole.
Chapter 24
Anna lay on the ground, whimpering, her fur blood-soaked.
Mina stood looking down at her friend, her body trembling with barely repressed rage. The Hunter bastard had attacked them when they’d done nothing to him. If some rogue wolves killed his wife, he needed to go after them, not attack random innocent wolves who had nothing to d
o with it.
Anna, are you okay? Mina sent. Damn. I mean you’re obviously not okay, but is it bad?
I’ll… live. I wish I could say I’ve felt worse, but I don’t know if I have.
Mina shook her head back and forth. They were too damned far from civilization, or at least what passed for civilization in the county.
For all the talk of danger, the wolves all believed in the back of their mind that it wouldn’t be much of an issue. Their healing and general damage resistance to everything but gold made the idea of serious crippling injury or death seem remote.
Thomas padded over to Anna and nudged her with his nose.
Shift.
Mina growled at Thomas. You want her to shift in that condition?
Yes. You too, Mina. We might have taken care of the hunter, but we can’t risk stepping on any spikes, and this was his battleground. He probably still has traps. At least the things are small enough they won’t go through shoes.
Some the fire left her. Thomas might have made some mistakes, but he was thinking of the safety of the pack.
Mina bobbed her snout, thinking about how their preservation amulets at least gave them a few small advantages. Otherwise, they would have ended up completely vulnerable to the Hunter’s traps.
The bastard might have even been depending on it. It’s not like every werewolf walked around with a preservation amulet. They weren’t exactly top-secret items, but they weren’t common either.
The whole attack still set her stomach twisting. The man obviously wasn’t close most of the time. Otherwise, they might have heard him. He’d stuck to the trees to help conceal his scent, but his use of traps suggested he had a general idea of where they were going.
Watching us? Maybe with binoculars or something? But we’re in the middle of the forest. Not exactly great visibility. Guess it doesn’t matter. He’s dead, and we have to handle our wounded.
Thomas snarled as he shifted back into human form. Mina took a deep breath and started the painful process.
Anna’s cries of pain echoed in the forest as she shifted. Back in her human form, blood soaked her shirt, the wound being in her upper chest. She forced herself to her feet, gritting her teeth, looking ever paler than normal. She stumbled.
Mina hurried over to help Anna. The girl put her arm around Mina.
“Thanks, Mina.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Let’s head back to the others,” Thomas said. He glared down at the dead body of the Hunter.
They slowly made their way back to Jorge and Ryan. Both rested against trees, not looking in the best shape but still better than Anna.
Ryan looked between Anna and Mina, a hint of question in his eyes. “Did you get him?”
“Yeah, he’s dead,” Mina said. “Very dead, but Anna took a hit from a gold-covered knife.”
The girl shook her head, clutching the still bleeding wound on her chest. “It’s… painful, but I think I’ll survive.”
Thomas frowned. “It’s a gold wound. We’ll need to bandage it. You can’t depend on the wound closing itself anytime soon.” He sighed and stared in the direction they’d just walked. “It’s my mistake. If I would have listened to Mina sooner, none of this would have happened, or at least we wouldn’t have been taken by surprise so much.”
Mina helped Anna sit down and shook her head. “As much as I love to hear you admit you’re wrong, I think the important thing is to remember that no one died except the bastard Hunter. And don’t beat yourself up too hard, Thomas. I don’t honestly know if I would have believed someone spouting what I’ve been saying if our positions were reversed. I’m the one with the power, and it still seems pretty crazy to me.”
Thomas furrowed his brow and gave a curt nod. He looked down, lost in thought.
Mina’s gaze drifted between the three wounded werewolves. “Well, at least we’ll all have the distinction of being the first wolves to fail our Rite of Passage in five years.” She tried to force a playful grin. “That’ll make us minor celebrities.”
Jorge and Ryan looked away, pain etched on their faces.
Thomas nodded. “You’re right, Mina. Everyone’s slow, but at least they can still walk. I know the path the elders were planning to take to meet with us after coming back from Esper. We can meet them halfway.” He surveyed the pack. “And to be clear. I’ve failed you all. I provided poor leadership, and you’ve been wounded because of it. I was supposed to keep you safe. I’ll make that clear to the elders so that everyone knows, but Mina is right. We can’t finish the Rite now.”
“No,” Anna yelled.
Everyone looked her way.
“It’s okay,” Mina said.
Anna took a few shallow breaths. “No, it’s not,” she said more quietly. “We can’t turn back. Not now. We’ve come so far.”
Mina sighed. “You’re in bad shape. Worse than Jorge and Ryan. Even if you want to tough it out, we wouldn’t be able to move fast enough in Esper, and even then, we risk your wounds getting worse. It’s not worth dying out here.”
“You don’t understand, Mina.”
“No, I get it totally. Trust me. I don’t want to go back to Golden Oaks and admit I failed my Rite. There are a lot of people there who are waiting to laugh in my face. It’ll make Garett’s entire year once he hears.” Mina shrugged. “But it’s more important that you guys get back to where you can get some decent rest and heal up before you end up actually crippled or dead. You can’t mess around when it comes to gold.”
Anna shook her head. “You shouldn’t have to go back and admit you failed your Rite. That’s exactly why we can’t stop. You, of all people, should not be forced to wait a year.”
“I know that you believe in me, and you were right about a few things that I doubted. Look, I’m flattered. I really am, but if there’s one thing this entire Rite has reinforced, it’s that wolves are best when they think and act as a pack. I’m not sacrificing anyone for myself. That’s crap, and I’d sooner take solid-gold buckshot to the head than do something to make your injuries worse.”
Mina looked over at Thomas. He watched the exchange, quiet with a pensive expression on his face. Not exactly what she’d grown to expect from the man.
Anna winced in pain. “The pack failed. You can go on alone and finish the Rite. It’s happened before, more than once in our clan.”
Mina shook her head. “Thomas will need help getting everyone back. You guys come first.”
Ryan stood, wobbling. “Look, I’ve been better, but I can walk. The guy didn’t get me in the leg.”
Jorge nodded. “Me, too.”
Anna forced a smile on her face. “Thomas can help me, but please, Mina, one of us should succeed. Otherwise, the Hunter will have won.”
Mina blinked several times. Her inner competitor roared at the idea of continuing her Rite. She’d worked so hard and trained for so long. She burned to prove to all the doubters that she deserved respect as a Golden Claw wolf.
But it didn’t matter. There was no way Thomas would allow it, and this was one time she wasn’t going to tell him to go screw himself. He needed to keep it together to get everyone to safety.
Mina shrugged. “Some wolves might have done that in the past, but I’m sure Thomas won’t approve.”
“It’s fine by me,” he said.
“Yeah. See? He—what?” Mina stared at him, convinced her ears had tricked her.
No way.
Thomas shrugged. “I can explain how to get to the portal and how to get to the next mushroom and back. I don’t like the idea, but I also owe you for not listening to you.” Thomas frowned. “The only problem is it’ll be dangerous. Without the pack backing you, you’ll be much more vulnerable.”
“Dangerous?” Mina snorted. “More dangerous than a Hunter with gold-plated weapons?”
“Maybe. There are far scarier things on Esper than Hunters, but I’ll admit, Mina, that you’ve proven a lot tougher than I ever expected. I’m through underestima
ting you, Mina Golden Claw. I’m starting to believe you could beat Rogan if you set your mind to it.”
Mina ran her hands through her hair. “This is so messed up. Crazy-ass Hunters aren’t supposed to be part of the Rite. Hell, you didn’t even bring them up as a possibility.”
Thomas managed a grin. “Manticores aren’t supposed to be part of the Rite either, but I still had to deal with one.” His levity disappeared, and he turned back to the wounded pack members. “I want to be sure, though. I want you all to take a few minutes to think about this. If I let her go, that means we’ll only have one healthy wolf until we encounter the elders.”
“I don’t care,” Anna said. “Mina should continue. She’s earned it, and I believe in her.”
Ryan sighed. “The Hunter’s dead. It’s not like she’ll need to have our backs.”
Jorge nodded at Ryan. “At least someone should finish the Rite.” He grimaced. “I wish it could be me, but I hate the idea of none of the Initiates passing.”
Thomas turned back toward Mina. “There you have it. Just keep asking the animals for help, and I’m sure you’ll be fine, but don’t let your guard down. Esper’s got a lot of weird crap. Be careful about everything there. Trust nothing.”
“Thanks,” Mina said, trying to keep the tears out of her eyes.
Years of being the daughter of the king and dealing with crap had impressed upon Mina that she always needed to be strong because she thought no one would have her back except for her brother or Linh. Now, she wondered if she’d pushed people away all these years without good reason.
I guess that’s half the point. The pack is the wolf. The wolf is the pack.
Thomas stepped toward Mina. “Now let me explain where you’ll be going, and… one very important thing you need to know. Listen carefully. This might very well save your life.”
Chapter 25
As Mina padded through the forest in wolf form, she began to realize a downside of communicating with lower animals. They had no sense of time.
It wasn’t like she expected them to walk around with little tiny watches, but it seemed like they had no appreciation for a recent event compared to something that had happened days before.
