by AJ Skelly
Are we outnumbered? I shouted the all call, meaning to send the thought to Jonathan.
Nearly. Wait! Dominic! He’s in that truck.
Get him! It was all I had time for as the black wolf launched and was on me. Talking to Jonathan had distracted me enough to provide the opening the black wolf needed.
Snarls, screams, and blood filled the black night, and my head swam with the sensation of teeth nicking the flesh of my shoulder. I winced, growling in pain and frustration, and circled the black wolf, his eyes still on my throat.
Shots rang out, and several startled yips and howls ripped through the air. I cringed involuntarily, but quickly squared my shoulders as the black wolf rammed into my chest, nearly sending me flying head over tail. I let the momentum move me back and, quicker than lightning, bit my teeth down into the black wolf’s ruff. I didn’t get much flesh, mostly fur and hide, but it was enough to keep him from reaching my throat with his ugly canines. He struggled beneath me, and I fought to maintain my grip on him.
More gunfire sounded around the clearing.
Three down over here!
Wolf down!
We need to move out! Corwin’s voice echoed last.
I could feel the tension, knew our time was running out. Panic gripped my gut, and my mind was divided, trying to manage the black wolf trying to kill me, and direct the wolves trying to get my dad out of the truck.
Jonathan, do you have him? I all but screamed.
One more minute! They have him tied in here!
Can you drive him out?
The black wolf growled and shoved the whole weight of his body upward, catching me under the chin. The force of his upward lunge sent me sprawling. The moment seemed to play in slow motion as I stared at a wolf lunging over me for the second time that night. I braced for impact, trying to roll out of the way before claws and teeth cut into me, when a black-red fireball of fur leaped from the shadows and caught the wolf midleap, right before it landed squarely on me.
The mass of black-red fur and black wolf snarled and bit and clawed and fought. Shaking my head to clear it, I went to join in and finish the black wolf when another shot rang out and the world went black.
Chapter 56
Megan
I paced. Cade paced. We paced opposite each other, crossing paths in the middle of the living room. For the seventh time, I broke my pacing and went again to the window.
“Cade, is he saying anything at all?” It was killing me not to have my link with Sam in place. I had been horrified to have him in my head at first, but now I wished he was there more than anything.
“No. They might not even be there yet.”
“Ugh. I’m going to go text Rachel. I’m literally going to lose my mind if I do this anymore.”
“Where are you going?”
“To get my phone. I left it on Sam’s dresser, I think.” I hadn’t been worried about having it on me since there was no chance Sam would call while going out full wolf stealth mode. I shivered. I had texted Rachel and Grandpa earlier and given them the barest of updates but had then gotten preoccupied with the finishing up things that needed to be done before the pack fighters left.
There were a few messages on my phone. One from Grandpa telling me to hang in there and that he loved me.
—Love you, too! No news yet.— I typed back quickly.
One from a friend in Chemistry wanting to borrow notes. I scoffed. I was so distracted these days that I doubted any notes I took would be worth copying.
The last was from Rachel.
—Hear anything yet??? Need me to come over?—
I smiled and punched her entry to call her, rather than text, figuring it might help pass the time.
“What have you heard? Is everyone okay?” she jumped in after the first ring.
I groaned. “No, I haven’t heard anything. Please, distract me from myself, because I’m seriously going insane worrying.” I ran a hand through my hair, bit my lip, then flopped backward onto Sam’s bed. It still smelled faintly of him, even though he hadn’t slept in this bed in weeks.
“How shall I distract you? Um…I think we’ve finally settled on a spring musical. Want me to blab your ear off about that?”
“Definitely.” I fingered the blanket. It had a soft, worn texture, and the weave of it under my fingers along with the faded traces of Sam’s scent soothed some of my frazzled nerves.
“It’s The Elf King and His Horse, Tremaine.”
“That sounds…interesting.”
Rachel laughed. “Trust me, it’s better than the title implies. It’s actually a comedy about a teenage guy who writes fantasy stories that come to life in his dreams. Some of the song numbers are hilarious. I think Luke is going to try out for Tremaine. He will be a riot.”
“And who will you be auditioning for?” Rachel took her role as co-president of the Drama Club very seriously.
“I think I’m actually going to focus on directing this year. I want to do more behind the stage things. I love acting, and I love singing, but I want to do something different. I want to have my hands all over this play—you know, mold it like a lump of dough or something.”
I smiled. “You’ll be a wonderful director. Does Garrett agree that you will be the best director?” I referenced Rachel’s co-president.
“Fortunately. Garrett wants to be the main character. He’ll do a nice job if he’ll let me boss him around.” I could hear the grin in her voice.
“Absolutely.”
“So we got another email about a personalized cookie order. You know the guy at HarvestFest? He booked cookies for his daughter’s birthday, and apparently his wife spread our name around her work, and her boss would like us to cater desserts for a retirement party for someone in the office.”
My fingers drifted over the blanket in soft, soothing circles. Sam. I closed my eyes. Sam.
“Megan?”
“I’m sorry, Rachel. I only caught about half of that.”
“I’m sorry you’re so worried. Would it help to talk about Sam? About what’s going on?”
“I don’t know. Maybe?”
“Tell me your biggest fear.”
“That he won’t come back,” I strangled the words out.
“Oh, Meggie. He’s going to come back. You have to think that way.”
“Who knew being a wolf was so unbelievably complicated?”
“Well, skin can be complicated, too?”
“Not like this.”
“No second thoughts? You want your skin back?”
“Life would be so much less complicated in skin.”
“But complicated might suit you after all?”
A noise in the hallway caught my attention and sent my heart up to my throat before I could answer. Cade tapped on the door, and I brought my hand over my pounding chest.
“He’s started using the all call. I’m hearing a few things,” Cade said, his eyes unreadable.
“Rachel, I’ve got to go. To the ends of the earth!” And then I was incredibly rude and hung up before she could reply. “What did he say? Cade, I need to know everything.”
He walked over and joined me on the bed so that we sat side by side on the edge.
“They’re at the shack. He’s sending Mal to check it out. She’s fast. Really fast.” His head jerked.
“What?” I nearly screamed.
“Mal got attacked!” His breathing came heavier, and I thought I might faint dead away from the anxiety eating me alive inside. “It’s okay. Jonathan got the brute. Man. He was huge.”
“How is Sam?”
“He’s fine. He wasn’t even in the fight. Keep your shirt on.”
I scowled at him.
“Easy for you to say. You know everything he’s saying. I’m totally cut off over here.”
“Okay. They’ve found Dominic’s scent. Sam is taking the path and everyone else is moving parallel, hidden in the forest.”
He was quiet, and I hardly dared to breathe for several agoni
zing minutes.
“Oh no.”
“What?” I was nearly out of my skin with worry, but unfortunately not any closer to being in my fur.
“They’re under attack!” Cade got up and paced the room. His hand was in his hair, pulling at it. I chewed three fingernails down to the quick.
“Cade, what’s happening?” I whispered.
“I’m not sure. I think Sam is fighting. No, he’s definitely fighting. He’s hurt! Ah! I can feel it radiating through the link, though I don’t think he meant to send anything. Still nothing from Dominic. They must have him drugged still.”
My knee bounced, and two more nails disintegrated under my teeth.
“They found him! Jonathan is going after Dominic. Sam, Sam!” Cade shouted into the room. A cold sweat broke out on my forehead, and I stood, no longer able to stay seated.
“It’s gone.” Cade’s voice was hoarse, his eyes vacant.
“What do you mean, it’s gone?” I echoed. Dread carved a path from my belly to my extremities.
“Sam, the link, it…it’s gone.”
A sob hiccupped out of my mouth, and I collapsed to the floor on shaking legs. I wrapped my arms around my knees and stared, unblinking, refusing to acknowledge the fear, the fury, the dread, the agony all fighting to break free and rage inside me.
Cade sank down beside me. We sat there together in silence, both stunned, refusing to believe our worst fears, surviving on the hope that Sam was still alive.
Chapter 57
Sam
Everything hurt. My eyeballs, my ears, my neck, my shoulders, my back, my butt, my legs, my arms, my feet. I tried to roll over, get my bearings but groaned at the effort.
“Easy. You’ll come to in a few minutes. Just slow down.” Jennifer’s voice.
“Jennifer?” I croaked.
“I’m here. You’ve had a nasty shot of suppressant, plus a few new punctures.” She might as well have tsked for all her tone hid.
“What happened? Where is the pack? My dad?”
“Let me get Jonathan for you.”
I felt the pressure of her fingers at my shoulder lift, and I cracked my eyes against the brightness of the room. I didn’t recognize the room. It was little, and I realized it was actually fairly dimly lit.
It was a living room. Clean, but with old furnishings. Drapes were drawn across the windows, and lamps gave the room its light. I was still squinting when I recognized Jake laid out on the couch. Fear lurched into my throat until I took in his even breathing, his chest going up and down. I swallowed and tried to use my link.
Jonathan? No response. My head flopped back down to the table painfully. I realized this must be someone’s kitchen table. I was lying on it. The strangeness of the situation struck me, and I nearly laughed but stopped before I made my head throb any worse.
“Sam!” Jonathan said as he came into the room. He stood next to the table and looked down at me.
“What happened? Did we get Dad?”
Jonathan cracked a smile. “The mission was a success. Your first battle was a success.” His smile fell, and his face turned grim. “Dominic still has some pretty bad cuts and bruises and a few breaks, but he’ll heal. Do you remember what happened?”
Relief washed over me, making me lightheaded. I closed my eyes for a second before answering. “I remember I was about finished, and then some wolf I didn’t know bullied the black wolf out of the way. I don’t remember anything after that.”
“Well, the wolf you didn’t know was none other than young Kypson, here.” He motioned with his hand, and I winced as I craned my neck while Kyp walk into the room. His shoulders were tight, his head was down.
“Kyp?” I asked, more curious than anything. I hadn’t given him permission to come. He wasn’t officially a part of the pack, although Jennifer’s ability to work medically with her knowledge of wolves was a valuable asset, even if Kyp turned out to be horrible.
“I know I shouldn’t have come. I’m sorry. I…I wasn’t ordered not to come. I was only trying to help.” His eyes flashed up to me, and he whispered the last part. “Please don’t send me back to the Kentucky pack.”
Surprise rippled through me. “Kyp, I think you probably saved my life tonight. That means I owe you one.” I smiled, then grimaced when a wave of nausea roiled through me. “Loyalty isn’t something we forget in this pack. But next time, follow orders.” I closed my eyes against the pain in my head.
“They used a much stronger dose this time. That’s what made you black out. I think they were aiming to hit me—they were shooting guns packed with suppressant-filled bullets. They were trying to kill you, not wound you with suppressants,” Kyp explained.
My dry mouth became even drier at the thought. Tonight had been a narrow miss.
“How long have I been out?”
“A few hours. Your new bite is starting to heal, but the drug appears to be slowing everything down,” Jonathan supplied.
“Dad?”
“Is recovering down the hall. We’ll get you up and around to see him soon.”
“Has anyone called Cade or Megan to check on them?”
Jonathan looked sheepish. “Sorry. We were busy getting the wounded here and treating them.”
“Hand me a phone, and then I want all the details. Who is hurt, where we even are, all that. But first I need to know that Megan is safe.”
Kyp fished his phone from his pocket and handed it to me. My fingers felt fat and clumsy as I dialed Megan’s number.
No answer. Panic bloomed in my gut. Desperation moved my uncoordinated fingers faster as I dialed Cade.
“Hello?” The voice on the other end was hard, cold, flat.
“Cade?”
“Sam? What happened to you? Yes—it’s Sam, he’s alive!” he shouted in the background. “I’m putting you on speaker!”
“Meg? Cade?” Guilt welled up—they thought I was dead?
“Sam?” There were tears in Megan’s voice, and I winced again. “I, we couldn’t hear you! Everything just stopped!”
Everything clicked into place then. When the drug-bullet had blasted me into unconsciousness, the all call had gone out again, leaving the rest of the pack in the dark.
“Guys, I’m really sorry. I’m all right. Or at least I will be. I’ve been drugged again, but otherwise, I’m good.”
We spoke a few more minutes, reassuring each other that things were fine and that as far as I knew, things we under control.
When I hung up, I was exhausted, but still had things I needed to do.
“Okay, where are we? Literally and figuratively?” I asked as I rubbed my temple with the heel of my hand.
“You’re at our house,” Jennifer supplied as she handed me two of the same squares I’d eaten earlier and a couple of regular pain killers.
“We’ve got eleven that were shot, but all are recovering. Everyone who was shot got hit with those hollow bullets filled with poison,” Jonathan said as Corwin and Rev moved into the room. Corwin moved slowly like an old man, though he was only in his sixties, which wasn’t all that old for a wolf.
“I think they meant to capture, not to kill,” Rev offered as Corwin moved Jake’s legs over and sat down on the couch. “Except you. I agree, they were trying to kill you.”
I sat up, wincing as pain flashed all over my body, but I stayed upright.
“And Dad?”
He’s still asleep. They beat him pretty bad, but he’s healing. It will take him awhile with as many injuries as he’s got,” Jennifer supplied.
“I want to see him soon,” I said, not sure I could walk on my own yet. All considered, it wasn’t a bad outcome. We’d got Dad back and hadn’t lost anyone. We knew a little more about Atwood’s pack, but still not how many or why he attacked us. But that would come. For the moment, sleep was the only thing I could think about.
The day was spent sleeping off the effects of the fight and the drugs. Dad came to and was prouder than I’d ever seen him. It filled me with a swe
et sort of heat. Wolf and I both relished his approval. We hugged for a long time there in Kyp’s bedroom where Dad had been laid out on the bed. His arm and at least one rib were broken, and his face was black and blue along with several other patches of his body.
I woke from a nap about six o’clock, finally feeling whole. I was still fuzzy around the edges, but I knew the drug was about out of my system, thanks to Jennifer’s little miracle biscuits. I showered and threw on some borrowed clothes.
I called Cade, eager to be home. Needing Megan with me.
“Sam?”
“I think things are about wrapped up here. We’re going to go ahead and move Dad home. The drug is about gone, and I’m ready to be home, too. Can you go ahead and take Megan up to the cabin? We should only be a little while longer here. There are extra patrols running, so it should be safe enough for you guys to move, but I want you to stay with her until I get there.”
“Will do. Sam, about that.” He huffed a breath, and I could picture him tugging his dark hair. Apprehension bubbled up in my belly.
“About what?”
His voice dropped. “She was talking to Rachel last night—right before the attack. She was talking about going back to her human skin and things being much less complicated. I…I think she might have made her decision. I didn’t want to tell you but thought it might be best for you to be prepared.”
The high I’d been riding burst. My limbs got heavy, and I felt like sinking into the floor.
“Okay.” I swallowed. “I appreciate you telling me. Don’t say anything to Megan, okay?”
“Sure,” Cade said, his voice somber.
****
By full dark, I was exhausted but still riding the tide of adrenaline that had spiked again getting everyone moved out, and I was anxious to get back to Meg. I knew she was in good hands with Cade, but I knew I wouldn’t relax until I saw her again. I was desperate to enjoy the remaining time I had with her before the next full moon. My heart sank as I thought about it. She’d be gone from me then. I had days at the most to convince her to stay with me. Forever. It was a lot to ask.
****
The cabin came into view, looking cheery because Meg was waiting inside. The door creaked as I opened it, as if waiting for my return had taken too long.
