Walking slowly, sniffing with every step, Tom felt a swirl of unease take over his whole being. Dan and Savannah’s scents had mixed, but now there was another one on the wind. Stopping still, he sniffed again, longer this time. A lump of fear settled in his stomach. Lucas.
A snarl tore from his jaws as he moved more quickly through the trees. He’d known Dan was up to something, but Nick hadn’t believed him. Now, here he was, taking Savannah in the woods and back to Lucas! They were probably going to force her to join their pack, and he’d never see her again. His chest rattled, but Tom forced the growl back into his throat. His anger was fuelling every step, but the bear remained quiet. He had to find her and take in the situation before he could think about making any kind of attack.
A whisper caught his ears. Lucas’ words, directed at somebody else. His large paws stepped carefully, his ears pricking up to catch every sound.
I wanted Tom. You failed me.
Tom bared his teeth, wishing he could rip into Lucas' skin. Obviously, Dan had been told to bring Tom to him, but he'd brought Savannah instead. What was Lucas going to do to her?
I failed you on purpose, Lucas.
Tom felt his heart almost stop beating at the sound of Savannah’s voice. His anger ebbed away like the tide. Savannah had been part of Lucas' pack? For how long? His strength began to fade, forcing his bear to sit backward in the grass. Twigs snapped under his weight, the sound echoing through the trees, but Tom didn't even notice. All he could think of was Savannah, and how she had betrayed him. She'd come into his life and kept the truth from him. She was part of Lucas' pack, and that could only mean one thing: everything she'd told him had been a lie.
Growling low in his chest, Tom felt as though he were being torn apart. He’d given himself completely to Savannah. He’d shared his heart and his body with her, only to discover that she was part of the Northern Wind pack. Part of the pack that had attacked him and Nick. The pack that had almost killed Nick.
I won't be part of the Northern Wind pack anymore.
His ears pricked up, as his dulled mind slowly registered what Savannah was telling Lucas. She’d been told to take him to Lucas, but instead, she was turning her back on her pack leader. The pain in his heart slowly began to lessen.
I’m done, he heard her say. I won’t help you, Lucas. Not anymore.
Lucas bared his teeth and began to snarl viciously. Despite what he'd heard, Tom's protective instinct came out full force, and he pushed himself back onto his four paws.
Savannah tried to ignore the pulsing fear racing through her, as Lucas growled at her. The more she held her ground, the angrier he became, until, eventually, he'd pushed himself onto his hind legs and roared to the skies. Dread rippled down her spine, but she stood her ground. To lower her head and show deference now would make her lose the fight. She had to show Lucas that she meant what she said.
Suddenly, the sound stopped. Lucas stayed on his hind legs, but his nose was working hard, sniffing the air around him. Afraid of what it was he'd discovered, Savannah sucked in a breath of air, sorting through the different scents until she discovered exactly what it was Lucas had found.
Tom was here.
CHAPTER 21
Lucas dropped to his four paws and turned to his left. Sniffing once more, he looked back at his two remaining pack members. Kill him.
Savannah rushed forward, desperate to get to Tom before the other bears did, but they were much stronger and bigger than she was. Crashing through the trees, they found Tom almost immediately, and the vicious attack began.
Tom only had a few seconds to prepare before three of the Northern Wind pack members began to attack him. Managing to stand on his back legs, he swiped hard at one, knocking him to the ground. Teeth dug into his shoulder, but he shook that one off, snarling. Only managing to take a single breath before Lucas attacked, Tom felt himself stumble back as Lucas threw himself at him full force. Falling backward, he clawed at Lucas' back, hearing a roar of pain come from the bear. Lucas' teeth dug into his neck, but Tom shoved the pain away, managing to plant one of his huge paws into Lucas' belly. Throwing the shifter backward, Tom rolled onto his stomach, shaking his head. The fall had dazed him and, for a moment, he couldn't see clearly.
Savannah pushed herself forward, managing to make her way to Tom’s side.
No, she cried, putting herself directly in between Lucas and Tom. I won’t let you touch him.
With a grunt, Lucas stopped the other two bears from attacking Tom again, his breath snorting out of his nose over and over. Savannah growled at him, her lip curling. Shaking her head from side to side, she made it absolutely clear on whose side she was on. She would protect Tom at any cost, even if it meant she’d be killed in the process. Suddenly, there was no more fear. She wasn’t afraid of Lucas any longer, seeing him for exactly who he was – a bully. In one moment, everything became clear. She had made the right choice. Savannah wasn’t sure what exactly Tom had heard, or even why he’d followed them into the woods, but she wasn’t going to stand by and let Tom be hurt because of her. There would be a lot of explaining to do, and she wasn’t even sure that Tom would even want to listen to her, but whether he did or not didn’t matter. She was leaving the Northern Wind pack, no matter what.
You bitch, Lucas shouted, his paws stamping on the ground in anger. You’re a traitor to this pack, and to me. You don’t deserve to live.
Savannah stared at him in shock, just before he leaped at her. He was all teeth and claws, pain ricocheting through her body as he tried to tear her apart.
Barely able to defend herself, Savannah caught sight of two of the other bears from the pack jump on Tom, forcing him away from her. Using all her strength, she shoved Lucas backward, but he was on her again in a moment.
Hardly able to believe what he’d just seen, Dan froze in place. Lucas, his pack leader, the one he’d looked up to and respected, had just attacked Savannah for daring to leave. Knowing that, if he told Lucas the truth, he’d be in danger too, he took a step back into the woods. He could just run away, go and hide out somewhere for a while before going to find a completely new pack, far away from here. Backing away slowly, Dan couldn’t find the courage he needed to help.
Savannah's roar of pain stopped him in his tracks. His eyes flaring, Dan realized that Nick and Tom would never do anything like this. They only fought if they had no other choice and, right now, Lucas was forcing this on Tom. He'd forced them into war for no other reason than to get what he wanted. Anger tore up into his chest, making Dan begin to breathe harder. His lip curled as he saw Lucas swipe viciously at Savannah – and he raced towards her.
Head-butting Lucas, he threw him down to the ground. Lucas was surprised, stunned even, that Dan had chosen to do something like this, and Dan used it to his advantage. Swiping hard, one set of claws tore into Lucas’ chest, while the other crashed into Lucas’ face. The bear closed his eyes, seemingly unconscious from the heavy blow of Dan’s paw. Hearing whimpers of pain from behind him, Dan backed away slowly towards Savannah, seeing her attempt to get to her feet. One of her paws was bleeding heavily, and she could barely put any weight on it.
Tom! Dan shouted, quickly throwing himself into the fight between Tom and the two Northern Wind pack bears. It didn’t take long for the Northern Wind pack to back away, as Tom stood tall, ready for their next attack. Dan stood with him, as Savannah limped her way behind them both, feeling as weak as a cub.
Go, Tom warned, blood dripping from his muzzle. And don’t come back. They belong to my pack now.
The two bears backed towards Lucas, who was only just coming to. Taking their chance, Tom and Dan made their way back into the wood, listening and sniffing with every step. The pack could come back to attack them without warning and, from the look of it, Savannah was hurt.
Savannah was barely able to keep up with Tom and Dan’s pace, knowing that she had to get out of the woods but struggling against the pain. Lucas’ attack had been unexpected but vicious, an
d the pain in her front paw was growing with every step. If Dan hadn’t come to help her, Savannah was sure she’d be close to death by now. Lucas was much bigger and stronger than she was, and it had been all she could do to defend herself.
Finally in sight of the mechanics, Savannah stopped and sank back to sit down in the grass. It felt as though she couldn’t take another step.
Go get Nick, she heard Tom say, directing his words towards Dan.
Dan gave her a long look, before turning his eyes back on to Tom. Don’t be too hard on her, he said to Tom. You don’t know what Lucas is like.
Savannah didn’t think Dan’s words would make any difference to Tom, watching as Dan turned and began to run through the woods towards the cabin.
With a heavy heart, she looked up at Tom, watching him shift as soon as Dan was out of sight. His eyes looked at her with a strange kind of gentleness, as though he was hurt by what she’d done but grateful that she’d tried to save him. “Can you shift?” he asked, glancing down at her bloodied paw. “We need to get that cleaned up.”
Shifting was agony. Her whole body screamed with pain, as the muscles shrank and bones snapped before reforming. Completely naked, she tried to cover herself with her good hand, utterly ashamed of what she’d done. She’d hidden the truth from Tom and he’d ended up getting hurt.
"That looks bad," she heard Tom say. "Let's get back to the mechanics."
She followed him slowly, trying to keep her arm as still as possible by holding it steady with her good hand. Once they were free of the forest, Tom wrapped an arm around her shoulders, even though Savannah jerked in surprise at his touch. She’d expected him to be angry, furious, even. Instead, he was treating her with a love and tenderness she’d not expected. It made her even more ashamed.
“Let me just go pull some clothes on,” Tom murmured, taking Savannah into his small bedroom at the back. The scent of their lovemaking was still on the sheets, filling Savannah’s nostrils almost immediately. “I’ll get something for you too.”
“Why are you doing this?” Savannah asked, unable to stop herself. “I betrayed you and -”
“Hush,” Tom replied, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder and looking down at her with a soft smile on his face. “There’ll be plenty time for talking. Let’s just get your arm seen to first, okay?”
Despite the pain in her arm and the agony in her soul, Savannah managed to smile back. "Thank you," she whispered, hardly able to believe how good he was being to her. "I don't deserve any of this."
CHAPTER 22
Tom squeezed Savannah's shoulder, a little surprised himself at his reaction. At first, he'd been filled with rage over what Savannah had kept from him, but the moment she'd stepped in front of him to protect him from Lucas, everything had become clear.
He'd felt the fear rippling from Savannah, almost seeing just how scared she was of Lucas, but she'd stood there anyway. She was defending him and making her stand. Dan had told him that he didn't know what Lucas was like, and, while that was true, it wasn't hard to guess. A pack leader didn't attack their own members, even if they were leaving the pack. It just wasn't done. But then again, Lucas wasn't exactly a good example of what a pack leader should be. He'd engineered the attack on Tom and Nick, and tried to kill them when they wouldn't join his pack. He couldn't imagine what it had been like for Savannah to be a part of that pack.
Helping her into some clothes, he saw the way she winced with almost every movement. She was in pain from more than just her arm, he realized. She'd really taken a beating. He'd have to thank Dan for going to help her. A wave of nausea rushed over him as he remembered just how little he'd been able to do to help. He'd seen Lucas go for Savannah, but had been immediately attacked by the other two bears of the Northern Wind pack. It took everything he had to defend himself, but hearing Savannah's roars of pain had speared his soul. He wanted to get to her, but couldn't. Thank goodness Dan had made the choice to come back and help. Without him, Savannah could have been killed.
A shudder ran through him at the thought, as he eased the sleeve over her arm. Her face was contorted with pain as she rested her arm back down on the rolled up towel on her lap. “Sorry,” Tom murmured, buttoning up the top.
“You’re not hurting me,” Savannah replied, attempting to smile even though her face was growing paler by the minute. “Thank you for doing this.”
“This might hurt though,” Tom warned, getting up to get a bowl of warm water and a clean cloth. Sitting back down, he looked into her eyes for a moment before wiping the cloth over her arm. Her breath caught.
“You might need stitches,” Tom said, a little worried. “This gash looks bad.”
“Can you do it?” Savannah asked, her eyes finally meeting his.
He shook his head. “I’ve got some adhesive strips that might do the job, but if it doesn’t work, it’ll be a trip up to the hospital.”
Savannah grimaced. "I'd rather avoid that if I can." There wasn't ever going to be an easy explanation for her arm, as well as all the cuts and bruises she was sure she had elsewhere.
Tom carefully cleaned her arm, making her hiss with pain, before closing the gash with the adhesive strips. Wrapping it up carefully, he put all the things away and went out to wash his hands. When he returned he sat opposite her and handed her some painkillers with a glass of water. Savannah watched him in silence, knowing that, at some point soon, they were going to have to talk about what had happened.
“How does that feel?”
She gave him a brief smile after swallowing the painkillers. "Much better, thank you." If she was honest, she'd tell him that her entire arm throbbed with pain and all she could think about was getting a bath to sooth the aches and pains in her body, but instead, she just tried to smile.
He tipped up her chin with one finger. “Tell me the truth, Savannah.”
His words cut deep and she twisted her head away. “I’m sorry, Tom.”
Tom got to his feet, taking a few steps away as he ran a hand through his hair. "I know."
“I hurt you,” she whispered, tears filling her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Tom. I should have told you the truth.”
“Yes, you should have,” he replied, heavily. Turning back, he looked at her distraught face, his heart tearing a little. She was the picture of misery, and, strangely, his heart was breaking for her. “But I understand why you didn’t,” he said, softly.
Savannah’s eyes widened, hardly able to believe what he’d said. This wasn’t the reaction she’d expected. In fact, she’d expected him to leave her in the woods, so even what he’d done for her so far was more than she knew she deserved. “Why are you being so kind to me?” she whispered, tears filling her eyes. “I don’t deserve this, Tom.”
He gave her a half smile, sitting back down again and reaching for her good hand. “I’m doing it because I feel you deserve another chance,” he said, simply. His smile widened as he saw the shock on her face, melting away into disbelief.
She swallowed hard, blinking tears away furiously. “But I betrayed you.”
“You were going to betray me," he corrected. "But you chose not to." He leaned forward, desperate for her to believe him. "Look, I don’t know all the details, and I’d be lying if I said I’m not hurt that you lied to me, but that doesn’t change the fact that you stood in front of me, Savannah, to protect me from Lucas. He might have killed you if Dan hadn't been there." Letting out a long breath, he gave a quick shake of his head. "I can't believe you did that for me, Savannah. That shows me just how much your loyalty has changed. After all that I’d be a fool to be blinded by anger and not at least hear your side of the story."
“At first, I believed everything Lucas said,” she replied, her voice barely above a whisper. “I believed your pack had killed Dan in cold blood. But then I met you and Nick and Jo, and things started to change.”
Tom’s eyebrows lifted. “In what way?”
Savannah looked back at him, her face open and honest in a way Tom
hadn’t seen before. “I saw how you and Nick are with each other. There’s respect and friendship between you. Nick doesn’t force you to do anything. No-one tells you when to shift and when not to.”
"Lucas told you when you could shift?" Tom repeated, his eyes widening in shock. Lucas was more of a dictator than he'd realized.
Savannah nodded. “Yes, he did. We were never allowed to question him. If we did, the consequences would be severe.”
“He’d hurt you.”
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Savannah nodded. "After seeing how much of a family you guys were I realized that a pack shouldn't be run by threats and fear. I saw that there was a different way, and I fell in love with that - with you. Talking to Dan just made everything clearer."
Tom nodded slowly. He was quite surprised to discover that he wasn’t in the least bit angry, but rather full of sympathy for what she’d gone through.
"My plan was to tell Lucas that I was leaving, and then come back to tell you the truth."
Brushing away the tear from her cheek, Tom let his fingers linger on her soft skin. “But then I had to go and spoil your plan by following you into the woods,” he joked, lightening the mood.
“Yes, you did,” she replied, quickly. “But if you hadn’t, I’m not sure I would have survived.”
The gravity of what had happened hit them both full force. “The pack’s not going to leave us alone now, that’s for sure,” Tom muttered, running a hand over his brow.
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