That should’ve been a rallying cry, but it wasn’t.
Instead, it opened a door to a deeper place where he didn’t have to feel this shame or sorrow.
It opened a door to oblivion.
13
“I can’t believe I’m tracking Warner,” Lenore said out loud.
“Me either.” Mari leaned against a tree.
“He told me it would go down like this.”
“Hey, we’re not putting him down,” Mari snarled.
“Of course we’re not. But we are going to have to contain him,” Lenore warned.
“I know. Sorry about the growly thing, too. It’s been happening a lot more lately.”
“I have my suspicions about that. So do the Three.”
“Lenore, I…” Mari wasn’t sure how to say what she wanted to say. She trusted the hunter, she thought the witches knew what they were about, too. After all, they had a thousand years on her. But she couldn’t stand the hope anymore.
Hope was a demon because it made her want. It made her think the things that were impossible had a chance to live and breathe.
When they didn’t.
“I know you don’t believe, Mari. But why else would you suddenly be going through all of these changes?”
“The prophecy said his one true mate would rise from the dead. That has to be Arianna. I really can’t think about that right now because it makes me a bad person.”
Lenore stopped and looked at Mari. “How does that make you a bad person?”
“I’m jealous. I’m heartbroken. And I’m so goddsdamned mad. I’m basically having a pity party, table for one over here when we’ve got bigger fish to fry.”
“That’s a pretty normal response, I think.”
“Would Warner worry about his own feelings, or would he just want the person he loved to be happy and safe? I think we’ve already seen the proof of his answer in Blake, Drew and Parker.”
Lenore sighed. “I have thoughts on this that you won’t like.”
“There’s a lot about what’s going on that I don’t like. So you might as well hit me with it. Tell me.”
“I think that Arianna was never his True Mate. He was attracted to her. Intensely. He admired her. And I think it was the same for the mantle of Alpha. He didn’t want it. Not really.”
“He spent his whole life pining for a dead woman because she wasn’t his True Mate? Yeah, I can’t really reconcile that.”
“He never felt anything like what he felt for Arianna. That much is true. But Warner isn’t a wolf of high passions.”
Mari raised a brow. The last few times they’d been together, he’d been a wolf of very high passions to say the least.
Lenore laughed. “No, really. It’s different because it’s you. You’re his one. You both need to figure it out before the shit really hits the fan.”
“I’d say that we’re a little too late on that count.” Mari scented the air. “I smell death. We’re still in Woolven Territory, aren’t we?”
“I believe so.”
“Then I guess it’s not as bad as it could be, although if word gets out that Woolven is ravaging their own people, that could be just as bad.”
“Fuck,” Lenore muttered. “What do you smell?”
“Death and a lot of it. Although, we’d been traveling through these woods and there were no other packs roaming here. So I don’t know where they came from or why.”
Lenore nodded. “Suspicious as hell. It might’ve been a distraction. Or a trap.”
“I can’t even think about who would be evil enough or insane enough to try to trap something like what Warner has become.”
“Can’t you?” Lenore fixed her with a hard look.
“If that’s our only option, then yeah. But we love him. They’re going to try to hurt him and all that will left of them will be a smear on the ground.”
“And would that be so bad?” Lenore gave her a half grin.
“I don’t think so, but Warner will. He’ll feel so guilty.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. I think we have to consider that when we get to Warner, and we will, he may not be the Warner that we knew.”
“We’ll find him. The real Warner. No matter how long it takes,” Mari said, hating the almost innocent hope that filled her voice.
“Mari, sometimes the Dark Champions…” Lenore shook her head. “Listen, I’m not saying this because I want to give up on him. I’ll never give up on him. He’s part of my chosen family and I love him. But the Three told me that only the strongest, the most noble of wolves are chosen to be Dark Champions for a reason. They’re the only ones that contain the darkness long enough to wield it like the weapon it was meant to be against evil. It feeds on goodness. On the insides of the very ones who channel it. It devours them from the inside out.”
“He knows that, doesn’t he?”
“He does.”
“So what’s our plan?”
“We’re going to help him fight. Nothing has changed. Nothing at all.” Lenore’s mouth set into a grim line. “If not for my shithead brother, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
Mari studied the hunter for a long moment. She’d never considered that Lenore felt any guilt for this. Any regret. She was a hunter. She was strong, infallible, almost. Mari knew no one was a monolith. Not really. “It’s not your fault, you know that right?”
“I can’t help but feel like it is. I bear some blame. After what happened to Emmie… I should’ve put Peter down before it came to this.”
“You couldn’t have known. He was your brother.”
“I should’ve killed him when Emmie left him.”
Mari knew the story well by now about how the cursed wolf thought she was a human to keep her safe. How Peter had been protective at first, then he’d shown his true colors and had been a waking nightmare for the woman who was now married to the Woolven Beta.
“Maybe you should’ve, but maybe not. You can’t know what would’ve happened. Emmie might not be married to Drew now. She wouldn’t have Noah. And she is happy. She’s ridiculously happy. You can’t undo the bad without undoing the good. No regrets, hunter.”
“If I’d killed him, we wouldn’t be here,” Lenore sighed.
“Maybe not, but you can’t change the past. You did the best you could with the information you had. You tried to do the right thing. That’s what matters.”
Lenore grabbed her and pulled her in for a tight hug. “It means the world to me that you think so. This will be okay. I’ll make it okay. I swear.”
“We will make it okay.” Mari returned the hug.
She didn’t know why both Warner and Lenore wanted to swear to her. It wasn’t as if she was anyone of consequence. She didn’t hold their fates in her hands. She wasn’t any kind of judge.
Lenore pulled back. “You’ve got me for life now, too, you know. I mean, as soon as you married Warner, it was implied. But in case you didn’t know.”
Mari found herself welling up with emotion. She’d never really had close relationships with anyone, let alone other women.
Since she’d come to Woolven, she’d bonded with Randi, Emmie, Lenore, Belle and even Westwood. It was a sisterhood within a family, and the cords of love and respect bound them all tightly together.
“Thank you,” was all she could manage. “I’d like to keep you.”
“You sure?” Lenore teased.
“I mean, I guess. If I must,” Mari teased back. “This may sound incredibly naïve, especially considering how absolutely defeated I was feeling earlier but I just have this feeling it’s all going to be okay.”
“Good. Let’s hold on to that.”
“As tightly as I can.” Mari nodded.
“I know we’d agreed to let Warner do what he needed to in this situation. Dealing with the infected pack, but I think we’ll have a better shot at… basically everything if we contain him first. We tranq him and airlift him back to Aphelion where David and Westwood can work their magick on him and find a way o
ut for all of us. Including Warner.”
Mari nodded. “I like that plan. Because honestly, say he deals with this threat. Then what happens to him? We owe it to him to help him not only with the task that’s been laid on his shoulders but to see that he survives it.”
“Glad we’re on the same page. I want you to know, Mari, I couldn’t do this without you.”
“I’m sure you’d be fine. You’re Lenore Breslin,” she blurted.
“I am. Yeah. Last time I checked.” Lenore grinned. “Stop doubting what you have to offer. You bring a lot to the table, my friend. When you discount yourself, you discount the rest of us who love and need you. Those of us who believe in you.”
Mari had never looked at it that way before.
She’d never been needed before.
“I just don’t want to let you down. I want your faith in me to be justified.”
“That’s for me to decide, isn’t it? It’s my choice to believe in you and ultimately, yours to believe in yourself. I really wish I could do it for you. You’d see how amazing you are. How bright you shine to the rest of us. Only you can do that for you, though.”
Westwood had said something similar about recognizing what she had to offer. About herself being enough.
It was hard for Mari to imagine a world where this was true.
Except these people that she loved and admired said it already was the truth. It wasn’t a someday, somewhere proposition. It was here. It was now.
And everything would somehow be okay.
Even when they crossed the line out of Woolven Territory.
“I guess I’m earning my keep now. I can scent him. He came this way.”
“Did he cross the border?”
“He did. Right here.” Mari sank down on her haunches to push away the underbrush and saw she stood in an impossibly large footprint that looked as if belonged to a werewolf.
But no werewolf stood as tall.
Except Warner when he’d become The Dark Champion.
“What the fuck is that?” Lenore was immediately down on her haunches as well. “Jesus Fucking Christ, that’s huge.”
“I told you he was bigger.”
“I thought you meant warrior form bigger. Not… monster bigger.”
“Yeah,” Mari said. “Monster bigger.”
“I don’t know if I brought enough to tranqs to bring him down, Mari. He’s that big with super strength and a supernatural rage problem? We might be slightly fucked.”
“Only slightly.” Mari shrugged.
“Well, we’ve come this far. You still in?” Lenore asked.
“Of course.”
“We’re also crossing into forbidden territory.”
“I know that. I’m still with you. Whatever it takes.”
“I figured, but informed consent is important to me. This could all go to shit in any number of ways.”
Mari laughed. “It’s quite likely to go to shit all around.”
“You’re not wrong.”
Mari made it a point to step over the dividing line between the territories. “It’s done now.”
They forged ahead through the dense forest and Mari was aware of how the woods had gone unnaturally quiet.
The small birds and mammals had gone silent. The insects were no longer buzzing, no frogs sang for their mates. The wind disturbed no leaves. It was unnatural.
Small hairs on the back of Mari’s neck stood up. Heat traveled up the length of her spine and settled on the back of her head.
The beast inside of her was silent.
“We’re being watched. Maybe hunted,” Lenore mouthed at her.
It wasn’t Warner. Mari knew that for sure.
Although, since he’d already passed this way, they should’ve been safe. Or as safe as they could be with this new threat running free.
Or maybe Warner was herding them back toward the territorial border? Chasing them into Woolven lands so he could do as he pleased? That would make sense. That’s what a smart predator would do.
Warner was incredibly strong and smart. He was a master tactician.
She and Lenore shared a look and it spoke volumes.
The continued to move forward, slowly, carefully. Very aware they were being watched by an apex predator.
Mari was tempted to Change.
Or at least to try.
The infected wolf would go for her before Lenore. From what she understood it seemed like they were most interested in increasing their numbers. It was possible the creature was unaware of who Lenore was, even though she carried the tools of the hunter.
She didn’t know if while Warner was in this new state, this darker plane of existence if he’d still feel it if she were in danger.
He’d marked her, but his transformation to the Dark Champion wasn’t complete. Would this thing feel—no, Warner. Underneath it all, he was still Warner. Would he feel her peril? Would he come to save her?
She could only hope.
“You’re a long way from Woolven Territory, aren’t you, pretty one?” A deep, gravelly voice sounded from behind them.
Mari turned to look at the creature that approached them.
“Not really,” she replied. “Maybe a few feet.”
He was big, but almost werewolves were. He stood on his hind legs to make himself bigger, taller, and much more terrifying. She wasn’t normally afraid of her own kind, but he wasn’t her kind.
His teeth were all like Warner’s.
Except tipped in silver.
Dear Goddess, he was one of the Infected.
“So you know that you’re out of your territory.”
“The same way you knew you were out of yours, fiend.” Lenore put her hands on her hips.
“No one was speaking to you, hunter.” He said this last as if it were sour on his tongue.
“Oh, but weren’t you? I have the power of the council behind me.”
“Fuck the council. And fuck you, hunter.”
“Fuck me?” Lenore laughed. “I mean… no. Since you’re my brother’s get, that would make this all a bit too incestuous for my taste.”
The creature roared, and fought what seemed to be a physical battle to keep himself from charging them both.
Mari wanted to run. To hide. To do anything but stand there and wait for the cursed thing to make a choice about to do with them.
To do to them.
She knew he’d smell her fear and that pissed her off. Even though being afraid in this situation was just common sense. He was faster, stronger, and far deadlier than she.
“What’s wrong? Don’t know what to do without my brother pulling your strings?” Lenore laughed at him.
But Mari could see that the hunter was slowly and slyly preparing to fight. She had a gun, but Mari didn’t know what good that would do against this thing, but Mari had faith it was more than a silver bullet because Lenore was smart and savvy. She knew that these things were immune to silver and she’d brought her brother’s still talking head back in a sack.
Warner. Mari thought of him. Willed him to hear her. To feel her. To come to her.
A disturbance in the underbrush caught her attention and watched as the foliage parted and revealed the only thing more terrible than the beast before them.
Warner Woolven.
The Dark Champion in all of his horrific glory.
14
Warner was not completely lost.
His awareness and control had come back to him in waves.
He hadn’t wanted it. He’d surrendered to the thing inside of him and perhaps that was what it had required all along.
His complete and total surrender.
Although, he was different.
He was not the same Warner who’d loped off into the forest, but nor was he only the Dark Champion.
He was more.
He was less.
And there was something else inside his body with him. Something other. It seemed more malignant somehow than this other skin her wore, and
it seemed that only the Dark Champion could keep it contained and only when he surrendered.
Warner knew instinctively it was a zero-sum game and he was quickly running out of moves.
Luckily, he’d discovered why the pack in the northern territory hadn’t wanted Woolven interference.
They’d become the thing he was hunting.
All of them.
The entire pack had been turned.
He’d been leading them back into Woolven Territory. So when he slaughtered them all there would be no interference from the council or anyone else.
Except he sensed other presences in the forest.
He felt Mari.
She should’ve gone back to Aphelion by now, but he’d underestimated her.
Again.
She was here and he knew she was here for him.
Her fear crawled up his back like a spider and he’d be goddessdamned before he’d led any creature on this earth make his Mari feel that way.
He didn’t trust himself around her, but he couldn’t let this threat to her go unanswered. Warner caught another scent and it was as he suspected: Lenore.
The Dark Champion stirred.
He didn’t like that Mari was under threat either.
She belonged to him.
Warner didn’t stop to think about what that meant. Only that he had to get to her. Everything inside of him burned to protect her.
And to destroy whatever menaced her.
He ran hard, covering a distance at a speed previously unknown to human and supe alike.
When he emerged into the clearing and saw that Mari was under threat, rage boiled the blood in his veins.
And he’d walked into the pack’s trap.
But it didn’t matter.
Not to him, anyway.
They could rip and tear at him all they liked and maybe he’d bleed, but they’d never be able to take him down.
Everything in him spoiled for a fight. His teeth literally ached to rip and tear. To devour. His claws itched to be buried deep in infected flesh.
“He comes,” the interloper said.
Mari’s eyes widened in horror and Warner didn’t know if it was because of his new form, or if it was because of the group of infected that had started emerging from the forest to surround them.
Stealing the Heiress Page 10
