Feral

by Nicole Luiken

  The spider stilled to inject its venom, and Kyle whacked it with his stick. It thudded against the wall and lay still.

  Three spiders remained. Marcus pounced on one, crunching it in his jaws. Bitter juices filled his mouth. Ugh. He spit them out, but not before his tongue went numb. Another spider jumped onto his head from the table, while the last one ran up Kyle’s leg.

  Marcus could do nothing about the one on his head without braining himself. He shouldered into Kyle’s leg, trying to smash that spider, but misjudged the distance and knocked both himself and Kyle sprawling. Marcus bruised himself on the oven. The stick clattered across the floor.

  The hut made too confined an area for a battle.

  He yipped as the spider on his head stung him again. The room spun around him: oven, door, walls, all revolving like a washing machine. He lurched to the side. The spider fell off.

  Kyle ripped apart his spider with his bare hands—squishy spider parts rained on the floor. Kyle slumped against the door, obviously succumbing to poison, too.

  His mind urged him to Change, but his wolf didn’t want to take on his more fragile human form. The wolf whined and resisted, lost to panic. The wolf was stronger than the boy; he could fight the poison off.

  Yes, you are strong. You can fight off the poison, but not in time to save your friend and Chloe.

  His mate. For Chloe, his wolf closed his eyes and surrendered to the Change. The process stretched out over a minute, but it worked. When he finished Changing the poison had burned off.

  Naked, he hunted for the last remaining spider. “Change,” he rasped at Kyle.

  His friend nodded jerkily, screwing up his eyes and keening as his bones shifted.

  Marcus kept his gaze alert and wary while he grabbed one of Baba Yaga’s cleavers off the wall. He hefted the knife, watching for movement out of the corners of his eyes.

  There. It had resumed its guard position on Olivia’s chest. Sneaky spider probably thought it was safe there since skewering it would mean stabbing Olivia.

  Why didn’t she do something useful and Change?

  Behind him, Kyle gave a final grunt, Changing into wolf form.

  Marcus swung his arm down, using the pommel of the knife to hammer the spider. Brown blood burst out of its hairy abdomen.

  He waited, half-expecting another surprise attack from above. When nothing came, he began cutting the sticky silk from Olivia’s body.

  He caught her body as it fell and lowered her to the floor. Was she dead? Had all this been for nothing? But no, she breathed. “Wake up!” Her eyes remained closed, so he slapped her face. “Change! Your Pack needs you.”

  A howl went up from all the wolves. Coach’s white wolf lay broken and defeated. He’d yielded to Thomas. Victory!

  Chloe’s triumph melted away when Thomas began to Change forms. No! She howled a protest. Why was he Changing back to a man? They needed to attack the witch!

  Baba Yaga pointed at Chloe. “Sit on her,” she commanded Rick. The hate in her eyes promised punishment for the destruction of her belt. She walked over to Thomas. The silver chain dangled from her hand, glinting in the firelight.

  Chloe didn’t know how the witch intended to chain a Dominant werewolf, but suspected Baba Yaga had another trick up her sleeve.

  Chloe rocketed forward, aiming for the back of Baba Yaga’s legs. Instead of Olivia’s usual jeans, the witch was wearing soft black yoga pants. Chloe’s teeth would tear right through the fabric. Wolf instinct urged her to hamstring the witch—

  A large grey wolf hit her in the side, knocking her off course. As ordered, Rick sat on her, his full weight holding her down. She tried to wiggle free, but another wolf, Dean, sat on her hind legs. They didn’t bite her, and, knowing they were under compulsion to obey the witch, she didn’t bite them either.

  The wolf couldn’t help her now. Giving up, Chloe began the slow, grinding Change back to a girl. Recognizing what she was doing, Rick and Dean gave her enough space to complete the Change.

  When she emerged from the haze of pain, Thomas and the witch were having a stand-off. “I am now the Alpha male of Pine Hollow Pack. Ma’am, I will return tomorrow with sixty of my people. I strongly suggest you vacate by then or we will drive you out with only the clothes on your back.”

  Baba Yaga hissed like an outraged cat. “You do not want to make an enemy of me,” she warned.

  “You wormed your way into this Pack through witchcraft and deceit,” Thomas said. “I’m wise to your tricks. Without your silver collar and potions what can you do?”

  Fly. Make plane engines cut out. She absently petted Dean when he whimpered.

  “Now!” the witch said.

  Coach’s white wolf, who’d been quietly healing, suddenly leaped at Thomas. The wolf tore out his throat in a gory flood. Shock kept Chloe still, and Rick put his weight back on her legs, warning her not to try to get up. She groaned as Thomas fell to his knees and bled out. His eyes accused her, then became glassy and unfocused. He collapsed, dead.

  Numbness set in, along with despair. What now? Could things get worse?

  Wolves howled in chorus, their voices speaking of treachery. The four Quesnel wolves that Thomas had kept in reserve swept in. As a Pack they fell upon the white wolf, mauling him. Chloe glimpsed red blood against white fur, and then Coach disappeared under the pile of snapping and snarling Quesnel wolves. They tore him to shreds.

  Chloe swallowed thickly. Two people dead just like that.

  She’d hated Coach, but she felt bad for Ilona, who’d just lost her last living relative. And Thomas had seemed like a good man.

  The witch glared, hands on hips in an I’m-annoyed fashion, rather than grief for the loss of her ally.

  For some reason her lack of loyalty angered Chloe. The witch had treated Coach like a tool. She didn’t understand the first thing about Pack. “Aren’t you even going to pretend to be sad that your helper’s gone?”

  “Minions can be replaced,” Baba Yaga sneered.

  Minions and bodies, too. Chloe had only inconvenienced her by burning Basia’s wolfskin. Baba Yaga was already in the process of replacing her with Olivia, who, as Alpha, was more useful anyway.

  Except in one area.

  “Thomas’s Beta, Quinn, will be Alpha. He’s about twenty-three. Good luck seducing him in that body,” Chloe told her nastily. During her illness, Olivia’s body had softened like dough left to rise. She was still bald from the chemotherapy, and crow’s feet wrinkled the corners of her eyes. “Better change back to Basia. Oh, whoops. I guess you can’t,” Chloe taunted her.

  Dean’s wolf cringed, obviously wondering if she’d gone crazy. Chloe’s heartbeat sped up. Either she would be punished in the next moment or—

  Baba Yaga reached into her pocket and took out a glass vial filled with red liquid. Blood. She drank it down in one gulp.

  Chloe’s mouth fell open as Olivia’s mature face melted into a more youthful one and her body became slender and fit. The witch removed the black wig, revealing long blonde hair. Ilona now faced her.

  Chloe had a moment of doubt. What if there never had been an Ilona, and Chloe had been sitting beside this thing on the bus?

  Olivia’s shirt sagged at the collar on Ilona’s smaller frame, and Chloe’s lips curved in a sudden triumphant smile. Gotcha.

  The witch’s clone body also bore her Bite.

  Chloe wriggled free from the other wolves’ hold and slapped Baba Yaga’s face. “I am your Alpha! Submit to me and don’t speak!”

  Looking astonished, Baba Yaga/Ilona dropped to her knees.

  chapter

  25

  Chloe’s heart pounded. She’d done it! She’d defeated Baba Yaga!

  But the victory felt uncertain, like riding a rodeo bull, which might buck her off at any time. Baba Yaga was old and dangerous and powerful. Chloe had outwitted her for now, but she had to act fast to stay in control.

  She glanced around, but only Dean and his dad remained. Everyone else had Change
d into a wolf and was following Baba Yaga’s orders to chase down Lady Sasquatch. “Dean, try taking off your silver chain.”

  She looked back at Baba Yaga in time to see her trace something in the dirt.

  Chloe stamped on her hand. Bones snapped. “Don’t move! I am your Alpha, and I command you not to speak or move!”

  Dean made a choking noise and pawed at his neck. That was a no then.

  Nerves jittering, Chloe trained all her attention on Baba Yaga. Mute and powerless, Baba Yaga glowered at her from out of Ilona’s blue eyes and young face, but Chloe Dominated her until she looked away.

  Chloe chewed her lip. She could kill the witch—or try to. The Lore had said she might be immortal, but Chloe was more worried about the possibility that attacking the witch might trigger the collars. Baba Yaga seemed like the type to enjoy booby traps.

  They needed Olivia.

  Before she could order someone to go help with the rescue, Marcus, Kyle and Olivia entered the yard, the boys supporting the pale older woman. The skin from her elbow down flapped like a coat.

  “Olivia, order everyone to take off their necklaces,” Chloe said urgently. Baba Yaga hadn’t moved and still seemed bound to Chloe’s will in this form, but Chloe didn’t want to take chances. “Yell as loud as you can.” Wolves crashed through the underbrush. Some should still be within earshot.

  “What?” Olivia gasped. She knelt in the grass, too weak to stand.

  Rick finished Changing to human. “Free us.”

  Olivia coughed weakly. “Take off the crystal necklaces,” she croaked.

  Shuddering, Dean pawed his off. It glittered in the dirt like a snake. His dad followed suit.

  “Where’s the witch?” Olivia asked.

  Rick pointed to where Baba Yaga knelt in the dirt.

  “That’s not her, that’s the niece,” Olivia protested.

  “It’s her,” Chloe said sharply.

  “We all saw her change from your form to this girl’s. There’s no doubt,” Rick assured her.

  “Why is she just staring?”

  “Because her body bears my Bite,” Chloe said, without taking her eyes off the witch. “I’m her Alpha, and I command her to be quiet and not move.” She reinforced the orders with a Dominant stare.

  Olivia’s eyebrows winged up. “Your Bite?”

  “Yes, mine,” Chloe retorted. Her hackles lifted. Despite Olivia’s fragile appearance, Chloe was very, very angry at her. She raised her voice. “Wolves, this way!”

  Lady Sasquatch stumbled into the yard, limping, pursued by four silent werewolves. More stragglers followed, including Nathan in human form.

  “Order them to stop!” Chloe shouted.

  “What’s going on—?” Olivia started, one step behind the action again.

  Lady Sasquatch stumbled to a halt near the fire pit. Her leg was bleeding, and she raised her cudgel high. Three of the werewolves arranged themselves in a triangle in front of her.

  “Just do it!” Chloe snapped.

  “Please, love,” Nathan said. “We’re being compelled to obey the witch’s commands.” As he spoke, he walked toward the sasquatch.

  Olivia raised her voice. “Stop!”

  Brian, who’d been sneaking up behind Lady Sasquatch, managed to twist his leap and miss both the sasquatch and the fire pit.

  “Take off your necklaces!”

  As the Pack complied, Chloe snapped her gaze back to Baba Yaga. The witch hadn’t moved, but the suggestion of a smirk twisted her mouth. Ilona’s blonde hair had turned grey. Baba Yaga was shapeshifting!

  “Stop that!” Chloe snapped. She stared at the witch and didn’t allow herself to blink.

  Baba Yaga glanced down, but she wasn’t cowed. Sure enough, wrinkles began to appear at the corners of Ilona’s eyes.

  Chloe scrambled backward. “I need some help here! She’s getting free!”

  Leisurely, Baba Yaga climbed to her feet. Now she was the big-nosed, grey-haired crone Marcus had described, except she didn’t move like an old woman. She wasn’t stiff or careful.

  “Very well. You have unmasked me. The time for deception is past. I am Baba Yaga, Witch of the Russian Steppes. I Challenge Olivia for the Alpha position.”

  Olivia cringed. She tried to cover the motion, to meet the witch’s eyes, but her gaze kept sliding away.

  Chloe’s throat tightened. Olivia was too hurt from her time as a captive and her earlier illness. More than that, Olivia feared the witch. She would lose.

  Chloe stepped forward. “Under Pack Law you can’t Challenge. You’re not a werewolf!”

  Baba Yaga snorted. “As if being able to turn into a wolf were some great skill. Who do you think taught your ancestors the trick?” She lifted a hand, bright with blood—probably Thomas’s—and began to lick it up.

  Everyone watched, paralyzed, as Baba Yaga grew three feet taller, muscled shoulders bursting out of Olivia’s clothes like the half-wolf half-human all-monster form that Hollywood loved.

  Olivia just stood there, mouth agape.

  Baba Yaga was a monster: salt-and-pepper fur bristling beneath the remnant of Olivia’s clothes. Wolf’s head and fangs. Clawed hands. But no tail and standing on two feet. Hairy toes burst out of her boots.

  Chloe quailed. How was she going to fight that?

  But then Marcus brushed her side, offering silent support. She wasn’t alone.

  As long as there was Pack she need never be alone. That was the Pack’s strength. That was how wolves took down elk and moose. Together.

  This wasn’t an Alpha Challenge; this was a battle for the survival of the Pack. Chloe yelled, “We are wolves! We fight and hunt as a Pack!” Then she dropped to her knees and let anger power her Change. It swept through her like fire, rearranging her bones with a snap.

  Marcus beat her to wolf form. He jumped into the fray and tore a chunk out of the monster’s calf before jumping back.

  The monster roared and turned on him—which allowed Chloe to land a blow. Then the whole Pack was there, ringing the witch. Whenever Baba Yaga tried to hit one of them, she turned her back to three others who darted forward and bit.

  Yes. This was how Pack fought its enemies. Together.

  It took the unchained wolves only five minutes to tear Baba Yaga to pieces.

  chapter

  26

  Olivia took over so smoothly, directing the clean-up of the bodies and the disposal of the crystal necklaces, that Chloe almost didn’t notice.

  When she did, she hesitated. It was late. Chloe was exhausted, physically and mentally drained from the stresses of the past few days. She wanted to go home and sleep for a week. Her parents drooped, equally tired. Did she really want to provoke another confrontation?

  But then Olivia asked Dean to bring Ilona forward.

  The Russian werewolf had joined the Pack a few minutes ago, no doubt having been texted by Dean. She seemed in a daze and kept repeating, “She’s dead? Really, really dead?” She’d kicked Baba Yaga’s wolf head across the yard and done a little dance.

  She had taken the news of her uncle’s death calmly—maybe too calmly. Chloe suspected Ilona was in shock and had quietly asked Dean to make sure Ilona wasn’t alone that night. “And keep your lips to yourself,” she’d added with a glare. “She doesn’t need that right now.”

  Dean had crossed his heart and promised. “No taking advantage of newly-made orphans, I swear. If she tries to ravish me, I will nobly resist.”

  Chloe had kicked him, and he’d laughed and danced away, but he’d stuck close by Ilona’s side, hugging her occasionally. Maybe his feelings did run deeper than attraction.

  He stood with Ilona now.

  “So you’re a werewolf, too?” Olivia murmured, studying Ilona’s face. “I should have guessed from your resemblance to Conrad.”

  Ilona shied away.

  “Well, now that you’re here, let’s see about getting you properly inducted into the Pack,” Olivia said.

  Ilona’s eyes widened like a
deer caught in the headlights. “Uh … ”

  And Chloe broke.

  “No, Olivia,” she said harshly. “You will not Bite Ilona. You will not Bite me again either. You are not my Alpha.”

  Olivia met her angry stare with a calm one. “I admit, I haven’t been the best Alpha these past few weeks, but the witch forced me to cooperate.”

  “No.” Chloe wasn’t buying it. “You failed the Pack. Your weakness gave the witch a toehold and almost cost us the Preserve.”

  “She took advantage of my illness,” Olivia said. Her voice remained calm, but her fists were clenched. “I was dying.”

  Their argument drew attention. Pack members drifted closer, a silent audience.

  Chloe held the former Alpha’s gaze. “She took advantage of your weakness, your fear of death. You knew she was a witch when you went to her for the cure.”

  “I knew,” Olivia admitted. “I believed her to be a white witch. She fooled me.”

  “Pack Law forbids contact with witches.”

  “I had no choice!” Olivia said sharply. “I would have died otherwise and left the Pack without an Alpha. That was unacceptable.”

  Chloe remembered visiting the dying Olivia in her bedroom, how Nathan had urged her to ‘set Alpha’s mind at ease’. He’d wanted her to lie about being a Dud so that Olivia would think the Pack had another potential Alpha and wouldn’t choose black magic, but he hadn’t been strong enough to keep his dying wife from her disastrous decision.

  “You may not have known she was a black witch when she collared you. But you knew before you collared the others on her behalf,” Chloe accused. Her eyes burned from the effort of not blinking, but she wouldn’t look away. She refused to acknowledge Olivia as her Alpha. “You gave my mother and Kristen silver necklaces as gifts.”

  Olivia threw up her hands. “I had no choice! She would’ve killed me if I’d refused.”

  “You had a choice! You could have died!” Chloe roared back. “A true Alpha would have given her life to save the Pack. My mother refused to drug me even though the silver necklace choked her to unconsciousness four times! How many times did you get choked unconscious before you gave in and did a much larger evil?”