Fate Will Always Win

by K R Hall

  After the parade, people began to wander into the sectioned-off area that was designated for the wine festival.

  There was an exciting energy in the air. Children were running around, laughing. The hayrides and pony rides were set up near the children’s petting zoo. Tracie wasn’t sure if the jitters coursing through her body were because of the hot chocolate she drank or the man standing next to her. She and Nathaniel had a healthy dose of each other earlier this morning.

  Currently, Nathaniel and Tracie were sitting on a couple of hay bales that had been scattered around the vineyard’s wine festival grounds.

  “Can you feel it?” Nathaniel asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “The energy. The stress over the last couple of weeks seems to have lifted. You should be able to feel a pleasant energy through the pack bonds,” Nathaniel explained.

  “Is that what I feel? I’m still learning the feelings I get through the pack bonds.”

  “I guess it does take a bit to get used to. I had them with the Amadei pack when I was a child. When I was at Shannon’s, my wolf bonded with her and the other shifters in the foster home. My wolf has been more settled since I pledged to the Lykos pack,” he replied.

  “That must have been hard on you as well as your wolf.”

  “It wasn’t all that bad. Besides, two years after I arrived, this amazing little girl arrived, and my wolf scented that she was my mate. We’ve both been on cloud nine ever since. Well, until that girl started to date.”

  Tracie felt her cheeks warm with her blush. She didn’t know what to say in response to what Nate had said.

  “I’m sorry. That started out to be funny and ended up being mean,” Nathaniel apologized. “The pie-eating contest should be starting soon. Shall we go watch?”

  “Yes, I would like that.”

  Nathaniel picked up their paper cups that held their hot chocolate and tossed them in the trash. He took Tracie’s hand in his and walked over to the pavilion where the pie-eating contest was being held. They arrived just as the last of the pies were being laid out.

  “Oh, look, Bruce is entering the contest,” Tracie said.

  His mate Tatyana stood behind him, offering her support.

  “Are you ready?” Tatyana asked as one of the helpers placed a cup of water next to his pie.

  “I sure am. No competition this year,” Bruce joked.

  “How do you feel about going up against an expert?” Nathaniel asked.

  “Are you challenging me?” Bruce smirked.

  “Oh, yeah.”

  “Dante, get another seat and pie and put it here next to me. Nate feels lucky today,” Bruce called out.

  Dante brought a folding chair and a cherry pie and placed them next to Bruce as requested. Then he made his way over to the mike to start the contest.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for the pie-eating contest!” Dante called out, drawing the attention of people walking by. “Who do you think will win?”

  Soon a small crowd gathered to watch.

  “Show them no mercy,” Tracie said as she squeezed Nathaniel’s shoulder.

  Tracie kissed his cheek before stepping off the stage and finding a place in the crowd.

  “Are you ready? On your mark. Get set. GO! May the best man or woman win!” Dante called out.

  The contestants had their hands behind their backs as they leaned forward to start on the pies in front of them. The crowd cheered and shouted out words of encouragement.

  Dante began the final countdown of ten seconds, encouraging the crowd to count with him. Most contestants seemed only to have a few bites to go.

  “Ten. Time’s up!” Dante calls. “We have a winner.”

  Dante walked down the table of contestants and stood behind Bruce and Nathaniel. He reached for Nathaniel’s arm and held it high so the crowd of onlookers could see.

  “Congratulations, Nate, you’re our winner,” Dante says as he hands Nathaniel a blue ribbon.

  A few of the contestants looked like they might be ill. Bruce shook Nathaniel’s hand, congratulating him. Nathaniel looked out into the crowd for Tracie. His mouth split into a huge grin as he saw her jumping up and down while clapping her hands.

  “You did it!” Tracie said as she threw herself into his embrace, hugging him tightly.

  “Thank you.”

  Nathaniel gripped Tracie tighter as she tried to pull away. His lips meet hers. His tongue swiped against hers, wanting entrance. Her lips parted, and he swooped in. She groans and grips his shirt tight.

  “Get a room!” Somebody shouted.

  Tracie laughed, breaking the kiss. Nathaniel kept his gaze on her face grinning.

  “Let’s walk around a bit,” Tracie suggested.

  Nathaniel and Tracie walked around a bit, holding hands. They stopped at a few booths checking out the merchandise. When they approached the dunking booth and saw that the alpha, Darias, was sitting waiting to be dunked, they stopped to watch. Barry was explaining to the old lady how the game worked.

  “Now, grandma, you have three balls to throw at the target. If you hit the target hard enough in the right spot, it will release the seat Darias is sitting on. Any questions?” Barry asked.

  “Barry, I know how to play.”

  “Come on, Heather, you can’t knock me down,” Darias taunts.

  “Just because I’m an old lady doesn’t mean I don’t have the strength to dunk you.”

  Heather’s first ball she throws misses the target. She takes a deep breath and tries to throw the ball closer to the target. There was a loud clanging sound when the ball connected to the target. Darias looked worried, but it wasn’t strong enough to make him fall. Her final throw was too high over the target.

  “It’s okay, grandma. I’m sure someone will make the alpha fall soon,” Bruce said, trying to console Heather.

  Darias’ face fell when he saw Nathaniel step up and began winding up to throw a ball. He looked worried that this time he would get dunked.

  “Nate, you can’t hit the broad side of a barn,” Darias taunted.

  “I have pretty good aim. Although, I haven’t plaid since college.”

  Nathaniel let the ball fly at the target. The ball skimmed the edge of the target. Darias looked a little more relaxed.

  “All part of the plan. If he’s too stiff when he falls, he could get hurt. I don’t want to be known as the guy who hurt the alpha,” Nathaniel winked at Tracie.

  Nathaniel tossed the next ball, and it makes the bell ring as it hits the target causing Darias to fall into the water. The crowd that had gathered began cheering. Darias sputtered when he resurfaced.

  “That’s so damned cold! It’s as if someone dumped ice cubes in the water,” Darias complained.

  “I’m so glad I recorded this! We will remember it forever,” laughed Bruce.

  Darias growled as he climbed back up to the bench. He tried to wring out his shirt.

  “Take it off!” someone in the crowd shouted.

  Darias’ face turned red as catcalls came from the crowd. Nathaniel reached for his final ball.

  “Oh, hell no! You dunked me once. Time for someone else to have a shot,” Darias shouted.

  “You should give him a chance to dry off,” Tracie suggested.

  “Bruce, I’m going home to get changed. I can’t stand being in wet clothes any longer,” Darias said before getting down from his seat and heading back home.

  As Tracie and Nathaniel continued to stroll through the festival grounds, a car sped down Franklin Street, its window sliding down as it neared the crowd. The glint of sun on metal caught Nathaniel’s eyes, and he growled. He lowered his head and put his wolf into his speed, trying to catch up to the vehicle before something terrible happened.

  “Everyone, down!” Nathaniel called as he ran.

  But it was too late.

  Several wolves tried to move out of the way, but the bullets sprayed, hitting several shifters over and over until they fell to their knees,
blood pooling around their bodies. The car sped off, the screech of tires echoing in the distance. Nathaniel howled as he began to run after the car, trying to look to see who was in it, but it sped away, far too fast for him.

  His wolf wanted to follow anyway. It needed blood—needed vengeance.

  “Nate! I need you,” Tracie yelled.

  He froze at her shaky words.

  Nathaniel ran back to Tracie, aware of people screaming, calling for the healers and ambulances, scared out of their minds.

  Tracie knelt between two shifters; her eyes showed her wolf was near the surface, her shoulders were tense. She had one hand over a man’s chest, the other on a woman’s belly. Nathaniel realized that the man was Bruce Patterson, the pack’s head enforcer, and his mate Tatyana.

  “I’m here. What do you need me to do?” Nathaniel asked as he knelt in front of her.

  Tracie met his gaze, her jaw tight.

  “Help me stop the bleeding, please.” Tracie’s voice broke, but she did not cry.

  “Our bonds to them should keep them alive until one of the healers can get to us,” Nathaniel explained.

  “I don’t have the same bonds as you, but I’ll do my best.”

  Both shifters were unconscious, their hands reaching out to one another as if they’d fallen and tried for each other, only to come up short.

  Nathaniel’s heart broke, but he couldn’t think about that. Not yet. Not when Bruce and his mate lay dying on the street because of the true monsters who did this.

  Tracie shook under his touch before removing her blood slicked hand from his and moving it to Tatyana. He put the phone on his shoulder as it connected to Darias, keeping both of his hands pressed on Bruce’s wounds. He wasn’t a healer, but dammit, this didn’t look good. Wolf shifters could heal quickly and get up after lots of injuries, but so many bullets in a short time were stretching it, even for a wolf as strong as Bruce.

  “Nate.” Darias’ voice soothed Nathaniel’s wolf slightly. “I felt the pain along with the bonds. I’m heading out. Our people are two minutes out from you.”

  Emergency sirens called out into what remained of the crowd. The ambulance was a welcome sight, its flashing lights calming Nathaniel’s frayed nerves. Bruce and Tatyana now stood a great chance in recovering.

  Nathaniel recognized the two healers as they exited the ambulance when it came to a complete stop as close as they possibly could. The women went to work quickly. As if by magic, the bullets worked their way out of Bruce and Tatiana’s bodies, and the wounds began to close. They were lucky that the bullets weren’t silver. Healers could not remove silver bullets, nor would they be able to heal silver bullet wounds.

  “How are they?” Darias asked as he arrived.

  “They are going to be just fine,” The healer said just before both victims gasped as they each took in a breath.

  Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

  “Wha,” Bruce began.

  “Hush, don’t say anything. You need to save your strength,” Darias said.

  “We need to get them to the hospital. They will have a full recovery, but they need a day or two to rest,” the healer said.

  “Of course,” Darias replied as he stepped aside so the ambulance attendants could do their work.

  They each pulled over the prams, gently picked up Tatiana and Bruce, and loaded them into the ambulance.

  A few hours later, Nathaniel stopped by the hospital. He watched Bruce breathing on his own. That was a relief. He was weak and injured, but being a shifter, he would heal in a few more days. The healer said that both Bruce and Tatiana being shifters was what saved them. Humans would have died with the injuries they sustained.

  ***

  A shot rang through the air. Tracie screamed.

  Nathaniel covered her mouth and pulled her close to him. He guided her away from the gunfire and the crowd. She could hear footsteps gaining on them. Suddenly they were surrounded by masked men dressed in black.

  One of the men aimed his gun at her and fired.

  Tracie sat up in bed, drenched in sweat and gasping for air. It was a dream, but it felt so real. She pushed the covers off of her and climbed out of her bed. She padded to her bedroom door and made her way down the hallway to Nathaniel’s bedroom.

  As quietly as she could, Tracie opened the door and closed it behind her. The light from the alarm clock on Nathaniel’s nightstand beside his bed illuminated the room enough for her to make it to his bed without tripping over anything. She eased back the covers and crawled in beside him.

  “Tracie?” Nathaniel asked his voice heavy with sleep. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. No. I… I had a nightmare.”

  “Come closer. I’ll hold you till you fall asleep.”

  “I doubt I will sleep anymore tonight.”

  “Hush. Close your eyes and just relax. I’ve got you.”

  Tracie felt so safe in Nathaniel’s arms. It didn’t take long for her breathing to slow and her body to completely relax. Tracie had fallen back to sleep as Nathaniel continued to hold her. After fifteen more minutes, he also fell asleep.

  The morning sun shone through the cracks in the blinds of the bedroom windows and right into Tracie’s eyes, waking her just as Nathaniel’s alarm clock chimed. As he was reaching over to turn off the alarm, she got out of bed and headed to her room. She stopped at the door and turned to face him.

  “Thanks for last night.”

  Before he could reply, Tracie rushed out the door.

  Tracie dashed to her bedroom and showered, then dressed for work. She entered the kitchen to grab a bowl of oatmeal and a cup of coffee before heading to work. As she moved to sit at the table, Nathaniel entered the kitchen. She could tell that he, too, had showered and was dressed for work.

  “I’ve decided to walk to work today. Would you like to walk with me?” Nathaniel asked.

  “We could walk part of the way together. It would be silly for you to walk me to mine and then have to turn back to get to yours.”

  “I wouldn’t mind. Being the owner, I can set my own hours,” Nathaniel laughed.

  Tracie shot him a look over the rim of her coffee cup as she drank.

  “Oh, all right. We can walk together until we reach Walnut Street and then part ways.”

  “Fine. I’m ready to go.”

  Tracie stood from the table and placed her dirty dishes into the sink. Nathaniel ate the last bite of his fried egg sandwich and washed it down with the last of his coffee before leaving the table and putting his dishes into the sink.

  Nathaniel held the door open for Tracie and then followed her out. He locked the door and followed her down the driveway. Once they were both on the sidewalk, they walked side by side. He wanted to hold her hand but was afraid she would brush his hand away.

  They made it two houses down past their home when pumas surrounded them.

  “What do you want?” Nathaniel growled.

  “You shouldn’t be here. How did you get past the guards?” Tracie added.

  The pumas didn’t say a word. They closed in, blocking any possible escape. Nathaniel growled, his wolf in his voice and eyes.

  Nathaniel swung his fist at the nearest puma, only to miss when he ducked to avoid being hit. Nathaniel was thrown off-balance and stumbled before regaining his center and turning to face another puma. He launched himself at another puma. In a flurry of motion, he was pummeling several pumas.

  While Nathaniel was fighting the pumas, Tracie tried to back away and pulled her cell phone from her back pocket.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” a deep, menacing voice said behind Tracie.

  The puma grabbed her hand that was holding the cell phone and squeezed.

  “Let go of me,” Tracie cried.

  Tracie stared at her hand, willing it to shift into wolf claws. Black claws extended from the tips of her fingers and dug into the puma’s arm. He jerked in surprise, loosening his grip on Tracie’s hand. Little pools of blood were welling up w
here her claws had dug into his flesh. He looked from his arm to her and growled. With his other hand, the puma jerked the phone out of Tracie’s hand, crushing it. Then he flung her backward. She hit the grass with a thud causing her to cry out in pain.

  Nathaniel turned and took in Tracie and the puma barreling down on her. He made his way to the puma quickly and grabbed him by his shirt, lifting him several inches off the ground.

  “You don’t touch her. Ever,” Nathaniel’s voice was low and deadly.

  Nathaniel turned his attention to her and started to walk to Tracie.

  “Are you okay?” Nathaniel asked before falling to the ground.

  “Nate!” Tracie yelled before her world went black.

  ***

  The door to Darias’ office flew open, and Barry ran into the room, his wolf in his eyes. Stehn, Rosalie, Dante, and Darias got to their feet quickly, ready to fight.

  “What’s wrong?” Darias asked.

  “One of Nate’s neighbors called in. They spotted Nate and Tracie fighting a group of puma shifters.”

  Darias let out a growl.

  “We can scent Tracie and Nate, but we can’t find them. We could scent several pumas. They must have them,” Darias explained.

  “We’ll find them,” Stehn vowed.

  “Call the surrounding shifter packs. Pumas took our pack members. Someone had to have seen something,” Darias ordered.

  Maximo and the pumas better pray that Nathaniel and Tracie made it out alive. If not, war was coming to the pumas. The Lykos pack didn’t let anyone hurt their own and live.

  ***

  Tracie felt like she had been hit by a truck. Her body ached. She held back a moan as she forced herself to wake up. She didn’t know where she was or what happened. Slowly she opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. Darkness surrounded her, but with light coming through a crack under the door, she made out faint shapes. Bars seemed to be surrounding her. She was in a cage.