A Symphony of Howls

by Val St. Crowe

  But I didn’t see what good it was going to be, because the vampires were going to chase us there, and then what were we going to do? Stop and fight them?

  We did outnumber them, at least from what I could sense from smelling them. We might have a chance.

  Still, I didn’t think that we would all survive, and I could not accept losing any member of my pack.

  That was when I realized that the vampires had turned around. They weren’t coming after us anymore.

  Relieve flooded through me. I wasn’t sure why they had stopped pursuing us. Maybe they had decided it wasn’t worth it. Maybe the fact that we outnumbered them gave them pause. Maybe they simply got bored with chasing us. I was happy to have them gone, all the same.

  I halted the pack, giving us all a chance to catch our breath.

  But before I could do anything, Landon was there, in my face. “What were you thinking?” he said, releasing and retracting the claws in his hands. “You nearly got yourselves killed. Why would you do anything so risky?”

  I was still in wolf form. I couldn’t really answer him. I panted at him, trying to use my eyes to tell him to go away.

  Amber, the wolf with the pack on her back that had cloaks for all of us to put on, shifted back into human form and began distributing cloaks.

  Others followed suit.

  Landon was still yelling at me. “That has to be the most idiotic thing I’ve ever seen a pack of werewolves try to pull. What’s the point of doing what you did? You think that hurts the bloods? You think they care about that? You all could have died, and for what?”

  Ewan stepped in front of me to address Landon, pulling a cloak around his shoulders. “What are you doing here? Who the hell are you?”

  Landon pushed Ewan out of the way to get to me again, but at that moment, I was shifting back into human form, and I was naked. Landon caught one glance at my bare skin and his body went rigid. He immediately hurled himself away, into the woods.

  Amber was there, handing me a cloak.

  I pulled it on, covering myself.

  Ewan turned to me. “Seriously? Why was there a bloodhound running with us?”

  “He’s sort of… a friend,” I said. Honestly, I wasn’t sure how to explain Landon.

  “You’re friends with bloodhounds?”

  “He’s not like the others,” I said. “Apparently, they’re controlled by a chip inserted in the base of their spine, right under their skulls. If they disobey, the chip kills them. Landon got his removed. He’s free. He does what he wants.”

  “Which is yell at our alpha?” said Ewan pointedly. “I can’t think Judah—”

  “Wait,” I said. “Where is Judah?”

  Ewan turned to look around.

  I did too. I didn’t see Judah anywhere. I started to call out for him, but I didn’t think we should be making a lot of noise, not if we wanted to stay clear of those vampires.

  “Judah?” I whispered. I reached out with my mind, because I was connected to him. I could feel him. And he… wasn’t anywhere close. “Oh, no. He’s not with us.”

  “What does that mean?” said Amber.

  I thought fast. “You know where the meet-up house is, right?”

  “Yeah,” she said.

  I pointed at her and at Ewan. “You two, get the rest of the pack there. I’m going back for Judah. We’ll meet you there, okay?”

  “But do you even know where Judah is?” said Ewan.

  “Are you questioning a direct order from your alpha?” I said, my tone going severe.

  “No,” said Ewan. He nodded at Amber. “Let’s go.”

  I hurtled into the woods, still in human form, clutching the cloak around my shoulders, feeling for Judah’s essence, which was far away.

  “Can’t you keep that thing closed?” growled a voice.

  I started and came to an abrupt stop.

  Landon appeared in front of me, pulling the edges of the cloak closed over my body.

  I took a step back. “You have to stop sneaking up on me like that.”

  “And it’s probably not a good idea to flash me,” he said. “Not if you don’t want a crazed monster on your hands.”

  Right. Okay. Because of the rage mode thing and bloods getting… excited or whatever. “No one asked you to be here,” I said.

  “I just saved your life. I just saved your pack.”

  “But not Judah,” I said. “He didn’t come with the others because he’s an alpha, and I can’t control him.”

  “You’re worried about the dog?”

  “Would you stop calling him that?” I put my hands against Landon’s chest—which was very firm—and shoved.

  He stumbled backward.

  I started walking towards the direction of Judah. “So, you do think I’m attractive.”

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “You said that you didn’t, the other night in the woods, but if one peep at me without clothes can make you rage out, then obviously I’m not as ugly as you made out.”

  “I never said you were ugly.”

  “Right,” I muttered.

  “I didn’t,” he said. “Where are you going right now?”

  “You said that you didn’t have a crush on me.”

  “Well, that’s a completely different thing, isn’t it? You were flashing your tits all over the woods, anyone’s going to get a little happy.”

  I flinched. “You don’t have to be vulgar.”

  “I’m vulgar? You’re the one wearing nothing but a cloak.”

  I walked faster. “Anytime you want to leave is fine with me.”

  “Why?” he said. “What’s getting you so upset? Do you have a crush on me or something?”

  “No one could have a crush on you. You’re awful.”

  “Oh, ouch,” he said, but he didn’t sound ruffled. “Where the hell are you going?”

  “I’m going to get Judah back.”

  “What?” He grabbed my arm and turned me to face him and then my cloak flew open again and he let go of me like I burned him and hid his face.

  I yanked the cloak closed. “If you didn’t want to see, you shouldn’t have grabbed me.”

  He turned his back to me, sucking in shaky breaths.

  “Oh, whatever,” I muttered. I turned and continued walking. We were getting closer to Judah. He wasn’t far off.

  Landon’s clawed hand on my shoulder again. His voice in my ear, deep and smooth. “You can’t go after Judah. The vampires have him.”

  “He’s my mate, do you not get that?” I said.

  “Yeah, maybe he’s your mate, but you have a crush on me, so—”

  “No, I don’t,” I snapped, probably more forcefully than I should have.

  Landon smirked. “Okay, then. I see. That was very convincing.”

  I walked faster. “Would you please go away?” And now, Judah was very close. I could sense him. I rushed forward. There was a hill just ahead, and over this crest—

  Landon yanked me back and shoved me into a tree trunk just as I was reaching the top of the hill. He trapped me there, his hands on either side of me. We were too close again. “Stop,” Landon whispered.

  I struggled.

  He let me look around the tree for a second and then pulled me back.

  I caught a glimpse of Judah at the bottom of the hill, head thrown back, blood at his neck, two vampires bent over him, one on the left side of his neck and one on the right. Oh! They were feeding on him. I knew that vampires drank blood, but they never let anyone see them feeding on a human. I could see why. They looked like monsters.

  Judah and the vampires were a hundred yards away. Too close, but not terrifyingly close.

  The horror on my face must have shown.

  “He’s alive,” Landon whispered, his face inches from mine. “I can hear his heart beating.”

  “I have to save him,” I said.

  “No,” said Landon. “That would be suicide.”

  “If I shift into a
wolf and I bite them—”

  “They would rip your head off before you had a chance.”

  I bit down on my lip. I felt like I was going to cry.

  Landon sighed. “You really care about him, huh?”

  “He’s my mate.”

  “Yeah, but he’s always leaving you alone. He seems to spend an inordinate amount of time at that other chick’s place. And you don’t seem happy. And…” Landon swallowed. He stopped talking, and his gaze went from my lips to my eyes to the hollow of my throat and then he backed away from me, putting several feet of distance between us.

  “Maybe we aren’t in love or whatever,” I said. “But that doesn’t mean he’s not still my mate. My pack. He’s… I have to do something.”

  “You try to go after him, I will stop you,” said Landon in a very quiet, very matter-of-fact voice. “I won’t let you get killed.”

  “Because of some promise you made to my sister?”

  “Because it would be a real shame to ruin tits like yours,” he deadpanned. “So, don’t try it, Camber. I won’t let you near those vamps.”

  I decided to let that stupid comment about my breasts go. He was trying to make me mad, and I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. “So, what? I’m supposed to let him die?”

  “They’re not going to kill him,” he said.

  “He’s a werewolf. That’s what vampires do to wolves.”

  “Right, but if they knew he was a wolf, he’d already be dead. They’re feeding on him because they think he’s human. They’ll probably haul him back to town, turn him into one of their little walking blood bags, and compel the hell out of him.”

  “I can’t let that happen to him either,” I said.

  “You can’t stop it,” he said. “So, just let it go.”

  “Let it go? Landon, what do you take me for? I can’t do that.”

  “You want me to smash your head into that tree, knock you out, and then drag you out of here? Because I’ll do it.”

  “I’d like to see you try.” My voice dropped into a snarl, and I prepared to shift.

  He propelled me backwards into the tree trunk, one hand at my neck, and I was so startled, it knocked the shift right out of me. “Shh. They’ll hear you.”

  “Landon—”

  “Stop trying to save the dog,” he said.

  “I’ll never stop,” I said.

  And that was when he moved so quick that I couldn’t quite see him, and there was a sharp pain at the back of my head, and the world went black.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  I woke up in the middle of the main lodge, and the whole pack was crowded around me. As I opened my eyes, I could hear Henry yelling for everyone to back up and give me space.

  It was dark outside. No light came through the windows.

  I was no longer wearing the cloak that I’d been wearing in the woods, but instead was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, and I wondered who had dressed me and how I had gotten here and what was going on.

  Ewan shoved his way forward, through the crowd. “We waited for you at the meet-up spot, but you never showed. Finally, Amber went out looking and we found you lying unconscious in the woods. What happened?”

  I sat up, gingerly touching the back of my head, which still hurt. “I might need to shift.” The room was spinning. Fangs, what had Landon done to me? “The vampires have Judah.”

  “What?” said Henry.

  “I tried to get him back, but—”

  “No, you couldn’t take on vampires on your own,” said Henry. “Never risk yourself like that. If we’ve lost one alpha, we need the other one safe. An alphaless pack is vulnerable.”

  Right. I hadn’t thought of that. I had a responsibility to these people. They needed me. “I’m sorry,” I said. “They were feeding on him. I was worried—”

  “Is he alive?” came another voice. It was Tempest. She was behind me.

  I craned my neck to see her.

  “You’re bonded,” she said. “You can feel him. Is he alive?”

  “Yes,” I said. “He’s alive. They’ve probably turned him into a blood slave and taken him to the city, and I don’t know what we’re going to do. I can’t even—”

  “Stop asking her questions,” said Ewan. “She’s wounded. She said she needed to shift.”

  “What happened?” said Tempest. “You expect us to believe you took on the vampires and that they just left you behind? Why are you wounded?”

  Oh, I did not want to answer that question. Also, Landon was an asshole. My head was really, really messed up. How hard had he slammed my head into that tree trunk? Dick.

  Ewan was helping me up. “She’s going to shift. I’m taking her into another room. She can answer questions when she’s healed.”

  “Ewan’s right,” said Henry. “We’ve waited this long. Let’s wait a few more moments.”

  I leaned on Ewan to stand and he supported me while I bobbed and weaved my way into the kitchen. Ewan shut the door and then he turned his back to me.

  I yanked my shirt over my head. “Where did these clothes come from?”

  “Amber,” he said. “We didn’t want you lying out half naked in front of the whole pack. Didn’t seem respectful.”

  “Thanks,” I said, shimmying out of my pants. “The raid at the headquarters? How much did we accomplish before we were interrupted?”

  “About half,” he said. “We still hadn’t made it into the bedrooms. I only spray-painted one message.”

  “And everyone else made it out. It was only Judah we lost?”

  “Yeah,” said Ewan.

  “One sec,” I said, and I let the shift come over my body. It was a welcome change, shedding my skin for fur and claws. Immediately, my pain faded and my dizziness was gone. I felt much better. I stood on all fours, shaking my fur a bit, and then I shifted back. I tugged my clothes back on. “Okay, you can turn around,” I said to Ewan.

  He did. “You look a hell of a lot better.”

  I laughed a little. “How did I look before?”

  He gave me a wry smile. “I’m glad we found you is all. Henry’s right. If we’d been without an alpha—”

  “Well, you’re not,” I said.

  “Better get back out there,” he said. “Everyone’s in a panic. Maybe you can do something to help everyone feel better?”

  I took a deep breath, and I reached out to soothe the minds of the pack. I wanted them to feel better, and I did manage to blunt the more extreme emotions, but I could tell that I wasn’t at full strength. It had to be because Judah was gone. Without him, I simply wasn’t as powerful.

  Ewan furrowed his brow. “Wow. Thanks. That’s, uh…” He took a deep breath and flexed his hands in front of his face. “I feel much more focused.”

  I didn’t tell him that I could have done more if Judah were here.

  We came out of the kitchen, and back into the main lodge. The atmosphere was a little subdued, but not completely.

  “What are we going to do about Judah?” Tempest called out when she saw me. She didn’t seem to have calmed down in the slightest.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t know how we get him back. We can’t attack the city. I—”

  “Hold on,” said Henry. “It’s impossible to fight the vampires. If they have Judah, he’s lost to us. You’ll have to mate with another alpha.”

  “What?” I said, horrified. “No, we can’t leave Judah—”

  “This is your fault!” screamed Tempest, and she hurled herself at me.

  We went down on the ground in the middle of the main lodge and she scratched at my face, screaming. Tears were flowing down her cheeks.

  I tried to calm her emotions, but I couldn’t. I pushed her off instead, and Ewan was there. He seized her from behind, holding her in a bear hug that pinned her arms down. I could hear him speaking to her in a low voice, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying.

  “It’s that bloodhound,” Tempest screamed at me. “The others say they saw h
im today. He did this. He got Judah captured.”

  “No,” I said. “Landon told me they were coming. If it hadn’t been for Landon, we wouldn’t have gotten away.”

  “Oh, it’s Landon, is it?” Tempest sneered. “You’re not worthy of being our alpha. If you were a true alpha, none of this would have happened. You’re weak, and even Judah knew it. He couldn’t bond with you properly.”

  “That’s not my fault.” Now my voice was rising. “You were what kept him from bonding with me. His feelings for you.”

  “You don’t belong here,” said Tempest. “You never belonged here.”

  “Tempest,” said Henry.

  But now I could feel unrest rippling through the crowd. The wolves didn’t know me yet. I was their alpha, but they were confused. They didn’t know what to make of the news of a bloodhound, and they were worried about Judah.

  I didn’t know what to do. I was still reeling from everything that had happened. I needed time to think, and I couldn’t do that with all of the pack here, demanding answers from me. I needed to have some space, some time.

  I summoned everything that I had, and I pushed out at the surrounding crowd. I couldn’t calm them, but I found that I could make them all very, very sleepy. I urged them all home, toward their beds. They started yawning, mumbling goodbyes to the others, and they stumbled out of the lodge. The remaining humans, those whose minds I couldn’t touch, seemed to go along with the crowd. A few didn’t, gaping at me, but then they turned and left too.

  Everyone was gone in ten minutes.

  Well, everyone except Tempest, who simply stood there, glaring at me, defiant, as if she was doing everything within her power to resist me.

  I pushed at her brain.

  She gritted her teeth and glared at me.

  Finally, I collapsed into a chair, exhausted.

  Tempest stalked toward me. “You coward, sending them away like that.”

  “Why didn’t it work on you?” I said.