by Meg Ripley
She squeezed my hand. “Well, you know,” she said conspiratorially, “the wives were never too keen on whole fight in the first place. But we had little choice but to go along with our husbands. Don’t you tell John I said that.”
I couldn’t help chuckling. “There is one thing I want to tell you. When the fight started… well, my dad wasn’t very honest about what was going on. I didn’t even find out until we’d moved already, but the reason he couldn’t pay for the barn… Not that he didn’t want to. He felt awful, especially about Lucy.” I gave her a sad smile. “My parents filed bankruptcy. The bank took the ranch. And that sheep? It was part of the settlement, so my dad had to sell his old gun to pay for the loss. I told Wyatt that if only they would have told you, everything would have been different.”
Mrs. Montgomery looked pale. “Well…” She put her hand to her mouth. “I just can’t… I mean, why would… Oh…” She pulled me into another hug. “Don’t you and Wyatt let something stupid separate you again. I’m so sorry for what you kids went through. It wasn’t fair, and I don’t think it was right. But don’t you ever tell John I said that.”
I laughed and wiped a tear from my eye. “I wouldn’t dare.”
“I will tell him about this.” She nodded slowly. “I think it will make a difference to him.” She leaned in closer to me. “I hope it makes him feel like a real ass.”
“I just want to know that our families won’t hate each other. That everyone will be happy for Wyatt and I to be together.”
“Honey, if anyone saw the two of you together, they couldn’t be anything but happy. But you get on now. I have no idea where any of the men in this family are, but I bet you’ll hear from one of them soon.”
“Thank you.”
I dashed back out the door feeling lighter. I had enough going against me; it was nice to know the Montgomerys wouldn’t be as well.
Terri had gone ahead of me. When I shifted into fox form, I was already running.
Everyone, check in, please, I said.
I noted their locations. About half had reached the meeting place, and the rest were still traveling.
Any updates? I asked.
I received only denials in response. Of course not. Where could Brady have gone that no one had picked up his scent yet?
I wished I’d been able to reach Wyatt before I’d shifted. It pained me to go so long without talking to him. I hated not knowing where he was, what he was doing, or if he was safe. And he had to be feeling the same about me.
18
Wyatt
I felt my dad shift in through the clan link.
Hey, Pops, I said.
So, this is where everyone is, he said. Glory is looking for you, Wyatt.
Have you seen her? I couldn’t hide the raw excitement in my voice.
She’s at the house right this very moment.
I let out a sigh of relief. Thank you. Please make sure she stays put until I can get there.
What’s going on? I need to report something back to Glory and your mother.
We’re trying to find Brady, Sawyer said. So far, we’ve found only a lot of strange scents in the area. A lot of shifters are on the move.
What could that mean? Dad asked.
A lot of us are hunting for Brady, I said.
Other than that, I’m not sure, Sawyer confessed, but we’re out here to find out.
Dad, have you come across anyone new in the area? I asked.
Can’t say I have, he answered.
I told you, Sawyer insisted, there are a lot of clans out there searching. That means people who aren’t usually in the area.
But other foxes, though? I insisted. Shouldn’t Glory or Eric or someone in their clan know the other fox scents in the area? We know every bear from here to Kentucky.
Hardly, Sawyer said.
My dad jumped in. I can let her know and see what she says about it.
That would be great, I confirmed. Also, let her know we still have nothing on Brady, so she should stay out of the areas with denser vegetation.
Well, Dad continued, that might not be possible.
What do you mean? I demanded.
She and her cousin already shifted, and her cousin ran off.
But Glory didn’t leave? The panic flooded me, and I ran faster toward my parents’ ranch.
No, she went back into the house, Dad said.
Good. I’m coming as fast as I can.
We were all busy running and sniffing, trying to pick up one particular scent. My dad even sniffed around near the ranch to make sure Brady wasn’t lurking right there.
Seems clear around the ranch, Dad confirmed. I’m going to shift back to update your mother and Glory. They’re probably out of their minds with worry.
Thanks, I said. I’m almost there.
He shifted out and I felt a little better. Glory would know I was on the way, and we could take the next step together to keep her safe, whatever that was.
When my parents’ ranch finally came into sight, I sprinted the final distance to the house. Walking in, stark naked, I quickly covered myself, since I’d brought no clothing with me.
“Wyatt Allen,” my mother scolded. “Get some clothes on. You know better.”
“No time,” I said. “Where is she?”
My mother gave me a sad smile. “She’s gone. Left a few minutes ago, while your dad was still out there.”
I closed my eyes. Missed her again? How was it possible?
“Sorry, son,” Dad said, coming into the entryway to join my mother.
“Did she at least say where she was going?” I pleaded.
“Of course,” my mother said. “She’s meeting her clan at their cabin.”
I ran one hand through my hair. “Great. So she’s out there in the woods alone?”
“I tried to make her stay,” my mother insisted. “I really did, and I told her you’d be worried that she wasn’t here. But, she’s the Alpha now.”
I groaned. “I’m going after her. Hopefully, I can find her trail easily. If for some reason she shows back up here, tell her I said that please, for the love of all things holy, wait here for me. Then someone let me know immediately.”
They nodded their agreement, and I hurried out the back door, shifting before I even reached the edge of our property. Sniffing around, I quickly found her scent and took off running as fast as I could.
19
Glory
I ran through the woods, nearing the place I’d meet my clan. I sniffed constantly as I went, recognizing a lot of people—and a lot of foxes—but not Brady.
Hearing a noise in the distance, I slowed. Footfalls…four…lighter than a bear. The fur on the back of my neck raised in automatic caution of the newcomer. I picked up the scent and knew it was a fox’s, but didn’t recognize it. Must be from one of the other clans in the area.
I kept my eyes peeled, but by the time I saw him, he was too close. Running alongside me, he matched my speed, and when I looked over, he snarled.
I tried jutting off in the opposite direction, but he leapt, catching my ankle in his teeth. I spun back, sinking my teeth into his neck.
He tried to pin me down, but my Alpha strength aided me, allowing me to twist free and dominate. In a frenzy, he swiped his claws and cut my cheek, but I swiped back, catching his throat. I’d cut him deeper than I thought.
Blood poured from the wound and he struggled to move, still trying to get away from me. I took one more deep swipe and watched him twitch, then go still.
I backed up, my eyes glued to him, my ears listening for anything around me. Is he alone?
I let my mind relax to hear my clan again. They were concerned, of course, having witnessed through my thoughts what just happened.
I’m fine. Just a small cut. Does anyone recognize this scent? I concentrated on the scent so they could pick it up.
I know him, Eric said. He’s been known to associate with Brady.
I let out a shaky breath. Then I think I ju
st dodged an attempted assassination.
Where are you? Terri pleaded.
I’m close. I’ll be there shortly.
I’m running to meet you, Eric said. And to make sure no one else is out there.
I approached the body of the limp fox and made sure he was dead. After several nudges with my paw and putting my ear dangerously close to his face to see if he was breathing, I decided he was, in fact, dead. I turned and ran toward the meeting spot.
My first day as Alpha and already, my first kill. Sure, it was in self-defense, but it still felt heavy to have done it. I needed Wyatt so badly, my insides ached. My desire for him sped me on. I was ready for this to be over and for us to settle into our new life.
20
Wyatt
The cabin was in my sight and relief filled me. I charged up to the front door, but remembered I didn’t have any clothing with me so I let out a friendly growl in welcome.
One of the foxes walked out in human form. “Wyatt?”
I nodded and sat on my haunches in front of him.
“Glory isn’t here yet. She’s on her way, but she was attacked.”
My insides spilled over in rage, and I was on all fours in an instant, snarling at the thought of someone hurting the woman I loved.
“It was someone from another fox clan,” he explained. “Eric said he was known to associate with Brady. Glory thinks it was an assassination attempt on her, but she defended herself well. She’s fine.”
I’d heard enough, and time was wasting. I dipped my head in thanks and turned to run. Even if she’d survived one attack, I couldn’t just sit there waiting, knowing she might be attacked again. And knowing Glory, she might be hurt, but playing it off as nothing. She was as stubbornly tough as me when it came to protecting people and doing what had to be done.
I found Eric’s scent and followed it at first, since it seemed to be going toward Glory. But I felt the urge to turn from his trail and head westward. I thought of her and a magnetic pull guided me. Trusting the sensation, I broke from Eric’s trail.
I smelled her first, and when I recognized the presence of fear in the air, it pained my heart. But before I could worry about that, I picked up on another scent. Human. Brady.
I took off in a sprint. If I smelled her fear and him at the same time, I might already be too late. I should’ve thought he might not be shifting much these days, with Glory able to hear his thoughts and all. But in human form, he’d be weaker, and if she was the Alpha over him, he’d be an idiot to try to fight her.
Rounding a bend, the cliffs shifted in my view. And so did Brady, naked, with a gun pointed at Glory.
Glory lay on the ground, also human and unclothed, raising her hands in surrender.
I roared loudly, my guts twisting and rage exploding in me. Brady looked in my direction, then back at Glory.
I heard the gun shot. The sound rang in my ears, bringing deep agony to my soul. If she was gone, I’d just lost everything.
I leapt into the air and my thick paws landed on Brady’s back, sending his face smashing into the dirt.
He scrambled and tried to turn the gun on me, but I swatted it away, hearing the clang of metal as it slammed into a rock.
I raised my claws and came down hard, gouging Brady’s back. He cried out in pain and tried to crawl away from me, but I pressed a paw hard on his leg to keep him in place.
Lifting my paw again, I came down even harder, feeling the slickness of his flesh between my razor-sharp nails. The sensation made me sick, but the rage in my soul was too loud for me to be able to stop, so I continued to slash him, again and again. So much hatred and agony spun inside me that it fueled me on, dragging my claws over his flesh and bones long past the point of his death.
Then I heard a sound, and it was enough to snap me out of whatever frenzy I’d spun into.
“Wyatt?”
Glory’s voice, weak and pained, reached my ears and struck my heart. She was alive.
Blood dripped from my arms and ran down my chest as I bolted toward her. She pushed herself up on one elbow, pressing her hands where the blood oozed from a jagged hole in her thigh. Shifting back to human form, I pressed my hands over hers.
“He wouldn’t have let me die until after I transferred the title to him,” Glory explained.
“But you didn’t.” I could still smell the authority on her.
“Never.” Her eyes closed and she went limp.
“Glory?”
I shifted back quickly and told my clan, I have Glory. She’s been shot. Brady is dead.
That’s one hell of an update, Sawyer said. What’s your location and what do you need?
EMS. I’m shifting back to carry her to the cabin. We might beat you there.
The moment I was human again, I bent to scoop Glory into my arms. Once I carried her, she began to stir, looking up at me and smiling weakly before she closed her eyes again.
“You’re safe,” I promised her, kissing the top of her head.
We reached the cabin as the ambulance pulled up and the crew helped me get her onto the stretcher. An EMT handed me an extra pair of scrubs, so I yanked them on before jumping into the ambulance beside her.
They worked on her for several minutes and got her stable. “It’s a clean shot,” the EMT explained. “Bullet went all the way through but didn’t hit anything vital. She should be just fine.”
I gave a quick report to my fellow law enforcement Rangers, who would need to locate and dispose of Brady’s body and his gun. I had no idea where the fox was that Glory killed, but they would be on the lookout for his remains as well.
After my explanation of the situation, they all agreed it was self-defense in both cases.
“And now we can close four cases,” I told them. “Keith and Martin were killed by Brady, who then tried to kill Glory and got himself killed by me in the process. And this other fox from out of the area. We won’t have to bother much with him, either, since we know that Glory killed him defending herself.”
They took down notes of the information I gave them, but I was rushing and making it hard on them. I couldn’t keep my mind off Glory, and this was taking time from me being by her side.
When I’d answered all their questions and promised to write up a full report soon, I returned to the ambulance and climbed back in beside Glory. We finally got moving. I held her hand and watched her serene face, hoping that if she were dreaming, it was as peaceful as it looked.
We pulled up to the Ranger station and they helped me get Glory into the narrow backseat of my truck. Eric jumped in the passenger seat and together, we secured both seatbelts over her.
One benefit—or problem—with shifters was their ability to heal fast. In some cases, like with viruses, it wasn’t so obvious to humans that we healed more speedily. But when it came to traumatic injuries, hospitals had to be avoided. No doctor would let it go if his gunshot-wound patient was fully healed and recovered in a matter of days. Shifters had adapted and learned to practice medicine without the aid of hospitals. Around Big Bend, most people had some level of first-aid training at least. Being an hour away from the closest hospital made it necessary.
I drove as if Glory were made of glass and would shatter at the slightest bump. When I turned onto my road, the reality finally settled over me. Brady was dead. Glory was Alpha. She would recover fine in a matter of days.
Eric and I carried her inside and laid her on my bed. He left me supplies and instructions for cleaning her wound before getting on his way. I slid into bed beside Glory, holding her hand, waiting for her to wake.
21
Glory
I felt the pain before anything else. But when I opened my eyes and saw Wyatt, all my discomfort faded away.
He squeezed my hand. “Hey.”
“Hey,” I whispered.
I noticed the quiet around us and that I was lying in a bed. I didn’t recognize the place.
“Where am I?” I asked.
“My bedroom.”
“That’s convenient.”
“I don’t think you’re ready for that.” He chuckled and kissed my hand. “How bad is it?”
“It’s okay. I’ll live.”
“Of course you’ll live.” He sounded panicky as he said it.
I squeezed his hand back. “What happened, anyway? I remember Brady shooting me after he tried to force me to give him the Alpha title.”
“I saw him shoot you. I thought you were dead. I went into such a rage, there was no way he could have come out of that fight alive.”
“Brady is dead?”
“Quite,” he confirmed.
My whole body relaxed. “Uncle Keith, Martin, Brady. That’s a lot for one week.”
“You forgot the other fox, too. Now that the killer is dead, I expect it all to stop.”
“Unless someone else wants to be Alpha.”
His eyes widened. “Do you think there’s someone else?”
“Not that I know of. Everyone seemed to be begging me to take it on.” I shifted my position in the bed, but when I tried to move my left leg, the pain was too much.
“Then you’re safe now,” he said. “Finally. And you were safe anyway because I am never letting you out of my sight again. Three times now, I almost lost you.”
“I don’t think that would be possible. I think fate would make sure.”
“Maybe. But I hate that feeling of not knowing where you are or being able to get a hold of you. And besides, if fate took eight years the first time, I’m not willing to let it take that long again.”
“It made me crazy today when I couldn’t get in touch with you and no one knew where you were.”
“Then let’s never be apart again.” He put his hand to my cheek. “That is, assuming you’ve decided to stay and lead your clan.”
I gave him a half smile. “I think part of me decided to stay the moment you said you still had feelings for me. I just had to get my brain to catch up to my heart. Now that I feel the power and responsibility of the Alpha…I can’t turn back. My dad already did that and brought shame on us. I won’t run from my duty.” I looked down, my throat growing thick. “It’s not going to be easy. I’ll be leaving my parents, and they count on my help.”
