“If I’m going to be a warrior, I have to live as a warrior does, right?” she’d said with a grin. No more was said about it. So, she travelled as one of Nate’s unit.
Personally, Nova was just happy to see her so understanding of their ways. It wasn’t intentional, but he’d always hidden a part of the pack from her, the part that hinted at just how wild they could be. It was different to see wolves tearing at one another, almost normal in terms of nature. But to see the stomping and the howling and growls of savagery falling from human lips… he knew that it couldn’t have been easy for a human to understand, even a human as well-adapting as Amara.
And yet, there she was, willingly stuffing herself into an already full Jeep of rambunctious young wolves that thirsted for battle. She’d trained, she’d prepared. She’d stood among these same wolves as they howled their excitement to the moon, and still gazed at him with such a force of strength and love in her eyes that he couldn’t help but fall for her all over again. As Nate’s car pulled away, Nova watched it with the utmost certainty.
Amara Lowery was amazing in every way a woman possibly could be.
A small tap on his shoulder pulled his eyes away from the departing vehicle. “She’ll be fine, you know?” Nemoy assured. “There was a time that I didn’t believe she would, but something’s changed, don’t you think?”
They both watched the rowdy Jeep turn a far corner into obscurity, and Nova nodded. “It was Strathford,” he answered. “Before we went to pack her things, she was stressed beyond her limits, training in a panic, and pushing her body and mind to near uselessness. She was afraid, I’m sure. But now, she’s… she’s…”
“Optimal,” Nemoy finished. Nova shot him a confused look. “Okay, more like… determined. She has focus. A goal. Like you said, her drive to fight was steeped in her fear of Kal Vann. Tell me, Nova, has she even once uttered his name since returning to the compound?”
Nova thought back over the course of the two days. “Not that I can recall. So you think she’s not afraid of him anymore?”
“I think she’s not letting her fear of him rule her life anymore,” Nemoy corrected. “Fear that traumatic doesn’t just go away. Right now it’s probably locked away deep down inside of her, and she’ll address it again when she has the time. It gives her enough peace to stay in tune with what matters. Probably not the healthiest method for coping, but the only one available on such short notice. She’ll need you when all this catches up to her later, but for now she’s where we need her to be.”
Nova sighed. “But that’s what I’m afraid of. The After. Everything’s happening so fast. She’s always been strong, but everything we’ve been through since the wedding... A few days ago, she told me Kal took everything from her. And it’s true; her life was shrouded in so much darkness after the attack. I’d hoped that us finally being together would begin the start of a happier life for her. And then all this happened. I’m just afraid that sending her to war will change her in ways that can’t ever be fixed.”
Nemoy nodded his understanding. “We’d learned as pups that death is just another fact of our lives. We train to fight in childhood; lives are taken—by us, or from us, it never mattered. Loss is loss. Amara has had no such training, yet she had to learn the pain of loss when her father was murdered and the risk of war over the course of less than a month. It couldn’t have been easy.”
“And yet, she’s still here. She hasn’t once ever made me feel like she regretted her decision to marry me.” Nova couldn’t help but feel a bit of pride for his mate. “She’s still here.”
“And you think war will change that?”
“Yes… No,” Nova fretted. “I have no idea, and not knowing terrifies me.”
“The hard part’s not over yet, brother. Before you worry about The After, you both still have to survive.” Nemoy held up his hands in a placating gesture before Nova could bristle. “I know it’s hard to hear, but it’s true. She’s human and you’re love-struck. You’d do anything to protect her, I know that now. Hell, I know why now. But it puts you both at a disadvantage on the battlefield. Amara has put her fears on the backburner until we finish what needs doing, and I suggest you do the same.
“For now, let’s focus on surviving. The After? Well, we can readdress that… after.”
The drive down the mountain wasn’t difficult, but it was steep, winding and took a great deal longer than simply running in wolf form. A few of the younger boys suggested that option, but due to the possibility of war, everyone needed to keep their stamina at peak levels in preparation.
The SUV holding the Council members drove in the middle of the convoy line, the safest position for the pack’s most important members. Directly in front and behind them were open bed pick-up trucks that practically spilled over the edges with sentry wolves. As long as they held the high ground on the mountain, they couldn’t be ambushed.
Through the closed, tinted windows, Nova could hear the whooping and roughhousing of the young wolves around him. Far too many were young, much younger than when he’d started training for war. A fair share were a great deal older as well, coming out of retirement from battle to aid anywhere their numbers were too slim. Men and women, boys and even a few young girls. And of course, Amara. No able body was spared a draft. It was the only option, Nova knew. No other clan wanted to interfere with the personal squabble of a decades old feud between the Mountain and Valley Clans. Both packs were on their own, so pulling everyone in was necessary, but still…
Nova couldn’t shake the cold feeling that overcame him when he thought about how some of these wolves—pups, really—could possibly never make it home to enjoy the rest of their childhood before obligation of pack life truly set in. He felt dirtied by the mere concept of sending them out against wolves twice their size. Sure, he’d trained them to use their size difference efficiently, but child soldiers… it sounded so wrong.
“We have about thirty more minutes of travel before we reach Valley Clan territory,” Nemoy said, breaking the silence in the cramped car. “Be on alert, just in case there’s anything the sentries miss.”
“Poor children. They’re hardly old enough to watch their own hides, let alone a convoy,” Isiah muttered from the middle row seating.
“The Alpha made the best decision for the pack, Isiah,” Iso chastised from the driver seat. “It’s not your place to criticize.”
“Best decision, hah. Yes, he’s been full of those lately, hasn’t he?” Isiah retorted, voice dripping in sarcasm.
“Isiah Levens,” Nevaeh bit from the back seat, her sons sitting on either side of her. “That will be all from you. Not another word speaking out against your Alpha.”
“No, mother,” Nemoy disagreed, “it’s okay. Tempers are running high. It is to be expected, I suppose. For once, I’ll allow Isiah to speak his peace, if it means that he’ll do what’s necessary for the pack’s survival when the time comes.” He nodded to Isiah. “Isiah Levens, you have the floor. Get it all off your chest.” He glared at the older wolf with a raised eyebrow, waiting for him to speak. Isiah only huffed his dissent and turned to look out the window in silence.
Nova didn’t want to admit how much Isiah’s words stung. It wasn’t often that the two wolves agreed on something, and it was ultimately Nova’s fault that they both felt that way. He opted to remain silent on the topic of discussion as well.
The car fell to silence for the remainder of the ride. Nova took his mind off of the pups by thinking of Amara and how he’d last seen her. She’d been smiling and bumping shoulders with the wolves of Nate’s unit. She seemed to fit right in with the other fighters, if not as a fellow wolf, than as a fellow warrior. It was bittersweet, but better than thinking of the alternative, so he focused on the memory of her beautiful smile and sharp grey eyes until a broken chorus of, “Valley Clan territory ahead! Entering Valley Clan territory!” echoed from the open beds of the trucks and Jeeps around them.
They’d finally made it.
; The Valley Clan Compound was similar to Nova’s own. It had double gated security and homes scattered through a vast land that the Valley wolves occupied. Thinking back, he could almost remember every nook and cranny of the Valley compound, having explored it to exhaustion every time the Summits were held there.
Nova hadn’t been to a Summit in years. They’d always delegated the job of a lower tier pack member, and then neglected to go at all once the Valley Clan started picking off Strathford humans. Nova thought maybe it was time to rekindle the relationships between the Mountain Clan and everyone else once this was all finished. Every territory was so different; he very much missed reliving his memories of scents and sceneries in each one.
As the Council vehicle finally slowed to a stop at the closed gates of the compound, Nova could almost imagine the purple and lavender hues of the wildflowers that only grew in the valley, the mountain being much too cold to support the delicate plants. They’d opted for brick homes over log cabins, something that Nova had secretly envied in his childhood, and it fit the stoned pathways that led to the gardens on the edges of their land. Despite the solemn circumstances of their arrival, Nova couldn’t help but peer anticipatorily out into the Valley territory, hoping to catch a glimpse of his youth once more.
All it took was one glance, and he could already tell that it no longer resembled the childhood memories swirling in his mind.
The guarded gate was destroyed, the glass shattered and the stone covered in graffiti several times over. The grass has run gray, and the mechanical sliding gate lay angled against the opening, unattached to the rest of the fence. A few of the Mountain wolves grouped together to lift the broken heap of metal out of the way so that the convoy could pass. As they hoisted the gate, whoops and howls sounded in the dusky sky, raising the hairs on the back of Nova’s neck.
Those weren’t his wolves.
First, one voice, then two, then a dozen or more all started shouting alerts. “Ambush!” “Valley wolves!” “We’re surrounded!” Slowly, head after head poked through the shadows around the Mountain wolves. There was a lot of shouting, but overall Nova’s wolves seemed organized, instinctively standing back to back and covering all sides.
“We need to get out there,” Nova said. Nemoy nodded in agreement, and they swung their doors open in unison.
Nova covered Nemoy’s back as his brother lifted the envelope in his hand above his head. “I am Nemoy Lowery, Alpha of the Mountain Wolf Clan. I have a formal summons from your Alpha, Callahan Vann, and thus am allowed admittance onto your territory with any number of my followers. To disobey my request is to disobey a direct order from your leader. Stand aside.”
Murmurs sounded among the shadowed faces around the pack, too quiet for even Nova to make out. For one tense moment, Nova was worried that they wouldn’t be able to pass without a brawl breaking out right there at the gates. Finally, whispers started, louder than before. “Let them pass, let them pass, let them pass,” the voices muttered, passing the admittance through the crowd until one of the Valley wolves nearest Nemoy spoke, “By order of Alpha Callahan Vann, your pack may pass.” Nova let out the breath he hadn’t known he was holding. First hurdle cleared.
The Valley wolf that spoke stepped out of the shadows. He was youngish, maybe late teens. He wore old rumpled clothing and running shoes with holes in them. His blonde hair was shaggy, but he didn’t look like he cared as he stared defiantly up into Nemoy’s gaze. “I assume you know where the guesthouses are, Alpha.”
Nemoy nodded, his expression carefully blank. “I do.”
“Good. Don’t bother us. Alpha Callahan says he’ll send for you in the morning.” A wicked grin crossed the boy’s face. “Until then, make yourselves at home.” His words set a buzz of conversation across the still obscured faces of his comrades. As he departed, he gave Nemoy a half-hearted wave. “Sleep tight, Mountain Clan.” Chatter and snickers echoed out from the darkness, and the faces began to disappear the way they’d appeared, one by one.
When the boy was out of earshot, Nemoy leaned close to Nova. “Set up a watch rotation, ASAP,” he whispered. “Not a second goes by without at least ten guards posted.”
Nova nodded. “You got it.” As the final faces disappeared from the surrounding coverage, Nova couldn’t help but feel something was… off with the Valley wolves. The way they’d greeted them after a formal summons wasn’t standard, but then again nothing else that had happened so far that night was standard either.
His eyes swept the crowd in the quickly fading sunlight, searching for the grey eyes that would put his mind at ease. Suddenly, she was there, walking toward him with a bewildered look on her face. Nova noted that she didn’t look scared, though, and that was a good sign.
“What…” she trailed off, glancing around as if she couldn’t find the right words to finish her question.
Nova only shook his head, pulling her into a tight embrace. “Babe, for once, I have no idea.”
Chapter 12
Despite the dilapidated state of the Valley compound, the guest quarters weren’t as bad as Amara expected. “I don’t know why, but I thought the Valley territory would look similar to yours. I guess because they’re so close together?” she said as she set her travel bags on the bed of their guest room. It was small, only a single room and bathroom in a house shared by several other wolves, but it was clean. She could work with that.
“At one time, it kinda did,” Nova replied. “This place has kind of decayed since the last time I’ve been here.”
“Really? How long has it been?”
“I was twelve the last time a Summit was held on the Valley compound. So… nearly fifteen years,” Nova said, mild surprise evident on his face. “How, has it really been that long?”
Amara shrugged. “Well, I can’t say I’m surprised. From what you’ve told me about him, Callahan Vann doesn’t really seem like the type to be interested in decorating or landscaping.”
“Yeah, but still. The state of this place… it’s bad. Things must have really went off the rails when Callahan became Alpha.” He wrapped his arms around her from behind, hugging her close to his chest.
“Is that why you’ve been so worried?” Amara asked. “You haven’t lost that look in your eye since we got here, you know?”
He nuzzled the top of her hair. “I’m always going to be worried when you’re in danger, Amara.”
She bent into the warmth of his hug, rubbing her cheek against his shoulder. “I’ll be fine. You all trained me well. Plus,” she broke the embrace to pull up her pant leg, revealing the knife sheath that lay strapped beneath, “I’m never unarmed. They won’t even see me coming,” she finished confidently.
Nova stared down at her with a look of confusion on his face. “You’re certainly sure of yourself these days.” The words stung Amara, and before she had time to hide the hurt, Nova was already holding out his hands in apology. “Not that you shouldn’t be. You trained your ass off, and I’m seriously impressed. It’s just that… before… you were—”
“A coward,” Amara finished. “I was too caught up in what Kal had done to my family over the years, in what he could still do every moment that he runs free. I wasn’t thinking straight, too swept up in the fear of Kal Vann.” She shook her head, as if to shame herself for showing weakness.
“But then Strathford happened. For just a moment, I saw a small glimpse of what my home would be like if the Valley Wolf Clan was no longer an issue. So happy and buzzing with life. Peaceful.” She turned a resolute glare towards her mate, his own eyes widening slightly. “And, Nova I’ve never wanted to make something a reality more than I did in that moment. They deserve this. My family, Becca, Zoe, Mac, all of Strathford, they deserve peace.”
The heat in her eyes melted to something milder and she took Nova’s hands in her own. “Kal will always be Kal, and my fear of him won’t change that. Right now, instead of running away from Kal Vann, I need to be running toward a solution. Doing everything in my power to
stop the pack that plagues my home is that solution.”
She smiled, rising on tiptoe to give Nova a small kiss. “We all need something worth fighting for, right? So you focus on protecting the land. I’ll focus on protecting the people.”
“Amara,” Nova sighed, pulling her against him into a deeper kiss. It was long, full, and she was breathless when he pulled away. He whispered against her lips, “I want to protect so much more than the land. I’d leave the land behind in a heartbeat if it meant I could keep you safe for the rest of eternity. For more than ten years, you have always been my first priority.
“I denied it at first, but from the moment I held your broken body in my arms as a seventeen year old wolf, you became my life. My pack will always be family, and our territory will always be my home, but you’re more than all of it combined.
“I’d do… anything for you. And it frustrates me that I’ll never be able to fully prove that fact.” He brushed a stray lock of dark hair from Amara’s face, and the trail of his fingers left goosebumps in their wake. “You’ve had a lost look in your eyes for as long as I can remember, so long that I’d stopped noticing. Until now.
“Now, your eyes are shining with a clarity that I’ve never had the pleasure of knowing before tonight. Never have I been more excited to see where my life would take me until I dedicated it to following you.” He wiped away tears from Amara’s cheeks that she hadn’t noticed she was shedding. “Amara Lowery, I cannot wait to see where this new shine takes us.”
Amara sniffled, and Nova kissed the tip of her reddened nose with a smile. “You can focus on protecting your people. Me? I’ll focus on protecting us.” The way he said ‘us’ sounded far more intimate than simply addressing the pack. The word sent shivers down Amara’s spine.
“I could really use a kiss right now,” she whispered, voice wavering with unshed tears.
Nova beamed down at her. “I can help with that.” He tilted her chin upward, kissing her lightly. Her lips tingled at his touch, and when they met his again, the tingles grew to shocks of pleasure as they coursed through her body. The second kiss grew to something more, something hungrier and needier.
Mountain Wolf Protectors Complete Series: Books 1 - 4 Page 36
