Oath Sworn

by Kristen Banet

  “I’m not scared of the Tribunal. More Laws no one cares about anymore. If anyone here should, it would be her, and yet she’s here, breaking them just like I am. Your werecat and I are two peas in a pod! Are you going to let the Tribunal have her?”

  He glanced over at me.

  I nodded my large head.

  “Yes,” he whispered. “Because she’s willing to live and die for her beliefs and knows the Law is in place for a reason.”

  “See, cat? He never fights for anyone,” Richard spat. “Once you’re not strong enough, once you’re useless, he casts you aside for a new face. Just like he did to my mother.”

  “Your mother didn’t want to be a werewolf,” Heath said, his voice like sandpaper. “She’ll turn in her grave if you start blaming her death on me. She wanted one human life. She didn’t want to become a monster against God’s children like we are.”

  “She was my mother!” his son roared.

  “Ask them how they can keep their word if you’re dead already.” I told Heath. He was caught up in arguing with them, trying to talk them down. He needed to find another way.

  “How can I expect you to uphold your end of the bargain if I let you kill me right now?” he asked loudly.

  “I could have already killed you if I wanted to,” Emma informed him. “I figured I would finally challenge you the way wolves do. I’ll meet you on that battlefield.”

  Heath nodded, and waved me to move further back. I nudged Carey gently, using my body to help the girl stay out of Emma’s line of sight. Dean slowly sank to the floor now as Emma grinned.

  “Yes. The wolves won’t question me if I kill you in wolf form.” She sounded half-insane at this point. Pondering a future she would never have. No one would ever let her run a wolf pack, and her takeover was evidence as to why. She didn’t do it right. She employed human tactics, underhandedness that the wolves would never respect completely. They might like her now, but when she started using her magic on her loyal wolves when they upset her? They would turn and bite the hand that fed them.

  And she will turn against them. She just proved it by throwing her own damn mate around.

  Heath and Emma both began to strip. So did Dean and Richard. Heath didn’t say anything, but I knew he could see them as well as I could.

  They all shifted together as well, Heath being done first. He was a brilliant grey-blue, almost like his eyes, with more white to him than anything else. He was also a bit bigger than the others. I felt good to have him on my side.

  “Finally, I can talk back. Emma can still use some of her magic in wolf form. Be careful, Jacky.”

  “I will,” I promised.

  22

  Chapter Twenty-two

  I kept my body between Carey and the wolves as Emma and Heath began to circle one another. Carey clung to me with her good arm, holding me tightly. For a kid, she was strong, but it didn’t cause me any discomfort. Honestly, I was just glad she was there and okay.

  I should have left with her. I knew I should have, but I didn’t want to leave Heath fighting alone for the lives of Landon and Tywin. I couldn’t bring myself to move, really.

  “Don’t tell anyone you can hear me right now. Carey, you should run. Down the street, three wolves are waiting. It’s Ranger, Sheila, and Keith,” I told her softly. “You can make it to them, I promise, but I can’t leave your father here alone.”

  “I’m not leaving him,” she said against my shoulder. “I have a plan.”

  “No, sweetheart. No plans. You just need to get to safety. Please.”

  “Just keep me safe right here. I’m not moving,” she said passionately, the tears still in her voice. I could feel them dampen my fur. This kid had a broken wrist. Her father was readying to fight for his life.

  And yet she was going to watch her father win.

  “I knew you were strong. You stay right next to me, am I clear? When Landon and Tywin are free, we’re leaving.”

  “Okay, Jacky,” she whispered.

  I watched the two wolves continue to circle, also keeping track of where Richard and Dean were. They made a large external circle around the two wolves fighting for dominance.

  Emma launched first, missing Heath, who jumped to the side. Dean snapped at his leg, causing Heath to snarl at the uninvolved wolf.

  Dirty fucking cheaters.

  The next time Emma jumped for Heath, he met her in a flash of fur and growls, the snapping of teeth being the loudest thing in the room. They tumbled around for a moment until they broke the circle being made by Richard and Dean again, who both ran for them.

  I resisted the urge to run over myself and leave Carey alone as Dean grabbed Heath’s scruff and yanked him off Emma, tossing him a few feet away.

  “There can be no assistance in the fight for Alpha,” he snarled. I bet everyone in an animal form heard that. “You two know better!”

  “Stay out of it, boys,” Emma snapped as well, standing up. “I can handle him. Richard, go play with your toy.”

  Richard’s dark wolf form snapped the air towards his father, who was immediately distracted as Emma jumped for him again. Dean didn’t back off far, watching the tumbling wolves intently.

  As I watched, I noticed one important thing. No matter how fiercely Heath attacked her, she came out seemingly unscathed.

  “Her magic,” I said to him.

  “No. Assistance,” he barked back at me.

  “Jacky…” Carey pointed and I turned to follow her finger.

  Richard was walking slowly towards us, teeth bared, drool dripping down from his long yellow-white fangs.

  “Carey, does Richard want to kill you?” I asked, using my body to push her towards a door, knowing she wasn’t able to fight back.

  “I thought my brothers loved me,” she whispered, a whimper there in her voice. “Richard! Please! I’m Carey. I love you, big brother! Why are you doing this?”

  He snarled.

  “I’m so sorry, Carey.” I snarled back at the wolf, my hair raising. To him, I said, “I wouldn’t, wolf. I can more than handle you.”

  He was shocked by my words in his head for only a second, then the rage came back. “I was promised that this entire fucking family wouldn’t exist after tonight. That I would be the last and the most powerful. I don’t need to fight you. I just need to kill her.”

  “Same difference,” I growled, lowering myself. “Carey, stay underneath me.”

  She ducked down, holding her broken wrist against her chest. I was more than big enough for her to lie out underneath. If she stayed there, Richard wouldn’t be able to get to her.

  He moved forward, fast, almost faster than I could see. I used my head, ducking it down, to stop his advance. He snapped at the top of my head, grabbing an ear and yanking hard. I roared and swatted at his underbelly, raking my claws across it, but not able to get a deep purchase as he tried to pull me away from Carey, moving towards my right side. One of his paws hit one of my gunshot wounds and reopened it.

  I hissed, snapping for him.

  “Carey, move. I’ve got him!”

  The moment she was out from beneath me, which had stopped the initial charge from the wolf, I shook, knocking him off and onto the floor. I pounced for him, but he rolled out of the way.

  He ignored me now though. He lunged for Carey. I grabbed his back leg before he made it to her and shook hard, listening to joints break or dislocate. He yelped.

  In the background, someone else yelped at the same time, and a vicious snarl sent chills down my spine.

  Richard turned and bit my muzzle, but my saber fangs were deep in his flesh now, puncturing all the way through. I pulled him further away from Carey, shaking as I went, snarling with vicious rage.

  She’s mine. You don’t deserve her.

  When I was certain Carey was safer, I swung my head, taking him along for the ride and into a wall. I heard ribs crack under the impact and released him, stepping back. “Stay down. I don’t want to kill Heath’s son.”

>   “He’s as dead to me as I am to him. I’m going to have my due, damn it,” he answered, lunging for me again.

  This time, I didn’t go for a disabling bite. I met him in the air and used my weight against him, taking him to the ground. He couldn’t fight free from under my weight as I aimed for his neck, sinking my fangs into it, tearing through all the vital things there. Windpipe, jugular. It didn’t matter. If it was in my way, I broke it. Blood rushed into my mouth, rich and thick. I tried to ignore it. This wasn’t a hunt. This was a war.

  I didn’t wait for him to bleed out or suffocate like a normal big cat might. I shook hard, listening to his neck snap.

  I dropped him and stepped away, looking back to Carey, who stared wide eyed.

  “I’m so sorry. I tried to tell him to quit.”

  “I know,” she whispered as I moved near to her again. She hugged me, and if I was human, I would have cried. I had just killed her brother and she was hugging me, covered in his blood. Finally, she continued whispering to me, “I think we should free Landon and Tywin.”

  “No.”

  “But…”

  “Carey, it’s too dangerous.”

  “We need them!” she said urgently. “Look. Dean is helping Emma. Landon and Tywin can stop him and you can keep protecting me!”

  She was right. Emma and Heath were still fighting and it looked brutal, but Heath was beginning to bleed from several spots while Emma was fine. Dean had blood on his jaws. He was still cheating to help his mate win.

  “Carey, we can get them after—”

  She started running for Landon’s cage before I could finish. I went after her, glad that Dean was so focused on his mate and Heath that he was ignoring us. Carey started untangling chains.

  “Carey, what are you doing?” Landon whispered. He was glancing anxiously over to the fight. “Please, run with the werecat.”

  “No! Where’s the key? It must be in one of their pockets!” Carey ran for those next, and again, I followed. I glanced at the fight, seeing Heath on the ground with Emma over him. It didn’t last long as he regained the upper hand and used his body to shove her away. They circled for a second before meeting again in a clash of fang and claw.

  “Jacky! I need your help!” Carey tugged on my fur, and I turned to the clothing left on the floor by the werewolves. I sniffed around it, not finding anything in Richard’s clothing, nor Dean’s. It was Emma who had been holding the key. Made sense, since she wanted to hold all the cards, the mighty half-witch and half-werewolf.

  “Right here,” I told Carey. “Probably in her pants pocket.”

  Carey dug with one hand and found it. I looked over to Landon and Tywin in their cages.

  “Change into your werewolf forms,” I ordered quickly. “She’s going to let you out, then I’m going to try and get her out of here.”

  They both nodded, stripping down fast as I led Carey back over to them. Thank God for wolves being obsessive over their mates. Emma was too busy fighting Heath and Dean refused to leave that unattended.

  Or so I thought.

  “They’re releasing the prisoners!” Dean snapped in our heads. I wondered if werewolves could talk privately or if their communication always went to everyone in the room. Could humans hear them? Or only animals?

  Questions I really didn’t need answers to.

  “Dean knows!” I told Carey, Tywin, and Landon. “Hurry, kiddo!”

  “I’m going!” She was fumbling with one hand and I knew I couldn’t spare the entire minute to shift into human form.

  “Get the reinforcements, Dean!” Emma roared.

  “Dishonorable cow,” Heath growled. “You’ll die tonight. I promise you that.”

  “You’ll try,” she hissed back.

  Howls began to echo around the building. I couldn’t tell how many. When Carey got Landon’s cage open, he stumbled out, half shifted. She got Tywin’s open much faster, but they were still in the middle of their shifts.

  I could hear the pounding footsteps of wolves. There was a hunting party coming, and it was coming for us.

  “Carey! Lock yourself in a cage!” I used my head to push her into one, not having the time to worry about her broken wrist. She turned back to me, her eyes wide. “Keep the keys on you and only let yourself out when it’s safe!”

  “Okay!” I helped her close the heavy door and watched her lock herself in with the chains and padlock. “Landon and Tywin are still Changing!”

  “I’ve got them,” I promised her.

  By the time I turned around, wolves were running in from the back door.

  I snarled as the first one jumped for me.

  It’s on.

  I snapped, fangs tearing through flesh and muscle into the first wolf. A second wolf jumped on my back, then a third. I flung the first wolf and roared, shaking hard to dislodge the wolves over my back. I tried to keep Tywin and Landon behind me, but with so many wolves, I knew there was no chance I could protect them too.

  Another two wolves slammed into my side, and knocked me down. I felt teeth sink into my abdomen. I kicked with my back legs, slicing one of them. Once it backed off, I was able to get to my feet, snarling. Around me, the wolves circled. There had to be over a dozen of them.

  It felt endless, rolling around and trying to keep the wolves from exposing my vulnerable areas. When another jumped on my back, it was knocked off by another wolf.

  “It’s me, Ranger,” the wolf announced. “Sheila and Keith are on the way!”

  I didn’t respond as I turned to sink my fangs into a wolf behind me who was holding my back leg in his jaws. It got him to let go, and I held on until I was sure the wolf was dead, backing away with its body. The rest were fighting against each other.

  More wolves, I was hoping Sheila and Keith, ran into the room and slammed into others. In flurries of fur, I saw wolves hit each other. I couldn’t tell anyone apart, and it meant I couldn’t go after any wolves or help anyone without possibly getting it wrong. I looked over for Tywin and Landon, and they weren’t behind me anymore. They had to be among all of the wolves in the fight.

  “Jacky, help my father!” Landon roared in my head.

  I turned to the other end of the room, where Heath and Emma were still brawling, Dean trying to take Heath from behind. I ran over into the fight and barreled into Dean, sending the simple grey wolf to the ground. He jumped up, snapping back at me. I roared, bracing for the fight as I put myself between him and the fight for dominance.

  He tried to get around me and I sidestepped, continuing to block his path. He lunged and I met him, ramming my side into him, knocking him back again.

  “No more of that,” I told him.

  “She won’t lose. I’m just speeding up the process. There’s no reason for all the wolves here to die,” he replied.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t have called the reinforcements, then.” I snarled, snapping towards him.

  He tried to meet me in a fight again but I swatted him aside, then began to circle him.

  “Stay down,” I ordered.

  “Never. She’s going to be the best Alpha this world has ever seen. She’s going to put werewolves at the top. For this, we’re going to see that your kind are driven into the extinction you should have had centuries ago.” Dean began to rise to his feet and I lunged, slamming him into a wall. He yelped and whined as bones broke under the force.

  “No.” I wasn’t having that. I let off the pressure for a second, only to slam him into the wall with my side a second time. Ribs broke under the pressure and he yelped again, sinking to the floor. “Stay down.”

  He whimpered and did the canine equivalent to a cough. I leaned over, sniffing. I must have really screwed up his ribs. I left him there after that and turned to Emma and Heath.

  “No more Dean to help you,” I said to her. I looked over to the big fight, seeing that it was an even match now and hoping the winning wolves were the ones on my side. Carey was huddled in the middle of her cage, terrified but safe. “Your r
einforcements don’t matter. Submit to Heath.”

  The dominance fight paused for a split second as both of them looked over at me. I stepped forward.

  “Let this go, Emma. You’re losing.”

  “I won’t lose,” she growled back at me.

  There was an invisible blast that felt like a concrete wall hitting me. I slammed into the wall over Dean and I was barely able to recover before falling on him and crushing him.

  “You trying to kill your mate?” I asked.

  “Emma, this doesn’t need to go further,” Heath said gently. He was panting, moving slowly between her and I.

  “Heath, stop. I can defend myself,” I hissed. “Think of Carey.”

  “I am,” he growled, launching himself at Emma. They clashed and Heath flew away, sliding across the floor.

  I took the chance, Wolf rules be damned. I wasn’t a wolf. Emma was only half a wolf. I was going to put an end to this goddamn war.

  Heath was up and running as well, faster than I figured he would be.

  “Fight with me,” he ordered. For once, I wasn’t thinking of giving him a hard time for trying to order a cat around. Finishing this was too important.

  We met Emma at the same time. He went for her head as I tried for her back legs. My teeth glanced off her, though, as something stopped them. Emma bit down on Heath, and I used my body weight to force both of them to the floor.

  I was able to sink my claws into her side now, and Heath was able to get free, jumping to go for her throat. I bit down into her side, ignoring her mental scream.

  A few seconds later, even that was over, and I backed away, panting. The first place I looked was for Carey, finding her still in her cage with a wolf sitting at the door. She started using the keys to open it and I grumbled.

  “Who’s next to you?” I asked her.

  “Landon,” she answered loudly. “It’s Landon, Jacky. Tywin is right there.” She pointed. “Ranger is next to him, then Sheila.”