Chapter 6
Chapter
Six
RYKER
Blood sings in my veins as I prowl through the mining tunnels, twelve of my most lethal wolves following behind me.
Their massive forms fill the narrow passages, dark fur swallowing what little light filters through the ancient support beams. Above ground, Lachlan and twenty others will be engaging the northern distraction—but down here, in the darkness where my pack rules, I will remind our enemies of why they fear the shadows.
I catch their scent before I see them. The sharp tang of silver mixed with the musk of foreign wolves—Moonclaw’s elite hunters, by the smell of them. They’ve brought with them silver dust to mask their approach, thinking to use my pack’s notorious sensitivity against us.
Fools. As if my wolves haven’t learned to hunt through pain.
Eight coming through the main shaft, Leon’s thoughts touch mine. Another six trying to circle behind through the eastern tunnel.
My answering growl is silent but felt by all. Drive the six toward the Killing Chamber. The eight are mine.
The tunnel ahead opens into an old mining junction, support beams creating shadows within shadows.
Perfect.
My wolves melt into the darkness, becoming part of it. Waiting for our prey.
The enemy pack moves with silent precision, silver-coated weapons gleaming. They’re alert but relaxed, expecting no challenge. Until I launch myself from the shadows above.
My massive form crashes into their leader, fangs finding throat before the wolf can even yelp.
Blood sprays across the tunnel walls as I rip and tear, using the dying wolf’s body as a shield against the silver-tipped spears of the others.
The taste of his lifeblood fills my mouth, hot and metallic and somehow sweeter for being an enemy’s.
My pack erupts from every shadow, the junction exploding into savage violence. These aren’t the controlled fights of pack challenges with their rules and restraint. This is old violence, primal and merciless.
A silver blade scores my flank, burning like molten metal against my skin. I turn on my attacker, lips pulled back from blood-stained fangs. The Moonclaw wolf has time for one startled yelp before my jaws crush his spine, the satisfying crack echoing off the stone walls.
The men begin to shift, dropping their weapons in a desperate attempt to save their hides.
It won’t work. My people are too powerful for these runts. We are forged from shame and pain, tempered by brutal survival where they have grown soft with loving domestication.
I can feel Kitara’s presence in my mind, our bond humming with shared sensation.
I push the violence toward her, let her feel the savagery flowing through my veins.
I need her to understand exactly the kind of monster who’s claimed her.
I need her to know the violence I will unleash to keep her by my side.
Alpha! Lachlan’s thoughts cut through the battle-haze. The northern group has been turned back. Our people await your command.
I stand in the carnage of the junction, blood dripping from my muzzle, bodies broken around me. Only three of the original eight still breathe, pinned down by my wolves, their eyes wide with terror.
Bring me the weakest, I command. Kill the rest.
The survivor they bring me wears Thaddeus’s personal mark—one of the Grand Alpha’s own hunters.
Good.
I shift back to human form, my naked body painted in blood and silver burns that are already healing. The pain is nothing compared to the satisfaction of victory.
“Tell your Alpha what you found in these tunnels,” I growl, crouching before the terrified wolf. “Tell him what happens to those who try to steal from the Shadowmist alpha.”
“Please...” the wolf whimpers, his scent thick with fear. “We were only meant to scout—”
“Lie to me again and I’ll take your tongue before I send you back.
” My voice is death itself. “You came for my mate. Thought to sneak in and steal her while the northern group kept us occupied.” I grip his throat, feeling his pulse flutter beneath my fingers like a trapped bird.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t protect what’s mine? ”
“The Grand Alpha... he said she needs to be cleansed. Said she’s a problem for the—”
My laugh is cruel. “Then he can come try to take her himself.” I release the wolf’s throat, shoving him away. “Run back to your Alpha, pup. Show him your wounds. Tell him what my pack did to his elite hunters.” My smile promises violence. “And tell him that next time, I won’t leave anyone alive.”
The messenger scrambles away, leaving trails of blood in his wake. As his scent fades, I feel the mood of my pack shift. Leon steps forward, still in wolf form but radiating concern.
“Alpha,” he says upon shifting, facing me with the frankness that makes him a valued warrior. “The pack follows you without question. But this seer... she’s brought war to our doorstep. Thaddeus won’t stop. More will come.”
Low growls of agreement ripple through the gathered wolves. Blood drips from their muzzles, silver burns scoring their hides. They’ve fought for me, bled for me. They deserve honesty.
“More will come,” I agree, pitching my voice to carry through the tunnels. “They’ll bring silver and fire and every weapon they possess.” My smile is savage. “And we’ll destroy them all. Because that little seer you doubt? She just saved every wolf in these caves.”
I gesture to the bodies littering the junction. “They thought to catch us sleeping. Thought to slip through tunnels we’ve thought safe for generations. But she saw them coming. Her gift showed us their trap before it could spring.”
I move through my wolves, touching scarred flanks, acknowledging their wounds with pride and gratitude. “For too long, we’ve been the outcasts. The feral pack others fear. But with her sight guiding us? We’ll be untouchable. No one will dare move against us without her seeing it first.”
“And if she turns on us?” Elias asks. “If she’s as weak as they say—“
“She’s mine.” My growl echoes off the stone. “My mate. My responsibility. I claimed her knowing exactly what she was—what she could become with us.” My wolf surges to the surface, in full agreement. “Question her worth again, and you question my judgment as alpha.”
Silence falls. One by one, my wolves lower their heads, submission rippling through the pack bond. They may have doubts, but their loyalty to me remains unshaken.
Only Levi stares at me.
I arch an eyebrow.
“I’ll say one thing,” he says, his tone respectful even if his defiance is pushing my patience. “Lithia would have been a better choice.”
Lithia, my second, would have been an easier choice as Alpha Female. She’s strong, brave, and fierce. She loves our pack and would sacrifice herself for any member.
But she was never meant to be my mate, and robbing us both of the bond that true mates experience would have been the worst decision of my life.
“No. She wouldn’t.” I nod at the bodies around us. “Clean this mess. Double the patrols. I want to know the instant another pack even thinks about breathing in our direction.” I turn toward the tunnel leading to my den. “And spread the word—the seer is mine. Anyone who doubts that answers to me.”
The journey back to my den passes in a blur of stone and shadow. I can feel Kitara through our bond—her anxiety, her awareness of the violence I’ve unleashed. Good. Let her understand exactly what kind of protection she’s gained. What kind of monster will kill to keep her safe.
Four guards stand at my den entrance, stepping aside as I approach. Her scent calls to me, growing stronger with each step.
I pause, glancing down at myself—naked, blood streaked, and visibly aroused. The hunger in me isn’t just for battle now. It’s for her. To sink into her heat, to feel her mark me back, to have her whimper my name in the dark.
But not yet.
Not like this.
Soon, though. Very soon.
I snatch a length of cloth from a stack beside the door, wrapping it low around my hips. It barely hides the evidence of my desire, but it’s enough. I need her to know I want her—but I will not scare her with it.
I find her exactly where I left her, curled in my furs. But her eyes... those blue eyes meet mine without flinching from my blood-covered form. She’s felt what I’ve done. Has tasted my violence. And still she watches me with something more than fear.
“They came to take me,” she whispers. Not a question.
“They died trying.” The words are simple but heavy with promise.
“Was anyone hurt?” She twists a strand of dark hair nervously. “I felt... there was so much pain when the silver—”
“You’re worried about my wolves?”
She lifts her chin. “They fought to protect me. Because you ordered it, yes, but they still bled. Still risked—”
“Minor wounds,” I cut her off, but my tone softens. “A few silver burns. Nothing that won’t heal by morning.” My hand comes up to cup her face, thumb stroking her cheek. “But you feel it, don’t you? Through the bond. My pack’s pain. Their doubts. Their fury.”
“Yes.” She leans into my touch despite herself. “I feel everything. The silver burning. Their determination. Their anger. Even their...” She hesitates.
“Their what, little mate?” I coax the words from her, curious about what she senses.
“Their fear,” she whispers. “Not of the fight. Of me. Of what claiming me will cost them.”
My growl is possessive as I pull her against my chest, uncaring of the blood that smears her skin. “Let them fear. Let them doubt. You proved yourself tonight. The pack will learn.”
“And if I’m not worth the cost?” Her hands press against my chest, and I can feel my heart thundering beneath her palms. “If more come, if—”
My mouth crashes down on hers, silencing her doubts with a kiss that tastes of blood and victory. I pour my certainty into it, my absolute conviction that she belongs with us—with me. When I finally pull back, my beast is close to the surface.
“You’re mine,” I growl against her lips. “That makes you worth any cost.”