VIVIANNA
When we pulled back up to the house Luis was heading out with one of the other pack members, causing Tav and Tristan to act fast.
“Luis.” Tristan called out with a friendly wave.
“Any luck?” Luis asked as he stopped letting the other pack member head off to the woods.
Something about the situation struck me and I knew instantly, we couldn’t let that man leave.
“Someone needs to stop him, now.” I called out to each of them.
Without hesitation, Koit took off like a shot having to shift when the other man saw he was being pursued and shifted as well.
“What is the meaning of this?.” Luis growled as Tristan grabbed his arm keeping him from seeing what was going on behind him.
I marched up to him and got right in his face. “What have you told them about us? Does Jason know my mates are alive or is that the message your little helper was out about to share?”
“Dama, I think the stress and grief of all that you’ve been through has you believing things that aren’t true. Please, let’s just talk this out like civilized people,” Luis offered in a patronizing tone.
It had been a long time since I’d practiced my kickboxing, but he was proving to be a welcome punching bag. I shot out a jab with my right hand into his ribs followed by a left hook to his face in quick succession.
“I asked you a question and I will have the answer.” I snarled letting my alpha energy wrap around him.
He was struggling against it, trying to push me back with his own standing as an alpha. “Why the hell should I submit to the likes of you? You’re nothing but a breeder to give us the females we rightly deserve to keep our species alive.”
The anger that ignited in me made me see red.
My wolf joined me, adding strength to my will and body so that we were truly one.
“You will wish you’d just answered me honestly by the time we are done with you.
How could you turn your back on your family?
Your pack? For that fact alone you don’t deserve to be an alpha of anything.
” My hand shifted so my nails turned into claws, and I slashed them across his chest before I dug them in so they outlined where his heart lay. “Tell me what you’ve told them— now.”
A hand wrapped around my wrist just as a body covered my back pulling me close.
“Love, you need to let him go. We need to get information out of him before you kill him. I know you’re angry and you have every right to be, but think of Hope, he can tell us things to get us closer to our baby girl.
” Tav murmured, his lips brushing my ear as he soothed me.
“Now, let the bastard go so that I can get what we need from him.”
Taking a shuddering breath, I relaxed letting my hand shift back to normal and leaned against Tav’s chest. “That a girl,” He whispered, kissing along my neck.
Tristan came up behind Luis and grabbed him, hauling him away somewhere to torture him away from prying eyes.
“God damn, why is it so sexy when she gets all stabby and assertive?” Koit asked, making me fight a smile as I turned to look at him.
His eyes were alight with hunger as he let them trail up and down my body.
“Is this why you enjoy her bossing you around so much, Darius, because I am beginning to see the appeal.”
“While I hate to interrupt this riveting conversation, would someone care to tell me what the hell is going on? Why did my son just get dragged away like some criminal?” Maria demanded cutting in between Koit and I.
“You’re damn lucky that Neveah isn’t here right now or you would have a fight on your hands, cachorro. ”
I stepped out of Tav’s hold and reached out to Maria. “Come let’s talk elsewhere.”
Maria gave me a sharp look, almost as if she didn’t want anything to do with me.
“Maria please, I need you to trust me, I have a good reason to be doing this.”
“If you don’t, cachorro I will make you pay, you think you’ve suffered, but that is nothing compared to what I will do to you.”
I nodded and walked into the house, taking a seat at the kitchen table. Maria joined me but she didn’t sit, instead she paced the length of the kitchen.
“We have reason to believe that Luis is working with Jason or one of his men,” I started, which caused her to whirl to face me, her face a storm cloud of anger.
“How the fuck could you think that? Luis has given everything to this cause, he even lost his mate when this all started. It fuels him, keeps him chasing after this vile man.”
I watched her, searching her face for any hint that she might have thought her son could be working against them... and then I saw it. The flicker of doubt.
“I don’t think he started out planning to betray you or the rebellion.
Somewhere along the line something changed, someone got to him and caused him to see things differently,” I ventured hoping Maria could hear the earnestness of my heart.
“Think Maria, how could he not know what Neveah was up to? That raid— how is it possible that Jason’s men could attack right before you were going to strike?
Your pack is careful and smart, someone had to have tipped them off. ”
Maria started to wring her hands and pace again. “No, it can’t be my boy. He is the last of my children still living...”
“With all my heart I wish it wasn’t true, but we will know soon enough,” I said, dropping my gaze, unable to look at her anymore, knowing what my mates had planned. “Where is Christian?”
The sound of her steps stopped as she thought of something. “He is with Neveah dealing with a situation with the new recruits. Someone saw a crew of Jason’s men one city over.”
“Luis... does he know where Tim is?” I asked knowing I was just shoving the knife of betrayal deeper into her heart.
“No, I thought it would be best if none of us leaders knew his exact location, we had another group of the resistance hide him away not knowing why or who he was. I knew he was around this area, but until you told us he was downtown none of us knew for sure.”
“Reach out to Neveah to make sure that everything’s okay, I just have this gut feeling that something’s not right,” I pleaded.
I watched as Maria closed her eyes and fell still a few moments passed before her eyes shot open and she was heading for the back door. “We need to move, Jason’s men are on their way here. Neveah and Christian are tracking them, but there are too many for them to deal with on their own.”
“Guys Jason’s men are on their way here, Tav, Tristan you stay here until you get the information we need. Everyone else you’re with Maria and I,” I ordered following Maria out the back door and shifting as I leapt down the steps.
“Viv, don’t rush into this without us,” Darius called as I felt them rushing towards me.
I couldn’t help but grin as I felt the thrill of the hunt from my wolf.
“Better catch up then.” she laughed sprinting after Maria.
“Can I just say that I love being able to hear Viv’s wolf now. Things make so much more sense,” Koit added as he nipped at my heels playfully.
Swishing my tail in his face I distracted him enough he didn’t dodge out of the way fast enough before he crashed into a bush causing my wolf to laugh with her approval.
In the past few months, my wolf and I had been pulled apart from each other for one reason or another.
In this moment she and I were one being.
I felt the dirt under my paws, the scent of the forest around us, and the power of being a primal predator.
This is what I’d been unable to understand thinking as a human, I wasn’t completely human, I was also a wolf and that made all the difference.
“We are coming at them from the front but we are upwind from them, so they have no idea we are heading right for them. Neveah and Christian are just behind them, so they will keep anyone from retreating.” Maria informed us since I’d managed to link our connections together.
“I can smell them, did they say how many?” I asked.
“Looks like a group of twenty, but they don’t know if that’s all of them. They picked up their scent halfway to their destination and started to follow.”
“Well boys, looks like there’s enough to go around.”
“We need to keep one alive so we can question them.” Darius interjected.
“You can do what you want with yours darling, but I’m not playing with my prey.”
“If I didn’t think you were my soul mate before...” Orion purred. On second thought, that was probably Okami at this point.
As we closed the last few feet between us, they began to spread out wider so we could box them in.
When we finally gained on them, the leader ran right into me, but I was ready for him, darting to the side and springing off a tree to land on his back.
Stunned, he crashed into the forest floor with a yelp as I latched onto his throat and began to thrash my head back and forth.
His back paws started kicking out as he struggled to get me off him, but I held firm even as he got a good swipe or across my belly.
I clamped my jaws tighter, his blood pouring into my mouth making it challenging not to choke on it.
Tossing him to the side so he crashed into a tree, I pounced once again, placing my front paws on his chest and used that leverage to rip out his throat.
The sounds of fighting filled the quiet of the forest as I stepped back from my kill.
Snarls echoed off the trees as I moved towards the remaining battle.
Rik was fighting against two wolves, while Koit was finishing off another.
Orion was in his half form ripping a wolf in half as he howled his triumph.
Maria was fighting in tandem with Neveah, leaving the lone wolf with three other ganging up on him to be Christian.
Charging over to help him out, I bowled into one of the wolves before I shifted into a half-form using my claws to rip open his stomach as I searched for his heart.
All the anger and pain that I’d been stuffing deep inside to deal with later came to the surface as I battled.
I lost track of who I was fighting against and how many I’d killed, all I knew was what was happening in the moment.
All too soon, I stood in the middle of the forest covered in blood and other matter panting, with bodies littered around me.
Looking around I saw the battle was over and my men along with Maria, Neveah, and Christian stood in the aftermath watching me intently.
One by one I met all their gazes and they each dropped to a knee in respect.
Lifting my head to the sky I let out a battle cry.
This was just the beginning of my vengeance and no longer would I shy away from my wolf and the more primal side of my nature.
I was a queen among werewolves, and it was time I staked my claim in this world, starting with ending those who dared to take my child from me.
To be finished in:
Obtaining Hope