Chapter 2
Gray
Danger.
Intruders.
My paws hit the forest floor in an explosion of leaves and debris.
Who the fuck dared to intrude on our territory? Who dared to try to mess with us time and time again?
My body sang with fury, pumping the white-hot anger through my veins with each frantic beat of my heart. The feeling of dread was imminent in my head, the barrier’s alert of an intruder a visceral and, by now, awfully familiar feeling.
Icy wind whipped past me; I inhaled deeply, catching the faintest hint of wolf in the air. Two distinctive scents. One I recognized.
A snarl ripped out of my throat, answered by a deep growl next to me.
We’ll get them.
This time, we’ll get them.
Hunt! Protect! my wolf shouted, urging me to speed up. We whipped past trees, jumped over roots and branches, lunged down small ravines, never looking back, eyes firmly focused on the forest ahead, searching for a hint of grey.
My chest heaved, my muscles burned, and the icy cold stung like needles in my eyes. But I refused to slow down. I refused to give up.
This was my territory.
Mine to nurture.
Mine to protect.
I wouldn’t allow a couple of fucking intruders to make a damn fool out of me.
The snarl filling the air was followed by an eerie silence. No birds, no rustling in the underbrush, nothing but our laboured breathing and our paws hitting the forest floor.
Their scent was getting stronger, as was the sense of urgency. We were getting close.
We’ll get them.
A howl came from somewhere in front of me, another one a little farther to the right. If I could smile like this, I would. My pack was here with me to finally find out what the fuck was going on.
There was a steep decline right in front of me, but my wolf and I took it with ease. A little farther ahead, I finally caught a glimpse of grey fur.
My wolf preened, eyes firmly on the prize.
Acidic fear filled the crisp clean air, a reward for our efforts.
I wanted to shout at the intruders to fucking stop, but I couldn’t in this form. So I snarled again as I sprinted past the trees, slowly but steadily closing in on them.
They didn’t know the woods like I did. It was my territory. My hunting ground.
And hunt we did.
The pants doubled; white fur was crossing in from the right, fast as an arrow, followed by Angelo’s golden fur. Our eyes locked, his yellow ones asking for permission.
I bared my fangs in a deadly grin.
We had it all planned out.
We’d trained for this exact scenario for a month. Everyone knew what they had to do.
Paul, Rhett, and I kept running, closing in on the two wolves in front of us, while Angelo stopped.
The intruders had almost reached the barrier. They were on the brink of getting away once again, but we had one ace left up our sleeve.
An earth-shaking roar filled the air, shattering the silence.
The grey wolf in front of me stumbled, and the acidic stench of fear deepened, mixed with a hint of… urgh.
Piss.
Coward, my wolf snarled.
The barrier’s energy started filling the air like static, intensifying the closer we got to it.
Just a few steps… My teeth closed around the grey wolf’s tail, tugging hard. Fur and blood filled my mouth. The wolf yowled and threw himself forward—right through the barrier.
Chase! Hunt! my wolf screamed inside my head as I forced my paws to stop right in the middle of the barrier, the magic surrounding me. You almost have them!
And I wanted to. I wanted to keep going. I was faster than they were. I could get them, shred them to pieces. Show them what intruding into our territory got them.
Go! my wolf snarled, pushing with all he had against my will.
No! I stood there, panting, watching them disappear into the thick underbrush that covered the forest floor. Behind me, I felt the others approaching, their panting loud in the otherwise quiet forest.
I allowed myself to watch the now-empty forest ahead of me for a few seconds longer before turning around.
Chase, my wolf demanded again, his will clashing with mine.
He was strong. The strongest. And fucking stubborn.
But I was stronger, and I refused to let him have the upper hand. We need to protect our pack.
And we couldn’t very well do that if I left the territory to chase two annoying but in the grand scheme of things harmless wolves. It’d leave our territory vulnerable.
What if that was their plan? I refused to fall for it.
Those two were no match for us. They were fucking cowards. Intruding and retreating, permeating the air with their fear, and their…
I turned around and sniffed until I found the spot where the grey wolf had peed himself and lifted my leg. I refused to let them leave their mark on my territory. Even if it was proof of their cowardice.
Next to me, I heard a huff. Turning my head to my best friend, I met his warm eyes, saw the bemused glint in them.
I nodded in the direction of the packhouse and led my crew out of the forest.
We’d run them off.
For now, my wolf supplied angrily, his snarls filling my head. But how long will it last this time?
That was a good question, one I didn’t have an answer to.
“Seriously, Gray? Pissing on the ground like a common dog?” Rhett asked while slipping into a pair of sweatpants. He shook his head in a mix of exasperation and bemusement.
“It was an impulse decision.”
Actually, it hadn’t been much of a conscious decision at all, but a mix of my pissed-off wolf, the adrenaline coursing through my veins, and my own very strained self-control.
“Very manly, Alpha. You definitely showed them,” Angelo said with a deep chuckle, his amber eyes flashing at me.
“Hey, it was your fault he pissed himself.”
Puffing out his chest, he gave me a wide grin and wiped a strand of his tightly curled hair out of his eyes. “Damn right it was.”
“So, indirectly, you’re responsible for what I did.”
“I’m responsible for your lack of self—or should I say bladder—control?”
Rolling my eyes, I lunged at the other man, putting him in a headlock. “You were saying?”
“Uhm… please release me, oh mighty Alpha?”
Laughing, I let go of the other man, my insides warming at the easy, carefree way he ribbed and teased me. My wolf preened, internally licking his front paw in satisfaction.
This was what a pack was supposed to be like.
Camaraderie, good-natured ribbing, like a family.
A good Alpha didn’t need to reign with fear.
Even if it meant catching flack for maybe marking one’s territory like a real animal.
I watched Angelo disappear inside the packhouse, followed by Paul, Sonja, and Heath, until only Rhett and I were left on the porch.
Steam rose from my body as my sweat evaporated in the freezing air.
It was fucking cold, but a part of me loved the feeling of the frigid air hitting my hot body, so I didn’t bother with a shirt before I walked over to one of the lounge chairs.
I’d need to return to my office soon, but I wanted to let the calm of my surroundings ground me a little more before I did, and I knew Rhett wouldn’t mind debriefing here.
“That was the fifth time in four weeks,” I told Rhett and sighed.
“And the time between the breaches is getting shorter,” he said, his eyes full of worry as he plopped down on the wooden patio next to me.
Staring right ahead at the tree line, I let out another sigh.
“They are. I just… I don’t understand what they’re trying to achieve. Why are they doing this?”
Rhett shrugged, his forehead furrowed into a deep frown.
We’d been over this before, time and time again, but we’d never found an answer.
“Let’s recap everything again,” Rhett said in his logical, calm, and organized manner.
I finally had my best friend back. He’d been a mess after he’d found his mate. Impulsive, frazzled—it had been glorious. Even though having to step up and be the voice of reason had sucked. However, seeing my friend behaving in a way he never had before was worth it.
“Okay. We know there are at least five wolves intruding on our territory. No, wait. It’s six now.
Today’s second wolf was new. They cross the barrier in groups of two.
They’re getting bolder, heading further into our territory, and the time between each breach is getting shorter.
However, they’re keeping to the woods, far away from any form of civilization, and haven’t even attempted to get close to town or our packhouse.
Also, there still haven’t been direct threats against us,” Rhett summarized.
“You’re forgetting the fact that they feel like enemies,” I said.
“At least that’s what the barrier is telling us.”
Raising my eyebrows, I looked at Rhett. “You don’t trust the barrier anymore?”
“No, I do. It feels… Oh, god, I hate the feeling of them entering packlands. My whole mind is screaming at me… I just… I have an issue with how strong the reaction is getting. How strong the barrier is getting.”
Yeah… that was the other issue.
“Do you think maybe our barrier gaining strength and the intrusions are connected somehow?” I asked—again, not for the first time.
“I don’t know.” Rhett threw his hands in the air and huffed. “Everything that’s happening goes against everything I’ve been taught about how barriers work. Either our ancestors got it all wrong, or…”
“Or there’s more going on than we know,” I finished for him.
With a sigh, I turned my head back toward the forest. Winter was fast approaching.
The branches were bare already, the leaves covering the forest floor in a blanket of reddish brown, and it was just a matter of days or weeks until it’d all be covered in white; the air already had this crisp, fresh hue to it. A promise of snow.
It’d make hunting both easier and harder.
“I have a theory,” I said. “About the barrier.”
It was a reach. But at this point, everything we came up with was us grasping at straws, desperately trying to find a reason for what was happening.
“Okay?”