Chapter 18 #2
A shiver ran down my body, the fur on the back of my neck rising as a pulse of pure energy washed through me and the screeching barrier quieted down. On my left, Heath shuddered, every muscle in his body tensing as a snarl ripped from his body, eyes blazing.
Another pulse.
The barrier was closed.
Time to stop playing.
I let out a howl.
Maim! Kill! my wolf snarled.
We were on the home stretch.
The atmosphere shifted as we closed in further, tension rising. They thought they were leading us on, when in reality they’d fallen into our trap.
Heath was faster than me, pushing ahead, his white snout in my periphery, teeth bared, snarling lowly with each breath.
Rhett panted, eyes fixed on a sandy wolf almost the same colour as him, while my eyes never strayed from the grey wolf running for his life.
His fear was sour, sharper than usual.
Did he know things were different?
My wolf snarled. Not important. Maim.
Did he know we were hunting them like they’d hunted Nix? Did he know that, contrary to Nix, they had no chance of escaping? I wouldn’t allow it.
Kill.
Almost.
The barrier came into view, brimming with energy. It should’ve been a warning sign to keep others out. Those intruders should’ve listened. Instead, they had tried again and again. Tried to steal my mate from right under my nose. Had hunted him for months.
Never again.
I snapped, teeth piercing the wolf’s hind leg. Copper burned on my tongue as blood sprayed into my mouth.
The wolf pulled, ripping his leg out of my mouth, flesh tearing.
He yowled, the sound pitiful, his fear mingling with the scent of blood. He jumped, desperation fuelling him on—only to hit the barrier mid-jump. His body landed in a broken heap on the ground.
Fear spiked.
Wolves yelped.
Panic rose, but they were too fast and too close to the barrier. Two more crashes sounded, bones breaking, yelps turning to howls.
Two were dazed, struggling to get back on their feet as we pounced as a pack. Blood sprayed, howls turned to gurgling, then eerie silence as their blood soaked the pristine snow.
My heart was hammering, my wolf urging me to finish what I’d started as I trudged up to the grey wolf. He was a heap of broken bones, his breath shallow, irregular pants. His front paw twitched, eyes fixated on me with a desperate plea.
A quick death was more than he deserved, but I obliged. A pounce, jaw closing on his throat, blood spraying…
The twitching stopped as the life drained from his body in a last, gurgling breath. The pleading drained from his eyes, his look now empty, devoid of life.
I cast one last look at him, then at the two other wolves.
They hadn’t stood a chance, their lifeless bodies now lying at the paws of my pack.
Rhett and Heath were staring at them, with Angelo, Cassidy, and Jasper a couple of steps back.
Blood painted the snow, the forest floor turning into the scene of a horror movie.
Still, I didn’t feel regret. Those were the wolves that had mercilessly hunted my mate. The very wolves that had tried to condemn him to a life of slavery, an existence of misery.
I howled in triumph, letting my pack know the threat was gone.
Next to me, Rhett started howling too, then Heath, then Jasper. Angelo joined with a roar, and soon the woods were haunted by our voices, by our song of triumph.
Mate. Safe.
Nix was finally free.
I stepped back, teeth bared, scanning the forest outside the barrier.
Had they seen it?
Had they seen what happened?
I snarled.
They certainly hadn’t tried to help.
Cowards, my wolf supplied, and I couldn’t disagree. They’d watched their packmates getting slaughtered and hadn’t even tried to intervene. Hadn’t tried to help.
My blood was pumping, anger rising.
What kind of pack was that?
An ATV rumbled behind me, approaching our location fast.
Mate. My wolf said what I already knew. I felt it. The tugging and pulling in my chest, the urge to turn around and head into the woods to meet him.
I wanted to, but I couldn’t, not until we’d talked to the remaining cowards and informed them what would happen if they ever dared come back.
The rumbling got louder, shredding my focus. I couldn’t help but turn my head in the direction of the ATV. Why was my father bringing Nix? He didn’t need to see this bloodbath—or did he?
I snarled, turning back to the barrier, watching for signs of life in the woods outside. Nothing. I couldn’t scent them, couldn’t see them, but I knew they were there.
I let out one last howl, then changed back to human and walked up to the barrier until the humming surrounded me. One step more and my nose would touch it.
“Come out!” I shouted into the seemingly empty forest, rage bubbling over. “Come out, you fucking cowards, or I swear I’ll drag you here.”
Awful wolves without a shred of honour. Disgraces, all of them.
Nothing.
I seethed, scanning the forest, but there was nothing except for bare trees and thick underbrush.
The rumbling got louder, headlights illuminating the trees outside the barrier.
Was there a shadow? There had been movement, right? I squinted my eyes, but couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
The hair on my neck rose as the tugging in my chest got stronger. The closer Nix got, the more nervous I got.
He shouldn’t be here. That was not the plan. The plan had been for him to close off the barrier and head back to the packhouse, where he was safe.
I growled in frustration, turning my attention back to the forest.
“You are fucking disgraceful cowards! Show yourselves and talk to me! Who knows, we might have something you want.”
Not that they’d get Nix. Over my dead body.
Protect mate, my wolf snarled, hackles raised as we waited.
Nothing happened, but I knew they were there.
“You want your dead back?” I shouted, gesturing at the bloody messes lying in the snow behind me.
Snow crunched. The wind whistled through the evergreens, sweeping snow off the branches.
Our ATV came to a gurgling stop, the motor impossibly loud in the silence of the woods.
Fabric rustled and whooshed.
I shuddered as I felt a pair of eyes trained on me, searing the back of my neck. Steps approached from behind, the snow crunching beneath Nix’s feet. The rope in my chest coiled tighter and tighter with every step he took. I swallowed, afraid to turn around.
I had just killed. For him, but I’d killed. The blood of my victim was still running down my neck.
Anticipation grew. My packmates stopped breathing as Nix walked closer, bringing with him the kind of warmth and peace no one else could, and I found myself smiling as Nix stepped up to me, sliding his hand into mine.
And when I turned to look at him… my breath caught in my throat.
Beautiful was the first word that came to my mind.
Stunning. Ethereal. He was wearing his black cloak, the hood up on his head, his pale skin and silver hair a stark contrast, his pale blue eyes practically glowing. He looked out of this world. Magical.
Which, I guess, he was.
Nix smiled at me, all tender and soft, then looked ahead, staring out at the woods, scanning every tree before his eyes fixated on a particularly thick trunk. His smile fell from his face, the tender expression replaced by something else. Something harder.
“I can see you,” he taunted, voice firm, confident in a way it seldom was.
“Don’t you want to come out and talk to us, Bear?
Don’t you want your little brother back?
” There was no fear in Nix’s voice. Only deadly confidence.
He was taking control of the situation, and I wasn’t mad about it.
Him being here might not have been the plan, but… maybe this was exactly what he needed.
Mate. Strong. My wolf preened, puffing out his chest as we looked at the way Nix held himself.
If it were any of my pack members taking over like that, I’d have been seething. But this was different. Nix had a right to finish this.
Finally, there was movement, and a man stepped out from behind the very tree Nix was staring at. He was imposing, his body marred with scars, anger pouring from his every pore, but interestingly enough, I couldn’t scent a thing.
“I can see Amanda supplied you with scent blockers,” Nix said conversationally as he pointed to a small bag dangling from the man’s neck that I’d have mistaken for a regular necklace.
“You,” the man seethed, eyes flashing, his wolf pushing to the surface. “You killed my brother!”
Nix scoffed, his eyes shifting to the grey wolf I’d killed minutes ago, hints of regret flashing through his eyes, but they were gone far too quickly for anyone else to see. “Technically, I didn’t kill anyone. But let’s not talk about pesky technicalities.”
I watched my mate, drinking in the way he held himself. The smirk, the carefully crafted, almost bored voice, his relaxed stance.
Who was this guy?
And why was he so fucking hot?
“What do you want to talk about?” Bear asked, voice a barely constrained growl.
“The terms of your surrender,” I shouted. He was still far away, too chickenshit to come closer to the barrier. Or maybe too smart.
He scoffed. “I’m not gonna surrender myself to be slaughtered.”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t want to kill you.” Lie. “I want you to leave. Take your remaining wolves, collect your fallen, and never come back. You’re not getting Nix.”
“Nix?” Bear knitted his brows in confusion. “I don’t want no Nix. I’m here for him.” He nodded to Nix.
Nix grimaced, turning to me. “Technically, my name’s Alexander.”
Oh.
“You’re not getting Alexander.” I shuddered; the name felt all wrong rolling off my tongue. It sounded wrong too. “He’s mine.”