Chapter 21
KOLE.
Blood.
My world was full of it.
My nose, my mouth, my fur. It soaked the pads of my paws.
My latest victim lay dead at my feet and next to me, my father tore out the throat of a Gulf wolf, the blood spattering me.
Our eyes connected. I saw my father looking back at me and wondered if he could still see me looking back at him or if my eyes were black now. There was so little of me left now, but I was still here, clinging on until the day Iona could bring me back.
Iona.
The centre of the battle seemed like a stupid place to put her, but any Gulf wolf would have to fight through every Maclay wolf to get to her. If Siobhan had followed my orders, my mate would be safe in our room right now with her guard to protect her. It was the safest place she could be.
Outside, a half mile from the pack house in the open field that surrounded it, battle raged on around me.
I could see my pack slowly wearing the Gulfs down.
They’d attacked sooner in the night than I’d thought but we’d been ready.
We’d caught them off guard with our surprise attack and we had them outnumbered, not by much but enough to give us an advantage.
The ring of females and warriors around the pack house was holding for the most part. Only a few Gulfs had gotten through and I had no doubt Siobhan could dispatch them with ease. My family and the rest of my warriors were scattered across the field.
I turned my nose up to the sky, searching out my enemy by scent.
Alpha Carson.
Where was he?
I’d lain in wait tonight, wondering if our plan would work. If the Tourkes had run along to Alpha Carson and whispered in his ear that I was leaving my mate unattended for the night. I knew it would be them, no one else hated me enough to risk my life. Except Iona.
The fur on my spine rose as I found his scent, bitter and old, but before I could move, a different scent hit me.
Iona.
She was outside.
How?
Panic rose inside me but before I could set off after her, I heard Kallum yip and head straight for the treeline. I wanted to follow but my eyes fell on Alpha Carson. I saw him across the fields, heading for the treeline too, flanked by a pair of wolves. He was going after my mate.
My wolf snarled and Carson caught it, his ears pricking. He paused and a glance to the wolves flanking him sent them into the woods as he turned to face me. Two wolves. Kallum could take two wolves alone.
I itched to follow after her, but I had to have faith in my brother. He would keep her safe. For now I had to end this.
Carson ran, picking up speed as he grew closer.
With a growl I took off, running to meet him.
I’d been waiting a long time to be rid of this threat.
Killing his family or taking on his pack wasn’t a prospect I relished but my wolf was a simpler beast and he couldn’t wait to rip Carson’s throat out.
For what he’d done to my pack, for what his Luna had done to my family, they deserved this death.
My wolf was younger, stronger, but Carson had more experience, was far crueller than me and had another advantage I didn’t. His wolf was stable. He could let him loose to tear me apart. I had to hold mine back or he would swallow me whole.
This was it. If I ended him tonight, the threat would be over. I would inherit the Gulf pack, a responsibility I didn’t want. I would have to kill his family, his young children. But it would be over. Iona would be safe and that was all that mattered.
We met in a vicious clash. His grey wolf was a fearsome beast, his teeth snapping at my own as we fought.
He tackled me, bowling me to the earth, but I threw him off.
He rolled, standing again and snarling. I lunged and he dodged only to pounce on me, biting the back of my neck.
I roared and threw myself to the ground, hearing his ribs break under my weight.
We fought a bloody battle. I felt every fracture, every cut and tear, but adrenaline and rage pushed me through. My wolf delighted in his enemy’s blood on his tongue, ecstatic to assert his dominance after I had kept him on such a short leash with our mate.
Carson’s wolf was beginning to tire, paws slipping in the mud, but mine only grew more manic.
I felt my wolf's madness licking at me, clouding my vision. It wanted to be free. To kill, to mate and claim…Iona’s humanity was all that held him back.
I had to hold on. Despite the pain I had to hold on, for my family. For her.
Iona.
The woman who had no idea how deeply she was rooted in me now.
Fighting my wolf's surge for dominance, I searched for the place at the back of my mind. The place I had built over the last ten days, at night when she lay in my arms, sleeping and unaware of how her body turned into mine. I’d breathed her in, touched her skin, admired every one of her features in a way she would take offence to if she were awake.
I built the safe place out of her, out of her smell, her sighs, the feel of her skin, and when my wolf went wild, I went there and she calmed me.
She despised me but she calmed me. She was my safe place. My sane place. My anchor.
I held onto that place as I fought, willing myself to hold on long enough to end this beast, to keep my family safe. With Carson gone, maybe I could give her more time. I wouldn’t have to force her?—
My thoughts cut off as he threw himself at me again. This was my weakness. He could focus on the fight. I had to focus on her.
I spun, ferociously delivering one attack after another until I finally tackled him to the ground. My jaws closed around his neck, ready to tear his throat out, when pain lit me on fire. His rear claws raked down my side, slicing me open. I snarled, enraged.
I stared down at my opponent, the male who had haunted my pack my entire life. He was almost done and he knew it. My gums ached with the need to sink my canines deep in his flesh. He struggled but I had him pinned, ready to end it, ready to kill him, when a scream pierced the air.
I froze.
I knew that voice.
I looked up, disbelieving. My sister was on the ground, her neck bloody. A Gulf wolf stood over her, her blood on his muzzle. I’d met this wolf before.
Roman. Alpha Carson’s new Beta. The son of the old Beta that we’d killed during an attack.
The battle grew still and Carson used my distraction to throw me off him. He turned and ran, but at that moment, I didn’t care.
My sister.
I pushed to my feet. My world slowed as I tried to take in what I was seeing. My blood rushed in my ears, her metallic scent in the air. Her body lay limp under the moon.
My little sister.
Then, the world sped up again. The battle broke out once more.
My mother howled in grief and Konnor launched himself at Kara’s killer.
They tumbled, and if the wolf had been lesser Konnor might have won, but the Beta’s grey wolf made short work of my brother.
He tossed him away, the crunch of Konnor’s ribs deafening in the air.
I was salivating, preparing to tear him apart, when the Beta returned to my sister, snarling at those around him.
No. No, this wasn’t happening…
But it was.
The Beta hadn’t killed her.
He’d claimed her. Brutally.
I felt a shift inside me as his claim sped through her system. My wolf's death stare spread from him…to her.
“No!” My mother’s bare skin shone in the moonlight as she knelt on the ground, fresh from shifting out of her fur. “No! You can’t!” But she wasn’t screaming at him, she was screaming at me. My wolf snarled.
No, no, no…
Panic lit up inside me.
My mother looked at me, her eyes round with shock. With fear. She knew, just as I knew, that all must die in an Alpha challenge. Alpha’s mate, offspring, Gamma, Beta…and their mates.
Kara stirred on the ground, stunned from the claim. She looked around and I watched as it dawned on her what had happened. She was my wolf's enemy. He had no choice now…and neither did I.
“Kara, run!” My mom’s voice was broken, desperate with grief for her daughter.
Kara just stared, her hand pressing to the broken flesh, her new mate mark.
Her mate snarled at my mother. My father tackled him, pinning him to the ground, leaving Kara open to my wolf's attack, but I dug my claws into the earth, searching for Iona.
I sank into that place, forcing my wolf away.
I filled my mind with her instead of him.
“Run!” My mother’s scream pierced the air. Kara’s face twisted in anguish, before shifting with a cry and sprinting away south.
The Beta threw my father off and took off after his new mate.
I let them get a head start, knowing that I was only delaying the inevitable. My wolf wanted her blood, seeing her only as an enemy now. I had to kill Alpha Carson and when that happened, she would have to die too. But I didn’t have to do it in front of my parents.
I wanted to throw my head back and howl at the loss, but instead I paced, snarling at the chaos around me.
My bloodlust was up and my wolf wasn’t close to satisfied. I wanted Carson’s son, his eldest male, Hunter. He was formidable and I wanted his throat between my teeth. But he wasn’t here. Why wasn’t he here? Why wouldn’t Carson bring him?
With the Alpha and Beta gone, the Gulfs were starting to retreat.
My father pinned my screaming mother to the ground, the only one capable of keeping her from going after her daughter.
She screamed at me, pleading with me not to go after Kara, but she knew I didn’t have a choice.
My heart snapped inside. My world was falling apart and I was helpless to stop it.
I needed to gather my warriors and go after them, end this now, tonight.
Before I could call them to me and lead the attack, a pain shrieked through my body.
The air felt static. Every member of my pack had frozen almost as one.
I looked at my father, the way I had as a child when I’d been afraid, but his own fear stricken face did nothing to comfort me.
He’d felt it too and he knew what it meant.
Iona.