Chapter 3 – Bryant
Chapter Three
Bryant
My wolf won’t shut the fuck up. That’s the only reason I’m tracking the woman who served us at the club. He’s convinced there’s something more to her, and now I’m mildly intrigued.
Meeting Flint was a waste of time. He brought two men with him. Part of me wanted to antagonize him for not being brave enough to come alone, but alphas are fond of keeping their enforcers close. At least, the alphas who don’t want to have to do any of the work themselves.
I suppose there is merit to having enforcers if you’re running a pack. It’s important to have muscle to keep the masses in line. I have no need for enforcers, because I have no desire to lead a pack.
Been there.
Done that.
For the better part of a thousand years, in fact.
Well, I co-ran things with my brothers. However, with the declining birth rate of female wolves, keeping a pack in line has become tedious.
An overabundance of masculine energy leads to nothing good.
To be a cohesive unit, a pack needs a blend of feminine and masculine.
Otherwise, fights break out anytime a female shifter is introduced. She-wolves are in constant danger, even if they find good mates. There will always be despicable males with no honor who would be happy to kill her partners. Once they’re out of the way, the female wolf is free to be claimed.
Not that they care if she’s mentally broken by that point. All they care about is having a mate that can shift, which makes them more likely to bear pups.
It’s almost laughable that Flint thought he could use me to gain information on my brothers. I might have left the Bishop pack years ago, but I’m loyal to my family no matter what.
My wolf paces my mind, urging me to hurry up, but I don’t even know that I’m heading in the right direction.
The woman could be anywhere by now, so who knows why I’m even trying to track her down.
Once I pick up Flint’s scent, I get a bad feeling.
I keep my footfalls light and my breathing regulated as I peek around the edge of the building.
About thirty feet away, just past the next street, Flint holds the woman in the air by her hair and his hand on her chin.
It looks like he could twist her head from her shoulders at any moment, and my wolf urges me forward.
He wants the chance to teach those three a lesson.
There’s a small grassy area to the left of the sidewalk, and one of Flint’s enforcers trots around in wolf form. The other stands in human form at Flint’s side.
Three-on-one odds don’t intimidate me, but seeing the shifters crowded around the waitress infuriates not only me but also my wolf.
Do they have so little faith in their ability to naturally win a woman’s affection that they would stoop low enough to force the issue?
I shouldn’t be surprised, but somehow I am.
I bend and access the daggers in the side of each boot. Once my fingers are looped in the finger holds, I move swiftly, crossing the distance.
Flint and the enforcer in human form are too focused on taunting the woman to notice me, but the shifted wolf raises his head and snarls.
Bringing my hand up, I fling the dagger at his chest. It embeds a few inches from his heart, meaning it shouldn’t kill him, but with the wolfsbane I coated the blades in, he’ll be sick as hell for days.
Some might consider the move cowardly. Knowing the caliber of man I was meeting with, I planned for the worst-case scenario, and I’m grateful I did.
“Put her down,” I snarl, tossing the second dagger at the enforcer standing next to Flint.
It lands in his throat, and the man’s eyes widen.
He moves to pull the blade free, but I dart forward, yanking it from his throat and shoving him back with a kick to his chest. He hits the ground, squirming and gurgling.
They should be grateful that I don’t want to deal with the town council, or I would have gone for killing blows.
Flint chuckles, showing not an ounce of compassion for his severely injured men. “Bryant, how interesting that you’ve joined us.”
My eyes light amber as my wolf pushes to the surface. “Why don’t you try taking out your anger on the person who caused it rather than an innocent bystander?”
“You seem awfully concerned about what happens to an innocent bystander,” he says mockingly.
My wolf fights for control, and his power lines my tone as I bark, using every bit of our alpha command. “Put. Her. Down.”
Flint’s entire body shakes as he fights the compulsion in my tone, and the woman takes the opportunity to swipe at his throat with a handful of razor-sharp claws.
Only two nails connect, but he releases her, stumbling back.
Though it wasn’t what she was going for, it’s enough to cause bright-red blood to pour from the cuts.
“Collect your men and leave now,” I growl.
Flint’s hand covers his throat, and his eyes glow with his wolf. He’s considering trying his luck, but he knows he’s weaker than me. My wolf would decimate his, and that’s not even considering what I could do to him in human form.
“This is your one chance,” I snarl as the woman moves closer to my side. “Take to your wolves and run off with your tails between your legs. Shift!”
Flint falls to his hands and knees, unable to override my command. The enforcer who was in human form rips through his clothing as his wolf pushes to the surface. The third wolf, who started in shifted form, struggles to his feet and limps away.
Flint leaves tattered clothing sprawled around the ground as he growls before turning and loping off. His now-shifted second enforcer does the same, minus the petulant growl.
I’m so distracted by them that I fail to check on the woman, and I rectify that.
“Are you all right—” My jaw falls.
The woman’s dress flies into shreds as a beautiful blonde-and-gray wolf shakes out her fur. Her purse lies on the ground, along with her shoes and undergarments. The wolf’s ears pin back, and she whines, lowering to her stomach.
I’m frozen in shock, blinking at the female wolf.
My wolf won’t shut the fuck up.
The smug bastard.
Do you believe me now? he goads telepathically. I told you I recognized that scent.
That’s fucking impossible.
He wouldn’t stop going on and on about how she smelled like an omega, but they died out of the shifter community hundreds of years ago. They disappeared from packs before they even fully went extinct in other monster communities.
The female wolf whines again, refusing to meet my eyes.
I cross the distance between us, squatting down before I can stop myself. I tuck the bloody blade into the side of my boot and focus on the beauty in front of me.
“That order wasn’t directed at you, little wolf,” I tell her, keeping my tone gentle. “You can shift back.”
She chuffs, pulling her paw over her nose to block her eyes. It’s not like it allows her to hide from me, but it is cute.
“Fair enough.” I chuckle. “Your clothes are destroyed. How about I walk you home? Would that be all right?”
Her tail flicks, but she refuses to communicate with me directly.
“I’m sorry they involved you in our dispute.
I can assure you it won’t happen again.” I stretch out my hand.
The urge to run my fingers through her soft fur is overwhelming, but I give her the opportunity to scent me.
“I will deal with them soon. I probably should have killed them here and now.” I finally grow brave, brushing the backs of my fingers along her muzzle.
“I’ve dealt with many councils on many continents, and they all seem to have different rules and standards.
Because I’m unfamiliar with the laws in Black Cove, I thought it best not to risk it. ”
She finally pulls her paw off her face, tilting her head as she sniffs me.
Her eyes almost cause me to stumble backward.
They’re not amber like most wolves. Hers are a fluorescent reddish-orange.
Perhaps a paint card somewhere would do justice to naming the color, but I’ve never seen anything like the shade.
She’s stunning. My wolf projects the thought in my mind, and he’s not wrong. Her wolf is beautiful, and her eyes are unique—something I’ve never seen on a shifter in my almost two-thousand years of life.
I’m just not sure what it means.