Chapter 25
Caidrik left the trial the way he’d left most of the trials so far, limping just enough to piss him off.
The last challenge had been difficult in a very specific way.
No shifting allowed. That had been made explicit.
Caidrik had spent the night as a human chasing bears down a mountain because that was apparently what passed for wisdom these days, and gravity had taken advantage of every single misstep.
The only bright side in the entire debacle was that he still wore clothes as a human and didn’t need to stomp back into town buck-assed naked.
His gloves were torn, his jacket ripped at the shoulder, and his jeans crusted with snow and dirt and a little blood that had dried dark along the seam of his thigh.
His boots trampled rocks as he moved, and every scrape sent a reminder up his leg that his knee was not happy.
He was getting to the point where he thought these damn trials were the pack’s way of having a bunch of Alphas handle a bunch of pack problems.
The adrenaline ebbed from his body, and his injuries started to burn.
He had bruised ribs that protested every deep breath and a shoulder that felt loose in a way he didn’t trust. His back was one long ache that settled deeper the longer he stayed upright.
His thigh burned, sharp and mean, every time he pushed his pace.
Stupid bears.
Hopefully Nadia had spent the night getting some much needed sleep. The silver still lurked in her system, and only time would help her. He sighed. In fact, he could use rest before taking on the last two trials…and his brother.
Bulwark was out there. Waiting.
Silence cut around Caidrik, and he slowed his pace.
The forest should have been louder.
That was the first thing that bothered him, though it took him a few seconds to recognize it for what it was. Snow muted sound, sure, but it didn’t erase it. There should have been something. Wind through branches. A bird stupid enough to move this late. The distant padding of patrols.
He slowed, his breath fogging in front of him, and let his awareness stretch out when something felt off.
Ravencall wolves.
The scent was there, clean and sharp. Male and female, at least three, maybe more. Light enough that they were already gone. Then another scent. One he knew as well as his own.
Nadia.
The hit of her scent nearly stopped him cold. Fear. Pain. Adrenaline. All of it layered thick and fresh enough that it felt like it was happening right now, not minutes ago. Underneath it was something sharp and metallic that made his stomach drop hard.
Silver.
The lodge lights cut through the trees ahead, too bright against the dark sky. He burst into the clearing and took it all in at once, and panic tore the breath from his lungs.
Enforcers were down.
Four of them were sprawled across the snow. For a split second his heart slammed into his throat, and then his senses caught up. They were alive. Breathing. No blood pooling. No fatal wounds. Knocked out. Cleanly.
His gaze snapped past them.
Nadia stood near the SUV, silver cuffs locked around her wrists. Her face was pale, eyes bright and furious and shaken all at once. Her hands were trembling, and the sight of that landed somewhere deep in his chest.
Bulwark had his hand on her arm.
Luca charged him, already bleeding from his neck. Nadia spun away, smashing into the side of the SUV. Blood flashed from the corner of her mouth.
The smell hit Caidrik, and he went primal.
He crossed the distance fast and drove his fist into Bulwark’s jaw. Pain burst up his arm and across his ribs as Bulwark hit back, catching him hard where he was already bruised. Caidrik staggered half a step, clenched his teeth, and came back swinging.
Luca lunged, trying to take advantage. Caidrik pivoted and slammed his elbow into Luca’s throat. Luca choked and stumbled back, coughing, fury flashing across his face.
“This is so fucking weak,” Caidrik said, and his voice shook with the effort of holding himself back, “take the silver off her.”
Bulwark wiped blood from his mouth and smiled, his canines already elongating. “She’s not yours, brother.” He shifted easily into wolf form, sending out a wave of energy.
That was it.
Caidrik felt his wolf roar into being wide awake, hard enough to steal his breath.
He stopped fighting it and shifted into the animal at his core.
The one he kept trying to tame. Bones snapped and reformed, pain flaring and then burning away as strength flooded his body.
He went for Bulwark without hesitation, teeth snapping for the arm that had been on Nadia.
Luca shifted too, the air filling with snarls and the sound of bones reforming. Snow churned beneath them as the three collided, bodies slamming together in a mess of fur and muscle and violence.
Power thrummed through Caidrik, and the scent of Nadia, standing there caught in silver, drove all humanity to the abyss. He struck to kill.
Bulwark was strong. Stronger than most. He took hits that would have dropped another wolf and kept coming, driving his weight into Caidrik again and again.
Caidrik tore into him anyway, teeth sinking into shoulder and flank, refusing to give ground even when pain blew bright and sharp along his side.
Luca darted in and out, snapping and retreating, looking for openings.
Cowardly. Calculated. Caidrik caught him by the muzzle and crushed down until Luca yelped and tore free, blood spraying across the snow.
The silver cuffs had to have been his. While Bulwark had no conscience, he didn’t need to use silver.
He was strong enough to kidnap anybody.
So Luca had been making a move? The Ravencall wolves had been with him.
Bulwark raked claws across Caidrik’s ribs, and white-hot pain tore through him. He barely felt it past the fury.
They broke apart for half a second, circling, breath steaming. Nadia had scrambled back against the SUV, cuffs glowing faintly, her scent sharp with fear and anger. Caidrik clocked it all even as he lunged again.
Bulwark drove him back, slamming him into the SUV hard enough to rattle it. Nadia flinched. Caidrik shoved off, fury burning through the ache in his body, and hit Bulwark with everything he had left.
Luca seized the opening and darted toward Nadia.
Something in Caidrik snapped.
He broke from Bulwark and slammed into Luca mid-lunge, taking him down hard. They rolled in the snow, snapping and tearing. Caidrik drove his weight down, teeth closing around Luca’s throat just enough to feel the pulse hammering there.
“Caidrik!” Nadia screamed, lunging for Bulwark before he could strike from behind.
Bulwark pivoted, in wolf form, and shoved her to the ground.
She couldn’t shift with the silver on her wrists, damn it.
Caidrik released Luca and turned, snarling, dripping blood onto the snow. Luca jumped on him from behind, his sharp teeth slashing into Caidrik’s neck. Caidrik lowered his head and jumped up, flipping them both over and landing on top of the Ravencall wolf. It was time to end this.
Bulwark spun and hit Caidrik, knocking him off Luca. The three of them collided again, a brutal tangle of bodies and teeth and rage that felt like it would never untangle cleanly.
Luca cried out, howling. Bulwark snapped his teeth into Luca’s ear, slicing half off. Luca quieted, gathering his strength, and snapped wildly with his fangs.
Bulwark disengaged first.
Howls echoed in the distance. Slate Pack soldiers. They were coming.
Bulwark’s head jerked up, and he sniffed the air. Then he backed off two steps, gaze flicking to the tree line, turned and ran. Luca followed a heartbeat later, bolting in the opposite direction and disappearing into the forest.
Caidrik took one step after them, then stopped.
Nadia.
He turned back and shifted without thinking, human again in the snow, breath steaming, hands shaking with pain and rage and the delayed crash of fear. He crossed the distance in long strides and grabbed her wrists, hissing as the silver burned him too.
“Which one did this?” he demanded.
“Luca,” she said.
That’s what Caidrik had figured. If Luca was ready to make such a cowardly move, he was out of the contest but still a serious threat. Caidrik would have to take him out before the trials ended. But now he had to get her out of those dangerous cuffs.
He ran around to the back of the SUV and yanked out the lug wrench, pressing it gently between her skin and the cuff.
As a teenager, he’d learned to get out of handcuffs after being arrested one too many times and could actually do it with a leg and good turn, but he didn’t want to hurt her.
“Hold on.” He twisted, forcing strength against the silver, twisted, and kept both away from her delicate skin.
The first one released, and seconds later, he dispatched the other one. The cuffs dropped to the ground.
Relief slid through him, competing with the adrenaline and anger coiling in his gut.
“Thank you.” She took a deep breath, her hand trembling as she pushed hair out of her eyes.
She looked way too vulnerable in her puffer jacket and light jeans, snow covering her boots.
A light bruise showed on her angled cheekbone, and he took it in, letting the sight harden any sympathy he might’ve somehow found for Luca.
The Alpha would die, and painfully. Very soon.
Slate pack soldiers prowled into the drive, and he motioned to the downed enforcers.
“Take care of them. Luca and Bulwark went in different directions. Track them.” He lifted Nadia and walked around to place her in the passenger side of the SUV.
He shut the door and scouted with his senses.
Most of the town was still at the high school and would be for at least another hour, so everyone should be safe for now.
Except Nadia. He reached into the duffel in the backseat and found clothing to toss on. Wolves always keep clothing in different sizes in almost every vehicle. Then he crossed around the rig and opened the driver’s side door.
Fury edged in from the corners of his vision as he sat, ignited the engine, and drove away from the lodge. “What were you doing out of your house?” His orders had been clear.
She gulped, her thick, blonde hair messy around her narrow shoulders. “Research. I didn’t think anybody would even know I went to the lodge.” She glanced in the rearview mirror and shuddered. “I’m not sure you’re authorized to order them to hunt Bulwark and Luca.”
Too fucking bad. Caidrik was done playing by anyone else’s rules. They were going to get a couple of things straight, and right now.