Chapter 23 - Wilf
We hit the bottom of the pass at speed, and my wolf is mentally already up on the road ahead, casting around for her scent.
Connor is on the radio, switching between Bryan in the second truck behind us and Dylan, who's cutting down the ridge road to come at the pass from above. They obviously thought they could fool us by changing vehicles, but Dylan saw the whole exchange from the valley road, so we’ve sent another patrol after the decoy can.
Now, they’ve kept eyes on the truck up until about a mile ago, but we know where they’ll come out, and we should be able to hit them at the final fork before the road drops down into the next valley.
"Bryan, what's your distance?" Nick asks the radio.
"Two minutes," Bryan replies. "We're right on your tail. I’ve just seen Luna’s truck coming up behind us in the rearview."
"Dylan?" Nick asks.
"Half a mile out and closing," Dylan says. "We’ll hit the upper fork in about ninety seconds."
"Copy," Nick tells the radio. "Ram them if you have to; that truck is stopping one way or another."
I don't say anything; I don’t need to. The plan is solid enough to work, and all I care about is stopping that truck.
Connor accelerates into the last straight before the fork, and the truck climbs hard enough and fast enough that the cab tilts, and the trees seem to blur on either side of the road.
We come round the last bend, and there ahead of us is the truck braced against a tree with Dylan’s truck lodged in the side and his patrol taking defensive positions while at least three or four rogues do the same behind the truck.
I quickly realize that one of them is a witch, and they’ve dragged Lara from the truck, one of the rogues holding her by the throat.
My wolf is moving before Connor even stops, my claws ripping through my skin mid-shift.
I lunge for the nearest rogue, but I’m pushed back by something that feels like a solid wall.
Glancing up, I notice the witch smirking as she works some kind of magic that throws me backward, and I struggle to find my feet.
The rogue takes a step back as the one holding Lara shouts instructions.
I look at him, recognition flickering; he was one of the Cheslem betas, Reyhan, but he doesn’t look like a beta now; he looks bigger, his wolf stronger somehow.
Something seems to move under his skin, but it’s not the shift; it’s something darker. More Cheslem dark magic.
The witch moves boldly into the road, and the air around me goes thick and slows down.
My wolf staggers, and I look to my side and see that Connor is struggling to stand as well.
I hear Reyhan shouting at her to hold me, and the pale flicker between her palms builds, sparks flying toward me.
I know I need to move, but I can’t. Behind me, I hear the sound of a truck screaming to a stop.
"Madelina." Anya shouts.
The witch's head whips round, the flicker stuttering between her hands. Luna is out of the second truck behind ours within moments, and Anya is already past her, running across the road until she’s almost next to me.
The magic falters enough for me to stand again, and I look as Anya raises her hands the same as Madelina's, except the flicker between Anya's palms isn't pale; it's white, and hot.
"Anya," the witch says, and her voice is full of surprise. "You shouldn't be here."
"You shouldn't be here either, Madelina," Anya replies. "Get away from him."
With the witch distracted, I take the chance to advance with Connor and Nick at my back, and the others flanking us to the left.
Reyhan hands Lara off to one of the other rogues, and I try not to get distracted by the blood on her head or how hard she’s fighting.
He comes at me as one of the other rogues lunges for Connor.
My wolf comes up under me, hot and violent as we shift and collide.
Nick joins me, and for a moment, I think we have the situation, but Reyhan is surprisingly strong, no doubt the dark magic, and when I bite down, my wolf is hit by the pure shock of dark magic that fills my mouth and recoils.
I glance at Nick as he feels the same, and Reyhan shakes us both off.
But we’ve dealt with Cheslem filth before and circle before going again.
Suddenly, the pressure returns, forcing us back, and Reyhan laughs as we turn to the witch, who is ignoring Anya and has begun pushing her magic. White light flickers across the road in pulsing waves as Anya and Luna try to block her.
“Finish them,” Reyhan yells to the witch, Madelina.
She turns and glares at him, but doesn’t reply, sweat covering her face as whatever Luna and Anya are doing obviously starts to take its toll, and she staggers backward for a moment before righting herself.
Suddenly, there’s a loud crack that seems to split the air around us, and Anya screams something that sounds like pure frustration.
A flash of white light follows that makes everyone cower, and when we look up, the witch is gone.
“Dammit,” Anya screams, standing on the asphalt staring at the empty space where Madelina was half a second ago.
"Cloaked," Luna says, to no one in particular. "She cloaked. Anya…can you …"
"No," Anya snaps. "She's gone. Properly gone. I can't follow that."
Without Madelina’s magic, everything speeds up, and the rogues feel it too.
With no witch to help them, we turn on them full force.
Caleb and Bryan take on one, Dylan goes for the other, but he slips back and launches at Luna.
I see Nick turn and immediately race after him, shifting mid-air and smashing into him, rolling into the ground hard.
Reyhan grabs Lara and shouts at her, demanding that she use her voice.
He’s shaking her harder and harder, but she’s refusing to speak.
I launch at him, but one of the rogues has broken free and grabs my leg.
Ethan’s there in a second, ripping him off me and holding him down.
The Cheslem magic is evident in their super strength, and I know he needs help, but he shouts.
"Go," he says. "Thomas and I will deal."
Reyhan is between me and his truck, where he’s got Lara braced against the stricken truck. I don't go around him because there isn't time. I come straight at him, and he meets me halfway, and we roll across the verge and into the road, and his teeth come up for my throat.
He sinks his teeth in and twists.
I feel it the second it happens. A wolf goes for the front of the throat when he means to finish a thing, and Reyhan locks down hard.
There’s no pain, and I know that is worse, and I am down on my back on the road with Reyhan over me.
I get my back legs into his belly and kick hard, sending him flying back.
I’m losing too much blood, but I’m still mobile, and I know I’m running out of time to finish this.
I’m dimly aware of Lara shouting my name, and then he comes at me again.
I stagger but stay upright, knowing I’ll fight to the end. For her.
"STOP."
The sound is louder than almost anything I’ve ever heard—certainly from a human.
It hits the road like the strongest magic, reverberating off the asphalt and sending the wolves to the ground.
I watch as Reyhan tries to stand, tries to fight it, but when she repeats the scream, the talismans around his neck, all three of them, shatter.
The sound echoes around the trees as the magic escapes the discs, and Reyhan howls in frustration as he falls to his knees.
I feel the moment she falls silent, and then the pressure drops enough for me to move.
I lunge forward, taking Reyhan down as my strength completely gives way.
Ethan and Connor are there in a second, dragging Reyhan out from under me, and I’m dimly aware of the fight that finishes him as everything grows dark and the voices of concern are the last thing I hear before my wolf gives way.
"Lara," I say, but my voice doesn't even sound like mine; everything feels wet and broken, and I know the tear in my throat is bad.
"Wilf…" I hear her voice distantly, but I can’t reply.
I hear the commotion of others arriving next to me and Lara’s voice as her hands settle in my fur.
“He’s dying,” she sobs, “do something, you’ve got to do something.”
More voices, more movement as someone rolls me onto my side, and I feel them packing my wound.
“Lara,” Luna says, “give us a chance to work.”
“He can heal,” Dylan is saying.
“Is it a through-and-through?” Nick is asking.
I try to nod, but I’m still incapacitated. I just want to reach for her and tell her I’m going to be ok. I can feel my wolf healing, and I want to reassure her, but it’s taking too long. The Cheslem dark magic corrupts everything it touches and can block healing.
"Wilf, please…don’t leave me." She says, tears lining every word. I can feel her hands shaking, and I try to lift my hand to hers.
I’m vaguely aware of Luna and Anya sitting next to me and chanting something, and the dark magic seems to recede, allowing the healing to speed up. Lara grips my fur harder and whispers, “I love you, Wilf, please don’t leave me. Just stay.”
I feel the exact moment I regain use of my arms and instantly reach for her, pulling her closer. She buries her head against me, not even caring as I begin the painful shift back to human form. She lifts her hair and looks amazed as she gasps, tears filling my eyes.
“W-Wilf,” she cries, “are you ok? Your throat.”
I don’t care about any of that; I only care about telling her everything I should have told her long before now. Not hiding, not pretending. Just the truth.
"Lara," I say, my voice still weak but determined to be heard. "I love you. I should have told you ages ago. I knew it, but I didn’t want to believe it. I looked for all the reasons it wouldn’t work when it was actually the simplest thing in the world, and I think I knew it right from the moment I met you. "
She makes a small, broken sound against my forehead, and I think for one awful moment she’s going to take it all back, and she was only talking out of shock. I brace myself for the rejection.
"I love you," she says, on a shaking breath. "Wilf, I love you. I should have told you I was too stuck on what I thought was true to believe my own heart. I'm so sorry."
"Lara…"
"I love you," she says again, like she's checking it lands. "Tell me you’re going to be ok?"
"I’ll heal," I tell her. "I’ll be ok, Lara. I love you."
I close my eyes for a second with her forehead on mine, her hands on the wound at my chest, and her tears wet on my cheek, and my wolf, who has been pacing in me since the lottery a month ago, finally feels satisfied.
I realize we’re still surrounded by my pack, who have mostly moved away to give us privacy, but Luna crouches down beside us.
"Wilf, you need to lie still for me, please," she says quietly. "Your wolf is doing the work and doing it fast, but you need to let him finish before you move. Lara, you don't have to move. You don't have to do anything. Stay where you are. He's not going anywhere, and neither are you."
"Madelina…the witch," I start.
"Gone, Wilf," Luna tells me. "She ran when things got difficult. Anya can't track her through the cloaking, and the road's been searched. But we’ll find her. We’ll deal with all that later."
I don't argue, not because I don’t care, but because I know the others are on that.
Right now, the only thing that matters is the woman who has just sunk into my arms on the dirty floor.
My mate. The mate who hasn’t rejected me, the one who doesn’t know about lotteries or shifter magic. She just knows me. She has chosen me.
I close my eyes and let myself have the moment, my arms wrapped around Lara and my wolf healing, in more ways than one.