Chapter 47 Olivia
FORTY-SEVEN
Olivia
Lucien grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me behind him, gesturing for me to crouch down, stay hidden. I did as he asked, not wanting to distract him or draw unwanted attention to our position.
I wasn’t sure what I’d seen up the hill—only a flash of dark blue, gone too quickly for me to process. Lucien was an alpha, though, with sharper senses. Hopefully, he’d sense that it was just one of the maidens, out for a midday stroll.
Surely that was all it was. We’d been gone from the enclave for weeks; anyone who would just sit around here and wait for that long needed to find something better to do with their lives.
Everything burst into motion at once. Gray wolves barreled down the hill toward us, weaving between the trees at top speed. Too many to count.
I held out hope for one second that they were friendly, and then their scents hit me like a tsunami. Strangers! my wolf shouted in my mind, clawing for freedom.
I let her have it, terrified as she burst from my skin. But Lucien was faster, and by the time my paws hit the ground, he’d already shifted and darted forward, meeting the intruders a dozen feet from me. Trying to protect me even now, when we were sorely outnumbered.
But there were too many of them, and he was alone.
I was a terrible fighter, but the least I could do was guard one of his flanks so the wolves couldn’t attack him from that side.
Our allies were nearby; surely they’d hear the scuffle and come running to help any minute, or feel the attack through Lucien’s pack bond. We just had to hang on until then.
With a plan in mind, my wolf charged forward, snarling and snapping at anyone who came too close to Lucien’s flank.
But as more and more wolves surrounded us and no help appeared on the horizon, they pressed in closer, their attacks more vicious with more pack mates behind them.
One of them grabbed my back leg, snapping it between his teeth.
I couldn’t hold back a howl of pain, and Lucien’s wolf roared his fury as he turned and ripped out my attacker’s throat.
Even though his lifeless jaws dropped from my leg, it was too late. My leg was broken, dangling uselessly. The break meant I could no longer dodge attacks effectively, and Lucien couldn’t protect both of us from an entire pack alone. Where the hell was everyone else?
Howls lit up the woods in every direction, and that was the moment it sank in.
Help wasn’t coming because they were all fighting for their lives too. We’d been ambushed by the Hungarian pack.
My movements were slow, and Lucien, Goddess, he fought for me like a wolf possessed by a thousand and one demons. More wolves fell between his teeth than I could count.
But I was drifting, pain and my injury slowing me down, and more and more gashes were ripped into my sides as Lucien slowly lost the war. My blood puddled beneath me, and my healer instincts kicked in.
This had to end before someone gutted me or ripped out my throat. They were content to toy with and torture me now, but for how long? Lucien’s wolf cut them down with startling ferocity, and eventually, they’d stop playing games.
Three short, sharp barks, and the wolves surrounding us fell back, forming up in a closed circle. There was no escape, but they weren’t actively attacking.
I swayed on my feet, the blood loss really starting to get me.
Drip, drip, drip.
My life force, draining away faster than my wolf could close the wounds, though she was trying. I needed to shift back to help the healing speed up, but as I stared out at the males circling us, I knew that was a bad idea.
So many of their eyes were on me, and it confused me. My thoughts floated slowly to the mark on my palm, and it suddenly made sense. That was why they’d been distracted enough for Lucien to take them out. My scent…
They didn’t want me dead. They wanted me too weak to fight, and the realization was horrifying.
I whimpered, and Lucien pressed himself to my side, snarling defiantly at the males who would snatch me away from him. But before he could charge again, the circle parted.
Petró Fucking Varga himself, Alpha of the Hungarian wolves pack that he’d set on us like we were prey.
“What do we have here but a little escapee and… his latest piece of ass?” Varga turned, directing the question at the two men over his shoulder, also walking in human form.
I didn’t recognize them, but when Lucien saw them, he snarled, surging forward so fast, I nearly collapsed into the dirt from the loss of his support.
He realized that and came back, propping me up with his shoulder, even though he continued glaring at one of the two followers. One was tall, broad, and proud. The other was shorter, but, more than that, crueler. From his glare to the way he carried himself, hatred practically oozed from his pores.
“Nah, this fucker doesn’t keep a bitch for more than four hours.
He wears ’em out and lets ’em go. Apparently, they like it like that.
Understandable these days, given…” The awful man pointed to his face, clearly mocking Lucien’s scar, and that made me want to lunge, rip his throat out for daring to mock my mate.
Was this the man who’d tortured him?
I cocked my head and looked at Lucien, studying his lupine features, and thought it must be. His single-minded focus on the man was personal.
Even so, I wasn’t expecting Lucien to shift back to human form, right there in the middle of all those enemies.
“This is just like you, Petró. Too cowardly to fight your own battles, so you send others to do it for you. Get a good look.” He waved to his scar, turning his face from side to side so all gathered could see it.
“This is what happens when Petró Varga lets his bastard brother get hold of you. Well, I say, if you’re going to lead a pack, you need to be man enough to do your own dirty work. ”
Petró scoffed, but I saw the way he looked around at the gathered wolves, the way they all shuffled on their feet, ears perked up as they took in the accusation. “I do my own dirty work. You just weren’t important enough to bother with.”
Howls that felt like jeers went up all around us, and answering calls echoed eerily from all over the woods, reminding me of our pack mates fighting their own battles. Goddess save us all.
My vision was growing hazy around the edges, and I blinked rapidly to clear it. A few more minutes, and I wouldn’t be able to hold my shift anymore. My injuries should all close up and stop the blood loss as soon as I was back in my skin, but then I’d be a naked invitation to any of these shifters.
Hang on, please hang on, I begged my wolf, and to her credit, she snarled and fought back against the exhaustion. She drew strength from Lucien’s wolf, I was sure of it. Otherwise, I’d already be shifted to human and unconscious.
“I’m so glad to hear you say that,” Lucien said with a vicious imitation of a smile. “Because I challenge you, Petró Varga, the Alpha of the Hungarian pack.”
The clearing fell silent, every wolf attuned to the challenge.
Varga only had two choices, really. Accept the challenge and fight Lucien to the death, or step down and cede control of his father’s pack to an outsider.
There was only one acceptable choice.
“I accept your challenge. And I will piss on your corpse and then fuck your sidepiece right next to it in the dirt when I’m done with you.”
Lucien smiled a deadly smile that sent chills down my spine. “You can try.”
Fear filled my heart as my limbs started to shake. I had to leave the circle before the fight started, but the second I did, I was going to lose my shift. I backed away from Varga and then stopped, realizing there was nowhere safe for me to go while Lucien was occupied.
The second I moved, though, he was there, holding me up.
“It’s going to be okay, Olivia. Once I win, I’m in control, and I can call off this attack.
It’s the only way. I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise.
Be strong for me, hellcat, okay?” he leaned down and whispered, my sensitive hearing picking up the promises easily in this form.
I whimpered as I dipped my muzzle in a nod, but I had to try.
Lucien straightened, turning back to the gathered wolves. “I want your personal guarantee that no matter the outcome of this fight, you’ll protect my pack mate. This fight isn’t for females, and she shouldn’t suffer for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
It stung to hear him call me his pack mate instead of his mate, mate. But it was probably wise. If they knew what I was to him… they wouldn’t take it easier on me. To my surprise, it wasn’t Varga who answered. It was the taller man behind him.
“I swear on my honor that no further harm shall come to this female by the hands of my pack this day. And on my honor as second of the Hungarian Pack, there will be no interference.” The man nodded gravely, then waved me over.
The wolves between us stepped aside, clearly accepting his word as law too, which meant he had to be well respected by his pack.
Lucien picked me up carefully and carried me to the man’s side, kissing the top of my muzzle before setting me down, turning back, and stepping into the ring of bloodthirsty shifters.
He was bruised and scraped and bloody, but even naked and wounded, he held himself proudly, like the Lucien I met the first time, who had the whole world in the palm of his hand.
The man at my side watched me with a frown, instead of the fight.
He squatted at my side, making it easier for me to take in his dark, handsome features up close.
He was a stunning alpha, but I felt no attraction.
“My name is Valens, little female. Are you close to your heat? Your scent… It will be a struggle to keep the others away from you, but I have given my word. I will guard you as I guard my own sister.”
I shook my head no, the best I could manage, and tucked his name away for later. I wanted to ask Lucien why he trusted this stranger, though it seemed he’d made the best choice available.
Petró had already shucked off most of his clothing. Lucien stood with his arms crossed, staring at his torturer.
He pointed at the cruel man, a deadly promise in his eyes. “You’re next after I take out your piss-poor Alpha.”
I scented the fury rolling off the other male, and resisted the urge to cower away. Only the fact that it hurt to breathe, let alone move, kept me still. Doing my best to ignore it all, I focused on Lucien, willing him to win with every last scrap of rapidly waning energy in my body.
The two males in the center of the ring shifted, and the last sight I saw as my own shift overtook me was Lucien barreling into Petró, taking him down to the ground.