Chapter 24
Twenty-Four
Bel kept his hands shoved in the pockets of his new coat as he walked beside Wyatt through the woods.
Spring was only a few days away, but it would be at least another month before they started to see moderately warm temperatures at night.
For now, the ground was still frozen under their boots while the surrounding flora continued to slumber.
A bird angrily cawed from its perch, followed by a flutter of wings.
River turned around from where he walked on the other side of Wyatt, searching for the culprit only to smile when the raven gracefully dropped onto Bel’s shoulder.
The damn bird grabbed a lock of hair in his beak and pulled.
When he released Bel, he cawed loudly again.
“Yes, I understand that you’re angry. I told you I was fine. We got out safely,” Bel grumbled.
“Ozzie upset?” Wyatt asked. There was a hint of amusement in his voice, and Bel groaned.
“He’s not happy that I didn’t check in enough following the fire,” Bel explained.
Lifting a hand, he rubbed fingers across Ozzie’s chest in a reassuring caress.
It was touching that Ozzie had been concerned about him, but they had been together for several years now.
The disgruntled bird settled and even rubbed his head against Bel’s fingers once.
“Okay, now. Enough of your nonsense. We’ve got work to do. Stay hidden and keep an eye on things for me,” Bel instructed.
Ozzie cawed once, then launched himself off Bel’s shoulder.
He easily glided up to a tree branch and took flight again, disappearing into the inky darkness.
Bel wanted to call more animals to his side to be his eyes, ears, and claws in the coming fight, but he didn’t want to risk their lives or add more complications to what was coming.
The fight was largely on Wyatt’s shoulders. He had to locate and challenge Albert in front of the pack. He had to fight Albert on his own and win.
And under no circumstances could Bel use his gift to control animals. Particularly when it came to the wolves. Everyone was afraid that the shifters would see it as a direct threat and a declaration of war on the part of the vampires.
There was a part of Bel that very much wanted to say, “Fuck it all.” He didn’t want anyone laying a hand on his Wyatt and River. And if that meant using his powers to control all the wolves in the pack, so be it.
It was the same damn reason the rest of the Varik clan wasn’t there by their sides.
Vampires appearing for a challenge to the pack alpha would definitely be categorized as interfering on the part of vampires.
Only Bel could get away with staying by Wyatt and River because Albert had struck first by attacking his house.
“Wyatt, you know that I love you, right?” Bel started. His hands were back in his pockets and fisted at his sides.
“I hear a but in there,” Wyatt teased.
Okay, Bel more than loved the man if he could hold on to his sense of humor while Bel was struggling against a swelling sense of panic and helplessness.
“But I really feel that this isn’t the strongest plan we could have come up with.”
River snorted. “He’s saying your plan sucks.”
“Yes, I got that,” Wyatt replied blandly. “What would a vampire prefer to do?”
“Probably sneak in and rip Albert’s fucking throat out,” River continued in a low voice.
It didn’t sound great, but it had been along the lines of what Bel had been thinking. Or maybe use his secret formula to turn Albert into a popping, hissing pile of goo. Yes, that would have been very nice.
But there was no more formula, and it wouldn’t help keep things under control with the shifters.
“It’s not that I don’t have complete confidence in your skills,” Bel said.
Wyatt reached over and wrapped his hand around Bel’s arm. He squeezed and Bel looked up to find Wyatt smiling at him. “I know. You just don’t want to see me hurt.”
“Yes.” That was everything. He’d do whatever he had to in order to keep Wyatt from feeling an ounce of pain.
“Love you too,” Wyatt whispered. “Love you both.”
“Don’t!” River snapped. “We’re getting through this and getting our lives back.” River’s voice was hard and unyielding, as if he could simply will his wishes into existence.
Before any of them could add to River’s statement, there was a soft noise ahead of them.
Bel had felt their presence for the past couple of minutes.
He’d sensed them first as wolves, and then it was more of a reaction of the other animals in the woods.
Humans. They read more like dangerous blank spaces.
Animals avoided them, gave them a wide berth if it was possible.
They stopped walking, waiting for the shifters to approach. According to the directions Casey had given them, they were less than a quarter of a mile from the pack town. Guards were expected. People loyal only to Albert.
A naked man stepped past a particularly large tree with a wolf at his side.
Bel could feel the presence of two more wolves close by, attempting to circle around them from behind.
Tension and anger radiated from River, but there was only a sense of calm coming from Wyatt along with a deeper feeling of purpose and determination.
Nothing was going to deter Wyatt from his chosen course.
“You’re trespassing on pack lands,” the man snarled.
“Like your people trespassed on vampire lands,” River shot back.
Wyatt placed a restraining hand on River’s shoulder, but his voice was even. “I’m here to challenge Albert.”
The man barked out an ugly laugh. “You have no right to challenge our alpha.”
“Besides my right as a werewolf to challenge another, Albert also ordered members of the pack to trespass on vampire land, attacked our home, and threatened our lives. I’m well within my rights to challenge the alpha.”
The mocking laughter left the shifter’s face and he just sneered at Wyatt. “Fucking abominations have no rights.”
“And only cowards hide from their challengers.”
“Albert will meet your challenge in front of the pack. The only problem is that you have to make it to the pack square first.”
The low growling rumble from the wolves grew louder as they crept toward them, circling them so there was no escape. Bel remained calm as he watched the wolves. He gave a small nod and he waited. A couple of seconds later, the wolves yelped softly and fell over.
The human stumbled back a step in horror, his wide eyes darting from one limp wolf to the other.
“Wh-what? What did you do?” He barely got the sentence out before a dart was lodged in his neck.
Grabbing at it, he plucked it out and held it in front of him, but Bel doubted he actually saw what was in his hand.
His eyes had already glazed over as he collapsed to the ground in a heap.
With an excited giggle, Bel hurried over to the man and placed two fingers to his neck. His pulse was slow but steady.
“Holy shit, Bel,” River breathed.
“I know! That worked even better than I’d hoped.”
“This is what you’ve been working on for the past two nights?” Wyatt asked.
Bel nodded as he hurried over to one of the wolves, checking its pulse as well.
“Since I couldn’t use my banned formula, I needed to cook up something else to give us a tiny advantage.
We knew the guards would attempt to attack and kill you on the way to the town, which isn’t fair in the least. You should be allowed to challenge Albert without being injured first.”
“Like we can expect Albert to be fair at all,” River grumbled.
Bel felt a slight relief that the wolf’s pulse was strong and steady as well.
“This is just a tranquilizer. I made calculations based on what I was able to discover about your metabolism. The potency is somewhere between what you’d use for a male Kodiak bear and a teen black rhino.
Since it didn’t stop their heart immediately, I think we’ve got at least an hour, maybe two before they wake up. ”
Standing again, Bel made a thumbs up and turned in place. He could feel his brothers close by, hiding in the woods. No, the Variks couldn’t directly take part in the challenge of Albert, but they could make sure things stayed fair until they got to the town.
Wyatt’s hand shot out and wrapped around the back of Bel’s neck. He pulled the vampire in close, and Bel melted against his chest, loving the rough kiss. He could taste Wyatt’s worry and fear, but it was mixed in with his confidence and unwavering love.
“My mad scientist,” Wyatt murmured.
“I might hate your plan, but I will use all my scientific knowledge to make sure you stay safe.”
“You think this stuff would work on vampires?” River teased.
Bel huffed and reluctantly stepped away from Wyatt. “I don’t know. My brothers wouldn’t let me test it on them.”
River’s wonderful laughter rang out, and they continued toward the town. He had a feeling that River wanted to use the stuff on him, leaving him behind to the relative safety of Marcus’s house and the rest of the vampire clan. But Bel was not leaving their sides.
They walked on for another quarter of a mile. Three more wolves threatened them when Wyatt announced his plans to openly challenge Albert. And three more wolves fell to tranquilizer darts.
At the edge of the town, he felt a surge of rage and helplessness from Rafe.
His twin hated this plan nearly as much as Bel did.
He did not want to be left behind, but there was no way he could enter the werewolf town without causing even bigger problems. From here, the rest of the Variks would have to fall back.
Well, all of them except for Winter.
The little game in Marcus’s woods proved that Winter could use his power to sneak undetected into the town. Wyatt had reluctantly agreed to his presence so long as the vampire promised that his only job was to get Bel out safely if things went horribly wrong.