Chapter 19
Silas
When I find the wolves that kidnapped Junie, I’m going to kill them all. There’s no part of me that wants to save them or offer mercy. These rogue wolves have caused enough problems, and after today, I’m going to do everything in my power to put a stop to this.
If I need to send Fran and five pack members to every side of the north to root out the bad wolves, I will. Hell, I’ll go my goddamn self.
The wolves that took Junie are smart. But, they aren’t smarter than me. They attempted to cover their tracks, but they were sloppy. And by the looks of it, Junie is bleeding and putting up a fight.
I stop in a clearing a mile out from our cabins to find streaks of blood on the trunks of surrounding trees.
They might have cleared the blood from the snow, but you can’t do the same to a tree if you’re in a hurry.
Since they took Junie, they must smell me on her and with that information, they won’t linger in one place for too long.
I keep walking. I won’t shift unless absolutely necessary.
I have two knives on me, one on my waist and one on my thigh.
Jake should be close behind with whoever he can gather on short notice to help.
The rogue wolves must know how thin we are spread because otherwise they wouldn’t dare travel this close to our territory, knowing how much muscle we have.
Thankfully, wolves have great hearing, and I’m able to make out laughter half a mile out. I pause, letting the conversation carry through the wind, trying to discern if this is the group that has Junie or something else.
There are four, no, five voices. I’m too far to hear the full extent of their chatter, but it sounds like they are planning a way to use Junie to get to me.
One voice is louder than the rest, bragging about how easy it will be to bring her to the edge of our camp and use her at bait.
They have no idea they won’t be alive after today.
I close my eyes and breathe, taking one final moment to harness all my strength before I ambush them.
For as long as I’ve been Alpha, this part never gets easier. I don’t enjoy taking out my kind, nor do I want anyone to be at risk of injury because of me. I steady myself and try to push the guilt out of my mind.
This is my fault. If I had stayed in the cabin, talked to her, or at least not treated Junie like a fucking asshole, this would have gone differently.
I’d like to say I was shocked when the mate bond hit me, but I wasn’t really.
It’s almost like it was hidden by an extremely thin sheet but was still glaringly obvious.
Something did change this morning, though.
Once she came into the kitchen smelling like mine, my world turned upside down.
Here she was. My mate. Standing in the kitchen, staring at me like I was the best thing to happen to her.
She was oblivious to my internal dilemma, and at the time, I didn’t want to try to explain things to her.
I wanted to spare both of us the heartbreak, but maybe that’s selfish.
Either way, this is still my fault.
These rogue wolves are going to pay for taking what’s mine.
I jog, then break into a sprint, letting the voices from the group guide me. When I’m close, I slow down to hide, wanting the element of surprise. I nearly pass out from the pain emanating from Junie before I spot her.
She’s strung up in a tree like an animal, and at first I almost can’t tell if she’s alive.
Her head is tilted to the side at an unnatural angle.
She’s unconscious, but she’s breathing. There’s blood.
So much blood. They left her coat on, thankfully, so frostbite is unlikely at this point, but her pants are completely soaked through with snow.
There’s a deep gash on her forehead, a split in her lip, and maybe bruising on her cheek.
That’s not counting any injury hidden beneath her clothes.
A low growl nearly escapes my lips as I take in the wounds.
If I wasn’t sure before, I am now. I’m going to kill these motherfuckers.
I was right—there are five wolves. I don’t care who they are, who the leader is, nothing. All I care about is getting Junie down from the tree where they hung her and taking the life of every wolf that laid a goddamn hand on her.
I’m getting ready to jump out when one of them speaks.
“Well, well, well. Look who decided to join us. I have to admit, you’re earlier than I predicted.”
I growl and walk into the clearing, letting the wolves see the rage in me. If the packs were joined already, they’d have a harder time with this because it can be extremely painful to go against an Alpha. Our command would be too strong for most.
“Hello, Alpha, it’s nice to see you,” another wolf says, stalking forward. He must be the leader. Everyone else stays back, letting him take the lead on where this is going.
My eyes shift back to Junie. “You have five seconds to get my mate down from that tree.”
“Ah, mate, huh? We can’t do that.” The leader shrugs.
“Five.”
He laughs like he doesn’t believe me.
“Four.” I add a sigh for good measure.
“You don’t think you can take on five wolves, do you?”
I grab the knife at my waist and give it a twirl. “Three.”
The leader takes a step back.
“Two.”
The rogues behind their leader make eye contact as they come to realize there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to get back what’s mine.
“One.” I smile and wait to see if they make a move first. I have to plan my actions before I go into this fight headfirst because without Jake here, there is a chance I’ll be overpowered too quickly. I’m deciding not to shift, knowing that if I were injured, it would be hell to shift back.
The leader chuckles. “See, guys…” He turns his head back to his crew. “He’s the Alpha and he won’t even—”
I throw my knife, landing it in his thigh before I run toward him.
The fight begins.
Two of the wolves flank Junie, guarding her from me.
That leaves three for me to take out.
Easy enough, right?
There’s a wolf charging at me with a tactical dagger. Poor guy never stood a chance. I duck, grab the knife from my thigh, and shove it upward into his stomach, making contact with his heart.
One gone. Four left.
Another wolf screams and comes at me with reckless abandon, managing to slice my upper arm. It’s deep, but it doesn’t hit anything major. Did it have to be my primary arm, though? Fuck. Jake had better get here soon.
I double back, pulling the knife out of his friend, then jumping on the wolf’s back. He tries to fight me off, but I’m stronger.
I’m the fucking Alpha.
My knife makes contact with his throat, and he’s gone before he’s able to scream again.
Two gone. Three left.
I turn to fight the leader, but he’s not where I expect him to be. He now stands in front of Junie, while the two wolves that were there before size me up.
They come at me at the same time, but I throw my knife at the chest of one of them, slowing him down enough to punch the other. I’m without a blade, but that hasn’t stopped me before.
I’m worried for a moment; I can’t keep going like this forever. Where is my pack? Jake’s sudden arrival distracts me momentarily, and I scream as a blade slices into my gut and up toward my heart.
It’s not enough to kill me, yet, but it’s enough to take me out of the fight.
“No!”
Junie. That’s Junie screaming.
My eyes are heavy, but I manage to see a glimpse of her. She’s pulling against her restraints, and I want to tell her it’ll be okay. I want to tell her I’m so sorry for all the harm I caused.
Jake and the others clash with fists and daggers.
We don’t use guns on the mountain to avoid an avalanche, which I’m thankful for.
This could have been much more deadly if someone pulled out a more destructive weapon.
My eyes are drifting shut again, and Junie still screams. She’s begging me to stand.
I try to open my mouth, but blood pools in my throat, nearly causing me to choke on it.
The last thing I hear is Junie screaming, “You can’t die. Our fight isn’t over.” Then, my eyes close, and I’m lost to a sea of blackness.