8. Nate
NATE
The growls of the alphas surrounding me are so loud I can barely track the progress of my car as it carries Cas away to safety. My wolf wants to follow them, get to them before the others can. Letting them go was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
Until now.
A couple wolves I recognise—Rabbie and Patrick—are lying on the ground, badly injured from throwing themselves at my house. Another lies prone in the road.
I’m left facing off with the same trio of alphas who’ve been making my life hell since I was a teenager. As I shift into my wolf, my leg twinges as it always does.
Twenty years ago, I hadn’t fought back. I’d taken my punishment, let Declan maim me in exchange for letting Seth off the hook. I’ve lived with my sacrifice ever since.
As I ready myself to fight Harry, Graham and Keir, I wonder if this time it will be a sacrifice I won’t regret.
Just as I think they’re about to attack in tandem, they all break into a sprint, chasing after the Range Rover like they would prey.
My car is fast, but Kato’s not an experienced driver on these roads.
One mistake and he could end up careening off the road and getting stuck in a ditch, Cas ripe and ready for the taking.
I can’t let them tear the omega apart, so I give chase.
Whatever Cas’s heat is doing, it’s distracting them from making smart decisions.
That, or my packmates are stupid enough to ignore the threat—me—at their backs.
Their desperate pants fill the air, the exertion from throwing themselves at my door and windows having winded them enough that it’s not hard for me to catch up.
I go for Harry first—he’s the slowest of the three, the easiest target. I nip at his heels, tripping him and sending him sprawling with a yelp of surprise, a brown blur disappearing into the darkness.
I take a swipe at Graham, catching him with my claws and drawing blood. He turns towards me with a growl, teeth gnashing and spit flying. His skidding halt gives me no option than to barrel into him, sending us both crashing to the ground, claws tearing into flesh as we fight for dominance.
My adrenaline is high, the pain of his swipes barely registering. All I can focus on is keeping my face and neck out of reach of his snapping fangs. Rather than fighting Graham on the ground, the second I get my feet under me I’m off like a shot, Keir in my sights.
He’s the fastest, already well ahead. I don’t think he’ll be able to catch Kato and Cas in the car, but he’ll follow their trail right to the cabin if I don’t stop him.
Ignoring the ache building in my leg, I push myself to my limit.
The road is the perfect running track, and I’m more coordinated than Keir.
His only drive is to hunt, whereas mine is to protect.
A few more seconds and I have him within striking distance, fortified by the knowledge that I’m stopping him from pursuing Cas.
I leap for Keir, my claws digging into his flanks like a lion taking down a gazelle—he’s the prey here tonight, not Cas. Keir howls as we both hit the ground hard, and I let out a hiss of pain as I tumble over the gravel at the side of the road.
I lie there for a few seconds, catching my breath. Keir is close, doing the same, letting out low, mournful moans. His eyes flash bright when he turns my way, teeth bared in a feral snarl.
Not wanting to be caught on the back foot, I rise. I try not to show how much my leg is screaming at me, or how my side is rubbed raw, but I’m not sure how effective my efforts are. The scent of our blood mingles in the air.
Keir growls, puffing himself up. I realise why he looks so smug when I clock the thud of footfalls behind me—multiple sets, coming fast. Keir waits me out, the two of us barely moving as Harry and Graham rejoin the fray. They surround me and I struggle to keep an eye on all of them at once.
This is when I’m going to die. Part of me is okay with that—the part of me that’s been alone for so long it can’t believe I’d have a shot at love.
The other part of me—the larger part—isn’t going down without a fight, because I want that chance with Cas. And something else, loudly making itself known in the back of my mind.
Kato. How he stares at me when he thinks I’m not looking. How he reaches out to touch me whenever he can get away with it. How his smell mingles with mine and complements Cas’s snowdrop scent.
My wolf is raring to go, his blood boiling with excited rage. He wants to rip and to tear and to defend my ma—
No. Not yet. They could be, though. My wolf let Kato take Cas. Not just that, urged him to. And if the two of them end up together, part of me is fine with that too. I can’t deny that they deserve to be happy, deserve to bond, deserve to survive.
Maybe I don’t belong with them the way I think I do. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to fight for it anyway.
When my packmates attack, Keir goes straight for me—head-on, no pretence. He aims for my eyes, but I duck out of reach. Keir’s rage and pride have caused him to make a fatal mistake—exposing his throat to me.
I don’t hesitate. My jaws snap around the exposed flesh, and his hot blood hits my tongue. I don’t revel in it, though I can’t deny the rush it gives me. Muscle tears. Tendons rip. I throw Keir to the side, his last rasping breaths barely audible above the pulse pounding in my ears.
As he dies, Graham strikes. He’s smarter than Keir—he goes for my right, the side of my bad leg where I’m weakest, sinking his teeth into the already damaged tissue.
Pain ricochets through my body as I go down, momentarily dazed from the impact.
It’s only the call of mate-protect-mate that keeps me conscious.
Which—if I think about it too hard—makes no sense. Cas isn’t my mate.
I think I want him to be, though.
But that’s not going to happen if I lose this fight. So I whip around, biting at the meat of Graham’s shoulder. He leaps out of reach, but before I can give chase I catch a flash of fur in my peripheral. I only have a split second to prepare before Harry barrels into me, using his bulk to pin me.
As Harry and I fight for the upper hand, Graham growls and nips at me—unluckily for Harry, Graham doesn’t discriminate with his bites. Tufts of fur scatter into the air as claws and teeth rip and tear. The metallic tang of blood coats my mouth and snout, and I’m bleeding from countless wounds.
A sudden blow to the head blacks out my vision. When I come to, Harry’s on top of me, his jaw about to close over my throat. He gets naught but a mouthful of fur as I roll out from under him and stumble back to my feet.
I brace myself for another attack, legs shaking with exertion.
But a roar splits the air, so loud the very ground seems to quake with it.
My fur stands on end as I face a shifted Declan, spitting mad, teeth and gums flashing as he snarls.
The other alphas, always so quick to defer to him, barely react beyond an annoyed flick of Harry’s ear.
Both his and Graham’s eyes are darker than normal, blown wide and wild, still focused solely on me and uncaring of the new gladiator in the colosseum.
I’m aware, though. And Declan knows it too. Our eyes meet, his glowing a deep red, and a moment of understanding passes between us. I wouldn’t have considered Declan a dependable ally in a fight, but his leadership is on the line here, with two feral alpha wolves on a rampage.
Who knows if they’d stop at Cas? Any omega may be at risk from them.
While Declan doesn’t treat Eden the way I’d treat Cas, our alpha does care for his image.
Having your mated omega forcibly taken would be enough to draw the attention of the shifter council.
Declan would be deposed at best—killed at worst.
To my shock, Declan shifts. One second it’s his massive wolf standing there, the next it’s his towering human form, no less intimidating. “Shift!” he orders—an alpha command. One none of us can ignore.
At least, none of us should be able to. I want to stay in my wolf form for protection, so I resist. The command bounces off me, no more effective than a polite request. The other alphas obey, both shifting back to human.
I’m reeling from my realisation, but shift back moments later.
Better that Declan doesn’t consider my staying in wolf form a challenge.
I can consider what this means later. Right now I need to play the game.
My bones creak and snap as the shift takes over my body.
It helps to heal some of my more shallow wounds, but the deeper ones remain, seeping blood and leaving rivers of red streaked over my body.
Declan stares at me, eyes widening. My delay didn’t go unnoticed.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen him surprised before; I wouldn’t have considered him capable of such an emotion.
Even when I was a wee pup, Declan was untouchable—a shifter to fear.
Larger than the rest of us—including his own brother, Kato’s alpha sire.
He must’ve gone to Alaska to start his own pack knowing he could never challenge Declan for this one and win. He was more powerful, utterly ruthless.
Declan opens his mouth, but before he can speak, Eden—instantly recognisable thanks to his ashy fur—comes into view, followed closely by Adrian’s familiar splotchy wolf.
They shift as they get closer, skidding to a halt when Declan throws out a quelling hand.
Tears streak Eden’s face as he looks worriedly between us.
Adrian comes up behind him, throwing his arms around Eden, stopping him from getting any closer.
Graham makes a noise that’s far too close to one of interest. I snarl a warning at him, not liking the gleam in his eyes as he takes in the omegas.
“Why are you here?” Declan barks at Eden. “I told you to stay at home.” He glares at his mate before turning to Adrian. “You couldn’t have stopped him?”
“I’m not his keeper,” Adrian retorts. “Nor are you, for that matter.”
“Who’s dead?” Eden whispers, gaze fixed on the furry form lying on the road.
“It’s Keir,” I say, my voice deep and gravelly. “He’d gone feral, like the others. It was him or me,” I tell Declan.
The alpha, however, just stares at me in silence, his face a blank mask. I wonder if I imagined the surprise I saw earlier.
“Arsehole deserved it, then,” Adrian spits. Good to know at least one shifter in the pack believes so.
“Graham, Harry,” Declan commands, “go back to your homes. Now.”
They dutifully follow the instruction, limping and groaning as they walk back towards the village.
Declan turns to Eden and Adrian. “What the actual fuck do you think you’re doing?”
Adrian glares back at him, uncowed. “You—” he starts, but Eden cuts in.
“My instincts told me to follow you,” he says, eyes wide and glassy.
Privately, I think Eden’s instincts are pretty fucked if they tell him to run after his alpha when others are rampaging.
The omegas are dangling themselves out here like fresh meat, and I don’t trust Graham or Harry not to take a bite.
Declan must feel the same way, because he stalks towards the omegas before the other alphas can get near, putting himself between them.
I take everyone’s mutual distraction as an opportunity. “Nobody follow me to the cabin,” I say loudly, “or you might end up like Keir.”
“Don’t even think about it,” Declan snaps. “You know I have to approve every mating in the pack.”
I shrug, sending jolts of pain through my shoulders. “I’ll do whatever needs doing.”
Declan’s nostrils flare. “Killing a packmate in self-defence is one thing. Disobeying a direct order from your alpha? I’ll have your head for this.”
I ignore him and shift into my wolf.
“Nathan!” Declan barks, but I’m off, racing towards my cabin. Towards Cas and Kato.
Towards a potential future I almost lost.
I don’t think too hard about how I resisted Declan’s command, or how I just killed another shifter I’ve known my entire life. All I can focus on is the pain in my body as I run, and how getting to Cas and Kato will soothe it. My wolf is crying out for them and I won’t ignore the call.
I just hope I’m not too late, and Kato hasn’t done exactly what the other alphas were trying to do.
Because getting more blood on my hands isn’t how I intend to spend the rest of the night.