122. Orion
Orion
Alog pops in the fireplace. And I open my eyes.
The low flames flicker orange illumination around the room.
Lifting my head from the back of the chair, I rub a hand down my face. “Fuck me.”
The damned hunting dreams are getting worse. And if I don’t get a full night’s sleep soon…
I lean forward, and the old chair groans with me.
Shifter healing means I shouldn’t wake up sore. But the last few weeks have been different.
My muscles feel tight. My joints seem to protest every move I make. Even my bones ache. Every one of them.
I’m the Alpha of Argus Pack. And whatever is going on with me is making me feel about a century older than I am.
I stare into the fireplace.
I should talk to Grandmother.
Exhaling, I brace myself for letting the pack in. Because that’s gotten harder too. Keeping everyone’s emotions out of my head.
It’s a power given only to alphas. Feeling their pack’s emotions. For better or worse. I know when my pack is happy. I know when they’re not. And I know if someone is feeling murderous.
Hardly evidence that could be used in a human court of law.
But we aren’t human.
And I am the law.
Another log pops in the fire.
The thing is… I’ve been feeling more than my pack’s emotions.
I’ve been feeling a lot more.
I close my eyes and picture the chains in my mind, holding it all back.
A distant howl breaks through the night.
My eyes snap open.
And I break the chains.
Anguish. Fear. Rage.
I grunt at the force of the emotions that slam into me and stagger to my feet.
It’s not coming from one of my pack. But it’s coming from a wolf. So they’re mine.
I try to sift through the feelings, but they’re just emotions. I can’t tell what happened.
The howl comes again. Closer.
Then another. A different wolf. My second-in-command.
My bare feet are quiet on the wood floor as I run from my study toward the front door, wearing only boxers. And I step out onto the front porch as Asher’s gray wolf breaks through the tree line.
“What happened?”
My second shifts into his human form, never breaking stride. Which is why he’s my second. “A pup has been taken.”
A child.
The emotions pressing against me sharpen. And suddenly make sense.
“When?” I stride down the steps to the grass, the cool evening air refreshing against my skin.
My naked second steps into the moonlight. “Not sure exactly. It happened states away. But the calls for help traveled this way.” To me. “Fake cops. Or real ones. Stole a six-year-old boy from his parents’ car during a bogus traffic stop.”
The one convenient thing about being plagued by all these emotions that aren’t mine is that I have a lot of emotions to choose from. Because if I pick one, I can amplify it.
Like rage.
“The parents?” My voice thickens into a growl.
“Drugged but alive.”
“Has to be the same group that keeps going after The Warrior. They’ll use the pup to draw him out.”
“But they took a shifter, not a vamp.”
“That won’t matter to Vameer.” I have yet to meet him, but I’m certain it’s true. Because it’s true for Volik. And it’s true for me.
We fight this war together. Or we all lose. It’s as simple as that.
“How are you going to find him?” Asher asks as I shove my boxers down my hips.
“Through his brother.” I point a finger at Asher. “No one leaves pack land until I return. Including you.”
“But—”
“Stay alert.” I turn and stride toward the woods.
“We are the pack.” He raises his voice. And I know his fist is against his chest.
The magic of the shift presses against my skin, biting at me to let it out.
My throat is already starting to shift. Not waiting for my command. Turning my voice feral.
“I am the pack.”
I release my hold on my magic.
And my next footstep leaves a paw print in the grass.
At the edge of the forest, I stop. And, lifting my nose to the sky, I howl.
The sound is deep. Low. A warning to my pack. Danger is near.
Then, I run.
Trees blur as I move faster and faster.
Branches break under my weight.
Everything that’s sore as a human is still there as a wolf. But my animal… he doesn’t mind it.
He knows something I don’t.
I leave pack land.
My body flies through the dark.
Fate brought the vampires close to my land. But not close enough.
I focus on the rage.
And I go faster.
My paws barely touch the ground.
I reach the one road that divides the forest.
And I jump it. Ditch to ditch.
When I hit the ground on the other side, I hit it at a sprint.