Page 37

Mark and Jake took down another six, but the goblins who came in next were less enthusiastic about the attack. They shifted about like a wave on the ocean, turning toward the arrival of six wolves to the left of the swarm.

The goblins on the right kept attacking Mark and Jake, slashing, clawing, falling to the ground with a thud. Between the skirmishes and trying to keep track of Jake, Mark tried to get a better glimpse of the wolves joining the fight.

The largest of the pack was snow-white with eyes like ice. He tore a goblin to shreds, then looked up and met Mark's gaze. The wolf nodded to him, a ghost from his past life.

He was supposed to be dead. All of the wolves around him—dead. But Mark also recognized the shaggy gray wolf fightingalongside the white one, the brown and black one ... and the others.

It was impossible for Mark not to recognize them: he'd grown up alongside them.

No way. These were the survivors of his old pack. The ones he thought were dead.

Excitement burned through Mark, and after defeating another goblin, he threw his head back and howled his acknowledgement of them. With the addition of them to the fight, they stood a chance against the massive amount of goblins. The other wolves howled in turn, and with the flow of the fight changing so the goblins focused most of their might on the newcomers, Mark and Jake finally made it to the safe zone around the mansion.

Waiting on the steps, looking terrified, was Jennifer. From here, Mark would make sure nothing broke through to reach her. But he couldn't abandon his pack members, either. So another plan formed in his mind.

He threw his head back, growling at Jake and jerking his head up toward the light rays firing down at the goblins. A bunch of them weren't firing as often as they should because the goblins weren't coming close enough, but Jake could go back in and control them.

Jake looked up at the motionless turrets, nodded, and ran off toward the house. Jennifer skittered out of the way as the massive tiger leaped up the steps, barreling through the open doors.

Inside, Arabelle screamed, but Mark knew he could rely on Jake to get the turrets under control. He circled the edge of the safe zone, inching toward the wolves slaughtering the waves of oncoming goblins. On his own, Mark didn't risk just runningin a diagonal line straight for them. Instead, he dragged goblins along the edges right into the zone protected by the turrets, letting them go as soon as he heard thebzzzsound of the light firing.

A few minutes later, and the rest of the turrets activated. Three started firing wildly into the horde furthest from the wolves. Another flashed and glowed with a bright white light before slowly firing a scorching ray of fire in a perfect line, burning up a dozen goblins in its path before puttering out. A third one picked off some of the goblins nearest to Mark, clearing a way toward the other wolves.

Mark tore into more goblins, finally reaching the other wolves who were currently in battle. The white wolf, Ryel, nodded at him again, and they fought alongside each other, clawing and cutting their way through the horde. Mark checked back often to make sure that Jennifer was safe, as winning the fight meant little to him if he made it out of here and she didn't. But by the doors, she was safe from the goblins. In the yard, goblins rushed at the wolves from all directions, but between the wolves and the guns from the mansion, they thinned the tide, and at last, the battle turned in their favor.

When only a dozen or so goblins were left in his immediate vicinity, Mark noticed how the leftovers began their retreat, running off into the trees, terrified of their horrible defeat. Mark and Ryel stayed in the heat of battle, ripping apart the last few treasure goblins.

Axel, Finn, and the other wolves howled and snarled, running off in pursuit of the ones fleeing. Mark wanted to chase after them, too—after coming this far, ten years of waiting for this moment, he wanted to make sure that none of them could come back to haunt him, his pack, or his wife and family ever again.

But he trusted the others to deal with it. He had to make sure Jennifer was okay. Even if she was spared from the brunt of the fight, watching all of this ... not knowing what was going on, it couldn't have been easy.

Mark and Ryel finished off the last of the goblins that stayed behind to fight. The yard smelled like death and unwashed bodies—the signature smell of the goblins. He was breathing heavily from the fight, covered in uncomfortable scratches, but thankfully nothing life-threatening.

Looking out at all the death around him, Mark wasn't proud of how things had turned out. He wished it hadn't needed to be this way. But it was him, his wife, and his friends ... or them.

Next to him, Ryel shook out his fur, gave Mark a knowing look, and then jerked his head up to the stairs, where Jennifer was still waiting.

They had so much to talk about. Mark and his old pack members ... the ones he thought were dead. But Ryel showed with his body language that he was more than happy to wait a couple of minutes.

For now, Mark had to go check on Jennifer.

He ran toward her, slowing as he approached the stone steps and looked up into her worried face.

Chapter 13 – Jennifer

The jet-black wolf climbed the steps in front of her, and apprehension picked up again in Jennifer's weary body. Her instincts told her to back away from the predator, covered in the blood of countless kills.

She'd watched him rip apart dozens of those strange little creatures ... the ones that had attacked her.

The wolf saved her and Arabelle, as had the tiger and those other wolves.

But this wolf was different than the others. Jennifer wasn't afraid of him ... his eyes were so warm and familiar, the green of deep forests, the eyes of the man she loved and married.

How was that possible?

He sat on the step below her, lowering his head. Waiting.

Jennifer hesitantly reached out, running her fingers through the glossy fur. His ears twitched just like a dog's when she scratched behind them. With a smile, she realized for certain that this wolf wasn't a danger to her at all—he was her protector.