Page 56

Nadia

“Wake up!” A voice snarls. “You are our captives now!”

I lurch out of sleep, my eyes flashing open. They widen at the sight in front of me.

But I barely have time to process the sight of the little boy baring his teeth at us, a sharp knife clutched in his hand, a whole pack of other little boys gathered behind him, before a vicious snarl erupts from Cole, whose arms tighten around me.

I gasp – but then the whole world goes to shit.

Chaos reigns as all of our little girls seem to leap to their little puppy feet at once, yelping and barking and snarling, some lunging at the boys who shout and wave knives, or shift and attack.

Other girls dash behind rocks or tuck themselves into the shadows.

Janine cries out, pressing herself closer to me as Cole launches to his feet, pushing me behind him as he shifts into his wolf.

I shout, clutching Janine to me as yelps and snarls and barks fill the air –

But suddenly they’re all drowned out by one long, loud, unceasing roar – the power of it shaking through me. Even I sense the command in the tone as all of the pups around us – boy and girl alike – go still.

My eyes flash open just in time to see Cole transform back into his human body, his fangs still extended as he glares around at all of the pups, frozen in their tiny pup war, all of their eyes turned to him. Only Janine makes a noise as she whimpers against me.

“Shift! Now!” Cole barks, pointing a finger around at all the children. “I want human bodies! I want knives on the ground here at my feet! And if you even think about keeping one back, I will end your short life!”

The girls all immediately comply, shifting and gathering behind Cole, sitting down by me against the cliff so that rocks are at our backs and the boys can’t sneak behind.

Some of my little pups shake with fear, and one girl has a long cut down her arm from one of the boys. I gasp, snatching her to me.

The boys – where the hell did all these ragged boys come from?

They move more slowly, some shifting and looking up at Cole with awe while others look at their leader, who still snarls.

But Cole lets out another roar, bending over to glare at the head boy, and whatever willpower left in the group breaks.

Knives clatter to the ground at Cole’s feet as the boys shift to human form and fall to their knees, bowing their heads to the powerful Alpha.

Only the leader of the boys keeps his eyes on Cole, baring his sharp little fangs even as he kneels.

“You are my prisoners now,” Cole snarls at them, his voice rough and vicious. “Who else is with you? Who is in the desert?”

Most of the boys whimper, but the one in front clenches his jaw, working hard not to obey Cole’s order.

Cole growls, crouching before the boy, showing absolutely no fear as he reaches out and takes the child’s face in his hand, pinching his little cheeks between his thumb and forefinger.

“I won’t tolerate further disobedience,” Cole says, voice heavy with control.

“You answer me now, truthfully, or you die to protect a cult that doesn’t give a damn whether you live.

Now tell me – is there anyone in the desert watching? ”

The little boy gasps, his will breaking. Tears flood his eyes. “N-no,” he whispers, shaking his head even as Cole holds his face. “We’re all here.”

“Good,” Cole growls, dropping the boy’s face and standing. “You are mine ,” he shouts out over them, the words again ringing with that power I don’t understand. “You will obey my orders without hesitation. Is that understood?”

The boys shout out trembling little affirmations, all bowing to Cole, lowering their heads, baring their necks. I stare around at them in shock, not…not getting it. How did Cole seize control so completely, so fast?

“His Alpha Command is strong,” a little voice whispers beside me. I frown and look over at Diana, who nods wisely to me. “You are a powerful Goddess, if you can control him .”

Baffled, I look back at Cole, deciding that I’m going to need to have some questions answered quite soon.

“Sit down,” Cole calls out, calmer now as he straightens to his full, formidable height. “Be still. I have questions for you.”

My face scrunches up as all the boys settle themselves on the ground, staring up at him like…like they’re in some kind of kindergarten class and he’s their teacher. What…what is happening? How did they go from trying to be our captors to docile little kids in like…ten seconds?

“Are you all right?” Cole asks, looking over his shoulder at me.

“No!” I shout.

His eyes flare and he turns fully, but I huff and shake my head, shoot out a hand to point at the boys. “I’m fine, Cole – do you seriously have them under control?”

He snarls, apparently still too angry for words, the noise the only affirmation I’m going to get.

“Fine,” I say, turning my hand over and nodding towards the backpack, which I can’t reach anymore. “You handle that, I need to bandage this,” I say, nodding down to the little girl’s cut arm. It’s not deep, thank god.

Cole nods and quickly grabs the backpack, passing it to the closest girl, who hands it to me. I concentrate on being a nurse as Cole turns back to the boys.

“Who sent you?” Cole asks, his tone rough and displeased. He crosses his arms, glaring down at the little ragged crew, some of whom sniff and look miserable. Others just stare at Cole, fully awed.

“No one sent us,” the head boy says, his head hanging. I note for the first time that he’s a handsome little boy, larger than the rest, with brown hair and freckles over his cheeks and nose. “Or, well, we’re scouts, so our Superior sent us. But we attacked you because we wanted to!”

“Because he wanted to!” a red-haired boy snaps, pointing a livid finger at the freckled leader. “I wanted to go to King-boss and report, but Johnny said it would take too long!”

“I also didn’t want to attack!” a small black-haired boy says, his eyes flaring wide as he raises a hand high. “I said it was dumb! I said this would happen! I was right !”

The leader scowls, looking down at the ground, ashamed.

“Enough,” Cole snarls. The boys fall quiet, and my eyebrows again raise at the remarkable control he has over them.

Is this…like is this magic? What’s happening here?

“Who knows we are here?” Cole snaps. “How many scouts did you send back?”

The questions come rapid-fire, then, and the boys spill out a story that indicates that they attacked en masse, thinking it was the only way to overtake us. They report that they expected casualties, but thought the honor of turning in such a “big boy Alpha enemy” would be worth the loss of life.

I raise my eyebrows at this as I bandage my little girl’s arm, thinking that that’s…rather grim, isn’t it? Their lives for the honor of capturing Cole Kincaid? Doesn’t seem quite worth it to me.

The little girl I’m patching up stares up at me with big green eyes, watching my every move. I lean closer to her, glancing at Cole and the boys. “How does he know they’re not lying?”

Her face twists as she peers at me, I think wondering if I’m stupid. “They can’t ,” she whispers back. “He’s their Alpha now. He has Alpha Command.”

I tilt my head to the side, staring first at her and then at Cole as I tie off her bandage. What the hell does that mean?

“Why did you attack us?” Cole asks, apparently content that no one besides these scouts knows we’re here.

“Because,” the head boy says, raising his head to glare hatefully at Cole again. “You stole all our girls !”

Cole glances back at the rest of us, his eyebrows raised. “These are your girls?”

“No!” shouts another – the little dark-haired boy again. “I don’t want them! You can have ‘em!”

A few girls pressed to my side start to growl.

Cole turns back to the boys, clearly waiting for more information.

“They are the sacred property of our King-boss!” the head boy snaps, furious again as he points a finger at all the girls. “You can’t take them! They are the future of our religion and very sacred and untouchable! We would never go near them except to keep you from taking them away!”

Some of the boys nod, clearly believing this to be the utter truth.

“Well, they’re mine now,” Cole says, shaking his head at the boys.

“No, we’re not!” my fierce little Diana snaps, getting to her knees and pointing at me. “We follow the Goddess ! The Alpha Tamer!”

The boys stare at her in undisguised shock as Cole glances back and shakes his head at her before turning back to the boys. Some of the boys stare at me now, shocked and perhaps a little frightened.

I bare my teeth at them for good measure, letting them believe me an Alpha-tamer if it keeps them from stabbing me. Several gasp and one falls over, skittering away from me in fear.

I work very hard not to laugh.

“All right,” Cole barks out, spreading his hands wide and glaring around at all the children, boys and girls alike. “Everyone sit quietly and listen! I’m going to tell you the plan.”

I look up at him curiously, just as quiet as the kids, wondering what the hell we’re going to do next.

“Now,” Cole says, frowning at the boys in particular. “You recognize that I am your Alpha now, yes? And that to disobey me is death?”

My eyes widen as the boys begin to nod, some more sullenly than others.

“Then you will do as I say ,” Cole snaps. “I am taking you back to my camp, where we will give you good food and a place to rest. You will be treated well and given a good life if you are obedient.”

Some of the boys’ faces brighten at the mention of food, breaking into smiles even at the idea of a good life.

“You mean…you’re not going to kill us?” the little black-haired boy whispers, staring up at Cole.