Page 63

SASHA

M y body felt stiff as I woke up that morning. I glanced over my shoulder. The sheets on the other side of the bed were crisp and undisturbed. The familiar gray of the sheets brought a pang to my chest instead of the warmth of being home again.

I scanned around the room. Same log walls, with family photos—pictures of my siblings and me as children flanked the wall.

The familiar high-definition TV mounted before my bed, the same floating bookshelves that smattered the room.

I inhaled a steadying breath, then wrinkled my nose.

Even the air was stagnant, filled with my scent.

No rich notes of cedar and the smoke of fire and spice that was Damon.

A lump wound its way into my throat. I swallowed, yet the lump didn’t budge.

My thoughts rushed back to Damon’s wicked smile, the way he looked at me with such tenderness every time I’d winced in pain.

The moments my eyes would crack open to dawn’s light and I’d find Damon gazing down at me.

“Good morning,” he’d purr. Those two words would lift my spirit into the light far better than any sunlight could.

The offer of sugar cookies as an apology, despite his uncertainty, brought tears to my eyes.

My inner wolf sank to her belly and lowered her head on her paws. She let out a mournful whine that reached deep into my heart and made the muscle ache and writhe. I drew in a ragged breath, fisting my shirt above my sternum.

No, it can’t be…

I had fallen in love with Damon Hunter. The Werebear Alpha of the Stoneclaw Clan. My hands shook, and I fisted them to staunch the trembling.

Where would that leave me? Would he still reject me? Werebears and werewolves were enemies, after all. A temporary truce between us to solve a crime wouldn’t change hundreds of years of hatred. Damon’s sudden warmth and my newfound feelings didn’t make a damn difference in the scheme of things.

When something wet plopped on my hand, I glanced down… a clear smattering of liquid.

I raised trembling fingers to my cheek, then drew them back. Tears were all over them. As if the realization had opened a dam, torrents of tears cascaded down my face. I bit my trembling lower lip.

Stop it, I chastised myself. There was no use wallowing in bed .

I swiped at the tears and slid my legs over the side of the bed.

It was time to set about getting dressed for the day.

Once finished, I stepped out of my room and my Beta Garret approached me.

He bombarded me with updates on the pack’s condition since my absence.

I started walking down the corridor to my office in the neighboring cabin. Garret strode alongside me.

“And the investigations?” I asked him. “Where are we with that?”

His lips thinned. “We have a list of possible suspects as to the murders of the humans. Mainly witches, who we believe were aiding the Dark Fae.”

Brows raised, I asked, “No Dark Fae suspects.”

“Not a one,” Garret growled. “Those bastards are as elusive as ghosts. Hell, ghosts would be more detectable than they are.” His claws sliced out.

“Our knowledge of the Dark Fae dates back only as far as our late ancestors’ knowledge and the Great War.

We have no way of tracing individual royal fae, or even the common fae.

They have cut the realm off from us for a millennium. ”

I groaned. “There has to be some way,” I told Garret. “We need a break in this case.” I pressed my fingers along my temples and rubbed, though the mounting headache didn’t abate.

I stepped out into the afternoon sunlight that bathed the grounds in amber.

The faint scent of rain lingered on the breeze from last night’s shower.

Garret and I trotted down the stairs and made our way across the common yard.

A pair of children rolled around in a mud puddle.

I paused and scooped one up: Melody, a young girl around the age of four.

After lifting her dirty summer dress, I blew raspberries into her soft, plump belly.

She threw her head back and laughter erupted from her lips.

I leaned back and narrowed an eye at her. “What are you two doing in the dirt?”

The other child, a young boy named Aaron, clung to my leg. “We’re playing wrestling,” he chirped.

I glanced down at him. “Yes, I could see that.”

Returning my gaze to Melody, I asked, “Wouldn’t your parents disapprove?”

Both children’s faces paled, eyes enlarging.

I hid a smile. “Run along and dip in the river,” I whispered. “You’ll dry out in this heat before you know it. Your parents won’t be the wiser.”

They nodded like dutiful children, and as soon as I lowered Melody to the ground, scampered off.

A deep chuckle rumbled from behind. I glanced over my shoulder. Garret shook his head. “You amaze me sometimes.”

I raised a brow. “What?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “It’s just…” Garret blew out a sigh.

“I want you to be happy, Alpha. You know I do.” I nodded.

“So, I just see you are so good with the kids of the pack, so good with us, your pack mates. I don’t understand why you haven’t settled down yet?

Somewhere out there, there has to be someone for you. ”

His words chilled me to the core.

Damon.

My inner wolf whimpered. I straightened and schooled my facial features. “Thanks for your concern, Garret, but I’m fine.”

He shot me a disbelieving look through narrowed eyes but said nothing more about the matter, sensing I wished to talk no further. A seed of gratefulness sprouted in my belly.

“Gather all the sentinels…” I glanced at Garret. “Meet me at the cabin.”

Garret nodded and took off to round up the others.

Once he was out of sight, I allowed my shoulders to unfurl.

I had allowed the first sign of weakness as Alpha to show.

How I missed Damon. And wished I could cling to his strength in times like these.

When he and I put our heads together, we were unstoppable.

Yet, things were no longer the same. I rubbed at my torso, where the grisly wound had once raked across my smooth, dark skin.

The wounds were now a faint scar. My inner wolf—though a small part of my psyche—had aided in healing the wound to some degree.

Lifting my chin back straight, I headed to the cabin for the meeting. I had my pack to attend to, and Damon had his. Things must return to the way they once were.

Before long, I stood in the cabin flanked in a semi-circle by my sentinels.

“What can anyone tell me about the intel we have on the witches?”

“So far, the intel we’ve garnered from the witches was just some call logs from their phones.

Contact with those that remain anonymous,” Darl, one of my senior sentinels, said.

His gray eyes hardened. “But when we tried to trace the calls to whoever’s hidden, the call goes cold—as if it hits a metal barrier. ”

I sighed. “We can only conclude that the trace met a dead end because the connection continues to the other realm.” It was something that our technology had no hope of tracing, for no human or Werekind had ever breached the wall in over five hundred years.

“There’s more troubling reports,” a blonde female sentinel, by the name of Yvonette, said. “They have slain more humans.”

I clenched my jaw. “How many?”

Her lips thinned. “Ten more victims in three weeks.”

“Shit!” I gritted my teeth, clenching my fists.

“The Rangers will be all over this!” Garret raked a hand down his face.

“Not only The Rangers,” I corrected. “The governor will soon get involved. Too many people are dying for this to be chalked up to coincidence.”

“Also…” Barnett, a lean, muscled male, and one of the newest sentinels, said.

“Reports among the packs now show wolves have committed some of the recent killings.” He let out a low growl.

“Some of the packs have revealed that werewolves committed these massacres. Council has taken it upon themselves to slay any werewolf whom they feel has gone rogue.”

I leaned against the wall, kicking a foot back to rest against it, too. “But that won’t stop the murders. The council doesn’t know they’re being committed by werewolves fallen under the spell of the Dark Fae.”

“Alpha…” I glanced at Yvonette. “The Rangers and police forces are getting closer to our territory and neighboring werewolf colonies. It will be harder for those of us who need to shift into our beast pelts, lest they go dormant. I sense the danger of one of the Werekind getting killed by avenging humans, Rangers seeking to destroy the threat, is imminent.”

I nodded. “From now on, those of us that need to shift, the non-latents, will do so within the camp. No more runs out in the field until The Rangers’ presence has dissipated. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Alpha.” My sentinels chorused.

“Spread the news to the pack,” I said. “I want an increase of patrols across the territory rim. We can’t let the humans invade.”

Another murmur of agreement crested. After reviewing a few more pack matters of importance, I ended the meeting, dismissing the group. All filed out of the cabin except Garret. He remained at my side, his brow furrowed.

“We can’t keep up the shift inside the camp forever.” Garrett shook his head. “Those of us who can shift need to run and stretch their legs. Aside from that, the wolves of other packs need to run free as well.”

My upper lip curled in frustration. I slammed a hand against the wall, chips of wood flying from the impact. “I know this.” I faced my beta. “The sooner we locate the Dark Fae responsible, the sooner this ends.”

I woke up in the middle of the night to blood curdling screams and roars that sent ice shards piercing my heart.

I jolted out of bed and grabbed hold of my sniper’s rifle, slinging the strap across my shoulder.

Then I snatched up my handgun for backup and raced outside.

My body froze as I laid eyes on the chaos unraveling before me.

A pack of bears barreled through the camp. They broke into cabins, attacking our pack. The sharp tang of iron saturated the air. My heart plummeted as I recognized some of the grizzlies and black bears that tore into my pack mates with fangs and claws.

Damon’s bears!

Damon… betrayed us?

Hot tears stung my eyes. I shook my head, dispelling my anguish. My pack needed me.

I saw a submissive, latent female pinned beneath a black bear. The bear sank its fangs into her shoulder. She let out a piercing scream as he shook her back and forth. I leveled my rifle and aimed, cursing as the target crouched over my pack mate, too close for a hit!

After a steadying breath, I paused, waited, and pulled the trigger.

The bullet whizzed into the air, slamming through the bear’s skull. The black bear reared back before crumpling to the ground.

“Go, go now!” I threw my finger over the submissive female’s head. She gave a jerky nod of thanks and scrambled away.

I darted across the clearing toward the unconscious bear.

Already his healing powers were at work, the bullet worming its way out of his skull.

While unsheathing my claws, I squatted and raked my claws across his throat, slashing at his jugular.

Blood splattered my hand, a rapid crimson puddle pooling beneath his body.

He couldn’t repair both the bullet wound and a grave injury to his jugular.

The fucker would bleed out. I growled in satisfaction and tore across the clearing to where my beta and a senior warrior were battling a grizzly—their guns drawn, shots fired.

The bear reared on its hind legs and roared, his four paws flying out, hooked claws flashing under the moonlight.

My warriors ducked. Garret tucked and dropped into a roll before darting up and firing more shots.

The warrior circled the bear’s rear, his bullets pelting it in the back.

The bear whirled on the warrior and lunged, fangs bared.

But I met him in a haze of blood, raking my claws across his eyes.

Everywhere I looked, I saw blood. The bear wailed.

Blinded, he tossed his head in frantic fury.

The warrior launched toward the bear and sank his fangs into his neck, tearing his throat out.

The grizzly crashed to the ground, gurgling on his blood.

I sprang to Garret’s side. “What the hell is happening?”

“Fuck if I know,” Garret hissed. “I woke up to this shit! The bears swarmed us like cockroaches, faster than we could counterattack.”

“Damn it,” I snarled. Everywhere I looked, the ground swarmed with werebears. I moaned as I caught sight of several pack mates lying motionless on the ground. Blood poured from several lethal wounds to the neck. My heart bled. With no inner wolf, a latent had no hope of regenerating.

“Find the other sentinels and push those bears back!” I snarled. “Get snipers on the roof. Hem the bears in.”

I dashed off, crouching and firing off more rounds as I spotted a cluster of bears cornering a family, the father already slain—mother and pups remaining.

The bullets hit true, and the bears crumpled to the ground.

A quick scan of the clearing had despair freezing over my limbs.

There were too many bears. Though armed, the latents found themselves vastly outnumbered against werebears with enhanced speed and strength.

Several warriors fell under the might of the bears before my eyes.

Soft whimpers and cries sounded to my left, reaching me across the clearing.

My head snapped in that direction. I couldn’t breathe for a moment.

Then I saw a group of children huddled beneath the porch steps to a cabin.

Among the group, I recognized Melody and Aaron.

The children’s eyes were round with fear, small frames trembling.

A deep roar echoed inside my ears. My head jerked to the left.

I wasn’t the only one that spotted the children.

A dark brown bear loomed across the clearing.

His flinty amber eyes fastened on the children.

Saliva frothed from his jaws, thick fangs gleaming.

A note of familiarity pricked my mind. I knew those eyes, that shaggy coat.

My heart stopped.

Rick.

Damon’s best friend. The one who guarded me as I lay in bed convalescing.