Page 22 of Cruel Alpha (Nightfire Islands Alphas #1)

The ground beneath my paws was hard and frosted, but I’d been running for long enough that hot blood was coursing through every inch of my body. I wished we’d had a chance to test the harness with the twins in it before we had to put it into use; though Jace had promised that I could run flat out without jostling Jack and Emmy too much, it felt wrong, and my steps were careful as I tried to keep them comfortable. They were already having to deal with the cold air and the whip of icy wind in their little faces—though I’d bundled them up to the point where they were almost spherical—they didn’t need to be bounced about in their stiff leather seats on top of it all. They were quiet as we ran, which was a blessing I hadn’t expected: how did you tell a two-year-old that they have to keep quiet or they might die?

They were certainly being better behaved than Ethan, who gave another irritated huff of breath. Bringing up the rear in our party of three, he was forced to keep pace with me, and it was clearly far slower than he would have liked. I couldn’t deny that I was glad he’d volunteered to come along: Julia and I were scrappy, but neither of us were fighters, and any wolf would think twice about attacking our party when they saw the enormous grey beast who guarded us. Even his scent was aggressive, like cold metal and leather, and I pitied any Arbor hunter who tried to take him on.

Ahead of me, Julia was also generously lowering her speed to keep pace with me. Her little black wolf—who shared her brother’s splash of white, only on her chest rather than her back—might not be as powerful or as fast as Ethan, but her single whitened eye made her look fierce in her own way.

How long had we been traveling? Twenty minutes? Thirty? However long it was, I’d never kept my wolf’s shape for even half as much time before. Despite the fear that set me on edge, the unfamiliar surroundings, and the added stress of carrying my children on my back, I felt utterly stable in my wolf’s form. Was it because she knew I needed her now, and she was willing to stay? Or was it because I’d finally stopped fighting her, finally given in to the part of me that didn't care what Caleb had done in the past, only that he was my mate now and for the rest of our lives.

The sound of snapping branches to the east had all three of us on edge, picking up speed as we attempted to sniff out the scent of unfamiliar wolves in the air. There was nothing on the wind but distant rabbits, maybe a fox or two, but we remained vigilant as we pushed ourselves towards the bridge. In the near distance, I could see the tree line of the forest we would have to pass through, the shadows shifting and changing as the trees’ bare branches shook and rattled in the wind. For a fraction of a second, I thought I saw the outline of a wolf before it melted back into the darkness, and my hackles rose. It felt like something was closing in on us, like it was herding us to where they wanted us to go.

The thought was ridiculous. We were following the path we’d always intended to take. No one was leading us anywhere. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of fur—light tan—but when I blinked, it was gone.

Then the vision hit me fully:

Wolves snarling. Teeth gnashing. The smell of copper and ice.

The battle was in full swing, with Caleb at the center of it. His wolf form exuded power, and he ripped through every challenger who dared to try him.

The other wolves were nothing but blurs of fur in various shades of brown and black and grey, all flashing teeth and ripping claws. They were background noise, blurred in my mind’s eye.

Through the mass of blood and fur, a tan wolf came into focus. He was grizzled around the muzzle, clearly a fighter: Leonard Pearce. I wanted to call out, to warn Caleb, but I had no voice. I wasn’t there. I was at the edge of the forest halfway across the island.

No attack came, only a request: a plea for Caleb to follow.

The battlefield disappeared behind them, replaced by the stone of the town. Where was Leonard taking him? Forward, forward, further and further from the sounds of snapping and tearing. Too quiet. The town was too quiet. This was a trap.

Dark shapes, hidden from Caleb’s view by stone and shadow. Five. Ten. Twenty fighting wolves stepping out of the darkness and into the town square. Surrounded. He was surrounded.

The other Alpha was stepping forward. Older. Smaller. Angry. He snapped at Caleb, teasing him into a fight that would never be fair. Caleb was too fast, too strong. He would win easily. He should win. He had the upper hand, and then he didn’t. A howl. An order.

Twenty wolves attacked.

My vision went black.

I came to, naked on the freezing ground, human and gasping for breath. The vision had spared me the sight of Arbor’s wolves tearing my mate limb from limb, but I knew in my bones that death waited for him in the town square. It might be hours from now or minutes, but I had to get to him.

It was only as I tried and failed to scramble to my feet that I became fully aware of my surroundings. We were at the edge of the forest, barely sheltered from the wind by the gathered trees; Ethan and Julia had both shifted back to human form, too; Julia held the twins close to her, whispering consolation to them. A shock of guilt went through me: they must have been terrified when I shifted mid-stride, sending them tumbling to the ground. I scanned them for any injuries, but they only looked shaken, not hurt.

I wanted to go to them, but Ethan’s voice kept me in place.

“Don’t get up,” he said. There was Alpha authority in his voice, and while I wasn’t of his Pack, I couldn’t quite bring myself to go against him. “What happened?”

“A vision,” I panted. “Caleb. Caleb’s in danger. I have to go back.”

Ethan only shook his head.

“He’s tough, Alyssa. He can take whatever you think—”

“Can he take twenty fighters at once?” Ethan didn’t understand. He hadn’t seen the vision. He didn’t know what lay in wait for Caleb in the town square.

“Well, no,” Ethan said. “That’s ridiculous, but—”

“That’s what I saw. Leonard’s in league with the Arbor Wolves. He’s going to lead Caleb away from the battlefield to get ambushed by twenty Arbor hunters. I saw it happen. He’s going to die if I don’t go back there.”

Out of the corner of my eye, Julia tensed. In her arms, the twins started whining afresh, and she fell back to shushing them gently.

“And what will you do against twenty Arbor hunters?” Ethan asked, pointed. I hadn’t thought that far ahead, but I didn’t care. I would figure it out on the way. I had to leave now.

“It doesn’t matter,” I insisted, scrambling to my feet. I should have been cold, but the adrenaline pumping through my veins prevented me from feeling the chill in the air and the ice on the ground.

“You’re not going anywhere.” Ethan’s hand was like a steel vice around my arm, and I knew he must be desperate to have resorted to physically restraining me. Ferris was even more old-fashioned than Lapine: if he was touching another male’s mate, he must be desperate.

“He’s your friend, too, Ethan,” I pleaded. “Don’t you care?”

“Of course I care,” Ethan said, loosening his grip slightly. “I also understand him better than either of you—don’t try to argue with me. If I was in his place, I’d rather die than let my mate run into danger like that.”

Julia snorted, and Ethan shot her a poisonous look.

“He’ll kill me if I let you go back,” he continued, which wasn’t much of a deterrent.

“Great,” I replied. “No offense, but if it’s him or you, I’m picking him.”

“Me too,” said Julia, and Ethan’s jaw tensed.

“Stay out of this,” he snapped. It was a mistake, and he knew it just as well as I did.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Julia retorted. “Do I not get a say in what happens to my own brother?”

I could see a vein bulging on Ethan’s forehead as he fought to keep control of his temper. I understood his reticence—he’d promised Caleb he would keep me safe—but if he wanted me to go to Ferris, he’d have to drag me there himself.

“Your brother wants you and his mate and his children to be safe,” Ethan growled at Julia, and Jack started to cry in earnest. Julia fell back to comforting him—not before glaring daggers at Ethan—and I took back control of the conversation.

“And will we be safe when he’s dead?” I demanded, but Ethan refused to hear me.

“He’s strong, Alyssa. He might still make it—” he began, cut off by my shout of frustration.

“No! You cannot tell me the contents of my own vision,” I insisted. “He will die if I don’t go, and I’m going whether you like it or not.”

“Alyssa—” Ethan started, but despite the heaviness of the authority in his voice, I paid him no mind. I was the Alpha female of Lapine Pack, and I was not beholden to him. Yanking my arm out of his grip, I crossed to Julia, who was sitting on the cold ground cradling the twins in her arms. Kneeling to look at the three of them, I felt suddenly the enormity of the task I had taken upon myself. I might not come back from this.

“Go get your man,” said Julia, sounding far more confident in me than I’d ever been. “And then punch him for being such an idiot.”

That forced a laugh out of me.

“I will,” I told her. “I promise.”

“I know you will,” she replied.

I could hardly bear to look at the twins in her arms. I loved them so immensely; they’d been my whole world since the moment they were born, and I’d thought it would only ever be the three of us. We’d been a perfect trio, but in the last few weeks on Lapine, I had begun to dream of another future for us; I would be doing them a disservice not to try to bring that future to them. They deserved their father’s love.

They deserved mine, too, and I knew the danger I was running into, but I didn’t need a mating bite to feel the bond pulling me back toward Lapine. A mother with a dead mate was no kind of mother: they would lose me either way. This was the only choice, the only way I could give them the future they deserved.

I reached out to stroke Emmy’s ruddy little cheek.

“Mommy’s got to go, Sweetheart. You be a good girl for Auntie Julia, okay?”

“No, Mommy,” she said. “No go!”

“I’ll be back soon. You’ll see me tomorrow.” I wanted to tell her it was a promise, but I couldn’t promise that she would see me tomorrow, and my eyes grew misty as I drank in her wide eyes and her perfect little button nose. She would be alright. She was the feistiest little girl I’d ever known, and Julia would make sure she stayed that way.

Jack, on the other hand—Jack’s little face was already streaked with tears, and I wiped them away with my thumb.

“You’re a brave boy, Jack,” I told him. “Real brave. You just keep on being brave until you see Mommy tomorrow, okay?”

Jack only nodded, fresh tears spilling from his eyes, and I leaned in to press a long kiss to his forehead. I repeated the motion with Emmy, trying not to let them feel the way my body was shaking with unreleased sobs.

“Mommy loves you both so much,” I whispered.

I wiped away the tears that had fallen as I stood, shaking myself back together as I turned back to Ethan.

“You can get Julia into the harness?” I asked. It wouldn’t fit her well, but it should be serviceable enough. He nodded.

“You’re sure I can’t convince you to stay with us?” he asked, but we both already knew the answer. I managed a weak smile as I replied,

“Not a chance.”

Shifting was as easy as breathing. My wolf howled for her mate, and I set off at a sprint, following our tracks back towards Lapine town. I might be weak, I might be a half-breed and an outcast and a freak, but I was going to save my mate. When I was eighteen and pregnant and alone, I was strong because I had no other choice. I could be strong like that again. If I had to claw through twenty Arbor fighters, then I would. I had no other choice.