Page 23 of Denying Her Mate (The Wolves of Black Mountain #3)

Chapter 23

Roux

W yatt’s words carry even though they are spat out between clenched teeth. They’re coming.

Who is coming?

“Was he bitten?” Cade demands. The sharpness of his tone freaks me out. I’ve never seen an alpha out of control in any situation. “Was this a wolf attack?”

Was it hunters?

Would the Order really risk another attack considering what happened last time they tried?

“I don’t know.” Blood pools through Halle’s fingers, staining the snow around Wyatt’s body red. The starkness of the red on the white is almost beautiful. “I can’t… I can’t see anything. There’s too much blood.”

“Can you heal him?” Sawyer asks.

I glance at my mate, feeling his fear for his cousin through our mating bond. My wolf whines, wanting to comfort him, but I don’t move. My gaze instead scans the landscape beyond the cabins, searching for movement as I draw air into my nose. I can’t scent anything, but that doesn’t mean whatever attacked Wyatt isn’t out there.

“I… I can, but… I don’t think I should. I could make it worse—”

Cade reaches over Wyatt’s body to grab his mate’s wrists. “Don’t you do that. Don’t you doubt yourself, Halle. You are a great healer, and you can do this.”

I adore him in this moment for saying that to her. Each of us has a talent, a gift we can perform. Mine is the ability to conjure something from nothing, but Halle can heal. She once healed her mate after he was shot, and she did it without breaking a sweat.

Now, her confidence is shaken. What we did in that room… we might not have a way to undo it.

“The last time I tried to help using my magic, I hurt Dove.”

“ We hurt Dove,” I correct.

Halle didn’t act alone. I was as much a part of what happened in that room as her.

Halle’s jaw is tight as she glances down at Wyatt and the blood pooling between her fingers. The pressure she’s placing on the wound is doing nothing to stop the bleeding and his skin is turning a pallid gray.

“If you don’t help him, he’s going to die, Hals.”

I snap my eyes to Sawyer, his brutal words sitting like an elephant on my chest. I don’t know Wyatt as well as the other vargr wolves, but I don’t want him to die. The weight of emotion through our mating bond tells me how concerned Sawyer is, and that adds to my own anxiety.

Halle closes her eyes and blows out a breath. “Don’t blame me if this goes wrong,” she murmurs.

I feel the magic swirl through the air, making the particles around me feel tightly packed together, like they’re crushing against me. The scent of burning wood fills my nose as she draws on her power, pushing it out of her body and into Wyatt.

I drink in the magic surrounding me, drawing strength from it, until it fades out and Halle slides back on her bottom in the snow.

Exhaustion lines every inch of her face, but beneath the blood smeared and staining Wyatt’s torso, the wound is no longer bleeding. If we washed the red from his skin, we would see an injury knitted back together, leaving no trace he had ever been hurt. I’ve seen Halle do this before, yet I still find myself staring slack-mouthed at the healed site.

A howl reverberates through the mountain landscape.

My head snaps in the direction it came from at the same time as the others. So there are wolves out there. Are they hunters? Is this another attempt by the Order to infiltrate our safe place?

They can’t get in… We are safe here.

I repeat these words over and over in my head, as if saying them will make it true. I helped to rebuild the wards that surround the Sanctuary, so I know how strong they are. Could someone break through them?

Just like they did the last time.

Nothing is absolute, and while our coven is powerful, there’s only so much our magic can do against the Order. This time, if they get through it will be different. We are not those scared little hybrid wolves we were last time. We have been practicing our magic alone and together. There is no scenario in which I lie down and cower. I have too much to lose now to not fight to the death to survive.

I scan the horizon, as if I expect an attack from any direction. Sawyer is preoccupied, worried about his cousin, so it’s my turn to protect him.

I stay alert, my body tight and wired, as Cade and Halle help Wyatt sit. His body trembles, as if every cell remembers the trauma he suffered, even if the wound no longer remains. I don’t like how pale he is, or how his eyes dart around as if he is expecting to be attacked again.

What came for him in the woods, and is it coming for us?

“What happened?” Cade demands even as he drags his cousin to his feet.

Wyatt sways like a tree about to be felled. Sawyer grabs the other side of him and they keep Wyatt steady between them. The way his throat moves, as if he is trying to hold nausea at bay, heightens my concern.

“They were in the woods. Waiting.”

“The Order?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t get a good look.”

“Could they have been hunters?”

Wyatt shoots him a dark look. “Do you want me to go back there and ask?”

Cade rolls his eyes, looking more like a petulant teen than the alpha of a group of super wolves. “You must remember something.”

“I was kind of busy running for my life, Cade.”

The sarcasm in his tone makes me wince, even if I understand it. There must be some realization in Wyatt that he could have succumbed to the injuries and lost his life in the snow. He is usually quite sharp-tongued, but he seems even more so in this moment.

“They won’t be able to get through the wards,” I say, trying to offer reassurance, I can tell it doesn’t work by the way all eyes come to me.

“They don’t need to get through the wards.” Wyatt’s expression is dark, as he tries to find traction on his feet so he can take his weight off his cousins, neither of whom relinquish their hold on him. Ice fills my stomach.

I would focus on that, or how weak the attack has made him, but my attention is locked on what he said.

They don’t need to get through the wards…

“What does that mean?” I demand, my voice raising an octave. I force calm into my tone as I feel Sawyer reassure me through our bond. I don’t want him to think I am not in control, but all this uncertainty is putting me on edge.

My mate looks as if he wants to come to me, but Wyatt is still leaning on him.

The tight set of his jaw, offset by a sympathetic softness in his eyes, increases my anxiety. “They just have to wait us out,” Sawyer says quietly.

I still don’t understand what he is saying, but Halle comes to an understanding before I do, covering her mouth with one hand as if she is scared she might vomit.

“Why would they need to wait us out?” I feel stupid for asking the question, but I need to know what we are facing.

“It’s siege warfare,” Cade says.

The cold that runs through me makes me tremble.

“We’ve got supplies for what? A week, maybe two. We’ll have no choice but to leave the wards eventually or face starvation.” The matter-of-fact way Sawyer says this is more alarming than the actual prospect of facing what he is saying. This isn’t medieval Europe. This is Montana.

If they surrounded the compound, we won’t be able to hunt in the woods beyond the boundaries of the wards either. There will be no way of getting anything in or out.

There is a tendril of panic that works through me. I don’t want to be a captive of the Order. A robot, only capable of filling out commands. I won’t become Dove, or any of the other tau wolves I have seen.

“So what do we do?” I ask, unable to stop the tremor in my voice. I don’t want people to think I am scared, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t.

The hopeless looks that pass between us only heightens my anxiety. We are not being captured. I won’t go without a fight.

I curl my fingers into fists at my side, the urge to slam my knuckles against something threatening to overwhelm me.

“Let’s get him into the house. We need to talk to the others,” Cade says, readjusting his grip on Wyatt.

Every instinct in my body tells me running is not the answer. We need to face this head-on. The white-haired man and his hunters won’t stop coming for us. He wants tau wolves, and we are ripe for the picking.

My wolf paces inside my mind, urging me to shift and give her control. Part of me wants to do that. I want to hunt down and neutralize the threat to me, to my mate, and to my coven, but that comes with risks of its own. Wyatt wasn’t exactly sure who had attacked him and how many. Preparation and intel are the only way to make informed decisions.

Peering into the woods behind the cabins, I ruthlessly shove down every instinct to bring the fight to Wyatt’s attackers, and instead I follow Sawyer.

There is partly a selfish reason for this. Just as he worries about me, he is all that consumes my thoughts. He’s not going to leave my sight until we know what is going on.

I walk slightly ahead, scanning the horizon as I trudge through the snow. Between Cade and Sawyer, they’re able to get Wyatt moving. His naked torso is coated in crimson, and he is shivering as he moves barefoot through the snow.

Despite my concerns and fear, nothing tries to attack our small group and get away with it. I am about to put my foot on the bottom step of the porch surrounding the main house when the back door is flung open.

Hester is standing there with Tessa and Apryle, her brows drawn together.

“What happened?” Tessa asks.

Before she can move toward us, her mate, Abel, grips her shoulder, holding her in place. She twists to look at him, confusion bleeding across her face.

I don’t blame his caution, considering the scene in front of him. Wyatt is barely standing, blood covering him, and Halle’s hands are stained red too.

I respect his need to protect Tessa, but I don’t think there is any protection from what lies beyond the wards. They are coming.

“Let’s get inside,” Cade commands.

Hester seems as if she is considering arguing, but she holds her tongue, stepping aside to allow everyone inside the house. Still clutching his cousin to his side, Sawyer looks back to make sure I am following.

We might be in a dangerous situation, but there’s part of me that likes the way he wants to take care of me. I have never had that before, not even with Edward. The mate I chose was not a bad wolf, but he was not strong like Sawyer. I do not believe he would have fought for me in this situation. I do not believe he would have stood between me and the hunters who want to claim me.

Breaking through those dark thoughts, Sawyers voice sounds in my head.

Stay close.

I duck my head, smiling. He is always trying to take care of me, even when I don’t need it. I don’t believe there’s a single moment where Sawyer wouldn’t stand between me and any monster I am facing.

I send back a reassurance that I will, and I keep him in my eye line as we all swarm the living room. With so many males crammed into the space, plus the females, there’s barely space to breathe. If we plan on taking in more hybrids, Hester is going to need a bigger living room. I find a spot close to Sawyer and watch, as he lowers his cousin onto the couch.

I have never felt so much tension, so much fear within this house. Every female within these walls, and Abel, has run for their lives or fought for their survival. We’ve fought hunters before and won, but somehow this feels more dangerous than anything we have faced before.

“Can someone please say what’s going on?” Tessa speaks again.

Her hand strays to her belly, her fingers splaying across her abdomen. Her heat was too recent for her to know whether she’s carrying a pup, but it must be in her mind that whatever we’re about to do could be a risk if she is.

I don’t know if tau reproduction differs from pure wolves, but considering how early her heat came, I don’t think our kind plays by the same rules. I want pups with Sawyer, of course I do, but the thought of having a heat cycle, and potentially a pregnancy, while we are fighting for our survival scares me. And knowing Tessa as I do, I can see the fear in her eyes too.

It is a horrible thought to have, but I plead with Revna, the mother of tau wolves, to spare her from this. There’s enough danger without bringing young into our world.

“Hunters have us surrounded,” Halle says as she drops to her knees in front of Wyatt, her fingers skimming over his blood-stained side.

Apryle appears through the crowd, thrusting a wet towel in her direction. Halle takes it with a murmur of thanks before she starts to clean the blood from Wyatt’s side.

I can’t see his eyes because his arm is draped over them, as if he is drained of all energy.

“Are they planning on attacking?” Apryle’s question seems casual, but there is apprehension in her words.

“They won’t get past the wards.” It is an assurance I give to soothe her, but I need to hear it as well. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared myself.

“Someone should tell Jackson and Dove what’s going on,” Tessa says.

“Jackson won’t let anyone near him or Dove,” Cade counters. “And we don’t know what’s going on.”

I nod my head in agreement. I don’t blame him for hiding her away from us. The trust has been eroded, and I am not sure it can be rebuilt.

“There were at least ten of them.” Wyatt’s statement brings everyone’s attention to him.

We are strong, and all the wolves, apart from Abel, have vargr blood. That will give us some advantage, but will it be enough?

“Did they have tau females with them?” Hester asks. The desperation in her words and her body language make my guard raise.

Does she ask this because she wants to liberate more of our kind, or because she is worried we will be outmatched? Our coven is powerful, particularly Halle and Hester, but even we can’t fight against numbers.

“I didn’t notice any.” Wyatt pulls Halle’s hands away, taking the towel from her and cleaning his own side. I’m not sure if he does this because he wants to clean himself, or because he’s uncomfortable with her touching him when he doesn’t like her. He doesn’t like any of us, not even Abel.

“This is why I said no hunting alone.” Cade folds his arms over his broad chest.

Wyatt lifts his eyes to look at his alpha, the wolf he shares blood with. There is irritation, but also a hint of malice that makes Sawyer drift closer to his brother. Cade wouldn’t need protection, but it’s more a show of solidarity.

I can tell Wyatt understands this, as his gaze drifts toward my mate and the muscle in his jaw ticks. “Like you give a shit what I’m doing.”

Sawyer growls under his breath. “Bullshit, and you know it. You’re the one who has distanced yourself from the rest of us. We never made you do that.”

“Didn’t you?”

I glance between my mate and Cade, wondering if this mess with Wyatt can be salvaged. For their sakes, I hope so. Wyatt isn’t a bad person, but I understand why he feels as if his life has changed beyond all recognition. I understand his frustration, surrounded by mated pairs when, for the longest time, his world was just his pack brothers.

“So what do we do?” Abel’s question sits heavily in the air, an anvil pressing down on each of us.

What can we do?

“They might not do anything,” Tessa says in a hopeful voice. While I admire her glass-half-full approach, I don’t think it will help in this situation.

“It was only a matter of time before they came back for us,” Hester says. “Did you think they would just leave us alone? They want our kind, and they have several of us here, ripe for the picking. They value strength, which all of you have. They are never going to leave us alone.”

“Then what do we do?” Apryle demands, stepping forward. The nervous energy running through her makes her seem like a caged animal, and I wonder what lengths she will go to in order to maintain her freedom.

What lengths will I go to?

Before I met Sawyer, I might have taken a more measured response, played it safe with my life, but not now. I will fight with every breath in my body to keep my mate alive. My coven too. These women have become family to me. They are closer to me than blood, even Hester for all her faults.

Hester glances between us, determination on her face. “We have to fight.”

My wolf likes this idea, growling and snarling with impatience to be set free, but the sensible part of my brain knows that is not a good idea. There is too much risk in attacking, that’s why we need to focus on a good, solid defense.

“They made short work of me,” Wyatt says, wiping the last of the blood from his skin. “What do you think they will do if they break through those wards? I barely got away.”

Hester twitches suddenly, her head snapping in the direction of the front door. I feel magic pulse through the area around me, as someone tries to force their way through the wards protecting the Sanctuary.

“I don’t think what happens next is going to be our choice,” Hester says, moving toward the window.

She peers out through the curtains as if she expects a hunter to be on the other side, but all I can see is a blanket of white leading up the driveway toward the main road. My brain conjures images of shadowy figures looming at the edges of the compound, but nothing moves. Wherever they’re hiding, it’s not close by.

“As much as I hate to agree, I’m not keen on the idea of sitting here waiting for them to come to us,” Sawyer says.

A chill rolls through me. “No.” The word escapes my lips before I can stop it.

His gaze slides toward me and his face softens. “We can’t do nothing.”

“We don’t know how many numbers they have, or what kind of danger they bring with them. We need to think carefully before we act.” I’m starting to worry they’ll react without a plan in place and someone will get hurt.

“No one is going to do anything rash,” Cade says. “No one is doing shit, period.”

Apryle tilts her head to one side, folding her arms over her chest. “You may be their alpha, but you sure as hell aren’t mine. You don’t get a say in what our coven does.”

“Okay, everyone, just take a breath,” Halle says, raising her hands between her mate and her coven sister.

“If we’re going to fight, we need a plan,” Abel says.

“Too late for plans,” Hester says.

I snap my head up and follow Hester’s line of sight through the window to see Dove walking up the driveway, her movements stiff, as if she is not in control of her body.

What the hell is she doing?

“Where is she going?” Tessa asks, stepping up to the window to peer out.

“More importantly,” Halle says, “where the fuck is Jackson?”

The words barely leave her mouth when there’s a huge boom that shakes the house down to the foundations. Not even my wolf dexterity can keep me on my feet as the ground wobbles beneath me and I’m knocked onto the ground.

My head slams against something and darkness invades my vision as pain spikes through my skull. Then it’s lights out.