Page 186 of Ensnared by the Pack: The Complete Series (Destined Realms #3)
CYRUS
A weight squeezed my chest and I fought to keep my expression strong and stoic. I’d never been so fearful before a fight in my life, and it had everything to do with the woman standing a few feet away, boxed in by my brothers, her mates.
I loved her so much my heart ached, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell her she was meant to be my mate, that I’d known the truth the moment she’d woken in the Residence after we’d found her in the river.
Our plan to take down the merchants’ swordsmen was a dangerous one, and I couldn’t shake the thought of what would happen if something went wrong.
Sure, Knox and Bishop would look out for her, and she had the disturbing dark magic inside her to protect her against the grimalkins — if she could actually control more than two — but knowing that did little to ease my fears.
If push came to shove, she’d risk everything if she thought she could save someone, especially one of her mates.
Which was why I wasn’t going to tell her how I felt until this fight was done.
Bishop might be insisting I tell her first, but if something happened to me, I couldn’t bear the thought of breaking her heart… because like Audrey, I’d risk everything, even give my life, to protect her and my brothers.
My wolf heaved inside me and I tightened my hold on him. I couldn’t afford to lose control. Precision and keeping calm were what I needed right now, not the ferocious fury of my beast.
“Alright, everyone, listen up,” I said just loud enough to be heard. “The grimalkins’ pens and the swordsmen’s camp are close.” I pointed in the camp’s direction. “They’re around the corner then thirty feet to a slightly wider area. The buildings are recessed from the other buildings, which is good for us. It’ll give us cover.”
“Does everyone remember their assignment?” Gower asked and everyone nodded while Bishop turned to Whil.
“Can you sense them?” he asked.
Whil closed her eyes, her perpetual golden glow brightening for a second. “There’s twelve lightning weapons and they’re all together, in the direction of the swordsmen’s camp.”
Perfect. I’d hoped that the merchants wouldn’t have armed their swordsmen with deadly weapons and it looked like they hadn’t. That didn’t mean the swordsmen didn’t have access to them, but they weren’t carrying them around on patrol and we wouldn’t need to keep up with our careful hunting once we’d secured the weapons.
“Alright, let’s move,” I commanded, and we split into our respective groups.
I led the strike and backup teams, creeping to the corner, our footsteps softly crunching over stone and forest debris.
We reached the corner, and I glanced down the street where the grimalkins’ pens and the swordsmen’s camp were.
All clear.
Time to do this.
I glanced back at Audrey, my heart aching with the need to protect her.
Please, Sisters. Keep her safe.
Bishop, who stood beside her, caught my gaze, his expression determined. He’d protect her. I knew he would. But the knowledge didn’t ease my or my wolf’s worries.
I turned back to our target, a pile of rubble thirty feet down the wide road just before the recess in the buildings.
With Knox in his wolf form padding silently beside me and the rest of the strike team following behind us, I carefully slunk down the street, keeping close to the buildings on the same side of the street as the pens.
I reached the rubble and glanced around the edge into the recess. The grimalkins’ guard looked bored as he leaned against the open doorway to the building that held the grimalkins’ pens.
The large building was just as Deacon had described and as solid as the one I’d chosen for our group’s defensive position, which meant if we could take out the swordsmen, the grimalkins would stay contained.
Beside the building containing the grimalkins’ pens sat a similarly sized structure. It was in worse condition, with its far corner crumbled almost to the ground, and the archways over the front windows collapsed, leaving only a jagged facade. The front wall, now a mix of fallen windows and uneven edges, ranged between four feet to seven feet high, and through the gaps, I could clearly see and hear the swordsmen sitting around a campfire, eating their lunch and chatting with each other, oblivious to the imminent threat.
Unfortunately, there weren’t any nearby alleys, but I trusted Knox to take out the guard before he made a noise and alerted the other swordsmen.
He was the pack’s best hunter for a reason, and we were going to need all his skill to pull this off.
Go, I told Knox, and he slipped past the rubble, his enormous black wolf somehow melting into the shadows cast by the ruined building and overgrown brush beside us, the noise from the swordsmen in their camp covering any sound he might have made.
He slunk with ease, getting closer and closer to the guard outside the grimalkins’ pens.
My pulse pounded, and my wolf pressed against my control, wanting to let loose and fight.
Someone in the swordsmen’s camp laughed louder than the others, drawing the guard’s attention. Knox leaped forward and shifted into his human form at the last second. With one clawed hand, he sliced open the guard’s throat, and with the other he clamped it over the guard’s mouth.
Go, I told Whil, before Knox had even set the dead guard on the ground.
I hurried forward, Whil close on my heels, both of us trying to keep as low to the ground and as quiet as possible. The sound of the swordsmen talking would help if we were careful, but we still had to move fast. Someone could look our way or walk out the door at any second. We couldn’t let the swordsmen grab the lightning weapons.
We reached the edge of the crumbling building.
Just a little closer, I told Whil. We need to get to that lower portion closer to their campfire.
It was only a few feet away, but even with her magic swirling the potion in the air, it was best to toss the potion as close to the men as possible.
She nodded and pulled the jar of potion from her bag, her hands shaking.
I motioned for Whil to go ahead of me, just as a swordsman stepped out of the entranceway.
His eyes widened in surprise and I leaped forward, extending my claws from my fingertips.
Throw the jar! I commanded.
The swordsman started to draw his sword, but I was faster, slashing my claws through his neck before the weapon was unsheathed.
Whil hurled the jar with all her strength, and it smashed against the ground, releasing a golden mist. Her summer fae glow flared bright and the mist whooshed around those inside.
The men dropped their lunches, scrambling to draw their weapons and attack us, while six of them ran for an open crate on the other side of a row of cots. That had to be where they were keeping the lightning weapons.
The swordsman closest to the doorway jabbed at me with his sword, but I dodged, stepping close to the man, and raked my claws through his stomach and chest.
A growl bubbled in my throat as my wolf surged to the surface, not to take over, but to ensure we had all the power and ferocity needed to protect what was ours.
A few feet away, a man rushed toward Whil, but Deacon was a step behind her. He pulled her out of the way of the man’s blade before attacking back.
Folmar and Knox joined him, protecting Whil and keeping the men away from the grimalkins’ pens. We just needed to keep them contained until Whil’s potion could knock them out.
But as I thought that, two of the swordsmen shoved the cots aside and reached the crate.
Shit.
Folmar, I said. She was the only one who could get past the group of men in front of us to stop the others from using the dangerous weapons.
On it. She leaped into the air, shifting into her majestic gryphon, and used her wings to sail over everyone’s heads, landing on the crate and crushing it with her front paws.
The swordsman who’d thankfully hadn’t been able to grab a weapon, lurched back with a yelp. He landed on his ass then kept on going, collapsing onto the shattered tiles.
The man beside him collapsed as well, then another and another. Whil’s sleeping potion was finally taking effect.
Thank the Sisters.
I blew out a heavy breath, my chest heaving from exertion, and relief washed over me. One slight mishap not counted, everything had gone according to plan. A quick glance told me no one had gotten hurt and we hadn’t needed all the extra fighters.