Page 40 of Spirit Walker Pack (Kingdom of Wolves #5)
GERRY
Watching the rogues appear from the forest, I grin.
There are not as many as I was expecting, but would assume that some are being held in reserve.
Judging by the way that they just run towards us, they don’t appear to be well disciplined in the art of war.
Even if they have double our number, I don’t see beating them as such a big problem.
We stand our ground and let them come to us.
At the speed they’re running, half of them will be winded by the time they get here.
We can discount their first wave as sacrificial lambs.
Watching my warriors dispatch the rogues is like lambs to the slaughter.
Apart from one or two impressive fights, there is no competition.
Seeing one larger than average wolf forging a path through our ranks, I go to meet him. Asher comes forth and heads toward the large brown wolf. Seeing our approach, it turns and waits for us. I can’t help but notice its confident look as it waits.
I sense it too. While I fight, keep your senses alert for a second wolf. This smacks of a trap. Asher pops into my mind.
‘Wallace, form a circle around Asher and this large wolf. Let’s see how confident he is then, when he knows that he is alone.’ Gerry mind links.
Wallace, my Head Warrior, immediately gathers warriors to form the circle. When the space around us clears and the large wolf sees he is alone, he smiles. I can’t help feeling I’ve been played here. What is his advantage in being alone with me in a large open space cut off from his comrades?
The circling and sizing up begins, and something is ringing alarm bells. Concentrate. What is his advantage? His size? No, Asher is larger and of Alpha stock. He is no match for Asher. If he knows that, and he does, then why put himself out in the open?
Stopping his circling, he holds his position. His eyes flick behind me for a split second, and he edges to his left.
‘Asher, when he stands on his back legs, do not engage him. Throw yourself low and to the right.’
I can take him, Asher replies.
‘I know you can, but you can’t take his friend behind us. Trust me. Low and to the right is the way to beat this wolf.’
Tensing his muscles ready for the low lunge, the large brown wolf must believe we are going to leap at him. He stands tall on his back legs and snarls. Asher throws himself low to the right, and we both hear the whistle of arrows slicing through the air.
In near death, the large wolf shifts to its human form, and a young male is revealed. Two large arrows protrude from his chest. The two that had been destined for Asher’s back as he fought. Asher recedes, and I stand over the dying rogue.
“My father said it would be easy. I would be hailed a great warrior for killing an Alpha.” The young man looks confused as he stares at the arrows.
“Your father lied to you. Seeing their Alpha killed in such a cowardly way would have turned the entire pack on you. They would have torn you to pieces in seconds. Why would your father want you dead?” I can only imagine the answer, and yet I’m sure I already know who his father is.
“Arric. My father is Arric…” With those words he dies.
Seeing a group of my warriors in the trees where the arrows came from, I have no doubt the archers will die, if they are not dead already.
“Alpha Gerry. How did you know what they planned?” Wallace is by my side and looking at the young man dead before me.
“They used archers once before. I believe they were mercenaries. I couldn’t understand why he would want to fight in the open, and then he looked over my shoulder to line me up for something. That’s when it all came flooding back. Archers.”
“The alphas from the bunkers are herding the last of their prisoners this way. The battle is all but over. What do you wish us to do with the prisoners?” Wallace points to the forest where I see defeated rogues being herded like sheep.
“Hold them in the clearing for now. Guard them well. I don’t want any slipping off to join Arric wherever the scum is hiding. This all ends today.”
Waiting for the Alphas to appear from the trees, I look around at the terrible waste of life I see before me.
I am fortunate that the majority are rogues, but even their deaths cause my anger to flare.
It is a waste of life no matter who or what they are, and all for one shifter's ambition to be something he was not destined to be. A King!
Watching as Lyle, Bronze and Connell walk towards me, although I see three alphas I also see three young men chatting amicably as they stroll casually along. I know that they will be seeing the carnage around them as much of a waste as I do, but they make me wonder where my youth went.
As they approach, Connell is the first to speak. “Gerry! Was that a training ring I saw you in earlier? You do realize it’s not our job to train their warriors to kill ours ?”
“Obviously, you didn’t bump into Wallace on your way here.
That, Connell, was an attempt to assassinate me.
” Watching the effect my words have on him, I relent on my teasing and let him off the hook.
“I was training them that there is life in an old dog yet. In dodging their arrows, they hit my would-be assassin.”
“Arric is dead then? We haven’t seen hide nor hair of him, so that would explain that,” Bronze states, looking pleased that Arric is accounted for.
“Alas, my dear Bronze, that was not Arric. It was Arric’s son, though. Arric was hoping to kill me and then have his son torn to pieces by the pack. Two wolves with one bow, perhaps.”
“Damn! That means he’s still out there and no doubt still has a good number of warriors with him. Which pack then would bag him the biggest prize?” Lyle looks around, and before Bronze begins listing the options, I think we all know where Arric would attack next.
“He's not here, so Blood Pearl Pack is out. My Eclipse and Connell’s Blackshadow are too far to warrant an attack. If he hits Wolfsfoot, and his attack here failed he’d be trapped between us all.
That only leaves Lyle’s Spirit Walker Pack as a viable secondary target.
” Bronze turns to Lyle. “Let’s gather as many warriors as we can and set off now.
We could still be of use when we get there. ”
“No, Bronze. I think we all know that even if we set off immediately and didn’t stop, it would all be over long before we got there.” Lyle shakes his head in resignation, but Bronze continues.
“Fenya and Taria are there. We need to set off as soon as possible. I won’t give up on my Luna.” He gives Lyle a glare.
“Who said anything about giving up? You forget my friend, Fenya has Sloane, Taria has Ember, Ember has her bat. They all have Glen, and more importantly…” Lyle pauses for effect, I’m sure.
“Falan is hiding out in the surrounding forest with some of the Northern sector warriors. I’d say they were better protected than any of us, and Falan’s warriors were there in case we failed.
I didn’t weaken our numbers here to protect two very capable Lunas. ”
We all laugh as Bronze stares open-mouthed at hearing that his beloved Taria is well cared for.
FENYA
I hate waiting. I don’t have the patience for defensive warfare. I should never have agreed to Lyle’s plan. What was I thinking of?
I swear to the Goddess that one day I will find a way to bite you! Will you stop pacing around and relax! By the time something happens, if it’s going to happen, you’ll be too worn out to go on the offensive, Astra admonishes.
‘I hate it when you’re right, you know that, don’t you?’
Yet you never learn from it…
Before I can say anything to that, though I’m not sure I even have an answer, I get a message to say that a rogue force is heading into Spirit Walker Pack lands.
They are heading directly into Glen’s area.
Instructing him to slowly retreat and thus draw them between my and Taria’s forces, I get a message to Falan to cover the rogues flanks and prevent their escape.
We will have them neatly boxed in on all four sides before they know it, and maybe I’ll get to kill that evil Number Seven during the battle. I don’t think Lyle would approve of my train of thought though!
So now we wait… Astra states.
‘Oh, shut up, you clever…’
Ah, ah, ah. Calm and constructive. Remember?
Grinning, I extend my claws and then quickly bite one hard! Holy Shit! That hurts so much, and I shove my hand in my armpit, as though that is going to soothe anything.
Oh, my Goddess. That’s so funny! You idiot! If it were that simple, I’d have done it years ago! Astra deeply chortles.
Seeing Sloane walking over with a huge grin on her face, I throw myself into a sitting position under a tree. Glaring at her as she approaches, her grin turns to giggles and then laughter.
“Astra told Boulder, didn’t she? I hate my wolf sometimes.” I can’t help myself and start giggling.
“Oh, my dear Fenya! Only you could bite yourself as we wait for an invading army. In less than an hour's time there’ll be more than enough limbs to bite without using your own finger. You need to learn patience and remember…”
“If you say ‘calm and constructive,’ I’ll do more than bite your finger!”
Getting a mind link from Glen saying his forward scouts have spotted a large force of rogues heading his way, puts paid to any further comments.
Still laughing, Sloane goes to muster the warriors and prepare them for the coming battle. Still hearing her laughing at me, I can’t help but giggle when I realize how stupid I behaved. Biting my own finger, for the Goddess’ sake, what was I thinking?
Seeing the pair of us in such good humor as we pass out instructions and information about the invading force, the warriors take our laughter as supreme confidence and grin themselves.