Page 11 of The Alpha Dire Wolf (Bloodlines & Bloodbonds #1)

Lincoln

T his is getting to be a bad habit.

Elder Jackson, or Germander for that matter, would have a fit if they could see me now. Not out on watch like I should be, setting an example, but instead at the edge of the forest.

Watching her. Again .

I should be setting that example. Patrolling against danger, known or unknown, and keeping our pack safe.

That was my duty this moonless night, and I wasn’t doing it.

Not quite. In some twisted way, perhaps I could justify the surveillance as keeping my people safe by making sure the woman was not up to anything.

No. Not the woman. Her.

Sylvie Anne Wilson.

I knew her name, though she didn’t know mine.

I watched her from the edge of the forest, confident that she could not make out my form, or my eyes, in the cloudy dark.

I watched her as she sat on the porch, in the same chair her grandmother often sat.

Looking out at the forest while it looked back on her.

She was staring right at me without seeing.

What is this pull that drags me back to you?

In time with my thoughts, a frown creased the delectably smooth skin of her face, wrinkling around her mouth and eyes and reflecting the unhappy thought within. I leaned forward, fighting the need to go to her. To fix it. To make whatever was bothering her better.

I disliked the way her strikingly beautiful features were marred when she wasn’t smiling.

It twisted the curves of her jaw and hid the wonder of her eyes under the scrunched-up brow.

I wanted to see her smile again. If she did that, I could go, I told myself, go and return to what I should be doing.

Perhaps I am under her spell. The old me would never have dreamed of doing this. He would be on patrol, keeping his people safe from the things that have started to stir in the night.

The gloom deepened as the height of night approached. Around me, the forest was still, drawing breath and waiting for what would happen next. I almost expected a fog to roll in, creeping through the underbrush to reduce vision and foreshadow something big.

As if sensing the same unease permeating the forest, Sylvie got up abruptly and went inside, shutting the door behind her. Room by room, she went throughout the house, turning all the lights on. Driving back the dark.

Clever girl.

Knowing I could wait no longer, I turned and left, giving no thought to why a witch acting in concert with what lay at the heart of the forest would feel unease at such a night. My focus was now on everything around me.

The long legs of my wolven form carried me deep into the forest, confidently finding footing with every stride. This was my land. My home. Nothing was going to sneak up on me here.

I peered into the depths of every shadow as I passed, eyes of ice and light probing, testing, judging. But none were disobeying. They were just shadow.

Yet somehow the unease in my stomach did not fade. It only grew until my insides were twisted into knots to be wrung out like fresh laundry. Something was wrong, but I couldn’t see it. Couldn’t detect it. I could only feel it.

Somewhere in the distance, a wolf howled. A wild? One of my pack? One of the Lost? I couldn’t tell. The distance was too great. I hoped it was not one of the Lost. If one of the great beasts had strayed into our territory, it would be more than just an alpha’s job to take it down.

Right now, that was the last thing we needed. With the way things at the heart of the forest—

I stopped. I didn’t slow to a halt. One second I was moving, and the next I was perfectly, totally still. Something was wrong. I could sense it but not see it. Extending my other senses, I tried to detect what my subconscious was telling me. What was it screaming about?

Every bundle of nervous fiber was on edge, twitchy and unhappy.

I could spring in any direction. I just had to know where .

Swinging my muzzle from side to side, I scanned the forest, analyzing every tree, rock, dip, crevice and bush within sight.

Something was not right. My ears warned me first—not of what was approaching but of what was missing.

Sound. The forest was entirely silent. Not even the wind whispered in my ear. It was completely still. Crouching low, teeth bared, I waited, not knowing where the attack would come from. But it was coming. It had to be.

The wind crept up without warning, blowing leaves and bending branches as it rushed forward in a strange manner.

Right toward the heart of the forest.

I was off in a flash, trailing the wind, trying not to worry about what it might portend.

Only darkness and evil lurked in the heart of the forest. We had long patrolled against its escape without fear, but years ago the elders deemed it too dangerous, and we had retreated across the Dyne River, relinquishing the heart to the evil.

Content within the heart, it had not bothered us in decades.

Until now. In the past few days, the forest as a whole had grown restless. A change was coming.

I prayed it was something simpler because I did not have a solution to what lay beyond. The Chained was beyond even an alpha. It was beyond all of us. Not that I intended to hide, as the elders seemed intent upon. I would fight, if called. It was my duty, the duty of the entire pack.

The elders were fighting me, as were other groups within the pack. All of whom thought they knew better than me. None of whom wanted to fight.

It was hard to blame them. Even as I ran through the night, searching out the source of the sour breeze, I could understand.

Things were getting bad. Animals turning rabid without warning.

Reports of shadows moving of their own volition.

We could not hope to stop the Chained. We were but a roadblock if it got free.

But that roadblock could buy time for others to act. We could not continue to be defensive-minded. We had to act . To get ahead of whatever was coming.

Even if it was the Chained itself.

Shadows moved to my right without permission of the very faint light. I was mid-stride when I saw it happen and immediately twisted to try to absorb the hit. It only partially worked. Something in the darkness slammed into my side, throwing me down.

Thanks to my quick actions, I landed on my feet, paws sliding across the forest floor as I bled momentum. Drawing a breath was painful. Bruised ribs at minimum. Whatever was out there, it packed a punch.

But so did I.

Crouching low, teeth bared, I struggled to see in the growing darkness wrapping itself around me like a blanket.

I don’t think so.

Throwing myself at the center of it all, the deepest, darkest, inkiest blackness, I tore a huge chunk of shadow away.

And another. My claws dug deep, pinning it in place as I attacked, but it was useless.

The bits of tangible “darkness” simply merged back into the main body while never ceasing its efforts to smother me under the blanket of impenetrable shadow.

Closing my eyes briefly, I touched the wellspring of power at the very center of my core, the magical unity that linked wolf and man. Crisp, clean energy flowed out. The power of an alpha.

My eyes flicked open, ice and gold light tearing apart the shadow, the glowing light ripping great holes straight through it. Adding my teeth to it, I ripped bits and pieces free, the smaller chunks simply evaporating in the blinding light.

The shadow monster didn’t give up. Like a tidal wave, it reared high, trapping the light at its center as it crested, crashing over me with physical force and pinning me to the ground. Snarling, I opened my eyes wider. Renewed light lit the night as my eyes glowed brighter still.

Wrenching myself free of its grip, I lunged, my paws thrashing wildly as I bore the thing to the ground. It fought in complete and utter silence, but I knew it hadn’t expected to tangle with an alpha bloodline. We were stronger. Faster. Filled with more of the deep magic.

Snatching the thing in my jaws, I whipped my head back and forth, stunning the creature before tossing it contemptuously to the side. The trunk shivered, knocking loose minor bits of wood and leaves. I braced, expecting it to come at me, but it didn’t.

The wind picked up again, and the shadow flowed with it.

Shit.

Running was the last thing I’d been ready for, and I struggled to keep up. Just when I thought I had it, the shadow would dance around on the current. Somehow it was tangible and ethereal all at the same time.

We ran on, until the wind lifted it up and over the Dyne River. Digging my claws in deep, I shed momentum, coming to a stop right at the river’s edge, water lapping at my paws. The shadow creature continued on, disappearing swiftly into the towering trees at the heart of the forest.

I snarled, letting frustration bloom. I dared not go on.

Not at night and definitely not alone.