Page 17

Anger surged through Jon and it was all he could do not to charge across the room and rip out the young one’s throat.

Each female was precious. Even Zion, who had more reason than anyone else to resent humans, had come to understand their value.

Only a fucking coward would intentionally harm a woman.

But the way they’d treated Akari proved that the wolves were beneath contempt.

Quickly searching for Zion’s mind, Jon urged, Move in, sir. Move in now! We’re inside the shelter and they are about to make things much worse.

Are the women in a safe position? Zion replied.

They’re huddled in the center of the room , Isaac told him. Give us thirty seconds and we’ll get them flat on the floor.

Let Isaac and Kyle wrangle the women. Jon was going after Elias. There was no way that bastard was escaping, again. Then he realized all his equipment was in the forest with his shredded clothes. Looking around the room, he hurriedly assessed his options.

He spotted one of the feline guards and hustled over to where he crouched. I need your restraints and a choke collar. Jon slipped the thought into the guard’s mind as he took the items off his utility belt. The guard gasped, but made no move to prevent Jon’s theft.

The rest happened in a dizzying blur. Kyle and Isaac dropped their shields and shouted at the women to get down. Zion and a group of soldiers burst in through the front door.

The wolves growled at the women, snapping their jaws threateningly.

Lions bounded in behind Zion’s soldiers, attacking the wolves.

Lupine hybrids ran in through a side door and joined the battle.

They shot at the feline soldiers as the wolves attempted to herd the terrified females toward the side door.

Lions roared, savaging the wolves as they fought their way toward the females.

Tuning out the chaos, Jon focused on his task.

He flew across the room and tackled Elias, slamming him down onto his belly.

After snapping the choke collar around his throat, Jon dragged the wolf’s arms behind his back and secured them with the restraints.

Sedative mist would have been nice, but the choke collar would keep him from shifting.

That’s the best Jon could do until the fight was over.

Zion and the soldiers focused on the wolves, meticulously separating them from the women without injuring the females. About half the wolves had shifted back to their human forms. They overturned beds and stacked up tables, creating a makeshift barricade.

The younger wolf, likely Elias’ new beta, shouted orders and the wolves rushed to obey. Two thirds, animals and hybrids, intensified their aggression toward the cats. With alarming speed, the other third, led by the beta, assembled the women and hurried them across the room.

The wolves leapt over and charged around the barricade, attacking Zion and his soldiers. The attack was savage, bloody, ensuring that the cats remained focused on them and them alone. Lions rushed in to help, but it was all a distraction.

The beta and his followers reached the side door with the women.

“Stop them!” Jon yelled, but everyone was engaged in their own battles.

He automatically reached for his pulse pistol, but it too was in the forest with his shredded clothes.

“Shit,” he muttered and lowered his arm.

Were the feline soldiers in position? Surely, they’d surrounded the building by now.

Flinging open the door, the beta hurried the wolves and the women out into the night.

The familiar sound of energy weapons echoed through the forest followed by women screaming.

As Jon thought, feline soldiers were scattered through the trees, but had they been able to stop the wolves from escaping?

The wolves were shielding themselves with females, so it was nearly impossible to shoot them.

Jon stood and dragged Elias to his knees. “Who was the other wolf?”

“Which one?” The bastard smirked, clearly not comprehending his peril. “You’ll have to be more specific.”

Not wanting Elias to hear what he was about to say, Jon reached out to Zion telepathically. Did the perimeter guards prevent the escape?

Unclear. Give me a minute to find out.

Elias laughed. “Juan got away, didn’t he? I can see it in your eyes. If my count is right, we just captured twenty-two more mates.”

Jon looked around and cursed under his breath. The fucker was right. There were only four females left inside the structure, but had the beta managed to elude the guards?

Zion hurried over to where Jon stood and motioned toward Elias. “I’ll take care of this piece of shit. You and your team go join the hunters.”

Jon nodded, then paused. “Elias must be interrogated before we kill him. Isaac’s memory scan was only partially successful.”

“I know. Diego told me.” Zion motioned toward the open door on the far side of the building. “Go!”

Jon bolted into the forest, releasing his lion as he ran. Isaac and Kyle were half a step behind him.

Claire hurried along in the line of sobbing women, stumbling over rocks and fighting for footing against the uneven ground.

Wolf hybrids surrounded them, urging them on with weapons and threats.

They’d been running through a forest and suddenly the leader triggered…

Claire wasn’t sure what he had triggered.

She’d never seen anything like it before.

One moment they were surrounded by trees and the next they were in a tunnel.

They hadn’t been transported. They’d passed through some sort of disguised opening.

The passage was dank and dark with roughhewn walls and a sloping floor.

Timbers supported the ceiling in places and the tunnel was at least twenty degrees cooler than the forest had been.

Lights were inset in the timbers, but the long distance between each support created areas of darkness or dense shadows.

The wolves carried flashlights as well as their weapons, so the escape had been well planned.

Was this a mine or underground shelter, and who had constructed it?

Rydaria was supposed to have been uninhabited before the hybrids arrived.

“Where are they taking us?” Dawn whispered, moving closer to Claire.

“I don’t know, hon,” Claire responded. “Probably their village.”

Dawn was one of six women who had been assigned to the same tent as Claire when they first arrived on Rydaria.

Dawn was painfully shy and introverted, making her seem younger than her twenty years.

Claire felt protective of her and tried to help her adjust to life on this unforgiving planet.

She’d nearly succeeded in drawing Dawn out of her protective shell and then the wolves attacked.

The violent slaughter had shocked and terrified everyone, but the savagery had been particularly hard on Dawn.

She’d barely spoken since, and she refused to let any of the hybrids near her.

Claire’s brother had been one of the many victims that night, so she understood Dawn’s reaction.

Still, Dawn’s refusal to cooperate landed her in the shelter, and Claire was concerned that the cold and subpar food would result in a serious illness.

That’s why Claire risked punishment and sneaked fresh food and supplies to Dawn on a regular basis.

Tonight had been one of those visits. That’s why Claire had been in the shelter when the wolves attacked.

Looking around, Claire shuddered. Interacting with feline hybrids was hard enough, but lupine hybrids were vicious and unreasonable. Being at their mercy was terrifying.

“Are they going to kill us?” Dawn whispered, emotion quivering through her voice.

“If they’d wanted us dead, we’d be dead.

This is something different.” Something worse .

She didn’t speak the last phrase, but couldn’t prevent the thought from forming.

It had taken weeks to convince herself that submitting to a coalition of lion hybrids was a better fate than death.

No power in the universe could make her willingly submit to her brother’s murderers.

Dawn’s feet started dragging. Claire tried to hurry her along, but Dawn simply wouldn’t move.

“Keep up,” one of the wolves behind them snapped.

“She’s terrified,” Claire responded in the same impatient tone. “We all are.”

“I hope they give you to me.” The wolf leered at her, his gaze moving lewdly over her body. “I like mouthy females.”

“And I like a female who knows how to use her mouth,” the wolf beside him added, and they both laughed.

Dawn sobbed, covering her mouth with her hand. She wasn’t moving at all now. She just stood there trembling.

Claire wrapped her arm around Dawn’s waist and dragged her forward a few steps. “Dawn, you have to walk or they’ll hurt you. Start walking right now.”

Dawn let out a plaintive cry and covered her face with both hands.

“What’s the problem, Richardson?” a large, shaggy-haired wolf demanded as he reached their group. His shimmering gaze assessed the scene even as he demanded answers.

“We have a straggler, alpha. She’s refusing to walk.”

Alpha? Wasn’t Elias the pack alpha? Claire was confused by the title. This wasn’t even the male who’d been shouting orders after the Shadow subdued Elias.

“What’s the problem, female?” the new alpha asked. “Is there a reason you stopped walking?”

Claire moved in front of Dawn, shielding her from the alpha. “She’s hysterical,” Claire stressed. “She’s so scared her body won’t cooperate.”

“Can you calm her down?” Despite his stern expression, a hint of compassion warmed his tone. A dark beard concealed his features, but his eyes were well shaped and jewel bright. The exact color, however, was lost in the shadows.

“I’m trying,” Claire insisted, “but they’re not helping. Their comments are making it worse.”

“Go on.” The alpha motioned for Richardson and his friend to continue down the passageway. “I’ve got this.”

“Yes, alpha,” Richardson said and walked off with long, brisk steps.

The line of captives flowed around them for a tense moment. The women looked at Claire curiously, but no one stopped to ask what was going on.

“What’s your name?” the alpha asked.

There was no logical reason to refuse, so she said, “I’m Claire.

That’s Dawn. Why did he call you alpha? Isn’t Elias the pack alpha?

” The newcomer smiled and a strange warmth spread through Claire’s abdomen.

He was the first wolf who had shown any concern at all, the first who had treated them with respect.

The exact shape of his features was distorted by his beard. Still, he seemed young and vital.

“There are eleven packs, and each has its own alpha. The strongest pack rules the village. The ruling pack has been Elias’ for the past couple of years.

Obviously, that’s about to change.” He nodded toward Dawn.

“No one will speak to her for the next ten minutes. Calm her down and get her moving again.”

“I’ll try, but she’s fragile. Always has been.”

“If she won’t walk on her own, I’ll send someone to carry her. No more excuses. Figure out a way to get her moving again.”

He walked off and Claire clutched her hands into fists. So much for a compassionate wolf. She should have known better.

His casual explanation surprised her. He’d made his village sound a lot more structured and civilized than she’d expected. All she knew about wolves was that they hated cats, they killed for pleasure, and they were willing to torture females.

Shaking away the discouraging thoughts with a heavy sigh, Claire focused on Dawn. “Look at me, Dawn.” Dawn didn’t react so Claire placed her hands on Dawn’s upper arms. “Look at me,” she said firmly.

Still shaking visibly, Dawn raised her gaze until it connected with Claire’s.

“If you don’t start walking, a large wolf hybrid is going to pick you up and carry you. Do you want a wolf to put his hands on you?”

“No,” Dawn cried, shaking her head as fresh tears flowed from her eyes. “I don’t want them to touch me.”

“Then walk and keep on walking. I will stay right by your side.”