Page 23

Chapter Twenty-Two

Drayton

R age that burns hotter than the fires of hell simmers in my bloodstream, the stench of smoke and seared flesh in air is like fuel on the fire.

I shift before I get too close to the carnage at the front of the packlands.

I need to be able to connect with the pack and scent the intruders breaking onto my land.

Strong emotions slam into me the moment my four paws hit the earth running.

Fear, anger, disgust, and pain assault me from every angle, some from the intruders, but far too much comes from the wolves in my pack.

The pain from my pack mostly comes from the direction of the explosion which means the intruders must not have made it farther onto our lands yet, or they aren’t trying to hurt anyone else.

The scent of humans hits me square in the nose as I sneak my way over to the chaos by the gates.

Penn is already in the fray, taking out people in black tactical gear before they can take more than a step inside our walls.

Two of my wolves that were on patrol tonight lie motionless, their bodies burned and bloodied in the debris of what was once the gate.

Marcus would never reveal shifters to humans which means the intruders are most likely the same group we rescued Talia from all those weeks ago.

The Croises are not only our enemy for what they did to Penn, Talia, and who knows how many others, but they’re also the enemy of our goddess.

Alaric comes up on my right still in human form and does a double take when he sees me.

I huff in annoyance when his face goes back to neutral and he takes in the chaos in front of us.

A mixed group of wolves and men come out of the trees behind us, ready to defend our people.

“Let’s fucking do this,” Alaric growls out, an extra vicious smile on his face.

I growl in agreement and nod my thick wolf head.

Lifting my face to the sky, I release a deafening howl to our pack, calling for death and bloodshed of those who would attack us.

Shouts and howls join me moments before our pack lunges into fray.

Alaric quickly strips and shifts beside me.

We both howl once more then join our pack in destroying the human fuckers.

I lunge forward, attacking the arm of one of the humans holding a gun.

My teeth easily sink through their pathetic excuse for armour and the metallic taste of blood fills my mouth.

His scream of anguish excites my wolf, making us clamp down hard enough to reach bone.

The sweet sound of his bone breaking has me releasing to go in for the kill.

The man drops to his knees in pain and I take the opportunity to lunge for his throat.

His death is quick, but definitely not painless.

I can feel the moment the pain and fear disappears and his body slumps lifeless between my jaws.

Images of my father’s body fill my mind, the sudden disappearance of his emotions is still the single most traumatic part of that day.

It was the moment I truly understood that I had killed my father.

He was an abusive piece of shit, but I never wanted to kill anyone, even him.

My wolf has taken the driver’s seat fully, letting our instincts to protect our pack and mate drive us to keep fighting and killing.

In times like this, I’m thankful to have him, the other side of me that does what needs to be done without worrying about the human emotions behind the actions.

My gift with emotions makes connecting with my pack easier, but it makes defending them harder.

Killing in defence of others will always be justified as the alpha and leader of my pack, but that doesn’t make it easier.

These humans are actively attacking us and have killed some of my wolves.

So why does feeling their pain, fear, and anger disappearing as they die hit me so fucking hard?

“Find the fucking woman!” One of the humans snaps into a radio.

“We’re being massacred out here! Fucking grab her so we can fall back.”

Stopping in my tracks, I growl menacingly at the man with the radio.

I knew they were here for Talia, but hearing the confirmation from him has my hackles rising.

No one will be taking my fucking mate.

I tackle the man down, tearing into his shoulder until it’s a mess of muscles, tendons, and blood before I release it.

Shifting back to human, I hold him down, shoving my fist into his destroyed shoulder.

“Where are the others?” I growl out, his screams of pain dying out as I pull my hand back.

“Where are they?!”

The man cries out, his voice a weak, whimpering mess.

“They went through the woods around the back! We were supposed to be a distraction. Please, please don’t kill me!”

“I won’t kill you,” I tell him, a smile pulling up at the corners of my mouth.

“But I won’t save you either. If you live, then I guess your god actually gives a shit about you. Blood loss is a fucking bitch, though.”

Pushing up off of the man, I turn and run towards Alaric’s pile of clothes.

A blood soaked Penn still in wolf form comes up beside me, checking around me and protecting me while I’m not a wolf.

“They sent a second group into the forest to grab Talia while we were fighting them out here. I need to call Wes and Forrester,” I tell Penn once we reach the clothes.

Pulling out the phone I scroll to find Forrester first and hit dial.

“Go watch Alaric’s back. I’ll coordinate with Wes and Forrester to keep Talia safe.”

Penn nods his grey head and takes off towards Alaric’s large, white wolf who’s currently taking on three opponents at once.

Lifting the phone to my ear, I breathe out a sigh of relief when Forrester answers.

“Where is Talia?” I ask abruptly, already moving deeper into the trees towards the packhouse.

“Drayton?” Forrester clarifies with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

At my yeah, he answers my question hesitantly.

“She's doing evacuations on the west side of the packlands. She wanted to help so we gave her the smaller section that houses Penn’s mom.”

I start running west, anxiety spiking my adrenaline higher. “Please tell me that Wes is with her at least.”

“No, he’s doing the east side while I focused on the southern houses. What is going on, Dray?” Forrester asks, his breaths coming out faster as I hear his footsteps pick up pace. “Are the people attacking here for her?”

A growl of frustration leaves me, hindering my ability to answer him right away. “Yeah, they are. The attack at the front gates was meant to distract us from her while a second team from The Croises went in from the back to grab her.”

“Fucking fuck!” Forrester curses through the phone. “I’m almost to the outer edge of where she was evacuating.”

“So am I. Call Wes and let him know what’s going on. Make sure he keeps moving the others to the packhouse. I’m going to shift and see if I can follow her scent better.”

“On it.”

Forrester immediately hangs up and I toss Alaric’s phone by the nearest house so we can pinpoint it later. The Hudson’s house is the most northern house in the west end of the packlands and looks to already be dark and empty.

Shifting into my wolf, I inhale deeply and pinpoint the potent scent of my mate. She was here not long ago, but she’s already moved on from this area. Based on the intensity of her scent, she’s closer to Forrester’s side than she is mine.

My feet hit the ground running as I move towards the strongest scent markers for Talia. The scent of strangers mixes with her’s about halfway through the houses and I pick up my pace. Penn’s mother’s scent is also mixed in, but I haven’t found Forrester’s yet.

When I turn the corner around one of the houses, I finally catch sight of Talia standing in front of an unconscious Helen. Five men and women stand in front of her, two of them with guns trained on her while one of them holds his hands up in a placating way.

“Now, Talia,” he says with a condescending tone that pisses me off far more than I already was. “If you would just come with us nicely, no one else will need to get hurt. Do you really want to let your mates die for you?”

A menacing growl bursts from my throat as I stalk forward, my hackles raised as I fight the urge to attack first and think later. They could easily overpower both of us when they have a five to two advantage at the moment. Forrester will be here soon which means I just need to hold it together until he gets here.

Talia doesn’t turn to look at me as I stalk up beside her. She keeps her attention on the threat in front of her while protectively covering as much of Helen as she can. My heart hurts for my sweet, gentle mate and the circumstances that have made her face down a threat like this all by herself.

“I will not go with you,” Talia speaks, her voice tight with anger. “You won’t be killing any of my mates because you can’t. If you could, it wouldn’t be a threat you were uttering aimlessly to me. You would have done that first and then used the shock of it to subdue me. I know how you people work. I lived it for twenty-four years.”

Determination and strength floods out of Talia with every word. These fuckers tried so hard to break this woman, but not only did she persevere through it all, she came out the other side with kindness, strength, and the gentlest nature I've ever seen. Her mere existence is a fucking miracle.

Forrester's scent reaches my nose as the wind blows towards us from behind the fuckers in front of us. Talia takes a small, barely noticeable inhale and her shoulders relax just a fraction. Teal light moves over her body as she shifts into the most beautiful creature I've ever seen. Instead of staring at her beauty, however, I take the moment of distraction and lunge towards one of the humans with the guns. Forrester's black wolf moves in to take the other one.

My jaws clench around the throat of my victim before I tear it out and toss it off to the side. Forrester quickly follows and turns towards the remaining three humans. The man in the middle is shaking with anger, but his eyes are only on Talia. Her pale jade body and large teal wings seem to glow in an almost ethereal way.

The momentary distraction from Talia is enough for one of the humans to tackle me to the ground. The cold steel of a gun presses into my side and I realise the mistake I made upon arrival. I assumed the two humans who had their weapons out were the only ones that were armed, but I was wrong.

The angle of the tackle has made it more difficult for me to fight out of his tight grip. My teeth scrape at his back, but I can’t move enough to bite down. My back paws push into his stomach and I use my claws to both tear into his clothing as well as push him backwards off of me. We roll around, neither of us able to get the upper hand on the other for more than a few seconds.

I feel the start of exhaustion and the sting of pain from my attacker, and a feeling of rightness comes over me. A pulse of magic comes from inside of me and I push it towards him. The exhaustion and pain is suddenly amplified inside of him causing him to scream in agony then pass out. Pushing him off of me, I turn to face Talia and Forr, ready to face whoever is left.

Talia's magic is wrapped around Helen in a protective shield as the man that taunted her before the fighting started circles both of them. Forr is still locked in combat with the other human, but he seems to be holding his own alright.

Talia is standing tall and unflinching as the man stalks around her. You would think she’s standing and waiting for her opportunity to strike, but I know she’s not a fighter in the traditional sense. Talia will protect everyone around her to her own detriment, of that I have no doubt. I’m worried, however, that her own detriment will happen far too quickly.

I know I need to intervene before the man can make whatever move he’s planning, I just can’t see if he’s also armed and what kind of damage he can do if I attack him at the wrong time. With Talia and Helen in the line of fire, I need to be careful to not make things worse.

A blur of black fur flies by me, moving straight for the man that’s now standing in front of Talia. Forrester has no such qualms about trying to do this in the safest way possible it seems. Jumping after him, I barely miss him as he lunges for the man, snarling viciously as he moves for the kill.

It’s almost as if time stands still the moment the sound of a gunshot echoes through the forest around us. My blood runs cold as Talia slumps forward. Not a single thought crosses my mind as I shift and run towards my mate. Forrester rips into the fucker, his gargles of blood and the silence that follows enough to satisfy me that he’s dead.

My knees hit the ground and I cradle Talia’s head in my lap, checking her over as I do. She’s still in shifted form, her small doe frame and large teal bird wings are far too much for me to carry as a human and even more so as a wolf. Her breathing is heavy, but it’s steady, and that gives me a small measure of hope.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Forrester mutters beside me, pulling at the strands of his hair.

“I didn’t think. I saw him going after her when I finished off that last bitch and I just attacked. I didn’t realize he had a gun on her!”

“Check her for wounds,” I command him softly, not wanting to get into any of this at the moment.

Right now, the only thing that matters is keeping her safe and alive.

“There’s one gunshot wound through her back leg, minimal bleeding.” Forrester moves around her, checking her wings as he goes.

“That’s it, it seems. Do you think the shock of it is why she’s passed out?”

“I don’t know,” I answer honestly, placing a kiss on her forehead.

“I honestly don’t know.”

A large blinding teal light comes out of Talia and shoots through the packlands.

There’s a still silence that follows as Forrester and I just simply stare at her in confusion.

The protective shield around Helen fades and she begins to stir beside us.

At the same time, Talia shifts back into her human form, her clothes from before still perfectly intact on her body.

Looking over at Forrester, I shift Talia into my arms and stand up.

“You grab Helen. We need to get them both to the packhouse and figure out what the fuck else is going on.”

With a nod, he gathers Helen into his arms and we take off.

I glance down at Talia, noting the way her cheeks are flushed and an almost invisible shimmer rests across her pale skin.

Her leg shows no signs of blood from the wound either.

If I hadn’t seen what just happened, I would think she simply fell asleep after a day by the lake.

This mate of ours is as extraordinary as she is delicate.

I don’t know how any of us are going to handle her part in this upcoming war.

Goddess, protect us all.

No, seriously, protect us all.

I can’t live without my mate.