Chapter 67

Chaos. Reylin struggled to keep her mates in her sights as she fought. She’d killed two so far. Rune’s pride was almost as loud in her head as Tristian’s anxiety. Rune killed a third.

“Hey baby, keep up with me. You’re losing,” Rune thought.

“Damn, don’t encourage her. This isn’t a game. She doesn’t need this on her soul.”

Tristian’s sorrow weighed on her. He might be scolding his brother, but she sensed his censure of her too. His desire to protect her from having to fight was loud, but she pushed his demand away to do what she needed to do. Protecting Bianca and their territory was her focus, and he backed off. Rune approved.

A young red wolf pounced on Kane. The alpha yelped but threw off his younger foe. He killed his opponent with a swift artfulness that was as impressive as it was disturbing when he ripped out the other wolf’s throat midstride then attacked the next rogue without missing a beat. Rey was glad the old man was on their side.

Reylin panted, out of breath, exhausted. A wolf howled in the barn, and it wasn’t Law. Her heart pounded. She tried to get back inside to help Bianca and the humans, but the biggest wolf she’d ever seen blocked her path. He was as black as midnight and beautiful. If she hadn’t been mated, she would have been intrigued. He carried himself like a leader.

“Guys, I think I found Finn’s beta.” Reylin sent all the wolves on her side the thought.

Ben, Law’s friend from the town pack, rushed up beside her. He glanced at her and nodded. Ben wasn’t the biggest wolf, but he was tough, and he wouldn’t run.

Tristian and Rune appeared on either side of her. “The four of us should be able to take down Hercules.” Rune sent them all his thought.

“Confident much?” Ben was always ready to joke, even in the face of death, and his telepathic reply gave her a jolt of levity she needed.

The big black wolf sniffed in her direction. She knew he was smelling how ripe she was for mating. Both Rune and Tristian growled. Ben bared his fangs at the trespasser. The big boy growled and sprang at Rune. It was on. Tristian and Ben both leapt at the same time. Tristian went for the black wolf’s neck while Ben went for his belly.

The big wolf hadn’t attacked her, and she was certain it was because he wanted to claim her as the spoils of war. She’d die first. Rey nipped his hindquarters, which elicited a quick yelp of surprise from the mammoth opponent.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Kane fighting two average-looking wolves. He didn’t seem to have any trouble with either of them, so she returned her attention to helping her men and Ben.

Ethan ran past, chasing one of the rogue wolves away from the barn. That only left Law inside with the humans.

Another howl in the barn made the hair on Rey’s back and neck stand at attention. She shivered. The sound was familiar, and yet she didn’t know the wolf.

“Go check on Bianca.” Tristian sent her the message on a private thought that only she and Rune could hear. “We have this.”

She realized she was more of a distraction than a help for her men anyway so she rushed through the fray, dodging and weaving the fighting wolves as she ran up the small earthen embankment and into the barn. Law lay licking a female wolf. Kloe shook terribly. Randal held a gun loosely, but he didn’t even glance at Rey to see if she were a friend or foe. Sabrina wept. A tiny wolf pup nursed and the mother slept, spent.

“Bianca?” Rey didn’t know what to think. She’d never heard of a bitten giving birth to a wolf pup. Fear for the baby made her heart ache. The taboo of conceiving as a wolf was there because it was possible for two wolves to have a child who couldn’t turn human. A wolf with a human mind was a horrific consequence of giving into animal instinct during a full moon when the female was in heat, and now, seeing it, she knew it was more than a legend. “What has the moon done to your baby?”

Law looked up at her. His expression was tired and afraid; even as a wolf she could see how deeply he was affected by this turn of events. Human gestation took nine months, but a wolf only carried for two months. The birth was either a miracle or a curse. Only the morning light would tell. Law shook his head and continued to care for his family. He didn’t even seem concerned about who was winning outside.

Reylin sat down in the middle of the barn. She had no idea what she could do. Shock made her so numb she feared returning to the fight outside, but here there was nothing to do but stare at the little male cub. He was adorable. Her heart lightened a bit. At least he hadn’t died. A miscarriage would have broken Bianca’s heart. If she’d stayed pregnant, she would have died. Bianca was breathing, and so was the pup. Things could be worse.

Kane came running in. He stopped short when he saw his daughter and her child. The old wolf whimpered and went over to where the tiny, blind cub wiggled and yipped as he tried to latch onto his mother. Rey tensed as the alpha wolf sniffed the cub. Kane gave Law a long, judgmental stare before he started toward the door. He stopped but didn’t look back.

“The insurgency is over. Come morning we’ll have some clean-up, but that pack won’t be foolish enough to attack again. Few survived, and the ones that did fled. I’ll check on my daughter once the sun has risen and I hope for your sake she and her child are human. Foster, don’t let me down again.” Kane left.

Rune and Tristian entered together. Rune was limping and his leg was bleeding, but that appeared to be the worst injury. Rey ran up to them, and they took a moment for the reunion before they laid down in a comfortable pile of hay. Her head was on Rune, and Tristian licked her fur affectionately.

“Sleep now.” Tristian sent her the thought. “It’s been a long night.”

Rune’s amusement stirred on their private channel of thoughts. “And we have plans for later. You’ll need all the rest you can get.”

Rey snuggled into the warm cocoon her mates made. Sleep stole her remaining time to worry.