Chapter 28

Glancing between the glazed eyes of the slaughtered Tribunal member and the dark irises of the man who’d so recently tossed me to the ground, I couldn’t help thinking that my neck would be the next to break. Meanwhile, my other supposed ally, Franklin, padded away from the already cooling corpse with an expression every bit as bloodthirsty as mine had been only half an hour earlier while chasing those one-bodies into the surf.

Yep, I’ve definitely gotten myself into a pickle.

Unfortunately, I was too exhausted to shift into lupine form and I was well aware that fleeing on bare human feet wouldn’t get me very far. Instead, I mustered what remained of my pride and pulled myself back erect. “I assume our deal is off?”

For a second, I got the distinct impression that Big Bill was impressed by my bluster. His eyes filled with the same playful mirth I’d seen on his son’s face an eternity in the past—or was that three days ago?—when Franklin and Robert had been engaged in their macho posturing.

Yes, there did seem to be a hereditary tendency to enjoy my spunk. Unfortunately, Big Bill’s feelings didn’t stand in the way of doing what he considered best for his pack.

“It’s nothing personal, pup,” he soothed even as he stepped closer, invading my personal space with ease. “But our region can’t handle a shakeup of power right now. Not when we’ve just removed the monkey from all of our backs. Don’t be afraid, though. I’ll make it painless...”

Before I could find out whether I planned to plead for my life or to stand firm in the face of peril, though, the air around us filled with yips and howls. And over the dunes came a company of wolves.

Or at least they sounded like a company—Ginger always did have a larger than average mouth. In actuality, my rescuers consisted of only Sinsa barreling toward us on four lupine legs while her companion lingered behind just out of sight, emulating the voices of half a dozen members of our absent clan.

The pack princess’s mimicry was spot on. I picked out Cinnamon’s deep bark, Glen’s mournful howl, and even Hunter’s menacing roar. If I hadn’t known for a fact that I’d left all but two of my companions behind in another state, I would have been certain that a cadre of supporters was currently racing up over the dunes intent upon bloodshed.

In response, Big Bill hesitated. No pack leader worth his salt would flee from three lone females, but standing against a full-fledged pack was another matter entirely.

Consideration flickered behind his eyes. Would he have time to snap my neck before my clan members arrived? The likely answer was yes.

But what was the point? Sure, my death would eliminate the danger to Byrd’s power...but so would leaving me ally-less and alone. Because if no pack leaders were willing to argue in favor of our requested territorial rights, then Wolf Landing’s long-sought independent status would be squelched before it was ever won.

In the end, Big Bill chose to let me live. Staring directly into my eyes, he simply ordered: “Go home.”

Perhaps the alpha didn’t realize that my wolf was lost or dead or who knew what. No matter where she was hiding, she was definitely unable to pass along his intended compulsion.

Still, I saw no reason to provoke the older male’s further ire. So I merely bowed my head and watched through slitted eyelids as two human feet and four lupine paws retreated rapidly. I heard car doors slam along the not-so-distant highway and I released a gust of pent-up breath as the other pack leaders broke their own rules and embraced the shortcut of wheels and engines in their haste to reach our shared destination before the sun went down.

Then, chin rising, I watched my friends hurry over to meet me amid the stand of sea oats that anchored the western side of the dunes. “Pretty good, huh?” Sinsa said by way of greeting, pulling me into a sisterly hug as soon as she’d surged upward into humanity. Thirty feet behind, Ginger was rapidly approaching in lupine form, the set of the latter’s shoulders proud as she pranced up to join our small party.

“Pretty good,” I agreed, giving Sinsa a literal pat on the back.

But my eyes were relentlessly drawn to the silent wolf whose head was twisted at an unnatural angle as he stretched across the sand. And beside us, fish crows cawed their delight.

***

Like Byrd and Franklin, we took the easy way to All-Pack’s meeting place in the end. Well, not quite as easy. After all, we were three young women lacking season-appropriate clothing—lacking any clothing—alone on the National Seashore.

But we made do. Two-legged, we jogged back up the beach in search of the vacationers I’d so recently terrified, catching up to the family just before they packed away their cooler and fishing gear into a sleek, white minivan and took off for parts unknown.

“Ma’am?” Ginger called, half hidden by the bushes.

The mother turned, still on edge from her recent near miss with a bloodthirsty wolf. Unlike her husband and son, the female’s instincts were on high alert, the hairs on the back of her neck raised as she tried to find the source of the unexpected voice. “Hello?”

“I’m so sorry to bother you,” Ginger said, poking out her head to give the one-body something visual to latch onto. Meanwhile, she donned the persona of a red-faced college student chagrined at her lack of apparel, lowering the lady’s hackles with ease. “But my friends and I are kinda stuck. Our boyfriends took us out camping...”

The tale my companion spun wasn’t particularly believable, but we had to say something to explain our naked bodies and lack of both car and phone. Luckily, the one-body’s mothering instincts were just as finely developed as her prey intuition. Soon, we were clad in clothes that didn’t really fit but that at least blocked the wind and preserved the teenage son’s innocence. And, as said son peppered us with questions, we rode in human comfort for over an hour until we reached the ferry terminal at the end of the last island that could be reached by road.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” the mother said when we disembarked at last. The family had already driven quite a distance out of their way to drop us off, but I could tell that the female was tempted to see us all the way to our nonexistent door.

“Don’t worry—our car’s in the lot on the other side,” Ginger lied. Then, turning to the one-body teenager, she graced him with a smile that I was pretty sure was going to ruin the kid for any girl his own age. “Thank you for riding to the rescue.”

“You’re...you’re welcome,” he stuttered.

Motherly attention instantly turned to her offspring...which was a good thing since I expected the wheels to begin turning in the lady’s head at any moment as she uncovered the obvious flaws in our fabricated story. Because why exactly would angry boyfriends snatch our clothes? And if we’d showed up in our birthday suits, where could we have stashed a key for this fictitious vehicle that Ginger had created out of thin air?

Luckily, the ferry was already loading by the time we arrived, and the last car was even then driving carefully up onto the deck. Lack of time was excuse enough to cut our farewells short. So, with another quick but genuine expression of gratitude, my pack mates and I sprinted for the huge metal ramp that promised to carry us on the last leg of our journey.

Bare feet padded over raised bumps intended to provide traction on the spray-slick deck, and we nodded our greeting to dock workers uninterested in our carless presence and mismatched clothes. Immediately, one-bodies in orange vests shut off the opening behind us, drawing a netted chain across the expanse to prevent any vehicle or person from falling off into the sea.

The ferry’s engine rumbled to life as our rescuers’ car turned to drive back the way they’d come. White water churned behind as we eased out from between huge wooden pilings, then the massive people-carrier angled south toward the final easily accessible island even as the setting sun glowed golden against the darkening horizon.

With the fading light, air temperature also plummeted. Too cold for one-bodies, but not for shifters tuned in to their inner wolves. So rather than retreating to the passenger lobby in the center of the ferry, Sinsa, Ginger and I sat cross-legged just behind the netted barrier, watching land recede as salt spray licked at our skin.

Unlike my wolf-natured companions, though, I shivered. My inner beast was still missing in action and our continued voyage seemed to lack any purpose other than the relentless urge to continue putting one foot in front of the other. After all, every clan head was now arrayed against us and the gathering would have already begun by the time we arrived. What was the point of going on?

“I couldn’t get through to Cinnamon,” Ginger admitted quietly once the deck was devoid of one-body ears. In silent reaction, Sinsa slipped her arm around the other young woman’s shoulders, more used to lupine gestures of encouragement than she was to human words.

“I haven’t heard from Lupe or Hunter either.” I’d been trying not to think about the radio silence. Trying not to think of the way Nina’s twins were still missing and Arborville’s mayor would be even now regaling the assembled townspeople with tales of humans growing fur and sprouting claws.

And that was hoping for the best. Worst-case scenario, neither twins nor Amanda were still alive.

Before us, land rose out of the water as our destination came dimly into view. A whiff of seaward breeze carried the strong scent of shifter and Sinsa cocked her head to one side with interest.

There was no reason to hope Wolf Landing would be voted into existence tonight. No reason to think I’d be accepted as an alpha or even admitted onto the gathering site.

Meanwhile, I was sore all over. My brain ached from Stormwinder’s intrusive compulsion, I’d been picking cactus spines out of my feet for the last fifteen minutes, and my torso quivered in search of some much-needed heat.

Despite all that, I realized I hadn’t once asked myself “What would Wolfie do?” Because the answer was finally obvious. Wolfie wouldn’t ask. Wolfie would do.

So, shaking off a bone-deep weariness, I rose to my feet and pulled my companions up behind me. “Let’s show them a bitch attack force at our best,” I said, imbuing my words with heart-felt confidence.

Beside me, the other females stretched their spines into prideful alertness and raised their chins to the breeze. And when the ferry’s crew slid the chain barrier to the side, dragging the clanking metal across the ridged deck and opening up the pathway to land, we were first in line to debark.

Finally, eyes trained on the future, we did.