Chapter 10: Chapter Ten

Colin.

When I made it to the cottage, I saw the car from the day before parked out front. The morning sun, still low in the sky, cast long shadows across the snow-covered ground as I stalked toward the front window. I stopped and stood looking into the cottage and saw Sam, naked, stride across the room and kneel, then bow and present herself to the strange man sitting on the couch.

Rage immediately filled my body, ripping a growl from my chest. My muscles bunch and then smooth. Mine! My inner wolf bellowed as I fell forward onto all fours, shaking my head from side to side. Kicking my legs out behind me as I shift into the beast inside, I rush forward and splinter the wooden door of the cottage, snarling as I enter the room.

***

Ocoee.

I watched as the man approached the cottage, his soul full of hatred for himself, and for her at the idea of finding her in the arms of another man. I left the two alone, not wanting to intrude on their private moments together. In my time with Alec over the years, I have rarely seen him take a woman. I always give him a wide birth when he does, not wanting to be invasive. I find my own adventures to go on and explore other worlds. When I am needed, he will call.

Today I stayed close by, an uneasy feeling coming over me. Now I know why. I watch as the man turns to beast and black eyes full of hate fill his face.

***

Sam.

A snarl fills the room and I lift my head, my ears still ringing, and look up to see a wolf lunge forward at Alec. The sickening thud of his body hitting the ground as they collide makes me wince, and I scream. I can’t think straight. My body is on fire with pain and there are pieces of the front door that was just blown to pieces all over the surrounding floor.

Right before my eyes, I watch as the wolf in the room has Alec pinned to the ground, his teeth inches from his face, and the snarling coming out of him terrifies me.

“Finn!” I yell at him, knowing he is the only wolf in the pack who could be here in this form in the daylight. “Finn, stop!” I do not know why he is here, or what Alec has done to provoke him, but I need him to stop.

When the wolf turns and looks at me, I realize this isn’t Finn. I have seen Finn’s wolf and while this wolf is similar it isn’t him. The eyes look familiar, but they do not belong to Finn. Alec struggles to get out from under the beast while he continues to look back at me and I realize who this is.

“Colin?” I whisper out the name, unsure of myself. “How?”

When I think I have had enough surprises for the day, another wolf, this one all white, seems to materialize out of nowhere and crashes into Colin’s side. Catching Colin off guard, he knocks him off balance and they fall to the ground next to Alec. As Colin rolls and rises to his knees, I see him throw out his hand toward the two wolves. Green flames burst from his palm and push the two animals back across the room into the couch, which goes sliding into the fireplace.

“Stop it!” I scream, “You’re tearing this place apart!” I sit, cradling one arm, blood dripping from my face as I watch in horror. The two wolves battle as Alec continues to shoot magic at them repeatedly.

Whining fills the room and Alec stops, standing now and stepping towards me.

“Are you okay, Sam? How badly are you hurt?” He bends and picks me up, carrying me out of the cottage and loading me into the passenger seat of the car.

“What the fuck just happened?” I say to him, in shock and not sure I actually saw the things I think I did. “Colin is a wolf,” I say it.

“Yes, I believe he is,” Alec says as he gets around into the driver’s seat and starts the engine.

“We can’t just leave them in there like that!” I shout at him as he puts the car in reverse and backs quickly out of the driveway.

“Don’t worry, Ocoee will not hurt him. He is just buying us time to get out of here.” He looks back at the road now as we head towards the main house.

“Ocoee?” I ask him, more confused than ever. “What’s an Ocoee?”

“Ah, well, that would be a who. And Ocoee is a dire wolf, my dire wolf.” We speed towards the house, and I start to feel dizzy and nauseous. I lean forward in my seat, hissing as I feel the wood splinters in my back and arms shift.

“Fuck,” I grind out the word through gritted teeth.

“Hang on a few minutes longer. We are almost at the main house. Once I get you inside, and I’m sure we aren’t being followed. I’ll have Finn get control of his brother, then I’ll heal you, kitten. Just hold on.” I look at him in horror, remembering the magic he used against Colin.

“Heal me? What are you, Alec? Clearly, you know Colin is a werewolf, and if you’re taking me to Finn, you know about him, too. What am I in the dark about here?”

I shift uncomfortably. The pain is easing up some and my ears have stopped ringing, but my body is shaking from the cold and the shock.

“I’m a warlock.” He lets the word hang between us, and I gape at him.

“A warlock?”

“Yes.”

He looks over at me, shaking his head as we pull up to the castle. “Let's get you inside. Here,” he leans forward and takes off his shirt, handing it to me, “put this on.”

I gingerly slip it over my head and put my one good arm into the sleeve, leaving the other tucked inside the shirt. Not willing to move it enough to get the shirt on.

“I’ll be right back.”

Alec jumps out of the car and runs up to the front door, opening it without knocking. I can hear him calling to Finn inside, and then they both come out of the house together. Finn shifts in front of me and takes off back in the direction we came from as Alec walks around to the passenger side of the car and opens the door for me.

“Here, let me,” he picks me up and carries me into the house, wearing only his t-shirt which is already being soaked through with my blood.

“What in the world happened?” Melody asks. She and Summer are standing in the hall when we enter the house, and they step back out of the way, letting Alec in while he carries me.

“I need somewhere to lay her down,” he tells Melody, and she turns, jogging up the stairs ahead of us as Summer follows us to the stairs.

“Put her down in here,” Melody calls from an open doorway in the hall as we get to the top of the staircase.

“Who did this?” Summer asks from behind Alec as he takes me into the room and gently lays me down on the bed with the dark-colored duvet.

“Colin is at the cottage. Finn went to go get him.”

He doesn’t turn to look at them but sits me up and helps get the t-shirt off over my head.

“Colin?” both gasp his name.

“Colin did this to you?” Melody asks, her hand over her mouth in horror. Her eyes have gone wide and I see they’re filled with tears as she looks down at me.

“I can’t be in here. I’m sorry,” Summer says, as the sight of my blood gets to her and she backs away, covering her mouth and nose. Closing the door behind her.

“Donnie!” I hear her call his name out in the hall and her feet take off in the opposite direction.

“Shit, I didn’t even think about that,” Alec says. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about her. They will be fine,” Melody tells him, resting her hand on his shoulder. “What do you need? What can I get you?”

“Time, I just need time. I can heal her. I just need the time to do it.” Alec turns back to me.

“Tell me what happened,” Melody says, crossing to the opposite side of the bed and sitting down.

“It was an accident. He didn’t mean to hurt her. He was coming after me, but the bastard broke through the front door while she was in front of it and the thing shattered to pieces. Most of them catching Sam in the back.”

Melody nods and reaches out to take my hand. “You’re going to be okay, hun. We got you.”

“Keep her calm. I need to get this big piece out of her arm before I can start,” he tells Melody before he turns to me. “This is going to hurt, but then you’ll sleep. Look at me, kitten. It’s okay. You’re going to be okay.” As he says the last word, he takes hold of the piece of wood in my arm and jerks on it hard. I see stars and scream, then hear him say the word sleep and everything goes dark.

***

Colin.

I finally get the damned dire wolf off me and slink out of the cabin. When I reach the field behind it, I hear a howl and turn to see Finn coming towards me. I stop and turn, walking towards him.

He shifts back to his human form and stands in the field naked, staring me down. “Colin, what the fuck were you thinking!” he yells at me and I just whine. Dropping my head and surveying the ground before me.

I don’t know how to control the shifting. I changed in a rage and don’t know how to shift back now. Sam? Is Sam okay? I whine at him again and step towards him, lying down. My front paws are under my face, resting my head on them. Trying to show him I don’t mean him any harm. I simply don’t know how to undo what I have done and get out of this form.

“She is going to be okay. Alec has her back at the house with Summer and Melody.” I growl at the mention of his name. Finn takes a step back from me.

“Cut the shit, Colin. This is what you have done. You hurt her. You left her to come here on her own. Did you honestly think she was going to wait for you?”

No. But I didn’t expect to find her submitting to another man two weeks later, either. Mine! My inner wolf snarls the word, and I shake my head, trying to clear my thoughts.

“What am I going to do with you? You almost killed them!” I continue whining at his words, shame filling me. The embarrassment of being scolded by my younger brother is no help.

I hear a car's tires on the crunching ice and turn to look to my left. An old pickup truck pulls up and my cousin Christian and his father Angus get out. Walking towards Finn, I hear them call, “Who the fuck is that?” At the same time Finn steps towards them.

“Colin,” he says to them as they meet in the field about one-hundred yards from me. I don’t move. I stay lying in the cold snow. Letting what I’ve done sink in.

“Colin? He can’t shift outside of a full moon,” Angus says, scratching his jaw under his thick beard.

“Aye, but he did. I fear now he is stuck that way too, as he doesn’t seem to know how to control it or how he did it at all. I’m guessing pure rage drove him to this point.” Finn’s words make me nod and the three turn to look at me, nodding towards them.

“Fuck, what are we going to do with him now?” Christian asks.

“And rage at what?” Angus adds.

“Well, I need the two of you to take him with you. I can’t take him back to the house. The reason he shifted is there, and she requires some attention right now.”

“Ah, a lass,” Angus pipes up, as if it all makes sense to him now.

“We will take him. He may have to stay in this form in the barn for a few days until the next full moon, when he is forced to shift back. But maybe that time in this form, with only his own thoughts, will help to cool him down,” Christian says as he approaches me.

“Aye, let’s hope so,” Angus agrees with his son’s words.

“Easy there, Colin. I will not hurt you. But you have a pretty nasty bite on your side here. What the fuck did you get into it with?” Christian says as he continues to come near me and places his hand on my side. I flinch back from him and whine. A fucking dire wolf.

“Finn, son. Can you please shift and get some information out of him for us?” Angus asks and Finn nods. Falling forward onto all fours and shifting before he hits the ground. My brother’s ability to so flawlessly shift on command fills me with jealousy and leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I flare my nostrils at him as he nears me, and Christian continues to examine my side.

Colin? Finn asks in my head and I nod to him.

A fucking dire wolf. Did you know the bastard you let onto our lands has a fucking dire wolf? I growl out at him and Christian steps back from me.

No, I didn’t. But that doesn’t matter. It’s not any of our business what Alec has or doesn’t have. He is my guest here, and you nearly killed him, and Sam, in the process. He is my guest here on my lands.

He emphasizes the words letting me know this is not my home. I have no one to blame for that but myself, as I have spent nearly the entirety of our lives telling him so.

Will she be okay? I ask him. Sorrow for what pain I have caused Sam fills me and tears run from my eyes, making my fur wet and then freezing in the bitter cold of the morning.

Alec can heal her. You’re going to go with Christian and Angus until the full moon. Then once the week is out, I expect you to get your ass back on a plane bound for Maryland and not to see you here again. Do you understand? Growling at me, he steps towards me and I bow my head lower to him.

I can’t leave without her, Finn. I don’t raise my head. I don’t want to fight him, but I don’t want to leave either.

I’m not giving you an option. As Alpha of this pack, I’m ordering you to leave. Colin, you’re not welcome on these lands any longer. You’re my brother and you always will be. I’ll come back to see you and so will Ma, but this is my home and you’re not welcome here. Now get out of my sight. With a huff, he turns, and I watch as the air turns to frost and settles to the ground.

When Finn shifts back, he stalks towards the truck with Angus. Christian stays by my side. Still looking over my injuries. “I think you’ll be fine. You’re already healing.” He pats me on my haunches and I whine at him. “Let’s get out of here, big fella, I’ll show you to the barn.” Christian walks and I hesitate, looking towards my brother and uncle, wishing I could hear what they’re saying. “Let’s go!” Christian calls and I rise, turning to follow him across the field in the direction he came from, leaving Finn to plan my departure.