Forty One

"Eva!"

Eva barely had time to brace herself before she felt a body slam into hers and slender arms engulfed her. For a moment the she-wolf was blinded by a veil of soft hair the colour of Cornish ice-cream, the sun shimmering on the silky threads like spun sugar.

“Hi Maria.” Eva laughed softly, wrapping her arms around her best friend to return the hug. “I have missed you.”

“It’s only been a couple of weeks!” Maria laughed, pulling back, her nordic blue eyes sparkling in the afternoon light. “Although, I hear you’ve been busy.”

Eva rolled her eyes at the knowing smirk her friend flashed at her. “Things have been a bit crazy around here, that’s for sure. Anyway, where’s Duncan?”

“Oh they’ve all gone off for an emergency meeting and left us lowly peasants to take the bags in.” The blonde sighed dramatically, linking arms with Eva as they wandered away from the caravan of trucks that had transported the extra warriors called in.

“Well at least I have a decent sparring partner now.” Eva muttered.

“I’d have thought you’d be in your element here.”

“Hm, the old guard are more knuckle-dusters and switch blade types. Joe is pretty good but Leah has just had another baby so he’s been busy and everyone else is reluctant to give me their all because Daniel might kill them for hurting me.” Eva couldn’t hide the bitterness in her voice. She hadn’t spoken to Daniel since he had benched her from patrolling and had been avoiding him successfully. “Anyway, you’re here ich means drinks. Simone is totally up for it and I think Leah is desperate to let her hair down.”

“Well you know I’m game even if we have to stay in the packhouse.” Maria replied.

“Great. Also I wanted to invite Bethan along.”

“The girl who survived.”

“The one and sadly, only.” Eva nodded.

“Sure!” Maria eagerly agreed. “Now, are you going to tell me what’s got you in a knot? Don’t think I didn’t see that look of annoyance in your eyes when you mentioned your *blessed mate*.”

Eva sighed, releasing herself from Maria’s arm when they made it to the kitchen and headed over to the kettle to fill. Eva hadn’t mentioned much to Maria before her arrival mostly because it wasn’t something she wanted to deal with by messenger. She never hid anything from Maria, after all, they had been best friends since the first day of kindergarten. If there was someone who would listen without judgement then it was Maria. The blonde wasn’t always the best at providing sage advice but in all honesty, Eva rarely wanted advice, she just wanted her best friend in her corner.

“My* blessed mate* is being a *blessed prick*.” Eva finally huffed, turning to face Maria who was settled on a stool at the breakfast island. “He’s decided I’m too delicate and fragile to help with protecting the pack and won’t let me do anything except boring shit that he should know I detest. In fact he knows I detest it but had the audacity to suggest it anyway.”

Maria raised a dark eyebrow in amusement, clearly struggling to hide her smile. Since the dawn of time males had been doubting the ability of females. It wasn’t exclusively werewolves that suffered this issue. Humans, vampires and witches suffered just the same. Hell, if Aliens existed they probably would as well. Eva knew it as well as Maria did and yet, it still blind-sided her when her mate treated her like a delicate china doll.

“Well, I’m here now so let’s get the girls together and have ourselves a few drinks and say fuck off to the patriarchy.” Maria replied, making Eva laugh.

They spent the next hour catching up before Maria announced she wanted to go unpack and freshen up. That gave Eva a chance to check in on Bethan. The young she-wolf had been venturing from her room a little more but still seemed to keep herself at arms length. Eva hoped that she would accept the invitation to spend time with her and some of the other she-wolves that Eva had become close with. Unsurprisingly, she found Bethan in her room reading a book. Again the room was freakishly immaculate and Eva was starting to wonder if Bethan had a slight case of OCD. Wolves were dirty or messy creatures but they also weren’t into the same high levels of tidiness as what Eva was witnessing with Bethan.

“Hey you, how are you feeling today?” Eva smiled, leaning on the doorframe.

“I’m doing better thanks.” Bethan mustered a small smile on her pale lips. “How are you?”

“Oh you,” Eva sighed. “Same old. The warriors from Silver Moon are here already which is good. My best friend Maria has even come to visit.”

“Your best friend?” Bethan looked curious as if the concept was a novelty to her. “What’s she like? Is she a warrior as well?”

“Ah no, I mean she can defend herself but she isn’t a warrior, her mate is though.” Eva explained. “In fact the reason I came to see you was to see if you would like to hang out with Maria and me tonight.”

“I don’t know. I will need to ask Ethan if it’s okay.” Bethan’s timorous voice had Eva frowning softly.

“I’m sure he won’t mind.” Eva urged. “I could ask him if you like. Admittedly I’ve not seen him today but it’s no hassle.”

“No, it’s okay.” the small brunette responded quickly, brown eyes glimmering like pools of melted chocolate. “He’s really busy but I will ask him and let you know.”

Eva watched Bethan as she seemed to squirm at the idea of having to interact with her brother. Had the attack instilled so much fear into the young wolf that even speaking to her own brother was terrifying? Eva reckoned Bethan had always been a shy creature and even a little nervous but something gnawed at Eva’s gut suspiciously. She couldn’t place it, but something just felt off.

“Okay, well hopefully I will see you later on.” Eva smiled, trying to push her concerns to one side while she left Bethan to her own devices.

---

It was late afternoon. The sun poured its pale butterfly light across fresh green land as Kade rode towards the border. The ride was only meant to take a day; however, the beta had taken a detour on a whim to deal with some business outside of the whole mess going on up at the pack. His leg still hurt from being shot but what was once a gaping hole gushing blood and throbbing in pain was now a light blemish on his thigh that hurt like a bruise. It wasn’t his first time being shot and sadly, he reckoned it wouldn’t be his last time either, such was the hazards of his job.

With much of his first day on the road scuppered to alternative business, Kade had every intention of making up for lost time. A few calls to contacts had rewarded him with an address for the witch that Dagmar had accused of assisting the unknown attacker. He was hoping this witch could give him clues on a lot of things, not just their suspect.

The stretch of road heading south was practically deserted save for the beta and his motorbike. Tall pine trees jutted up into the sky like emerald spears for miles ahead and miles behind. If it wasn’t for the occasional road sign, Kade could have convinced himself he was anywhere in the world, millions of miles away from civilization and all the problems of the world. However, that was far from the case.

Following the soft curve of the road, the beta spotted the lone figure standing in the middle of the road just as he came around the bend. It put him at a disadvantage immediately and before he could register what was happening, a bang echoed through the wall of pine trees and his bike skidded out from under him as the front wheel burst.

The force threw Kade off, his bike scraping across the asphalt, metal screeching as it was torn up by the hard black road. Kade landed on the road, rolling as the tarmac bit into his flesh through his clothes before he slipped down the bank and slammed into the base of a sturdy tree.

The silence that followed was disorientating. Kade’s body screamed in pain while his vision tilted and rocked violently. The all too familiar taste of copper in his mouth let him know he was bleeding heavily as he tried to shake off the daze and gain control of his limbs that slipped out from under him as if he was a newborn foal learning to stand. The sound of footsteps approaching at a leisurely pace had Kade snarling, Legion threatening to take hold and attack the bastard approaching him. However, his injuries had him at a disadvantage and he grunted when a steel capped boot smashed into his ribs knocking the air from his lungs and breaking bones.

“I’m afraid I’m not as good of a shot as you.” The familiar voice mocked. “I will have to make sure I don’t miss this time.”

Kade growled, eyes flashing black like a reptile’s. This time the boot found his gut in a vicious kick, his body collapsed further onto the ground before rolling onto his back. He struggled to gain air, eyes blurring as he tried to focus on the figure towering over him.

“I’d say this is nothing personal but I won’t lie, I’m enjoying this. Of course, if the men I had hired had done their job right, you’d have been dead days ago which would have made things so much easier but here we are.”

Kade was able to clear his vision to make out the man looming over him, brown eyes bright with sadistic pleasure as they glared down at the injured wolf.

“I’m going to make sure you regret this.” Kade snarled, spitting blood onto the boots standing near his face.

“I have no doubt you would.” The wolf chuckled as he raised the hunting rifle, aiming at Kade’s forehead. “But you can’t if you’re dead.”

With that, he pulled the trigger, the shot echoing through the wilderness before there was silence.