Pacing through Adam’s townhouse, Sam’s head dramatically flops against the couch. Ignoring him, I circle again.
“Can you at least sit,” Sam barks, “Can I call Sarah to come over and deal with you?”
I’m starting to see why women don’t stay with him for long. Scowling, I turn, letting my footsteps echo against the hardwood floor. Rapid knocking pulls me out of my loop as I head to the door.
“Hey,” Sarah’s bubbly voice shouts pushing open the door and inviting herself inside.
“Finally,” Sam whispers before turning back to his book.
Sam waves, eyes never leaving the page. Although I want to be annoyed, the distraction is greatly appreciated. We might try to rip each other’s throats out if we are alone any longer.
“Where’s Isaac?”
I was hoping for someone to save me from Sam’s crabbiness. The townhouse is too small for us. I’d give anything right now to exchange bodyguards or have Isaac teach Sam a lesson.
“He’s with Tim,” Sarah chokes an answer. Her gaze is laced with fear, “Hey Sam.”
Tim gets to roam between the lodge and our house. He can hang out with wolves. It isn’t fair. I want freedom. Sam won’t leave the house, and no one can come over. It’s just the two of us, all day, every day, for weeks.
Sitting in the kitchen, the room chills with each empty word. There isn’t much to talk about, not when everyone is focused on Ben.
I’m beginning to think wolves didn’t have an idealistic upbringing. I never had to worry about being attacked, mauled, or killed by a sadist as a child. I always felt protected. Adam hasn’t been safe since his father died.
“Tell me something. I don’t know anything about what’s going on,” I beg Sarah.
Adam barely comes home anymore. Sam won’t speak about anything they share in text. It’s very isolating as my imagination runs wild.
“Packs outside of our alliance are here, seeking help from the council,” Sarah begins.
“At the lodge?”
Sarah details more of the grisly attacks. I can’t fathom how one man is able to wreak this much havoc. Leaders are missing. Some presumed dead. Packs are scared.
“Is this normal,” I ask, my own stomach flipping after a detailed description of a confrontation.
Sam’s eyes burn into the back of my head but I’m not going to turn around. He still blames the white wolf. Packs have never been cohesive after the white wolf vanished. Now, people are breaking and splitting from packs because of my arrival. It adds even more chaos to the situation.
“Oh, there’s never been anything like this,” Sarah adds, “But everyone knows we called a council. They’re preparing for the sentencing.”
“How do they know we called a council?”
“We have technology,” Sam quips adding his opinion to the conversation before loudly flipping the page of his book.
“They’re just waiting for him to start his killing spree,” Sarah mentions in her bubbly voice.
Sam’s reaction is the same as mine. I can see it in the window. Sarah’s too happy to give distressing news. It came out wrong.
“When do they expect the killing to start,” I ask trying to sound chipper to show how inappropriate happiness can be in different situations.
Sarah scowls. Sam’s book snaps so hard that I jump. Sarah completely loses her train of thought.
“He has a vendetta against Adam,” Sam pipes in, stomping across the room to join us, “He’ll start with us to make Adam fall.”
Sarah won’t look me in the eyes. What does it mean to let Adam fall? Making Adam appear weak is important to Ben. That’s exactly what he did when I was attacked at the lodge.
“You’re Adam’s weakness,” Sarah quietly informs while keeping her head down, “And it isn’t because you are the white wolf.”
“It’s because Adam loves you,” Sam practically spits.
My heart pounds at the memory of the jagged teeth ripping their way into my torso. I’m a pawn. If Ben times it right, I’ll be the first in his killing spree.
Sam’s phone vibrates. Before he can read the text, an explosion rocks the very foundation of the townhouse as objects shutter and crash from the walls. A large billow of smoke rises over the lake. My heart stops as my fingers press against the window, watching the fire erupt into the air.
“Let’s go,” Sam barks grabbing my forearm and yanking me from the house, “We need to go now.”
Every part of me keeps trying to turn. The explosion came from one direction. It had to be the lodge.
“What about Tim,” I ask, Sam’s grip tightening around my arm.
“I don’t care right now. Adam said to keep you safe,” Sam screams while pushing me into the passenger side.
Sarah quickly scoots into the back seat. The rolling cloud of smoke billows into the distance as Sam peels out of the driveway.
The force throws me against the back of the seat while the speedometer quickly pushes into the triple digits. The car screeches to a halt as the belt implants itself into my shoulder. A group dressed in black are walking the only road leading out of town. One talks into a radio as guns point in our direction.
Sam stares at them and I wonder if he’s having the same thought I had the night Adam revealed the truth. Is it roadkill or murder?
“How fast can you run,” Sam asks, slamming the car in reverse.
Flying down the road, Sam cranks the wheel. My hands reach out as the car spins across the road. The seatbelt tightens again, pushing the air from my lungs, while Sarah screams at the top of hers.
Bullets pepper the vehicle. Sarah strips off her shirt jostling my memory of Sam’s last question. I unsnap the seatbelt and duck low in the seat. Sam keeps his hand on my head, pushing me out of the range of the bullets as the rear window shatters.
“Take your clothes off,” Sam commands as the car accelerates.
Without question, I obey, stripping while crouching on the floor of the passenger side. My mind is a blank as we speed forward.
“Sorry about this,” Sam states before leaning over, opening the door, and tossing me out.
Shifting in midair, I roll to the ground in overgrown grass with Sarah landing softly behind me. It’s obviously not her first time jumping out of a moving car. Sam speeds away as we push deeper into the grass.
Hundreds of new scents move closer. The entire area is surrounded. Wolves have been doing perimeter checks. How did a group of well-armed wolves surround the entire town without anyone becoming suspicious?
Sarah sprints. I chase.
Wolves descend. Most are pack as they follow us through the forest. They’re all running away from the lodge and town. Unfamiliar wolves are further behind. I just run, following Sarah across the forest and away from the town.
My paws slide out from under me. Wolves growl as spit clings to their teeth in front of us. Sarah bolts past, pummeling the side of one wolf. Others in the pack join in, leaping over me to get at the dangerous wolves.
Sarah snaps at me. Her mouth and fur plastered with blood as it flicks off from her like tiny drops of rain. I understand why everyone does what she wants as my muscles pull at me to move.
The fire dulls my senses. I’m not the only one as we sniff, searching for a safe place to regroup.
The path opens into a clearing as the wolves hustle faster. My feet burn as the tender padding splits open. Wolves snake their way out of the opposite side of the woods, halting the pack. If we could smell, at least one of us would have realized we were running towards danger and not away from it.
My pack forms a circle, growling at the intruders on all sides. Do we fight or do we wait? What would we be waiting for, the inevitable? The alphas are dead. No one’s coming to help.
Sarah stands next to me, a low growl reverberating through her whole body. She’s terrifying, especially with the dried blood coating her fur.
Ben found our weakness. He found every pack’s weakness. Killing the alphas at the lodge is much quicker then trekking the world to fight one person at a time. He’ll take control during the pandemonium and won’t have to worry about justice now that the council is gone.
From the way it looks, today couldn’t get any worse. We’re all going to die, or live under Ben’s total control.
One man walks through the line of enemy wolves. This must be Ben. He’s taller than I expected. Muscles ripple on his arms making his multiple tattoos dance.
He’s older than I imagined with white peppering his dark hair. Everything else is exactly as I expected. His eyes are black but the expression is more crazed than dangerous. I’m guessing it’s the steroids.
"Do you know who I am," The man asks remaining near his wolf line, “Haven’t you learned our customs yet?”
I don’t know what he means. Should I turn into a human or should I communicate as a wolf?
“So you’re what all the hype is about,” Ben asks as his eyes amusedly scan over my naked body.
I refuse to break Ben’s gaze. I can’t give him the satisfaction of intimidating me.
This isn’t the time to be modest but my arms slowly inch up as I resist covering myself. It’s a little hard standing naked in front of a group that wants to maul or shoot me to death. I’m having a hard time figuring out which way I’ll go down.
“The alphas are dead. Adam is dead,” Ben yells, his wolves growl and howl over the news, “It was a beautiful thing to behold.”
Turning, fire laps at the broken lodge on the other side of the lake. I can’t see much but from the trees, with binoculars, Ben must have watched everything unfold.
“They pledged loyalty to you. That opened them up to my ultimatum. Do you know enough about wolf traditions, yet?”
Sarah growls but that doesn’t help. What tradition? He’s going to kill me. I don’t think that’s part of any tradition.
“Take Adam’s place and fight for his pack or peacefully hand it over.”
Even if I don’t have the right to give anything, I’m not going to do so peacefully. His way of breaking Adam down is to murder me. That only works if Adam’s still alive. The blast decimated the lodge. There’s no way any of them survived.
Sam’s conversation runs through my mind. I’m allowed one person to fight with me. The most threatening person in this entire opening is Sarah. We’re screwed.
Four men push their way through the forest, dragging someone behind them. Sam’s body flops to the floor.
Even with the pain he’s in, he doesn’t show weakness. Instead, he pulls himself into a seated position before spitting out a wad of blood. Ben eyes Sam, the side of his lip curling up in satisfaction.
“You,” Ben quietly growls.
Sam doesn’t reply as Ben crouches in front of him. I don’t know what the fight was like in the past but Sam made an impression. Sam spits again, the blood covering half of Ben’s face.
“Of course they would choose you to guard the girl,” Ben slowly mulls over, standing and whipping the blood off.
“I’m not handing anything over,” I retort, recognizing that if I don’t do something, Ben will kill Sam.
I don’t know how to fight as a wolf or a human. We’ll die if we fight. We’ll die if we don’t.
"Johnnie's tales made them search for you," Ben begins, kicking Sam in the face, sending him flying into the dirt, "They would do anything for the white wolf and the ways of the past. You fools don’t see that I am the future. Your customs are dead. Your leaders are dead. Learn when you are defeated.”
"I don't have much practice being defeated."
Ben takes a step back, something everyone witnesses. Is he afraid? Is this another trap? I probably said something stupid but it sounded good in my head.
There isn’t another option. He’ll kill me no matter what and I’m pretty sure it will be a slow and agonizing death. If I fight, it might be a quick group death.
“I challenge you,” Ben yells across the opening, “For alpha.”
A tremor jolts down my back. There’s nothing more to do to postpone the fight.
Without a beat, “I choose Sam.”
Ben makes a motion with his hand. Sam stands before limping over. He winks but I don’t understand.
“You ready,” Sam asks while stripping.
He holds by gaze as my jaw quivers. For once, I don’t see the playboy. He’d fight tooth and nails for this pack. That pride shines through for the first time since I’ve met him.
“Just hold him off for as long as you can,” Sam mumbles.
Even if I can hold him back that won’t help us. We’re not leaving the woods alive.
We shift and wait for Ben to finish undressing. He’s taking his time, savoring the moment. His pack continues to inch closer. Mine snaps and bites back, keeping them at bay.
Now he’s choosing a respectable fight? I chide myself; this isn’t respectable at all. With the chemicals coursing through their body, it’s going to be downright dirty.
Ben shifts, slowly circling me. I’ll live longer if we make circles. Ben attacks. I fend him off before he can bite or claw. He’s strong and that took all my energy just to get him off from me. I don’t stand a chance.
Sam growls, fighting his own wolf. I can’t see what’s going on but the yelps are encouraging. I just need to keep Ben away from my vital organs until Sam’s free.
Am I allowed to run? He knows I can’t fight and I don’t have many options.
Sarah jumps over me, colliding with another wolf before they can attack me. Their growls spread as she yanks the wolf to the ground.
Ben uses the distraction, biting down as red streaks my coat. Twisting, I catch his ear and tug. He yelps, pulling away as blood flows from the tattered ear.
I growl, listening to other wolves fighting in the background. No one’s following any of the rules. It’s the perfect time to run. Ben won’t be able to catch me. I take off as a bullet ricochets against the ground in front of me. Running isn’t an option.
A howl echoes in the distance. Ben shifts, watching the tree line. His wolves slink into the darkness. The wind carries the smell long before the wolves appear. The alphas or their entourages swarm the open field.
A black wolf dodges the attacks and bullets as he flies across the field and leaps over me. Ben grabs a side arm from one of his soldiers and fires. The sound’s deafening as Adam slides through the grass with a whimper.
The smile burns into my brain. Ben shifts and vanishes into the forest. Charging past Adam, I race, knowing I need to get to Ben first.
Sam and Isaac are close behind. They snap at me, but I can’t stop. There’s only one thought coursing through my mind. My head is about to burst as I will my legs to run faster. Sam and Isaac fall further away with each step I take.
The scent mingles showing he went in at least five different directions. He did this on purpose to make sure he couldn’t be followed.
Trusting my gut, I randomly pick a path. My legs slip out from under me as my body’s hoisted into the air. I’m dangling from a tree. Johnnie taught me all about traps and snares but I didn’t see this one, even though it wasn’t covered. I shift, yanking at the rope as it continues to spin.
Time stops as Ben emerges, fully clothed, from behind a tree. His hands shake, either from the adrenaline or the drugs surging through his veins. I’m not so concerned with the hands but the gun that’s dangling from the end of his fingers.
For the second time in a year, I’ve look death in the face. Last time I was terrified. This time, there’s no fear. With pursed lips, Ben fires.
"Am I dead," I whisper gazing up at Isaac.
"No, no you're fine," He answers his fingers reaching through the rope and untangle me from the trap.
My shoulder burns as blood traces its way down my arm. He missed, but not by much.
“Where did he go,” I ask searching through the trees after Isaac sets me on the ground.
“He got away,” Sam replies handing me an oversized black jacket.
“We have to go after him,” I yell, continuing to march up the path.
Isaac grabs me and folds me into the jacket, using it to keep me from squirming away, “We can’t. He’s gone.”
There’s a stash of clothes along the trees. This is one of the spots where Ben’s pack waited. It’s complete with weapons and available vehicles. Ben took the cowards way out after his plan miserably failed.
Deep breaths. Deep breaths. My vision blackens around the edges. Deep isn't working. Short gasping breaths as my entire stomach crumples and bile builds in the back of my throat. The surging pain in my shoulder and the lactic acid building in my body make it difficult to focus.
“Adam,” I whisper.
“This way,” Sam yells pointing to the vehicles, “They’ll take him to Johnnies.”
Sam hotwires one of the vehicles. Isaac pulls down a visor as keys slide into his hand.
“Can we just go,” I shout as they glare.
Reaching for the seatbelt, I wince, staring at the wound before switching arms. I zip up the jacket, letting it hide the wound.
“Did you know Adam was still alive,” I ask wondering why Sam said to fend Ben off as long as possible.
“He sent a code.”
The car hurls into the driveway, skidding across grass until it’s right in front of the door. Everything is in slow motion as I jump from the car. Pushing past the growing group takes the last of my energy as I battle my way up the stairs and into Johnnie’s cabin. No one stops me as they make a path.
Johnnie’s at the far end, near one of the bedrooms. He looks too serious before the door slams shut. I focus on the bloody floor leading up to the room.
Adam’s heartbeat faintly pulses from the other side. Tears build and I can’t blink them away. Why did I leave him?
“I need to get the bullet out,” Isaac informs, appearing at my side.
I don’t care about the bullet. Trying to brush him off, I speed across the floor to the closed door. I want to cry, to curl into a ball. My physical pain doesn't compare to the pain in my heart. I left him after he took a bullet for me.
“Addie, your adrenaline will subside and then you will care about the bullet,” Isaac retorts gently pulling me from the locked door, “They won’t let you in the room right now.”
Unzipping the jacket just enough to see the wound, Isaac begins treatment. He’s skillful. I’m too numb to notice if he wasn’t.
“Why was he there,” I question, silently pleading for Isaac to tell me everything.
Isaac grabs clothes from a cupboard as I start to dress, “Adam came for his pack. Everyone fled the town for the safety of the forest. That’s what we’re trained to do. Adam knew where everyone would go, including Ben.”
“How did Ben get so close. How was any of that possible?”
Isaac unwinds the gauze, “We tried to set our own trap. We were just one step behind like usual.”
#
The door slowly opens. Johnnie and Susan emerge. Her eyes could kill as her gaze finally finds me in the crowd.
“Susan,” Johnnie warns, stopping her in her tracks before she can level one insult at me, “I think it’s best if you go home for the night.”
Gulping down the lump in my throat, I stare at the floor as she storms out of the house. This is probably the hardest news that I will hear in my life and I don’t know how to take it. Adam isn’t dead as his heart beats to a normal rhythm. I just need to know the extent of his injuries.
"Do you see a good ending," I ask Johnnie, listening to the stillness around the house.
"I cannot see the future," Johnnie says with a small smile, "I can only interpret what others show me."
"And.”
“He will live.”
Sucking in, the air catches in my windpipe. That’s all I want to hear.
“How bad is he?”
Johnnie gently exposes my shoulder, examining the stitch work. Isaac wasn’t wrong. My arm throbs. It’s already bruising around the bullet wound and difficult to move.
“He’ll need time,” Johnnie finally answered.
“What happened today?”
I can’t catch his eyes. Something went terribly wrong or horribly right. I can’t figure out which way the pendulum swung.