Taylor climbs the rest of the way through the doggie door. He jumps to his feet, quickly opening the kennel he arrived in and rushing to mine. He eyes the padlock, then glances at the doorway before darting across the room to the metal cabinet where he lifts a set of keys from a hook in the corner. Returning to me, he takes care of the padlock and swings the kennel door open.
The two of us jog outside. Clay and Wanda are nowhere to be seen, but Macy is still leaning up against the side of the building. I crouch next to Macy, gesturing Taylor over.
“Help me get her inside,” I say.
Macy coughs into her hand, her palm coming away wet with blood. “I’ll be fine. Luke’s here somewhere, but now it’s two against one. Help him.”
“Stay with her,” I tell Taylor. “I’m going to go find my mate.”
Taylor nods and crouches beside Macy as I sprint toward the faint sound of growls and snarls. Two minutes later, I find Luke and Wanda engaged in a brutal fight. They’re both in wolf form, biting and scratching at each other, but Luke’s wearing a heavy metal collar that Wanda uses to her advantage. She clamps her teeth around the collar and throws Luke sideways, then jumps on top of him.
Hovering off to the side in human form, Clay pulls a black remote from his pocket and pushes the button. On the ground, Luke seizes, muscles locking up and leaving him completely vulnerable. Wanda goes for his throat, but the collar is in the way of her teeth.
It won’t take long for her to figure out a way around that, though. I need to do something about that remote. I need to do something aboutClay.
I shift, shaking off the clothes that don’t rip away on their own, leaping at Clay from the side and catching his wrist in my jaw. Blood fills my mouth as I bite down, followed by the sharp crack of breaking bone. The remote falls from Clay’s hand and he holds his bloody wrist up by his chest, staring down at me in shock.
I snarl and jump at him again, this time aiming for his throat. My weight knocks him backward and he stumbles, falling onto his back. He manages to hold me off, using his already injured limb to block my snapping teeth. From his neck anyway. My fangs sink into his forearm, deep enough that I might nick the bone. I shake my head, violently whipping it back and forth and tearing away a large chunk of flesh.
Clay screams in pain, cradling his injured arm against his chest and instinctively grabbing at the wound with his other hand. I don’t wait for him to recover. I lean down and wrap my jaw around his throat, biting down until I taste blood again. Clay struggles under me, but quickly grows weaker until finally going limp, his chest still.
Someone yelps behind me, and I spin around. Luke’s recovered from whatever that remote did to him and he has his jaw wrapped around one of Wanda’s forelegs. He bites down, and I hear the crack of bone. He releases her and she snarls, hopping backward on three legs. Luke darts forward, and Wanda tries to grab the collar again, but Luke sidesteps out of her reach.
Wanda charges, butting her head into Luke’s side and knocking him onto his side. He recovers quickly and jumps up to his feet. He rams his shoulder into Wanda’s side. Her injured foreleg is unable to support her and she tumbles over onto her back.
Before she can recover, Luke pounces, landing on top of her and wrapping his jaw around her neck. Her claws rake across his stomach, but that doesn’t stop him from ripping her throat out with one vicious jerk of his head. Wanda goes limp, and Luke crawls off her, stumbling as he makes his way toward me.
I shift back and he lies down beside me, resting his head in my lap, his tongue lolling out as he pants with exhaustion. There’s blood on his muzzle and dirt is pretty much everywhere, but I don’t care. I stroke my hand over his fur and everything around me disappears, my entire focus on my mate.
At some point, someone finds the keys to unlock that ugly collar. I practically rip the damn thing off his neck and throw it off into the woods somewhere.
Head still in my lap, Luke shifts back to human form. He reaches up to cup my cheek and gives me a soft smile. “You’re safe.”
“I am,” I say. “You protected me.”
His gaze slides to Clay’s body. “You protected me too.”
“We protected each other.” I lean down to press a soft kiss against his lips.
“Where’s Earl?” he asks. “I was kind of expecting to be fighting him, not Wanda.”
“He’s dead,” I say. “Wanda killed him.”
Luke blinks at me. “So, that means… oh shit.” He groans, then tilts his head backward and blows out a breath. “Please tell me I didn’t just accidentally take over as Alpha foranotherpack.”
Thirty-Three
Luke
Things move quickly afterthat, or at least it seems that way with everyone rushing around and the triumvirate finally showing up—in force. Yang requested immediate backup once she received the distress signal from the satellite messenger and the triumvirate did not disappoint, a unit of fifty praetorians jumping into action as soon as they arrive.
First, the bodies are taken care of, including Earl’s which Wanda had buried in a shallow grave near the building where the humans picked me up. Then, the praetorians call the entire pack together to create a list of pack members, get statements from any witnesses, and generally explain what’s going to happen from here on out.
I didnotbecome the Rockcastle Alpha by killing Wanda. Or at least that’s the story I’m going with. I’m more than happy to pass that responsibility off to the triumvirate. I’m not sure who they’re going to appoint as the new Alpha, but I also don’t really care.
Not my circus, not my monkeys.
That sounds a little callous, but I have enough to deal with without taking on the problems of yet another pack. At some point, I still have to figure out what to do about Doc and what’s left of the Smyrna pack.
