The journey had been uneventful and as we descended the second mountain, with the trees closing densely around us, Ibegan to anticipate our arrival. I picked up the pace, eager to get there, to find myself amongst safe and familiar faces. I knew the way well from here, as we often ran this way during the pack run, so I allowed my mind to wander, considering how best to approach the farm, and figuring out a way to speak with Talius alone.
A heavy weight slammed me to the ground, my shoulders hitting the earth with a painful thud. My snout skidded through the dirt with a loud crunch, and pain shot up the back of my neck. I couldn’t breathe! In a panic, I snorted the forest floor debris from my nostrils, dragging in a strained wisp of air. My head had gone fuzzy, but instinctively I thrashed, hind legs kicking out wildly until a grunt of pain told me I’d caught the inner thigh of my attacker as I twisted and turned my lower body.
But as much as I thrashed, my head and shoulders remained pinned to the ground, my attacker unmoved by my struggles.
Jaws clamped around my throat, the hard enamel pressing into the skin. Immediately I stilled, expecting any moment to feel the pop of skin tearing as the killing bite was delivered. Jaws gaping, tongue lolling, I drew in what were surely my last gasps of air. My sides heaved, my heart pounded in my chest, and I cursed myself for allowing myself to be surprised like this. My mate! What would happen to him now? And Irian? I’d failed both of them, and I’d failed Talius. The grief was overwhelming.
I closed my eyes, waiting for the end.
A low, menacing growl fluttered the fine sensory hairs in my ear and my eyes snapped open, surprised I was still alive.
The wolf that had me pinned to the groundwasn’tSharkey.Helay writhing on the ground a yard away, along his side five redlines oozed blood, and standing over him was a very familiar wolf – my supervisor and mentor, Johnson!
As the rush of adrenaline and crazy instinct eased, I cautiously inhaled a gasp of air and realized with frightening clarity whose teeth were around my neck. Talius! Talius, who most likely thought I was responsible for his mate’s abduction. I shivered. Had they known we were coming and planned the ambush? Or had they stumbled on us by luck? It didn’t matter, at this moment I was as near to death as I had ever been. Talius’ eyes were red with rage, his canines had descended and pressed against my fluttering carotid, his saliva dripped down my neck. I whined and stretched my neck out offering more of my throat.
For a moment, nothing happened. Talius continued to snarl and growl, the rumbling sounds vibrating against my quivering throat. I lay as still as I possibly could, as Talius and his wolf struggled for control. His wolf undoubtedly wanted to kill me, but intellectually Talius would have known the best chance of getting Irian back was to keep me alive. My fate depended on whether man or beast dominated. I waited, my breath coming as frantic little huffs, scarcely daring to move as much as it required to drag those tiny wisps into my lungs, my life hanging in the balance.
Suddenly, Talius shifted. One moment he was all wolf, the next he was a man. He moved so fast his hands were around my throat before I could move, not that I would have. My survival was balanced on a very fine edge, I knew that.
Even as he bellowed, “Shift!”, I was already shifting.
Talius was terrifying. I’d never seen him like this. He was consumed by rage, his face flushed dark with anger, brows drawn, jaw set, lips pursed, his eyes intense, the pupils big anddark. His wolf was still very near the surface. I could imagine its frenzy, believing itself to be in the presence of the person who’d taken its mate. Rational thought might not be likely at the moment.
Somehow, I had to explain things to him.
I made myself go limp beneath him, offering no resistance. His hands were tight around my neck, but I could still make the slightest of movements, tilting it away, offering my submission.
Chapter 22
TALIUS
I was going out of my mind. I couldn’t think straight.
My mate. Where was he? What were they doing to him? Anything could be happening to him right now, and I had to deal with this treacherous piece of shit.
I tightened my grip further. A weak gurgling sound spilled out of Agelius as he choked, but he didn’t offer any resistance, lying limply on the ground, his neck still tilted in an offering of submission.
Submission! Pah! What was his submission worth? A traitor.Maybea traitor, the rational side of myself reminded me. I couldn’t listen to that side of myself right now, I wanted to squeeze the life out of him…
“Easy, Talius,” Johnson warned.
I looked down at my hands. They had tightened around Agelius neck. His face was bright red, his lips had a blueish tinge, and he was clearly trying to keep himself perfectly still even as he struggled for air. I closed my eyes, a wash of shame rolling overme. This was not the way to deal with this. And it was not going to help Irian.
I released his neck, but pinned him to the ground with a knee in the middle of his back, in case he decided to try anything.
He didn’t. He lay on the ground, gasping in great lungfuls of air, a horrid gurgling sound in the back of his throat. Purple bruises were already starting to form in the pale skin of his neck.
“Let’s get them back to the farm,” I growled.
I twisted Agelius’ arm behind his back, rotating and bending it until he cried out in pain.
“One wrong move and I won’t hesitate to break it,” I warned.
Agelius nodded once, wincing. “Yes, Alpha,” he replied, meekly.
I was wary. I’d trusted him once and look where it had got us. I shook my head. I needed to get control of myself. I knew my fear for Irian was making me irrational. I was the Pack Alpha. I needed to show more composure than this. At least there was only Johnson here to see me losing my shit.
I drew in a long, stuttering breath, held it, let it out slowly.
