“He’s sending them here to punish them while gathering information on how we work,” my wolf surmised.
“Exactly. They’re feeling us out. That’s probably what they were doing with the lurkers, as well. Getting information. They want to know who they are up against.”
“It’s what we would do.”
“It is.”
He followed the scent away from the camp for a little longer; there were no enemy wolves left in this area. A moment later, he lost track of Alexander altogether—he’d retreated.
Annoyed, my wolf turned back, monitoring the action. The enemy had scattered, some running into the camp and being taken down immediately, and some trying to flee. They knew they’d been beat.
“Alexander sent them here to die,” my wolf said.
“Most likely.”
“Well, we’d hate to disappoint him...”He gave the command to our pack to follow the enemy and take them out, their leadership having clearly withdrawn, the pack’s ability tostay in formation without it nonexistent. They wouldn’t be a challenge.
“Alexander would’ve felt you rip away that bond,” I said as my wolf ran toward camp. He gave the order for the captured enemy wolves, those whose bonds we held that hadn’t been killed, to follow us in. We’d see what they knew before sending them to the gods.
“We don’t even know if he had them bonded,” my wolf said. “I could barely grab the enemy bond and reel it in; there’s no way I could feel if someone had established one before me.”
“He must have. His people are running wild. He had to have been keeping them unified before he left.”
My wolf huffed, acceding the point. Alexander would know a strong alpha held his prize. Given he was testing my pack, he couldn’t have known exactly who we were. He didn’t know of my involvement, or that of the dragons by association. That was damn good news.
The enemy wolves we’d captured—five left alive—had been gathered near the fire. My wolf left them there and carried on, aiming for our true mate, hopefully still tucked away where we’d left her.
The action within the trees slowed, a few pack members chasing the remaining enemy wolves running for their lives and the rest watchful of more to come. Alexander’s scent was still absent. He didn’t curve back around or change locations or directions without us knowing, not in any way that would matter. It seemed like the skirmish was over.
And that’s all it was—a skirmish. Alexander had been protecting himself here. Learning. The next time he stuck his neck out, it would be with stronger wolves and with a better plan. Next time, he’d be aiming to take his prize.
Dante was close to Aurelia’s hiding place, having dispatched a wild enemy who had tried to get away but had run out ofenergy, allowing Dante to catch up and take him down. I sent Dante to get her, releasing Nova to help, and kept the rest of her team in position just in case. I wanted Aurelia back in the center of camp, with all of us surrounding her, before I called everyone back and set up our defenses for the rest of the night.
I advancedupon Aurelia’s hiding spot, retaking my human form so that I could look her over. Dante reached into the hidey-hole as a scarred but dainty hand slashed out, hitting him in the side with a knife. The whole bush shook, Aurelia clearly having fallen over under the tarp.
“Fuckinghell!” Dante shouted, recoiling. He stumbled backwards, grabbing his side. “What the fuck, Aurelia? I thought we were friends!”
He landed hard on his butt with a pained expression, rolling to his non-hurt side and laying all the way down. “Owww! Why the fuck are you so fucking fast? You shouldn’t be that damn fast without your animal.”
Nova took a step back as Aurelia staggered out of the bush, her hair wild having caught in the briars, with gashes along her skin. I stepped forward immediately but she was already bending to Dante.
“Or maybe you’re just slow.” Nova snickered at Dante as she reached for Aurelia. “Aurelia, you’re covered in briars!”
“Sorry!” Aurelia told Dante as I neared. “I’m sorry, Dante! I dozed off and you startled me.”
“How did I startle you? I said your name! Do you think the enemy knows your name? Fuck.” He peeled his hands away, looking at the bloody mess along his side. “If she’d stuck me two inches to the left, it would’ve been bad.”
“The enemy does know her name.” Nova backed away to give me space. “Though yeah, that would’ve been a killing strike if she’d landed it better. Nice work, Aurelia. You’re getting better.”
“Salt in the wound,” Dante grumbled.
“Sorry!” Aurelia reached out to touch Dante’s leg but I caught her hand before it touched down on his bare flesh. I helped her to stand. “I didn’t hear you say my name, but maybe don’t reach for me next time.”
“There isn’t going to be a next time,” Nova said. “We’ll be on the main road tomorrow. We’ll have nowhere to hide you. We have to hope the enemy doesn’t have any tricks up their sleeves.”
Aurelia looked at me with those large, beautiful eyes. “He was here, wasn’t he?”
She had to mean Alexander.
