Diesel grinned like a feral dog. “I hope the scouts felt that. I really fucking do.”
My wolf lifted his head, and my alpha power burned brightly within me. I could feel the Hollow in my bones; it nestled there, alongside my connection to Stonefang. Timeless power, a gift to men who were graced with the Goddess’s gift to shapeshift into the form of a wolf.
Diesel’s smile turned wicked as he dipped his head in recognition. “Alpha,” he murmured, voice low.
Yes. Alpha. That’s what I was. My land. My pack. My mate. Mine to defend.
The Pack Council wanted to break us. They wanted to steal what was mine.
“Have they moved?” I asked Killian.
He nodded. “I was coming to find you when”—he waved his hand towards the grove—“thathappened.” He jerked his thumb to Diesel, who stood beside him, watching me. “Then he turned up and…” He looked over his shoulder. “Theneveryoneturned up.”
I felt the change beneath my boots. It felt very similar to my wolf when it was pacing within me, eager to be let loose. “What just changed?” I asked them both, keeping my voice low.
Diesel squinted behind me, and I turned to follow his gaze. The druid was watching me, and when I turned back, Diesel’s eyes were black.
“Diesel?” I asked quietly, motioning subtly for Killian to move. “Talk to me.”
“Danger walks on Stonefang.”
Killian moved closer. “How?” He looked at me. “You’re here. You’rebothhere.”
“The shaman?” I felt my temper burn even though it being the shaman didn’t feel right. “Fuck!How?”
Diesel tipped his head to the morning light. “Alpha…they call.”
Killian stilled, his head turning west. I forced my temper down as I strained to hear what they heard. I heardnothing. I spun to face the druid, who watched me calmly.
“Why can’t I feel it?”I demanded. “What have you done?”
“I’ve done nothing, Alpha. You chose this.”
Panic welled inside me. My pack. My pack were at Stonefang. “Diesel,” I said to him, stepping close, speaking in his ear. “I can’t feel them.”
His black eyes met mine, his lips twisting into a sneer. “Traitor.”
I almost recoiled when I suddenly felt the pull from the Grumps, their presence tugged at me, filling me. I slumped in relief as I felt the familiar sense of them and then theirfear.
“No…” I lurched forward. Hands grabbed me. I wasn’t sure whose, but they gripped me tight. “No!”
Claws ripped through my skin, blood spilled onto thestone beneath me, pooled in my mouth, too much, too fast to swallow it all. Soil dug beneath my fingertips, as my claws dug into the earth. The weight of loss pushed me down; my heart was ripping in two.
“NO!”
Darkness enveloped me. My forehead pressed to the grass, but all I saw was inside their shelter. She stood in front of him, knitting needle raised, fury in her gaze.
“Come one step closer, boy,” she seethed. “I will rip you from groin to throat for the blood you spilled today.”
Behind her lay the crumpled body of the mate of her soul. His head lay at an unnatural angle, throat torn open, blood pooling around his body, so bright in contrast to his graying skin.
“No…” I groaned as I felt heaviness bearing down on me. A snarl of hatred and wrath reverberated all around me.
Her gaze met mine, her eyes softening for a moment. “Tell them we fought, Alpha,” she told me, eyes filled with sorrow. “The stone falls.” She lunged forward in attack, and my vision went dark as wildness scorched my blood, burning the loss into my bones, carving it into my flesh as all around me I felt an energy that wasn’t mine swallowing me whole.
I surged to my feet, my eyes wide with intent to run. I looked up just as the branch struck me down, and then I felt nothing.
Loss.
