“Killian, Diesel, guard her.”
I felt them moving to flank her, and I knew from Diesel’s low growl that she was trying to outrun them. I trusted them to catch her, and I ran at full speed to the Hollow.
The scent grew stronger—smoke, ash, fear. Something worse tinged the air: blood. Lots of it.
“Brand!”
Through the mindlink, I felt his relief that I was close, and I felt my own relief that he was unharmed.
“They came through the night,”he told me. “They’re bleeding, but we are too.”
“Who isthey?”
I could feel the pack as I got closer, and I let them know I was coming as I raced ahead of the others. I felt it now, barbed and sharp like thorns digging into my spine. The land felt like it was screaming.
I burst into a clearing, paws skidding on torn earth. One of the younger shifters stumbled toward me, half-shifted, blood dripping down his side.
“Alpha—” he choked, falling to his knees. “They came—while you were gone—soldiers—marked with sigils—got past the lower ridge—set fire to the western line?—”
“Shift”, I told him, watching him as he did, his wounds less. “Shift again.”He was back in his human form, the wounds closing. “Shift again.”
I turned, and Killian was coming around the corner. “One more shift for him.”
I was already running. A dark presence appeared at my side, Diesel. Fury and fire wrapped in midnight, the brace that had carried Omar was gone, and I knew from experience how quickly Diesel could remove the harness.
“They attacked when we weren’t here,” he growled. “Cowards.”
I didn’t say that’s why he should have been here, because we’d needed him at the Pack Council, and like me, even Diesel couldn’t be in two places at once.
I heard a cry and my instinct was to turn back to my mate, but a shifter I didn’t know leapt out at me, and I flung myself to meet it. Teeth and claws bit and dug. It was no match for my strength, and I tossed the dead body from me.
Diesel’s snarl was wild as he lunged at the next one, and soon, he, Killian, and I were tearing our way through the rear flank of our attackers.
“Tell Killian I need him on the southern ridge,”Brand told me. “Diesel on the eastern. I’m bleeding patrols, Alpha. I need the strongest.”
“Killian, go south, Diesel, east. Let’s finish this.”
I turned to check on Rowen and saw her mid-shift, just as she slammed into the ground. Her scream made me rush forward, already changing to my human form.
“Rowen, are you hurt?” I demanded, hands running over her skin.
Her body curled inward. “The pain,” she sobbed. “The Heartwood,” she gasped, clutching her ribs. “Wolfe—it’s hurting?—”
I caught her to me, lifting her from the dirt. Her skin burned against my hands, like she too was on fire, pulsing with something savage and ancient.
Another of the shifters who had come with us had the young male who had healed in his arms. “Tell us what’s happening!”
“Gone,” the boy wheezed. “They came in the night, they said to…send a message. To show they could. They wanted you to know”—he coughed hard, spitting blood—“you can’t protect both lands.”
A cold, murderous calm slid through me. “One more shift,” I told him. “You three,” I indicated to the three nearest. “South, Killian will need help.” I looked at the other three. “To the east, where Diesel is.”
Rowen trembled against me, teeth clenched, nails digging into my arms. “They set it on fire,” she whispered. I lifted my head toward the burning scent rolling down the valley. “They burned my land.”
“And I’ll bring you their heads,” I vowed. “Can you stand?”
She stood slowly, jaw clenched so tight it shook. “Wolfe…”
“I know,” I said, standing close in case she needed me. “This was our mistake.”
