“Really?” I teased. “And why’s that?”
“’Cause, big boy, I need a load for the road.”
Giving Jules a load for the road proved to be a very sensible idea. It calmed us both down considerably. Our bond hummed in shades of blue until we were less than forty miles from the homestead. Anxiety started to flicker in Jules, and I followed suit quickly.
“It’ll be okay,” I said several times. Each time I said it, I felt more like a liar.
We rounded the bend and caught the first glimpse of the only place we’d ever called home. Eight run-down cottages dotted on either side of a dirt road. Broken-down vehicles parked here and there. The intention was always to use them for parts, but somehow it never seemed to work out. It was a tumble-down place. It was in dire need of maintenance. Being away and seeing it again only drove that point home. At the same time, it was lovely. It was the charming little backwater haven that housed most of my memories. I was relieved when I saw no evidence of vampire activity. Perhaps they’d given our town a wide berth. I felt sick when I thought of leaving this place. In my heart I truly believed it was the last day Jules and I would call Clearwater Valley our home.
I brought the GMC to a standstill at the top of the hill. Mrs. O’Malley was leaning on her porch railing. She was looking her best. Her hair was puffed up into what she liked to call “my Marilyn curls” and she was wearing her blue-and-white dress with a busy floral design and a stiffly starched white collar. She usually saved that dress for special occasions. She must have let everyone know we were coming because a good-sized crowd had gathered on the lawn down at the pack house. Jules’s parents were standing under the cottonwood tree with the omegas, and my parents were headed up the drag to meet us. Jules and I got out and used the truck to shield us as we undressed. It was our pack’s custom for newly shifted pack members to show off their wolves. It was an honor we’d looked forward to for years. In all the times I’d imagined it, I never once thought it would feel like it did; terrifying.
“You go first,” I said to Jules. I didn’t want to upstage him with the crazy size of my wolf. Despite the circumstances, I wanted him to have his moment.
He shifted and looked up at me with uneasy wolf eyes. I scratched him between the ears and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll keep you safe.”
He walked out from behind the truck and started down the lane to the sound of happy cheers and applause.
“Would you look at the size of that wolf?” said old man Lou, slapping his knee.
“That’s a Cleary wolf all right,” replied Jules’s dad.
Once everyone had got a good look at Jules’s wolf, I took a deep breath and shifted. I looked down and saw my claws digging into familiar turf. Home soil. The shift felt unusual. It felt pristine somehow. Almost surgical. I thought it might be the stress, but then I looked down and noticed my fur. Something was different. There was no hint of gray. No fluffy tufts of black. It was white.
Pure white.
Snow white.
Whiter than white.
I stepped out into the sun and walked down the lane to where Jules stood. Dappled applause started but quickly faltered and faded to silence. Faces that had been pictures of pride seconds ago now read as confusion. One or two of them scented the air. No one moved and no one said anything. Eventually, my dad ducked into our house and came out with a pair of jeans for Jules and me. He tossed them to us. We shifted back to human form and quickly got dressed.
As we did, the hush that had befallen the pack changed. Eyes went round. Mouths too. Jules’s mom clamped a hand to her mouth to stop the startled cry that rose from her chest. She was too late. The sound came rushing out of her as an anguished whimper. There was no hiding it; they’d seen my mark on Jules. There was no way they could miss it. Dalton and the brothers closed ranks. They gathered like thunderclouds.
“Just what the fuck did you boys get up to at that cabin?” sneered Dalton.
There was no point in denying it. It wasn’t just the mark. It was the scent of our mating and it was our designation too. All of it was plain as day. None of it was what they were expecting. None of it was what they wanted.
“If we’re not welcome here, we understand and we’ll leave." My voice sounded a lot stronger than I felt. “We’ll get our things and we’ll be gone in under an hour.”
“The fuck you will.” Dalton’s voice was unlike anything I’d ever heard but I recognized it immediately. Raspy. Raw. The harbinger of death. His eyes were dark and dull; gold striations oozed out from his pupils. The Brothers were primed for action. Their eyes were focused. Their chins tucked down to their chests. They looked to Dalton, waiting for their orders. “Put the alpha down,” he said, smiling sadistically, as he sicced his dogs on me. “Don’t kill the omega. We’ll keep him and breed him.”
A kaleidoscope of colors fizzed through the bond. Jules was afraid. Really afraid. I could feel it. I’d been afraid too. I’d been afraid since morning. I’d been afraid coming around the bend, and I’d been afraid when I shifted. I was afraid right up to the point Dalton said he’d keep Jules for breeding. At the sound of those words, my fear was replaced by something quite different. Our bond changed. From my side it glowed red. Dark red. It turns out, red is for more than passion and love.
Red is also for rage.
The world brightened, and my eyes flashed as I forced fury through our bond until the entire link between Jules and me shone crimson. I didn’t need to look at Jules to tell he felt it too. The Brothers lumbered toward us. Their eyes were black. Devoid of emotion or any sign that they recognized me as a member of their pack. As they made their way up the hill to where Jules and I stood, Keith bent down and picked up a discarded metal pipe.
“Dalton, no!” cried my father. “Five against one is not a fair fight. That’s not the Cleary pack way. Don’t do it.” I was surprised to hear him say it. I was more surprised by the force in his voice. I remember thinking that if that was the last thing I ever heard my father say, I was happy those were the words he chose to say. “There’s no honor in this.” That time my father’s voice was a growl.
The Brothers paid him no heed, but when they got to where he stood, Keith swung the pipe hard, hitting my father on the back of the head. He stumbled and sank down to the ground.
“Stay down,” my mother hissed at him.
Perhaps I’d have been more surprised at my mother’s action, or inaction, as it were, but The Brothers were almost upon us, and I didn’t have the time I needed to deal with the full weight of the disappointment I felt.
Kevin and Marty came for me first. Their stances were low. Fists tightly balled. They looked dangerous. They meant business. I could tell. I meant it too. The second they came within striking distance, I exploded into action. Kevin drew his arm back, but I saw him coming. I blocked his punch with my left arm and returned it with a punch of my own. One that made contact. One that was hard enough to make him take several steps back. While he was subdued, I hit Marty square in the chest, winding him thoroughly. I was dimly aware that Llewellyn was almost on Jules. Jules was strong, but Llewellyn was older and thus probably stronger. I turned to defend him and as I did it, Keith swung the pipe at my head. It was a solid strike. I felt metal connecting with bone. My skull cracked on impact. I was stunned for a second and in that second, he struck again. And again. Bone splintered. Blood gushed. A warm, hazy feeling flooded my brain. As I crumpled to the ground, Marty and Doug each grabbed one of my arms and held me up.
I twisted to see Jules through the fog. Llewellyn had him in a chokehold. Jules was fighting. Kicking and clawing, but he couldn’t get free. I think I would have been filled with despair then but my injury had left me cut off from my emotions. Everything seemed to move slowly. It all seemed far away. I was almost at peace.
