My stomach quivered at the thought of how many lives I was endangering with my mission. It didn’t matter one bit that I’d done nothing to choose the situation, nor that I couldn’t control a fucking tsunami or the underworld. Meeting the waiting gazes of so many wolves felt like crap. How many would die before this shit-fest was over?
“Wolves,” Brock called out to them. “I’m sure you’re all wondering what the hell is going on. Time isn’t on our side, so I’ll make it brief. The siren, Calista, has escaped. This time she has one of her triplet sisters with her.”
Disgruntled sounds of objection circled the standing wolves.
“The sirens escaped around the same time as the tsunami warning was issued. I doubt that’s a coincidence. Calista’s power has been enhanced by some nasty witches, and with the addition of her sister, we think she’s capable of directing such massive amounts of water here.”
A few of the wolves nodded. They’d all have a basic understanding of how siren magic worked.
“We assume the sirens want to evacuate the area so they can come onto our property without our interference and access the gate to the underworld.”
I scanned the wolves, spotting Ray, Sabine, Chad, and Goose. They hung on every one of their alpha’s words.
Brock took my hand and pulled me closer to him, his way of showing his support of me, and I knew the big announcement was coming. I tilted my chin upward and pretended I didn’t give a fuck what any of them thought of me.
“What I haven’t told you yet is that”—Brock looked over at me—“Evie is a kitsune.”
A few gasps interrupted the silence that followed Brock’s pronouncement.
Cass sidled to my other side and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He cut a black-stared glare across the field of wolves. It said,you mess with Evie, you mess with me. My good ol’ bestie...
“A fox shifter?” someone asked from the far right.
Brock nodded. “Not just any fox shifter. She’s the true protector of the gate to the underworld. Her kitsune power is the one thing that can close the gate. Combined with her witch magic, she’s the only chance we have at sealing the gate for good. I’m sure I don’t need to tell any of you how important it is that we prevent the underworld from pouring out onto Earth. Evie’s the only person alive who can prevent that. We protect her with everything we’ve got. If we have to, we give our lives.”
Brock took a couple of steps toward his wolves, pulling me along with him. Cass moved with us, puffing out his chest to make himself appear bigger.
“From here on out, the pack’s number one priority is protecting Evie,” Brock stated.
A few of the wolves bristled.
“And no, it’s not because she’s the woman I love, and it’s not because she’s carrying my child. Keeping them safe is just a sweet bonus. You’re my family as much as she is. It’s because she was born to guard the gate and keep our land, and all of humanity, safe from the creatures of the underworld.”
He paused, allowing his message to settle across his audience, while my heart thumped in my chest. He’d announced that he loved me to all his wolves.
Murmurs spread across the wolves, though I wasn’t yet able to gauge their general response.
“As a pack, we’ve always protected humanity from evil. Safeguarding this land which holds the gate has been my family’s priority for years. Now there’s no one left to do it but us. The pack will scour the property for the sirens. If you find them, you kill them. I’m no longer interested in trapping them, and I think the werewolf council would agree.”
I suspected not even Mack would object too highly if we delivered the sirens to him dead, as long as we delivered them. Sure, we’d be out a bounty of a hundred grand, but at this point the relief would be well worth the monetary loss.
Wolves growled their agreement. It was good the pack was on the same page.
“Catch or kill the sirens and let me know immediately. We’ll need to incapacitate their magic to end this tsunami threat.”
I bit my lip. I hoped Tianna knew how to do that. This was going to be a team effort all around.
“Stay alert. Stay safe. And stay alive.” Brock took a few precious moments to meet the eyes of his wolves, and I could understand why he was their alpha. They trusted and respected him.
Brock met Ray’s gaze last. Whatever else Brock was saying, he spoke only for his second to hear. Finally, Ray nodded and spun to face the wolves. He started rattling off names while pointing to quadrants of the property, and wolves scurried to do his bidding—Brock’s bidding.
“All right,” I said. “Let’s go find this gate and close ‘er up.” Yeah, I wasn’t believing it was going to be that easy either. I patted my katana in its sheath across my back to reassure myself that I sort of had my shit together. “Molly, you protect the cabin.”
She was already shaking her purple head. “No way. Who cares what happens to the cabin if the world goes to shit?”
“You need rest. You almost just died. We got really lucky you didn’t. Go to the cabin, kick your feet up, watch some old flicks. I think there’s still beer in the fridge.”
And I cared if my beloved Gran’s cabin was damaged.
