The manor came into sight and looked deceptively quiet. The storm shutters were still closed, the front door sealed. He was just about to reach out to Thrall again when he felt the mental nudge indicating someone was trying to contact him. He permitted it.
Colson’s tone was urgent,“Alpha! Thrall is chasing Narae to Daemon’s cabin. It’s burning. Thrall thinks it’s an ambush. Blake is with him. She’s got a head start. Send reinforcements.”
Koe changed direction on a dime and sent a rapid amendment to Daemon.“Get to your cabin!”
The skies had cracked wide open just a few minutes earlier, dampening all his senses. He couldn’t scent anything burning, but he could just make out smoke billowing up from the southern border.“Where’s Jury?”
“I don’t know. Thrall didn’t mention her.”
“Go!”Koe ordered,“Get to Daemon’s cabin. I’m coming.” He pushed himself harder, praying that Jury was safe in the panic room as they’d planned. She had to be. Thrall would have mentioned her otherwise. As he ran, he kept reassuringhimself,Thrall would have mentioned her otherwise. He would have mentioned her.
Running at a breakneck pace, the scenery was a blur. The rain came down harder and it didn’t deter Koe in the least. Paws digging into the wet Earth, clumps of mud were propelled behind him. Wind was lashing him from the west, cold and crisp. Without his sense of smell and unable to hear anything but the pounding of rain and his own heart, Koe felt as if he were underwater. The urgency to get to Daemon’s cabin was all-consuming. He knew Bragga would be there, and he prayed Thrall had arrived shortly after Narae. Narae had told Daemon that there were twenty wolves total in Bragga’s pack. There’d been sixteen on the south perimeter, which meant Bragga and three Enforcers were absent, most likely at Dameon’s. If Narae showed up alone, it’d be four on one until Thrall and Blake got to her, even then, they’d still be outnumbered, four Biters to two Allegiant Enforcers and Narae.
Fffffuck!
Pushing harder, Koe crested the rise that overlooked Daemon’s cabin and roared at what he saw. Thrall was battling Bragga and another wolf. Beside him, Blake was facing off against another Biter wolf, and Narae was beneath another, fighting for all her worth. Blood stained the rain that was pooling beneath the battle. Without breaking stride, Koe tore down the hill, the rain dampening the sound of his approach. He went for the wolf on Narae first. One second, the wolf was tearing into her, and then he was gone. Koe barreled bodily into him, jaws clamping hard and ripping the fucker off Narae. The two wolves collided with the impact of two Mack trucks colliding. As they rolled and then slid through the flooding field, Koe didn’t stop fighting. Enraged, he bit harder than he’d ever bitten in his life, claws shredding, head whipping back and forth with rabid ferocity. He was feral. Seeing Daemon’s mate being attacked triggered something in him. As pack, Narae was Koe’s just as much as she was Daemon’s. Fully claimed or not, Daemon had marked her, which made her an Allegiant. That meant Koe owed it to Daemon, Jury, and his pack to defend Narae accordingly. And he did.
Whipping his massive head, his jaws clamped like an iron fist, he felt something rend and then give until his body grew warm with the wash of Biter blood that sprayed him. But he wasn’t done. He was already spinning before he even dropped the limp wolf in his jaws. Furious gaze locked on the two wolves tag-teaming Thrall, Koe lunged for the brawl. Racing across the field, he zeroed in on Bragga, but before he could reach Thrall to offer aid, a streak of black flashed through the melee, and Bragga disappeared. Koe slid to a halt. One-on-one, Thrall turned the tide on the Biter Enforcer who’d been jumping him, and he took the wolf down easily. Koe’s eyes scanned the field, eyes narrowing through the sheets of rain. His ears picked up the distinct sound of a man’s scream, and his head jerked in that direction. Standing, watching, listening, the air left Koe on a relieved sigh when he saw Demon’s black form ripping Bragga to shreds. The dumb bastard had shifted to his human form, no doubt trying to talk his way out of what he’d caused, what he’d earned.Fool!
Satisfied that Demon would finish Bragga, Koe turned to Blake. He was standing over another dead Biter wolf.
Narae!
Koe’s gaze sliced to where Narae had been, and she was gone. Eyes scanning the field, Koe didn’t see her. Dashing to the spot she’d been battling, he shoved his snout into the ground, picking up the saturation of her blood. Looking up, he saw a trail of blood going away from the field. He followed it slowly at first. When he didn’t immediately find Narae, panic kicked in, and he started running.
“Demon!”Koe roared through the pack ties. “Narae’s…” Honestly, he didn’t know what to call it. She wasn’t dead, she was injured and…feral? She was not Narae.
Chapter 33
Demon’s paws were shredding through Bragga’s insides. The wolf ensuring there’d be no resurgence of this fuck or his pack. Koe’s command carried to Demon through the pack ties. Without hesitation, Demon ripped his teeth from the enemy wolf he’d just killed and turned. His heart that had just seconds ago been beating heavily from the thrill of battle was now thundering for an entirely different reason. What about Narae? Why hadn’t Koe finished the sentence? Was Narae hurt?
Fear had his front paws ripping into the Earth while his hind legs propelled him forward with a power borne of terror. And it was terror, not knowing if Narae was hurt…or worse. Shaking his head, he wouldn’t even consider the last as he raced like the wind to get to Narae. He prayed as his feet pounded, “Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay!” In the distance, thunder rumbled low, and a streak of lightning shot across the darkening sky. It felt ominous and only added to Demon’s fear, which ratcheted impossibly higher when he scented blood, lots of it, and it was Narae’s! His paws splashed through a dark pool where theconcentration was the strongest, and he kept going, following the trail of crimson and his tie to Koe.
Demon could scent Koe before he even came up on a crest that led down a slope to a stand of pines. Koe was at the bottom of the slope, pacing in his human form.Jeans and t-shirt blood-soaked and rain-drenched, abs heaving beneath his clinging shirt, Koe’s attention was rapt on something in the tree line. Fists balling and unbaling, Koe was raging at whatever had his attention, but Demon could make out the words in the still falling rain.
Knowing Narae was hurt somewhere close, Demon barreled down the slope. Hurtling himself forward, his gaze sliced from Koe to the tree line, trying to see what Koe was looking at. At first, he saw nothing, then there was a slight movement and the flash of bright white fangs. It was Narae’s wolf. She was backed deep into the trees and squared off with Koe, injured and bleeding. She was feral.
As Demon drew closer, he could hear Koe barking, “I said shift, Narae! Now! As your Alpha, I command you!”
Demon knew Koe was trying to get Narae to shift for her own good. The grass around her was saturated. She was badly injured, the amount of blood beneath her said she was bleeding out, and Koe couldn’t get to her in her current state without the risk of hurting her more.
Tearing across the terrain, Demon had a moment of doubt. What if Narae didn’t recognize him in her state? What if the attack had been too much, and she’d finally snapped? She’d already been through so much. What if she resented him for the way he’d initially claimed her? What if how she’d been treated by males had broken her? What if he’d contributed to it?
Lip ticking up in a snarl, Demon shoved those thoughts aside. He didn’t care if Narae hated him. It was her right. He only cared that he got to her. He had to help her. Only he could.
As he drew closer, Demon loosed a guttural bark that drew Narae’s attention from where Koe was begging, “Please, Narae! You’re hurt! Let me help you! Please,fuck!”
Narae’s ferocious gaze locked on Demon’s, and her lips that had been peeled back in a snarl slipped. Sobering, she stared at him. And then she staggered.
Eyes roving over her, it was hard for Demon to make out where she was injured. Her dark black fur hid her injuries, so he focused on where crimson was dripping from a wound low on her throat. As he raced past Koe, Koe bellowed, “She’s bleeding out, D. Get her to fucking shift so we can find her injuries!”
Narae’s gaze shot back to Koe, and then she went back to snarling, ears pinned back as she hunched low in aggression. The movement sent a spurt of blood shooting from her shoulder and had Demon’s heart dropping. Above them, the sky cracked with a bright flash and a thunderous clap before the rain began to fall harder.
Barreling toward her, Demon prayed harder than he’d ever prayed before. Locking up his legs, he let a pulse of power blast through him and shifted. Sliding on his knees in the rain-drenched grass, he came to a stop just a few inches in front of Narae.
“My love,” he breathed, holding out his hands, “it’s me. Let me help you.”
Narae’s wolf focused on Daemon, her snarl slipping as her ears lifted. With one tentative step, she was too him. She leaned her body into his and then she collapsed.
