Finally, the two of us stopped at a rushing river, Silverblue Creek, one of the borders between our territory and the Iron Claw. It didn’t see much conflict due to no one really living here, so it was a serene sight to enjoy.
Daphne caught up to me, heaving her breath in keeping up. She looked at me, then at the creek, and to me again. I nodded. She took a drink from it. The water was more than clean enough for humans to drink, let alone us shifters and our hardier constitutions that came from our wolf halves.
She sat back, catching her breath. I giggled internally, just grinning outward. Not having the proper vocal cords was quite annoying at times.
The sweetness we enjoyed would be rudely interrupted soon enough.
I growled as I peered around into the forest. We were being watched, and as I sniffed the air, I could tell it wasn’t any White Fang pack members on patrol.
Shifters were approaching now, and I didn’t recognize their scent. I stood between them and Daphne as they approached. I felt her fear and I hated that feeling.
Four of them were surrounding us, Three of the scent signatures were wholly foreign to me, but one actually had a hint of Valley Prowler.
Just a hint. He wasn’t of that pack, no. But he had spent some time among them.
Whoever they were, they’d made a fatal mistake coming into our territory.
I growled at them, sending a final warning. If they wanted a fight, I’d give them one. I closed my eyes and blasted out a call to my pack. My magic. My gift.
The invaders attacked, and I shot a command toward Daphne. She was not moon bitten, so she was not fully White Fang and under my control. But our intimacy had brought us close enough that I could mentally give her suggestions, and luckily, in this case, she listened.
As the four leaped in, I moved to block them, and Daphne turned and ran.
The attackers stumbled about as they missed their mark, skidding across the river coastline. They barked back, three of them priming themselves to go after me again, one of them looking at Daphne, making a break for it.
Another pounce, another dodge. When the one looking at Daphne tried to go after her, I tackled him so hard he went flying into a nearby rock and whelped in pain.
The others went to take advantage. I bared my fangs and sent a paw soaring toward one of them, slamming it across their snout.
As they reeled back and collected themselves, they looked past me and toward Daphne. I wasn’t a soft enough target, but she was, so they were trying to get by me. I did my best impression of a goaltender, in turn. Swipes against them as they came, drawing blood and howls of rage.
Within a couple of minutes, I scented my pack and felt the ground trembling, thousands of pounds of claw and fang coming our way. Thirty or so wolves poured out of the forest, Gage and Talon leading the cavalry in, and they soon overwhelmed our attackers.
Before my beta could finish off the last one, I growled, and he held himself back, quivering with the need to kill.
The sole survivor was the one who stank of the Valley Prowlers, and I was glad he was the one because he could prove very useful to me.
I shifted back into a man as Gage pinned him down. I throttled his throat with my thumbs, choking him until he looked at me. “Whatever your connection to the Valley Prowlers is, you have one job now. You’re going to return to them, and you’re going to tell them that if any of their filth steps onto White Fang territory again, we’ll strip their pelts off and wear them as shoes.”
Petrified with fear, the last wolf whimpered in submission. Gage let him up, and he limped away, at least two of his legs mangled in the melee.
We watched as he vanished into the darkness, and when he was gone, my pack shifted back into human form.
“Are you all right? Not injured?” Gage asked.
Daphne hurried up to me, in human form too, hands over her private parts. “I’m fine.” I scowled, shaking my head.
Who sent that pack, and why were they testing us? Did they think we were weak because of my grandfather’s illness?
Well, we’d sent them a message they wouldn’t forget. Hopefully it would be enough.
Gage nodded. “We’ll sweep the area and make sure there’s no one else lurking about that shouldn’t be.”
Daphne hurried over to me, shivering in the cool night air. I took her by the hand and led her away from the scattered bodies. We walked quietly through the woods until my house was in sight. She staggered, tripping over a tree root, and I stopped and held her close, both for warmth and to calm her down from what was clearly a harrowing experience for her.
“You had to fight to defend me,” she murmured, trembling in my arms.
“Of course I defended you. You’re my mate.”
