Walker crept quietly through the brush, sniffing out the size of the camp. He couldn’t get too close or the men there would detect him, but if he could just get an idea of where the alpha was, the rest of the men weren’t going to matter. Once you killed the alpha, the fight was over. Their side would have lost.
It took quite a bit of time, but finally, Walker picked up on Luthor’s scent. The old woman had told him her nephew was the right-hand man of the alpha of this dysfunctional pack, so wherever Luthor was, he imagined he would find the alpha as well.
He watched carefully before sneaking into the encampment and cautiously slipping inside the large tent that reeked of Luthor’s scent. There was nobody inside; and the place was bare except for a cot and a small shelf full of books. So Luthor could have been an intellectual if he had been given half a chance. That was interesting. Maybe it still wasn’t too late for him. Maybe…
And yet, when he thought about what had happened to Riley, Walker was furious. He didn’t want to give a man like this a second chance. He was a piece of shit who just happened to be able to walk and talk. He didn’t deserve mercy. Not when he could so easily harm an innocent woman and her child.
“This way!”
“No!”
Walker’s heart lurched at the sound of a voice, so familiar and cutting that he nearly revealed himself and lunged toward the voices. It was Riley. She was here, in the encampment, surrounded by dangerous men.
“Get the hell over here, James. This is probably going to tickle you!”
Walker crept out from the tent and retreated into the woods where he was able to watch what was happening without revealing his position. He was strong, but he wasn’t going to be able to win in a fight of ten against one. The odds were not in his favor. His best bet was to strategize. And as long as Riley was safe, he would have the time to do that. But if a single hair on her beautiful head was harmed, he was going to lose all of his self-control and the wolf would take over, probably killing all of them.
“James?”
Riley’s voice was hoarse, and the fear radiating from her body was unmistakable. Walker cringed, enrapt by the scene. Riley hands were tied behind her back, and a big shifter, who looked like a hybrid between the bears and the wolves, was standing behind her, his eyes mirthful as a tall, scrawny man began striding toward them.
“Well, look who’s here!” he shouted. “Where’s my kid, Riley?!”
“She’s not your kid,” Riley growled. “You wanted me to abort her. She will never be your child!”
“Well, don’t say a thing like that,” James said, glowering. “Unless you really want to hurt someone’s feelings. But I think you already know how dangerous it can be to hurt my feelings.”
Tears started to stream down Riley’s face, but she refused to look away from the man. She was terrified, but at the same time, she was tenacious. It was a true mark of her character, and Walker couldn’t have loved her more than he did in that instant. He didn’t even have time to think about the things he was feeling or process what it might mean. All he knew was he loved her, beyond the shadow of a doubt, pure and simple. And he had to do something to help her.
“I would rather die than tell you where my child is,” Riley said.
“It’s true,” Luthor said with a dismissive laugh. “When we found them at the motel room, she said the same thing. And she nearly did, too, if not for that son of a bitch, Walker.”
Riley’s face looked almost hopeful for a moment, and then quickly clouded over in anguish. She didn’t know he was there. She thought he was far away and nobody would be coming to her rescue. It probably felt like the loneliest feeling in the world to her then, and Walker nearly revealed himself just to relieve her of it. But that wouldn’t do either of them any good. He had to make sure he was ready with his plan before taking any action. He had to find the alpha.
“Well, she has never been much for common sense. Got this big old scholarship for school and wound up wasting all her time on me and having a baby instead. Isn’t that a riot?”
The men in the camp cackled and Walker felt the rage within him nearly boil over. This was not going to end well for any of them. Screw the alpha. The wolf was going to take over, and this whole fucked up situation was going to end, and end in his favor.
“Listen, honey, you might not have let it phase you when I was teaching you your place when we were dating, but you’re going to have to really pay attention this time. Because I’m not going to take it easy on you this time. I have nothing to lose. I will do whatever I need to do to get my hands on that little girl. I know where she lives, you know. All of us know everything. We’ve been working together to find you and get you home to me so we can be a family again.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Riley said. “If you have nothing to lose then why would you want to hurt me and keep me here at the same time? Why not just kill me?”
“Because you’re mine!” James barked. Riley flinched away, and the wolf couldn’t take another minute of his speech. Walker suddenly shifted into his wolf form, and became a bright white blur that soon had James by the throat. Everybody started shouting but Walker could hardly hear them. He was too furious at what had been going on; he had to make sure Riley was safe and that she wasn’t going to be subjected to another word out of this vile man’s mouth.
He was a human, which seemed, somehow, surprising, and soon, Walker dropped him to the ground lifeless. He knew Riley wasn’t going to like seeing this death, or any death, but it was far too late for that. They were going to fight, and death was on the horizon in this case. Just as it always was whenever something mattered. Like Riley.
“What the hell? How did he get here?” Luthor was shouting. “Get him!”
Luthor disappeared and the entire camp was now after him. The wolf and bear shifter hybrid came at him first, seeming to want to shift but simply unable. It was always a sad day when a shifter was born without the ability to shift, and this man was certainly in the category. It made sense that he was cast out and left in this pathetic commune full of miscreants, but there was no empathy left in Walker any longer. All he had was rage.
The man was abnormally strong and lifted Walker by the tail into the air. He yelped in pain but swung back and gnashed his teeth on the man’s face. He shouted out and dropped Walker on the ground, covering his bleeding eyes with his hands. Another quick strike and the man was also on the ground, struggling for a final breath that didn’t come.
Riley was on the ground trembling, hiding her eyes as shifter after shifter came at Walker, and one by one, he wiped them all out. It was easy to see why Luthor was the man in charge here, beneath the alpha. All of the pack here was weak. Nobody seemed to have the strength and willpower it took; most of them were omegas. It was pathetic, really, and soon, the wolf was making a conscious effort to maim, not kill, just because the act of killing an omega mercilessly and without inhibition was known to be bad karma.
When the ground was littered with shifter bodies, Walker’s hackles rose instantly and he turned just in time to see Luthor walking up to him, a sinister smile spread across his face. Behind him towered a huge beast-like man; a man who looked as if he belonged in one of his daughter’s picture books of wild fantasy tales rather than in the real world right in front of him. The smell was unmistakable. This was another bear and wolf hybrid shifter. But this one could shift.
“These two know Marcus,” Luthor said up to the man behind him. “They are valuable and I believe they could give us what we need.”
“The girl knows nothing of use to me,” the man’s deep voice growled. “The man is an inconvenience. He knows of Marcus, but he does not know enough to make this work. We can use them as bait, but little else. Destroy them both. I am tired of cleaning up these trivial little messes. Do you understand?”
“Of course, my Lord,” Luthor said, his eyes flashing with menace. “I will do as you wish.”
Walker growled as Luthor lunged forward, now in his menacing wolf form. Walker was caught off guard by the energetic pounce that landed him on the ground, but he wouldn’t allow it to throw him off. Luthor was going to kill Riley. He would never let that happen. He would die to protect her, and that was his final wish.
The fight was long and arduous, but Walker overpowered Luthor in both willpower and strength. They were close to evenly matched, and Walker was suffering from a few good blows. But it soon became apparent who the stronger man was, and Luthor’s eyes grew afraid.
Another flash of sympathy shocked Walker’s brain and he growled deeply, more at himself than at Luthor. He had the man’s throat in his teeth. With one small flick of the head, he would be able to end him.
But when he caught the malicious eye of the hybrid alpha, what he saw made him feel absolutely sick. The man was laughing, silently to himself, chuckling as he saw the man who had served him so loyally, and for so long, meet his match and, ultimately, view his doom. The worst part about it was that Luthor saw it too. His eyes were confused and hurt as he stared at the alpha’s reaction to his pain, wondering why the man wasn’t willing to step in and free him after so many years of loyal service.
When Walker caught Luthor’s eye again, suddenly the two of them seemed to have an immediate understanding. Their anger was now directed at the alpha, not at each other. They had been played for fools and the only person there who deserved to be destroyed was the man who thought he could pull all the strings.
Without another second to lose, Walker got off of Luthor, who struggled to his feet and took a moment to regain his strength. The alpha’s eyes narrowed as he watched the display, and Riley seemed just as confused. But before the alpha could ask questions, he suddenly had two wolves on top of his huge, broad body. He shouted, attempting to shift but unable to under attack. Walker and Luthor worked together against the impossible strength of the hybrid man who flailed and nearly knocked them both off himself.
Walker had the perfect opportunity to deal the winning blow, but he caught Luthor’s eye. This battle was much more personal for him, and the man deserved a chance to avenge himself.
Walker backed away, turning his back on the two men as the alpha’s life was ended. He shifted quickly back into his human form, because he instinctively knew, somehow, that he was not going to have to fight with Luthor again. It was over.
He ran to Riley, who was trembling on the ground, still hiding her face. The ground around her was littered with bodies, and Walker lifted her up in his arms and carried her to the path leading out of the forest.
“It’s going to be okay now,” he whispered, smoothing the hair out of her face and kissing her forehead. “Let’s go home.”