Chapter Twenty-four
Asher hated being away from his mate. Leaving him with his pack at The Den had almost been as hard as telling him he couldn't come. But, he was safe with his doctor and his friends. Oscar and Farley had promised to take care of him and to give him a lot of practice changing diapers.
Was it sick that Asher was upset he was missing out on diaper changing practice? He knew he'd get enough of that later on, but that didn't stop him from wanting to learn now.
He needed to find the wolf though. The runt was as a part of his pack as any of the shifters from The Den were a part of Caleb's pack. His stomach tightened when he thought of what might have happened to the little runt. Out of all the wolves, Asher had been especially unsure that the little runt would make it. He'd been a fighter, just like Asher's boy, and he'd thrived. That was probably why he'd been taken. When that little one got a hold of something, he didn't let go unless he wanted to. He'd probably attacked a coyote when they'd found the homestead and had never let go, until it was too late.
In the end, Asher had left with Conner and Conner's mate Pippen. Sorell, their friend, had agreed to watch their daughter and that was mostly because Sorell didn't want to see Conner and Pippen get into a fight. From Asher's point of view, fighting seemed almost like foreplay to those two.
Pippen had had a point. He'd suggested that if one of them always had to be home to care for their child that this time it was Conner's turn. Conner had refused to allow Pippen into danger without him there. The word "allow" had offended Pippen greatly and he'd turned to his knives at which point the entire restaurant cleared out. That was about when Sorell stepped in. Glenn was returning to The Den as they were leaving and hopped in the car along with a small group of shifters that Asher did not know the names of.
Once they'd driven as far as they could, Asher led the way up the mountain. A part of him was simply happy to be back, though that happiness was marred by the absence of his mate and the uncertain fate of the wolf.
Asher had heard Brady explain what had happened. He had sat there as Brady described what the homestead looked like now. That did not prepare him for seeing it for the first time.
Nothing had been left unbroken. The space of land no longer looked like a paradise that he had carefully cultivated from the earth, but rather a collection of materials. Wood that he'd used to make the cabin, dirt and plants that had populated the garden, tools, clothes and broken dishes, they were all mixed together like a jigsaw puzzle a moment after all the pieces are dumped out onto a table.
Had the coyotes meant to break him with this destruction? Asher scoffed. It would take more than that. He should thank the coyotes for giving him the perfect opportunity to rebuild with his mate's input and his larger family in mind. He'd put in some sort of block between the land and the lake for one. That was, until the kids learned how to swim. He'd also build a cabin with more than one room. He hadn't spoken about it with Caleb, but alone time was important between mates.
"The way you are smiling right now while looking at your destroyed home lets me know you are a special kind of insane. That's good, we need more of that," Conner said. He pushed a branch away, the motion revealing a glint of something metallic on the ground. Asher jumped, pulling Conner back moments before his foot stepped into a bear trap. The commotion of two large males falling, set the trap off, its metal jaws clamping together with a deadly snap. Pippen was beside Conner in a second, half in a crouch, his dark eyes scanning the perimeter.
"There is another one over there," he pointed at where the work area had been.
Asher looked around without moving. He spotted the trap Pippen had pointed out as well as a rope trap. The entire place could be booby trapped. "We don't have time to clear this area right now, though it needs to be done. I don't want the other two wolves getting stuck." At the reminder, Asher whistled. In minutes the other two wolves appeared from the left, both breathing hard like they'd come from a long distance.
"You told me, but I didn't believe you," Pippen said to Conner, looking at the wolves curiously.
Asher ignored them. "We're going to get him. But you two don't look great, maybe you should rest?"
The female growled.
"They understand you?" Glenn asked.
Asher shook his head. "Not really, it was probably a coincidence. Or she understood my tone. Either way, I don't think there is any stopping them. They're coming."
The wolves didn't just tag along, they led the way. Asher figured that had been what they'd been doing when he'd arrived to the homestead. Searching for their brother.
They kept their noses to the ground and ran. The sun set, but their pack continued. Asher kept waiting for one of the wolf shifters to ask for a break or to stop for a moment. He didn't think rescuing one little runt would be as important to them as it was to him. They didn't though. Conner kept pace behind him while Pippen sometimes fell back to make sure they weren't being followed.
It was dark when they slowed. By that point, Asher could smell the coyote camp in his human form. They were near. He couldn't hear or smell the little wolf, and hoped that didn't mean anything.
Asher wished it was just him and his wolves. It would be so much easier for him to sneak in undetected. He turned to tell the pack he thought he should go ahead alone. Unfortunately, he didn't stop walking forward, thinking they were far enough away from the actual camp to be less cautious. He felt the string tighten against his foot. Then he heard a siren begin to wail. Ahead, coyotes began to shout out orders.
"Here we go," Conner said, cracking his knuckles. His mate hovered just behind him, his hands on his hips like he thought the coyotes were taking too long.
Asher wondered if he would ever be comfortable enough to bring Caleb into a situation like this. Then he stopped wondering anything except where to find cover. A series of rapid fire gunshots rang out. The coyotes were less concerned with checking to see if they were enemies. The motto was shoot now question later.
"It's the wolf," someone shouted.
"You're famous," Pippen said cheerily, offering Asher a hand. "Duck."
Asher hadn't even gotten to a stand before he ducked down. Pippen let a knife fly through the air. Asher didn't have to turn to see if he'd made his mark, the thump and scream of pain was evidence enough. Asher had a feeling if Pippen had been throwing with an intent to kill, he wouldn't have heard the scream.
The gunfire slowed to a stop. That wasn't surprising to Asher. Rounds to a semi-automatic weapon like the one they'd been firing were expensive. They'd likely wasted all their ammo within moments of the fight. Though, Asher would not assume they didn't have other weapons waiting. He surged from the forest further into the coyote camp. At least he didn't have to worry about protecting Caleb's pack. They all seemed to be able to take care of themselves. Conner hadn't even bothered shifting and was fist fighting the coyotes like he was in the middle of some pub brawl. The other wolf shifters were in their animal form and worked as a team, similar to how Asher had seen the wild wolves operate. They were efficient.
Asher surged ahead, sure that if the wolf was alive, it would be somewhere near the center where the little guy would have less of a chance escaping. The camp was a mess. A city of tarps and tents, some were new and nice, but most were broken. The lack of permanent structures let Asher know that this was not the coyote's main home. They had to have a place, maybe closer to the base of the mountain, with actual wooden structures. But, this area was large enough and messy enough for Asher to believe a contingency of coyotes had been staying here for a while. There was garbage everywhere and there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the layout. Asher did note that not every coyote he ran by tried to attack him. As a rule, he only attacked the ones who looked like they were going to attack him. That meant he ran past a great number of wide, frightened eyes.
Finally, Asher heard a whine and caught the little runt's scent. The wild wolves were at his feet and together they ran into a tent so large he didn't have to duck to walk inside. Inside the tent, he realized it was one of those two roomed types with a thin nylon wall separated the two spaces. He surged forward only to have the female wolf step in front of him and turn sideways, effectively stopping him. She growled and it was only that growl that made Asher look at the nylon wall a little more closely.
He would have walked right by the man if the wild wolf hadn't stopped him. Asher saw him now though, standing still and in darkness, like a shadow.
"You're the wolf?" the shadow said with a deep voice.
"I am. You have something of mine."
"Of yours? It belongs to you?"
"As much as any member of my family. Of my pack."
"You have a family? I thought you killed yours."
Asher schooled his emotions into impassivity but was afraid a sliver of shock had gotten out.
"I'm older than you," the shadow said. "You think we can't put two and two together? There isn't much else to do up here but think. And drink. And fuck." The coyote stepped out of the shadow enough for Asher to see his face. His features were pointed and mean. His lip curled up in a cruel sneer.
"You could read, or build something. Or how about clean up this trash hole."
"I don't like your tone."
"I don't care."
The coyote snarled. If he hadn't been sure this man was the alpha he would be now. A pack master would not appreciate being spoken to that way.
Behind him, someone screamed. Asher had no way of telling if it was one of Caleb's pack or a coyote. "Just give me the wolf. We'll take him and go." No part of him wanted to speak those words, but Asher feared if this horrible circle wasn't stopped, it would just keep going. A harm for a harm. These coyotes had hurt his mate so he had hurt them and in turn they had tried to kill Caleb and had kidnapped their wolf. The vicious cycle would continue until someone stopped it.
The dark alpha laughed. "We don't want your wolf. We didn't even want your mate. We want you dead and off our mountain. The other ones you brought with you, they are all just bonus."
Suddenly, there was a cacophony of tearing noises. Asher watched knives slip through the nylon on all sides, sliding down the material until the tent had literally been cut open around them. In place of tent walls were other coyotes, all big and ready to take Asher down.
These weren't great odds.
He scooted forward so he wasn't overly close to anyone of them, but the motion put him in the middle of the circle. Really, all they needed to do was throw their knives all at once with any sort of accuracy and he would be a goner. The wild wolves who had remained crouched by his feet until that moment began lunging out in an attempt to make a hole. One of them yelped, Asher could not see who as he was doing all he could to watch every person surrounding him at all times.
"You'll die on this mountain the same way you came to this mountain," the dark alpha said. "Alone."
Asher lunged, holding back the growl that might have alerted the coyote alpha of his impending attack. He slammed against the coyote with a satisfying thud and crunch. The momentum of his attack had brought the other shifter to the ground and Asher didn't wait to start punching the alpha in the face and upper body. He got in more than a few good hits. The alpha was unconscious by the time his pack members could pull Asher off him long enough to drag their alpha away.
The remaining coyotes surged forward and Asher braced for an attack. Things grew increasingly more confusing as Asher fought with his fists, knocking through the coyotes like they were bowling pins and he was the ball. Unfortunately, these bowling pins were armed. Asher felt a few of the cuts, but none of them seemed too deep. He spun to face off against a coyote he was sure had been behind him, but found only the back of a wolf shifter. In fact, a quick spin told him he was now completely surrounded by wolf shifters, all with their backs to him, as they protected him against the coyotes who were now fewer in number than they'd been minutes before.
"You got to the party way before us," Conner said, like he was disappointed to have missed the part where Asher had been pretty sure he was about to die.
"I'm not used to help."
"I can tell," Pippen said, gracefully latching onto Conner's shoulders and swinging his lower half around to do a flying kick that would look more in place in a kung fu movie.
Asher swayed back on his heels. He couldn't fight a coyote if he wanted to. The wolf shifters had taken over and were not only protecting him but slowly shifting their circle over to the doorway to the second room.
Conner left the circle, going to Asher's side. He was barely breathing hard. Asher looked over his shoulder where Pippen had launched on top of a coyote and was currently punching him on the shoulders so he would fall. "You'll have to excuse us," Conner said as he took a moment to watch his mate in all his violent glory. "We don't see much action these days. Now you see why Pippen was so adamant about coming."
Asher nearly smiled.
He pulled apart the back nylon, that fabric was practically in tatters anyway. In the commotion, most of the poles had been ripped up, forcing him to lift the nylon off the ground as he searched.
When he found the little runt, his heart skipped a beat. The wolf looked so tiny, curled up in a ball in the far corner. Asher whistled low and the wolf picked up his head. He'd been beaten, that was clear. Asher doubted they had fed him once the entire time they'd had him.
"They are on the run," Pippen said, having broken from the circle to join them. "What the hell did they do to him?" he asked, anger and malice in his voice.
"He's alive," Asher said. "Barely. We need to try to get some food in him. He looks starving." Asher was afraid to move him until they had at least gotten him to eat something. If he would. The other coyotes became less important. Again, they were spared by Asher needing to care for those in his family first. He lifted the runt into his lap and sat on the ground, the wild wolves sat beside him. Asher noticed the male had a cut on his paw that didn't look serious but caused him to sit with it lifted off the ground. His sister licked the runt lovingly on his muzzle and then tended to her brother, washing way the blood with her tongue. "Where would you two be without your sister?" he asked them.
Pippen went off to find food while the other shifters cleared the camp. Glenn returned with an expression so odd Asher asked him if he needed to sit down. Out of all the wolf shifters, he was the only one that had gotten visibly hurt. A large bruise was forming on his right cheekbone and there was a cut on his forearm. He looked almost dazed.
"Are you feeling okay, Glenn?" Conner asked him.
"What? Yeah. Just, thought I smelled something, weird."
"All these coyotes smell weird," one of the wolf shifters said.
"Yeah, that is probably it. Are we going to take the little guy to your friend's? Caleb had mentioned he was a vet."
Asher nodded. "After he eats. And we will need to spend some time deactivating the booby traps the coyote's set up at the homestead."
It was morning by the time they were huddled around a fire still in the coyote camp. In the mayhem of the attack, Conner had lost count of just how many they had fought. He'd spent those hours gathering everyone's stories, trying to create a mental tally of how many they had encountered and what sort of injuries they had inflicted on the pack. None of them had been fighting to kill, except perhaps Asher when he had taken the alpha to the ground, but even the alpha had been breathing when the coyotes had pulled away to safety.
Asher remained on the ground, moving only to scoot closer to the fire. The wolves remained beside him as he tried to coax some meat into the little one's mouth. The wolf licked at it tentatively first before taking a bite. "That is it, buddy. Just get a little bit stronger then we will take you to Brady's."
"I wouldn't mind going with you for that, if the rest of you want to head back?" Glenn said.
Secretly, Asher was thankful for the suggestion.
Now that the violence was over, Pippen looked a little wary. He was probably realizing that he hadn't seen his daughter in almost twenty-four hours. "Yeah, if you guys want to head back, I can go with Glenn to—"
Suddenly, there was a great crashing sound. The shifters at the fire all stood, snarling at the intruder. Asher didn't expect Stella to come bursting through the brush, morphing as she ran, her red hair a wild flag behind her. She panted so hard Asher was afraid she might pass out. "I…sprinted…Asher, you need Caleb…" She bent over attempting to suck in more air. Asher's pulse raced.
"Caleb? What about him?"
"Labor, the moment you left. Problem. Go. Hospital," she said between great gulps of air.
Asher didn't bother asking any more questions. He shifted and ran in the direction of civilization. It occurred to him that he'd left the wolves and while he felt no small amount of guilt, he was somehow sure that Glenn would pick up where he had been forced to leave off. In the course of one night, Asher had seen not only the benefits of a shifter pack, but had appreciated having a shifter pack around for the very first time.