Chapter 14: Erick

 

 

 

The entire world was small from up here. I could see everything, and I found the Black Paws in just a few minutes, their scattered gray bodies crawling like ticks up the wooded mountainside.

Wings spread wide, I caught an updraft and climbed higher into the air.

Suddenly, there was the sound of a wolf's howl, sharp as a steely knife. Below me, all the Black Paws froze in unison. None of them had made a sound, which meant that the call was made by a Grayback.

The Black Paws broke into a run. I swooped low, until my claws were skimming the tallest trees. One of the wolves below me gave a yip of excitement. My forked tongue flicked out to catch the scent of wolves. Not the Black Paws, but other wolves.

We were close.

Three of the wolves fell back and shifted into men. A moment later, Liam, Caleb, and Sam were loping through the brush on human feet. The others moved on, still in their wolves' bodies.

I need to get closer, I thought. I flattened myself into a dark blade, cutting the air and racing ahead with the speed of wind.

A shout and a series of violent wrestling noises told me that the Black Paws and the Graybacks finally crossed each other somewhere below me.

Folding in my wings, I landed in the branches of a nearby maple tree and silently began to shift back.

The Black Paws and the Graybacks were fighting in a furry, snarling tornado below me. It was five against three, and the Black Paws made short work of beating their rivals into submission. Before long, each of the Graybacks were pinned to the ground and forced to shift back.

By the time Liam, Caleb, and Sam caught up to them, all of the wolves were replaced by naked men.

Their bodies glowed in the night like milk. Finally in my own human body, I dropped down from the tree and emerged into the clearing as well.

"Why's he here?" one of the Graybacks said, the one that Josh had in a chokehold. His eyes widened into frightened disks when he saw me.

"He's with us," Kaden said proudly, clapping his hand over my shoulder. He kept it there long enough for me to feel him trembling.

"What do you want?" another Grayback beta snarled. This one was middle-aged, gray threading through his shaggy black hair, and seemed much more experienced than his two younger packmates. It took two men, Jimmy and Caleb, to restrain him.

"What's Eliza planning with the cure?" Caleb said gruffly, giving the man's arm a hard twist. "We know you know something."

The man responded by spitting at Caleb's feet. "Don't know nothin' about no cure."

Kaden took a step forward. "Why did you attack Aiden?" he continued.

The man smirked. "He's that sweet little omega you kept hiding in the woods, right? Maybe I just wanted to have myself a little taste of—"

He made a horrible squelching noise as my fingers closed around his throat. I moved without thinking, but when I finally realized what I was doing, I glared into his eyes, watching them bulge as I squeezed harder.

"Answer me," I growled. A thin tendril of smoke floated out between my teeth, and I saw his eyes grow cold with fear. "The cure. What do you know?"

The man clawed at my hands as his mouth gaped without sound, like a fish drowning in air.

"What's he saying?" Josh said urgently.

Caleb grabbed my wrist, jerking my mind back into clarity. When I finally loosened my grip, the man's breath gasped out with a hiss.

He coughed out a series of indiscernible words.

"What?" Kaden snapped, rushing to join my side.

My fingers still around his throat, I loosened them as much as I could while still keeping  a firm hold.

He licked his lips. "Not a cure…"

I met Caleb's bewildered gaze. "Not a cure?"

Spittle dripped down from the man's trembling lips. "Har—harvesting a wol—"

"Harvesting a wolf out of a shifter," Kaden suddenly recited. "I've heard that before."

When I looked at him, he seemed even more confused than before.

"But what does that mean?" Caleb said, saying everyone's thoughts aloud.