Chapter Twenty-Four
The moon hung overhead, fat and round and just a sliver short of being full. It bathed the woods in an otherworldly light. Cliff, Truman, Rusty, Mandy, Taurus, and a dozen other pack members raced through the underbrush, in wolf form, following Dax and Fergus.
Mandy had insisted on coming. When Cliff had tried to argue, she’d picked up the end of a car with one hand. “Super-strength,” she’d said to him, as Truman gaped at her in amazement and said, “Who are you?”
Grant and Austin had offered to come, but Cliff had refused. He couldn’t risk all three of them, not before the trials were done.
Fergus had led them to the spot where he’d found the dead woman’s purse and shoe. It gave them something to go on. And Roger had the best scenting ability in the entire pack. Cliff had a strong feeling deep in his gut that the death was somehow connected to the kidnapping of Taylor and Chantelle, and his gut was never wrong.
Rage rushed through his body. Perry has Taylor. That bastard who kissed up to Cliff every time he called the office, that monster with his Judas smile and fawning words. He’d plotted and schemed and taken Taylor. He was going to die.
They had mere hours to find the girls and get back to the property before the next day’s trial began. The day before the full moon. The Elders had taken a vote and insisted that things proceed according to the pack charter, despite the fact that the two women had been kidnapped. In a few hours, they had the final physical test, and if Cliff wasn’t there, he’d forfeit.
Most likely, Grant would win. Immature, impulsive, a vain peacock who craved attention…he had too much of their father in him to be an effective leader. And Austin – what would he do if he won? He’d likely forfeit out of spite.
And even worse…Jerrold might win.
The moon clouded Cliff’s thinking, its powerful pull calling to his animal nature. Taylor. Must find Taylor. My mate. Need. Find.
Roger stopped, and shivered, and shifted into human form. Rare for one so young to be able to shift so quickly. He’d be a force to be reckoned with some day. Cliff hated to bring a child with him on such a dangerous mission, but he had no choice. Dax had the best chance of catching Taylor’s scent.
They all stopped in their tracks. He was pointing downwind. Could he really scent them?
“There.” Roger pointed ahead into the woods, finger trembling. “I smell her, and Chantelle, and another werewolf, and a human man. Half a mile.”
Half a mile. Fuck.
Cliff nodded at Mandy, indicating that she should stay with Dax and Fergus – she’d insisted on coming along – but she growled and raced ahead. Rage boiled through him. No time for this.
Taurus ran over to his nephew and Fergus, then nodded at Cliff. Go. I got this.
Cliff and the rest of them ran, faster than they’d ever run before. Their legs slashed through the brush. Tree branches slapped their snouts, thorns snagged at their fur. Their tongues lolled from their mouths and the fur stood up on their backs. Rusty kept pace with Cliff, legs churning, eyes maddened. Froth hung on his lips. Chantelle was his. Cliff knew what he was feeling. Painragefearkillneeddestroy…
A small cabin came into view up ahead.
They slowed down and began creeping forward, keeping to the cover in the underbrush.
Perry and Joel were standing in front of the cabin, both holding rifles. They were arguing about something. Perry was trying to calm Joel down, and Joel was waving his arms around, yelling.
Joel’s words drifted towards him.
“Why can’t I have them now?” he whined like a toddler. “Chantelle might not even last until tomorrow! Then I’ll never get to have any fun with her!”
Rusty went stiff with rage and let out a very low growl.
“But if you mess her up too badly, she won’t survive the shift,” Perry argued. “Wouldn’t you rather have two mates?”
“Who cares?” Joel growled. “We’ll just grab another one. Give me the fucking key to the cage!”
Die. Die. Die.
They crept closer and closer.
Almost there.
Ten yards to the cabin.
“Fine,” Perry said resignedly, pulling the key out of his pocket. “I never could say no to you.” He handed it to Joel, who said, “Thanks, Dad!” with boyish glee, and dashed inside the cabin.
The wolves burst from the woods, slinking low to the ground.
Five yards. Perry saw them and let out a high-pitched shriek of terror. Frantic, he aimed his rifle at them and fired wildly.
A bullet hit Rusty in the side, and Cliff could smell the silver and hear the sizzling of Rusty’s flesh. Rusty let out a howl of anguish. Truman pounced on him and clawed the bullet from Rusty’s ribcage, as Mandy shot forward. A bullet hit her in the shoulder, but she barreled forward and knocked Perry off his feet onto his back.
“Joel! Help me!” Perry screamed, his shots going wild now.
Joel shot out the door in wolf form and ran right past his bleeding father, disappearing into the woods. Perry kept shooting, hitting Cliff and Truman. Their packmates jumped on them, clawing out the bullets and the burning flesh they had touched.
Cliff and Rusty, blood pouring from their wounds, leaped onto Perry, who’d run out of ammo.
“No! It’s not fair! I did it to help my son! He’s one of you, one of you!” Perry cried. The stink of urine filled the air – he’d peed himself. He curled up in a ball, sobbing in terror. “Joel, Joel, come back!” he wailed, but Joel was running for his life, leaving them far behind.
Cliff’s jaws clamped down on Perry’s neck. He shook his head, and there was a rending of flesh and then a hot, salty gush of blood as Perry gurgled his last, panicked breaths.
Cliff released him and raced into the cabin, with Rusty scrambling at his heels.
Taylor and Chantelle were in a cage. A cage. Cliff ran over, still in wolf form, and with Randy, using his superhuman strength, ripped the door of the cage from its hinges.
Taylor looked at Cliff with a weak smile. “I forgot to mention something,” she said, her voice a hoarse croak. Her lips were dry and cracked. “I love you, too. Times infinity. I love you, Cliff.”
* * * * *
Serafina and Dax sat next to Anita on the bleachers by the final obstacle course. Jerrold was staring at Serafina in a horrifyingly creepy way…licking his lips and wiggling his tongue.
Grant was deliberately distracting Austin, Serafina saw. He’d started an argument with Austin, and Austin was too busy yelling at him to notice what Jerrold was doing. Austin didn’t realize it, but Grant was helping him – because with her Uncle Austin’s temper, he was liable to go ballistic and attack Jerrold. Or try to. As usual, Jerrold was surrounded by his packmates.
“This whole stupid, stupid Alpha Trials thing is so stupid,” Serafina muttered. She looked at the road that led to the obstacle course for the millionth time. The day’s trial started in fifteen minutes, and Cliff wasn’t back yet, and neither was Roger. She felt sick. She’d been too stressed out to eat that morning.
Anita followed her gaze, looking at the road and then at Jerrold. She nodded resolutely. “Come on,” she said abruptly, standing up. “We’re leaving.”
Serafina looked at her in confusion. “Where are we going?”
“We can’t risk what will happen if Jerrold wins. I want to get you off pack property. I know someone who’s a member of the Network.”
Serafina gasped, scandalized and delighted at the same time. “You do?” The Network helped smuggle rogue wolves to safety. They helped wolves escape abusive situations and moved them to safe packs. It was strictly forbidden. Getting caught could result in being executed, depending on which pack caught them. “They’re so badass.”
“You said ass,” Dax whispered with a faint smile. He was desperately worried about his brother, and trying not to show it.
Serafina looked at Anita. “Why do you want us to leave?”
“Because with Cliff gone… I’m just not sure what the outcome is going to be.” Anita glanced at Grant and Austin. “It’s down to Grant and Austin, if Cliff doesn’t come back.” She’d said it. She’d said it out loud. Serafina felt sick. “And with the sabotage on the obstacle course…no matter how carefully they check over it…what if something happened to both Grant and Austin today? Or even just to Grant? Austin’s very tough, yes, but Jerrold knows how to provoke him, and he’s sloppy and undisciplined.”
“No he isn’t,” Serafina said automatically, because he was her favorite uncle, but she knew that Anita was right. “You’re afraid that if Cliff doesn’t come back…Jerrold might win and then he’d…take me.”
Anita nodded wearily. “Yes. We already sent our children away for a little visit with their cousins…in Wyoming. Early this morning. If Jerrold wins, they’ll stay there. He’s going to take his vengeance on me and James for helping Leota, but our children will be safe.”
Serafina saw that Anita had bluish circles under her eyes.
“Why didn’t you go too?”
Anita sighed. “Our place is with the pack.”
“Is Leota still here?”
Anita smiled faintly. “No comment.”
Serafina frowned. “I can’t leave until Roger gets back. I just can’t, Anita. But you should take Roger.”
“Without you and Roger? No.” Dax said it so fiercely that Serafina knew there was no way they’d be able to convince him. He’d pitch a screaming fit and attract too much attention if they tried to drag him away.
“Serafina, let’s go get something to eat,” Anita said in a light tone, and Serafina looked up and saw that Jerrold was strolling towards them.
“Oh, Serafiiiiina. I can’t wait to get to know you better,” Jerrold said in a high, sing-song voice. “Did you know that an Alpha can take as many mates as he likes? We’re going to be so close.”
The Elder Juliette hurried over and moved in front of him as Serafina and Roger climbed to their feet and stepped behind Anita.
“Trolling for dates in middle school?” Juliette hissed. “Not on my watch.”
“I don’t need to show you any respect, you old bitch, because I already know you’ll vote against me if there’s a tie,” Jerrold said in a low, vicious voice. “So if you want to keep breathing after I become Alpha, you’d better move out of my way now.”
Elders Minnie, Sylvester, and Oswald stood staring at them. Not doing anything. Herbert and Maurice were across the field, and they started moving towards them. Unfortunately, Jerrold hadn’t done anything they could act on. He never did.
He was just being creepy, and he kept glancing in Austin’s direction hoping he’d notice, but Grant had managed to get a whole group of men gathered around Austin to distract him.
And Grant didn’t care enough about Serafina to get upset, no matter what Jerrold did to her. He didn’t care about anyone except himself.
“You insolent pup,” Juliette snarled. “In my day—”
“In your day? When you were getting lucky with Tutankhamun? Move your sagging—”
“Look!” Roger shouted, and pointed at the sky. They’d all gotten so distracted that they hadn’t noticed the helicopter approaching.
There were eight minutes left.
Cliff’s Sikorski S92, a sixteen-seater helicopter, swooped down and landed, throwing up dust. Cliff hurried out with Truman and Taylor and Dax… The wolves poured out of the helicopter, and Serafina felt her heart leap in her chest.
Jerrold looked as if he’d just swallowed a toad. He whirled around and stormed off.
“Yeah, you better run!” Roger shouted after him.
Austin and Grant ran full speed over to Cliff as Anita hurried forward. Everyone climbing off the chopper was covered with blood and dirt and leaves. They looked exhausted but triumphant. Rusty carried Chantelle off the helicopter. Her arms were around his neck and her head rested on his shoulder, and she was the color of Ivory soap.
But they were alive. And they were home. Serafina let out a long, trembling breath of relief.
Jerrold looked at Rusty with an expression that promised terrible vengeance. He ran over to them, his men following close behind. They held him back when he tried to lunge at Rusty.
“You fucking traitor,” he raged. “It was you. You were the one who hit Leota in the face to frame me, weren’t you?” he spat at him. “You helped her leave me. Not for long. I’ll hunt her down. And after I win, I’m going to make Chantelle play jump rope with your intestines before I strangle her with them.”
Rusty moved away from him, hurrying towards Anita.
Austin shoved a canister of espresso at Cliff. Cliff grabbed it and drank it down in one long gulp. Grant handed him a plate of raw meat, and Cliff frantically shoved it into his mouth as they all hurried toward the starting line.
Huh, Serafina thought. What do you know? Grant does care about Cliff, a little bit.
Jerrold raced after them, swearing.
“You’re a nice guy, Grant!” Taylor shouted as the men hurried to their places.
Grant yelled back something that sounded like an insult, but it was drowned out by the blare of the starting horn.