Savannah cautiously joined the group, struggling to cope with the amount of blood she could smell. Apparently, this had not gone the way they'd planned. She'd been left behind, as the newcomer of the pack, and told to guard the camp. She wasn’t happy about it but did what Lucas had told her. He was the pack leader, after all.
Moving towards him, she lowered her head before speaking. A growl came from her throat. What happened?
Lucas rumbled in response, his teeth bared. They were too strong.
Flood looked at her. They had a human.
Savannah stared at Flood, not quite able to understand. A human was weak, so what difference would having one there make?
The human killed Dan.
The pain in her body was immediate. Roaring loudly, Savannah rose on her hind legs and let go of the immediate rage that filled her. The sound echoed through the woods, her agony over the death of one of their pack echoing through the trees.
Lucas stood up on his back legs too, but for a very different reason. He was shifting – a sign that they all should do the same. Roars turned into grunts of pain, as bones snapped and muscles shrank.
Savannah pulled a blanket from the stash they kept by the side of their cabin. They always kept some there, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d needed to use one. It wasn’t often Lucas allowed them to shift into their human skin, and Savannah still felt more bear than human if she was honest. Her body was sore as she flexed her fingers, trying to get used to the human sensations again.
“Fix yourselves up,” Lucas barked, walking towards the fire pit they’d built nearby. It hadn’t been used in weeks but, right now, Savannah was thankful for it. She needed to get warm. Her feeble human skin was already shivering, even with the thick blanket held tightly around her. The rest of the pack went in different directions, needing to clean their wounds. They were badly beaten.
Lucas stayed naked, ignoring the blanket she held out to him. Being pack leader made him extremely dominant, even in his human form. While Savannah sat beside the fire, shivering from the cold, Lucas stormed around the fire, muttering to himself.
“We wanted Tom and Nick for our pack,” he growled, his eyes glowing in the moonlight. “But not anymore. Not after this.”
Savannah didn’t say anything, knowing that her input wasn’t needed. Lucas had blood on his mind and whatever he decided, that’s what would happen.
Suddenly, Lucas stopped pacing, pinning her with a fierce look. It was as though he’d seen her for the first time, but the look in his eyes had her shaking inside.
“You,” he hissed, bending down to look her full in the face. The gleam in his eyes was terrifying, but Savannah couldn’t look away. Out of nowhere, his hand snaked out and grabbed the blanket she held around her shoulders, giving it a quick tug as though he wanted her to drop it.
Trying not to gasp, Savannah kept her eyes on her pack leader but didn’t let her blanket fall. She didn’t want to show even a hint of fear or shock, knowing that would make him even angrier, but she didn’t know what it was he was asking of her. Savannah shivered all over as Lucas narrowed his eyes, tilting his head as his eyes brushed over her features.
“You’ll do nicely,” he murmured, his hand releasing her blanket and making Savannah sigh with relief.
Shivering slightly, Savannah kept silent. There were times when Lucas scared her. She’d joined the pack to try and find shifters like her, having spent most of her adult life alone. Living out in the countryside had meant that, while there was plenty of space for her bear, she didn’t know anyone like her. It had taken a lot of tracking – and a lot of convincing – for Lucas to allow her to join the Northern Wind pack. She didn’t want to risk being forced out of the pack for any reason, and certainly wouldn’t be disagreeing with anything that Lucas said.
“You’re perfect,” he breathed, standing up tall.
“What for?” Savannah asked, her heart thumping painfully in her chest.
“The one to go there.”
“Go where?” Savannah was completely confused, not sure what it was Lucas was asking of her.
“Yes,” Lucas whispered, his eyes back on the fire and away from Savannah. “We’ll be right under their noses and they won’t even see us. Not until it’s too late.”
Savannah swallowed hard. It sounded ominous, but clearly, Lucas' mind was already made up. She hadn't been with the pack long enough to have a say – her job was just to follow orders. And right now, that meant doing whatever Lucas said.
Lucas grinned, his eyes glowing for an entirely different reason. “I’ve got an old house in the middle of town. You’ll go there. Make friends with them.”
Her shock made her gasp in astonishment. What did he mean, make friends?
Despite her attempts to cover her shock, Lucas caught her gasp of surprise, turning to her with one raised eyebrow. “You aren’t going to tell me you can’t do this, are you? Because I’d be very disappointed.” The growl in his voice made her shiver with fear, and she lowered her head and looked away.
“No, no,” Savannah replied, quietly. “I’ll do whatever you say, Lucas.” If she was honest, she’d admit that she was terrified at the idea of deliberately going to find the pack who had killed Dan. She didn’t even know how she was meant to make friends with them. They were murderers, weren’t they?
“Go to town, stay in my house and get to know them. Make them trust you,” Lucas replied, his voice warning her that he didn’t want even a single word more of protest.
“How do I do that?”
He shrugged, his grin turning into a leer as his eyes raked over her blanket. “Any way you can.”
Thinking that perhaps her stomach was going to turn inside out, Savannah dared a glance up at Lucas, who was still staring at her.
“What if they —”
“Don’t question me!” Lucas snarled, making Savannah cower back. “Just do whatever you have to, to get them to trust you. Now get out there.”
Shuddering, Savannah wanted to refuse, but her throat closed up. If she refused, there would be consequences and, most likely, she’d be thrown out of the pack – if not worse. “I have to go…now?”
Lucas smirked. “Why not? The sooner, the better.” Wandering over to a large wooden chest, he opened it and began to root around inside.
Swallowing hard, Savannah got to her feet, knowing she had some clothes in the cabin. They were still in her suitcase since Lucas refused to let them wear anything except blankets when they were in their human skin. At least she'd have something to wear.
Lucas walked closer to her, dangling a key from a chain that he held in his hand. It glinted silver in the moonlight. Lucas threw the chain over her neck, and the cool metal of the key rested between her breasts. Lucas’ breath brushed her cheek, sending waves of dread through Savannah’s form. She could barely breathe. Savannah felt her skin crawl with fear, wanting to look away from his naked body but knowing she couldn’t.
Leaning down, his face inches from hers, Lucas stared into her eyes. “If you don’t manage this, Savannah, then don’t come back,” he whispered, his breath hot in her face.
Savannah nodded, jerkily. It wasn’t as though she had a choice, was it? It was doing things the way Lucas wanted, or get out. She would have to do exactly as he asked, without knowing why. It was how things were done in this pack.
“I can do it,” she replied, hoarsely, aware that he was waiting for an answer.
“Good,” Lucas murmured, one long finger reaching out to tip up her chin. “I’m glad you’re loyal, Savannah.”
Nodding, Savannah wondered if, in the end, Lucas was going to kill the bears responsible for Dan’s death. All of her human instincts told her that killing in retaliation was wrong, but the bear in her roared for revenge. Perhaps this was why Lucas insisted they spend most of their time in their bear skins, just so that things wouldn’t be so confusing. It was so much easier to kill when the bear was let loose.
“I’ll go get ready,” she murmured, watching as Lucas swaggered back over towards his seat on the other side of the fire. This was going to be her test, her way of proving that she belonged with the Northern Wind pack.