Lucas dropped to his four paws and turned to his left. Sniffing once more, he looked back at his two remaining pack members. Kill him.
Savannah rushed forward, desperate to get to Tom before the other bears did, but they were much stronger and bigger than she was. Crashing through the trees, they found Tom almost immediately, and the vicious attack began.
Tom only had a few seconds to prepare before three of the Northern Wind pack members began to attack him. Managing to stand on his back legs, he swiped hard at one, knocking him to the ground. Teeth dug into his shoulder, but he shook that one off, snarling. Only managing to take a single breath before Lucas attacked, Tom felt himself stumble back as Lucas threw himself at him full force. Falling backward, he clawed at Lucas' back, hearing a roar of pain come from the bear. Lucas' teeth dug into his neck, but Tom shoved the pain away, managing to plant one of his huge paws into Lucas' belly. Throwing the shifter backward, Tom rolled onto his stomach, shaking his head. The fall had dazed him and, for a moment, he couldn't see clearly.
Savannah pushed herself forward, managing to make her way to Tom’s side.
No, she cried, putting herself directly in between Lucas and Tom. I won’t let you touch him.
With a grunt, Lucas stopped the other two bears from attacking Tom again, his breath snorting out of his nose over and over. Savannah growled at him, her lip curling. Shaking her head from side to side, she made it absolutely clear on whose side she was on. She would protect Tom at any cost, even if it meant she’d be killed in the process. Suddenly, there was no more fear. She wasn’t afraid of Lucas any longer, seeing him for exactly who he was – a bully. In one moment, everything became clear. She had made the right choice. Savannah wasn’t sure what exactly Tom had heard, or even why he’d followed them into the woods, but she wasn’t going to stand by and let Tom be hurt because of her. There would be a lot of explaining to do, and she wasn’t even sure that Tom would even want to listen to her, but whether he did or not didn’t matter. She was leaving the Northern Wind pack, no matter what.
You bitch, Lucas shouted, his paws stamping on the ground in anger. You’re a traitor to this pack, and to me. You don’t deserve to live.
Savannah stared at him in shock, just before he leaped at her. He was all teeth and claws, pain ricocheting through her body as he tried to tear her apart.
Barely able to defend herself, Savannah caught sight of two of the other bears from the pack jump on Tom, forcing him away from her. Using all her strength, she shoved Lucas backward, but he was on her again in a moment.
Hardly able to believe what he’d just seen, Dan froze in place. Lucas, his pack leader, the one he’d looked up to and respected, had just attacked Savannah for daring to leave. Knowing that, if he told Lucas the truth, he’d be in danger too, he took a step back into the woods. He could just run away, go and hide out somewhere for a while before going to find a completely new pack, far away from here. Backing away slowly, Dan couldn’t find the courage he needed to help.
Savannah's roar of pain stopped him in his tracks. His eyes flaring, Dan realized that Nick and Tom would never do anything like this. They only fought if they had no other choice and, right now, Lucas was forcing this on Tom. He'd forced them into war for no other reason than to get what he wanted. Anger tore up into his chest, making Dan begin to breathe harder. His lip curled as he saw Lucas swipe viciously at Savannah – and he raced towards her.
Head-butting Lucas, he threw him down to the ground. Lucas was surprised, stunned even, that Dan had chosen to do something like this, and Dan used it to his advantage. Swiping hard, one set of claws tore into Lucas’ chest, while the other crashed into Lucas’ face. The bear closed his eyes, seemingly unconscious from the heavy blow of Dan’s paw. Hearing whimpers of pain from behind him, Dan backed away slowly towards Savannah, seeing her attempt to get to her feet. One of her paws was bleeding heavily, and she could barely put any weight on it.
Tom! Dan shouted, quickly throwing himself into the fight between Tom and the two Northern Wind pack bears. It didn’t take long for the Northern Wind pack to back away, as Tom stood tall, ready for their next attack. Dan stood with him, as Savannah limped her way behind them both, feeling as weak as a cub.
Go, Tom warned, blood dripping from his muzzle. And don’t come back. They belong to my pack now.
The two bears backed towards Lucas, who was only just coming to. Taking their chance, Tom and Dan made their way back into the wood, listening and sniffing with every step. The pack could come back to attack them without warning and, from the look of it, Savannah was hurt.
Savannah was barely able to keep up with Tom and Dan’s pace, knowing that she had to get out of the woods but struggling against the pain. Lucas’ attack had been unexpected but vicious, and the pain in her front paw was growing with every step. If Dan hadn’t come to help her, Savannah was sure she’d be close to death by now. Lucas was much bigger and stronger than she was, and it had been all she could do to defend herself.
Finally in sight of the mechanics, Savannah stopped and sank back to sit down in the grass. It felt as though she couldn’t take another step.
Go get Nick, she heard Tom say, directing his words towards Dan.
Dan gave her a long look, before turning his eyes back on to Tom. Don’t be too hard on her, he said to Tom. You don’t know what Lucas is like.
Savannah didn’t think Dan’s words would make any difference to Tom, watching as Dan turned and began to run through the woods towards the cabin.
With a heavy heart, she looked up at Tom, watching him shift as soon as Dan was out of sight. His eyes looked at her with a strange kind of gentleness, as though he was hurt by what she’d done but grateful that she’d tried to save him. “Can you shift?” he asked, glancing down at her bloodied paw. “We need to get that cleaned up.”
Shifting was agony. Her whole body screamed with pain, as the muscles shrank and bones snapped before reforming. Completely naked, she tried to cover herself with her good hand, utterly ashamed of what she’d done. She’d hidden the truth from Tom and he’d ended up getting hurt.
"That looks bad," she heard Tom say. "Let's get back to the mechanics."
She followed him slowly, trying to keep her arm as still as possible by holding it steady with her good hand. Once they were free of the forest, Tom wrapped an arm around her shoulders, even though Savannah jerked in surprise at his touch. She’d expected him to be angry, furious, even. Instead, he was treating her with a love and tenderness she’d not expected. It made her even more ashamed.
“Let me just go pull some clothes on,” Tom murmured, taking Savannah into his small bedroom at the back. The scent of their lovemaking was still on the sheets, filling Savannah’s nostrils almost immediately. “I’ll get something for you too.”
“Why are you doing this?” Savannah asked, unable to stop herself. “I betrayed you and -”
“Hush,” Tom replied, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder and looking down at her with a soft smile on his face. “There’ll be plenty time for talking. Let’s just get your arm seen to first, okay?”
Despite the pain in her arm and the agony in her soul, Savannah managed to smile back. "Thank you," she whispered, hardly able to believe how good he was being to her. "I don't deserve any of this."