Pursuit

The sun was lifting above the horizon as we joined the rest of the pack in the center of camp.

The alpha and Laura stood over Martha. The old she-wolf was bound and on her knees at the alpha’s feet.

“Martha has defied my commands and taken actions to hinder the bearing of pups within the Borders Pack.” Our alpha’s voice was booming. His very presence exuded intimidation and power.

~Like he can steal all the air from a room.~

“Defiance is clear, and my consequence is clear.” He announced so loudly that I was certain the trees outside of camp shook. “For this, she is banished!”

There were mixed cries from the pack. Some of the younger females were confused and fearful at Martha’s banishment. A portion of the males were gleeful at her leaving.

“He’s just letting her go!” I forced my anger into a whisper. This didn’t feel like justice.

“She only has one place to go,” Victor said.

~The Roamers! She can lead us right to them.~

Two border guards lifted Martha to her feet lead her toward her hut. Her bindings were cut so she could collect some last possessions.

The alpha moved through the pack, talking to guards and warriors who scurried off with purpose.

In a few minutes Martha was brought to the main gate in the wall. The guards bared their teeth, growling warnings at her to flee.

Martha jogged a few steps into the Free Woods before turning and calling back, “If I have my way, no Borders pup will ever be born!” And then she disappeared into the woods.

The pack howled, enraged.

I wanted to chase her. My feet moved on their own. It was only Victor’s hand on my shoulder that brought me to a stop.

The alpha stood before us.

“Huntley, Chase, track her and be discreet. Find out where their camp is,” the alpha instructed.

My mates nodded and bowed to the alpha before hurrying out of camp and disappearing into the shadows.

I missed their presence by my side. But they were best suited to this job. The best tracker and swiftest in the pack only second to the alpha would get what was needed.

“Be ready to move by midday,” the alpha said to Victor. “If we are to wipe out this threat, we need our best.”

“Yes, Alpha,” Victor said.

~My mates.~

While the alpha readied the pack, the magnitude of what was about to happen hit me. There was going to be great violence and not everyone was likely to make it home.

This was my only chance to join them on my revenge. I had to do this right.

I was careful to only look at Victor. “I can be a distraction.” I gripped his arm.

His green eyes flashed dangerously. I could feel the weight of the alpha’s gaze on me.

“I won’t put you in danger.” His voice was a tight growl.

“It’s me he wants, so use me to distract him.” It was a good plan. A good plan that put me in the heart of danger and within reach of revenge. Victor would never let me…

“Take her,” our alpha said.

Victor swallowed his objection.

“She’s willing to help protect the pack.” The alpha raised his chin and narrowed his eyes. “Don’t get distracted and you could protect her and the pack this day.”

The alpha walked to the next warrior, giving orders.

Victor was silent all the way to the cottage. But once the door closed, his quiet fury was focused on me.

“Do you have a death wish for all us, including yourself?” he growled.

I shook my head. “I don’t know what I’ll do if I lose any of you,” I whispered.

“I protect all of us. I can’t lose you or my brothers.”

“Then let me do my part.” I chanced a step toward him. “Help me avenge the family that Roamer stole from me.”

Victor screwed his palm into his forehead. “If the Roamers’ alpha falls, the others should scatter.”

Hope fluttered in my chest.

“But, it’s overly risky.” His yellow-flecked eyes were tormented with rage and concern.

“I’ll stay close. I’ll be safe.”

Victor shook his head but pulled me to him. “So fierce, my little mate,” he murmured.

***

I stayed right behind Victor as the pack moved to meet up with Chase and Huntley. The alpha led the way, followed closely behind by Laura.

The rest of the warriors and border guards were staggered behind to keep from drawing attention and react as needed.

We followed the scents of Chase and Huntley as best we could. They had taken pains to be discreet, as the alpha had commanded.

The alpha signaled us to stop. Chase was before the alpha in a blur. He delivered their findings and directions to where the pack would be best hidden. Alpha sent runners to inform the rest of the pack.

Then Chase’s eyes fell on me. He and Victor exchanged a look. Then the pack was moving again and Chase fell into step next to me.

“Are you sure this is what you want?” Chase queried.

I nodded.

“Here.” Chase handed me the handle of an ornately carved knife. It was narrow and smooth, winding with vines. It was small and fit very well in my palm. “Keep this on you at all times.”

My eyes flew to his face. “Did you make this?”

He lowered his head in a nod, turning away before I could gush over it.

~He never knows how to handle my appreciation or compliments.~

I leapt on his back and wrapped my arms around him. Not giving him a choice.

He froze. Letting me hug him, he patted my forearm across his chest.

“Be careful, Val.”

***

After an hour or so, our alpha signaled our pack and we stood behind a grove of trees atop a ridge. Fat snowflakes had begun to fall around us.

Huntley met us and updated our alpha. Then he spotted me.

He saw me clutching the dagger Chase gave me. Huntley walked over, slipping off his belt. He put it around my waist and jerked it as tight as it would go. He tucked his dagger against the small of his back.

The belt slung sideways over my hips.

I tucked my dagger into the strip of leather. I adjusted my dress to ensure the buckles were done and the skirt in place.

~I’m ready.~

The males armed themselves with their own weapons and we all got into position.

We heard the hum of an alive campsite. People walking around, murmured conversations.

There were women in the camp. They looked beat down and worn out. Dirtied and lurking in corners of the campsite. They peered around as though they wanted nothing more than to bolt.

~It wouldn’t take much for them to switch sides.~

Back in an open corner hut, I could hear a woman sobbing and feared it was what I’d been so afraid of all along.

~My nightmare.~

It was a shack for their pack pleasure.

~The Borders Pack doesn’t have one of those.~

The crying from that shack made my heart race.

I rose to object, but Victor caught my wrist and yanked me back down out of sight. He shook his head in warning.

“We have to wait. I’m seeing no sign that there is an alpha in this camp,” our alpha said.

“No,” Huntley agreed. “I don’t think so.”

“He’ll likely be back before dark,” our alpha said. “He’ll want to meet with this lot to keep them in tow.”

I was shaking with rage. I drew further from the cover so I could pace behind the boulder. Shoving a hand through my hair, I tried to get control of my emotions. I looked down and saw that I was wearing a path into the snow that had begun coating everything around us.

~Like an omen.~

“We’ll get her out of there,” Victor reassured me over his shoulder. Every minute felt like an hour as we waited there on that snowy ridge.

We were all wound with tension.

“Are you sure this is what you want?” Victor left the grove to approach me. He caught my arm and spun me around to stop my pacing. “No amount of blood we spill today will avenge what you lost.”

I could still feel the staining of blood in my eyes, searing my vision red. It was that feeling, and the smell of my family’s blood lingering in my nose, which fueled my untamed wrath now. Wrath that would carry us into battle with the Borders’ Pack enemy.

~The enemy of all packs. ~

~The Roamers. ~

“No, but it might be enough to wash away what’s been lost for every wolf in this country.”

Victor hesitated but his hand fell.

Fresh falling snow floated around us, leaving a blanket of white over every skeletal branch and making it so our every movement would be impossible to hide.

~Our tracks will be seen right off. ~

We were upwind, but the other thing working in our favor was that the nearby camp we were watching was below this ridge. With tiny tendrils of smoke rising from their fires. The scent of roasting food and burning wood helped mask our scent, should it have come down toward them.

I rounded to look at my males.

~My mates. ~

Huntley had resumed anxiously pacing through the snow, needing an outlet for his nerves.

Chase stood, twisting his neck and rolling his shoulders as he prepared for battle.

Victor was a whole other matter. He was motionless. Still.

~Pure predator. ~

Though he was still in human form, he exuded animalistic fierceness as easily as he breathed. It was something about him that had always caught my attention. Standing there, he seemed like the tunnel on the inside of a tornado. He exuded a sort of calm control that told me he would carry us through this situation like any warrior can carry an army.

~He’s our warrior.~

But there was no discounting Huntley or Chase either. They’d been ready for hours.

~They will fight. For me.~ I knew it.

Our alpha organized our pack into waves. The Faber brothers were to clear out the guard with me in tow.

Finally, we heard it. The evening howl from the Roamers alpha. A call that summoned the others in for the evening so he could meet and brief them all for the day.

~He’s there.~

We had been waiting all day for this moment.

“Go,” the alpha whispered. But these males had been waiting hours for that word.

Victor was a blur, going from painfully still to an explosion of movement as he charged through the trees and down the hillside, as soundless as the falling snow surrounding us.

Chase was on his heels.

Huntley was quick behind.

So was I.

He made a quick gesture, and we spilled from the ridge. Rushing down the hillside, we reached the meandering guards.

There were objecting shouts from the men on the hillside. They drew their weapons to confront us as they backed up.

~Totally unprepared for a battle.~

Some merely backed into the trees, giving us room. A few bolted.

It was quick and painless to disarm the ill-prepared patrol guards. We moved closer toward the center hut, weaving along the backs of the pathetic structures. Much as I had those first days with the Borders. We moved from shadow to shadow.

“I’ll get the breeder shack,” Chase whispered, giving me a pointed look.

Victor nodded, but his focus was ahead. He, Huntley, and I stayed huddled tight.

~They didn’t expect an ambush.~

There was zero preparation for that. Even the structures were pitiful and barely standing.

“There.” Victor pointed. “The alpha went in there.”

There were muffled sounds from the breeder shack before Chase emerged. Leaving the door open revealed a corpse and a weak female that was now free.

~Thank you.~ I sent him a thankful glance.

Chase nodded and rejoined us, careful not to make any more noise.

That shack was far enough from the others that we hoped it would be a moment before anyone noticed.

We all tensed. War cries erupted from within the camp.