Chasing through the night, my paws pound the forest ground. Nicollo as my Beta is right next to my left, my brother Cedar flanking my other side. Two dozen fighters are on our heels. Even though I try to keep my cool, terrible images run through my mind. Raelyn's torn body. Arabella bleeding out from a bite to her throat. The healer cabin burning. This is war, and if any of my fears turn out to be more than a figment of my imagination, there'll be hell to pay. I'll be annihilating the Scopan Lake pack down to its last member—and if Cassum stands in my way, she'll go up in flames with them.

Raising my snout, I suck in the enemies' scent. Strong fighters, at least one alpha born among them. It will be a fierce battle. I glance at Nicollo. His fangs are exposed; the worry about Arabella oozes out of him. The wolf who dared to put a scratch on her will feel his teeth. Not that I can blame him. I intend to do the same to anyone who hurt Raelyn.

We run up a steep incline. The healer's cabin is right ahead. Over the screech of spinning tires, an engine howls. I break through the tree line but only catch the backlights of two trucks. They are swallowed up by the shadows of darkness.

As tempted as I am to chase after them, I need to assess the situation first. They blindsided me through the element of surprise but have hundreds of miles to go before leaving my territory. Enough time to catch up to them without giving them the upper hand in an uncoordinated attack.

I stretch back into my skins and storm into the healer's cabin. Arabella's brown wolf is on the floor, resting in a puddle of blood. Two of her assistants are busy attending to her wounds.

"Status," I growl.

"We were able to stop the bleeding. She's still weak, but she'll recover. Her wolf has already started to heal."

Thank the Moon Goddess.

The young she-wolf gazes up at me. Her shoulder is torn up and she's bleeding from a wound to her side where a claw left a deep slash between her ribs.

"They took Raeyln. We tried everything to stop them, but—"

"You did all you could. Now attend to your own injuries."

"Yes, Alpha."

Spinning around, I collide with Nicollo. He has visible paled under his tanned skin. His stare is fixed on Arabella. When he remains frozen in place, I step around him.

"You got five minutes."

He squats next to her and ruffles the soft fur around her ears. I can't watch; the fear over Raelyn presses heavy on my chest. Stepping outside, I gag in the cool night air. What the fuck is wrong with me?

Calm down, Raynes. She isn't family.

But Cassum is, and if she was in cahoots with Dante, she'll bleed for her betrayal.

I turn to Cedar who's standing over the dead body of one of the fighters. "Talk to the witnesses. I want to know how many enemies we are facing."

"No problem. Where are you going?"

"The office. Falcon should be able to figure out the route they are taking."

"Anything else you need me to do?"

"Tell Nicollo to gather around any available fighter and get the SUVs ready. Everest will run coordination with those in the field. I want to be able to move out on a spur-of-the-moment."

Cedar arches a brow.

I know that look; he disagrees with my orders. "Is something not clear about my instructions?"

"That's a lot of effort for a female who isn't even a member of this pack."

I rumble in warning. "I took responsibility for her when I brought her here and I promised her she'd be safe. Now, I'm not going back on my word, nor on my duty as her Alpha."

"Still. To start a war over some random female? It's not like you."

Sudden anger seethes under my skin and my claws threaten to break through my fingertips. "Do yourself a favor, brother, and don't question me again."

With that, I shift and disappear in the woods. Long leaps along the forest path manage to calm me down. Cedar is right; the countermeasures to get Raelyn back are over the top. I still can't help it. Her fearful eyes are haunting me. I can't just send her to her doom.

When I enter the office, Falcon is pecking away at the keyboard. His full attention is fixed on the screen in front of him. I slip into a pair of combat pants and pull a hooded jacket off a hanger. Plopping onto a stool next to him, I crane my neck to get a better look. He has a map open of the territory.

He hovers his finger over one of the roads. "Some of the scouts spotted the trucks here. They are tracking them."

"Do they know if Raelyn is alive?"

"No clue. In the darkness, it's impossible to see the occupants."

I stare at the map. They are taking a remote lane that's usually not patrolled, but that will also slow them down. It's the scenic route that'll take them miles off course before looping back around. If I dispatch my fighters along the main road that runs through the territory, we'll be able to intercept them.

I tap the screen where it shows an intersection. It's the ideal cut off point. "How long until they reach this spot?"

Falcon punches a few numbers into the calculator. "Forty-five minutes, if they keep up the same speed."

That's cutting it close. "Can we delay them?"

"Not if you don't want the scouts to engage in a fight."

Which I don't. Right now, they hopefully think they are in the clear. "Okay, call Nicollo and tell him we'll move out in twenty minutes." That should get us to the interception point just in time.

"Copy that, Alpha."

Zipping up the jacket to my chin, I trudge across the courtyard to the barn. I slide the door to the side and the little wheels squeak eerily in the stillness of the night. The lanterns only light the front part of the barn; the back with the animals is covered in total darkness. My long shadow hits the two prisoners guarded by a handful of fighters. Cassum snaps her teeth at me; she is furious that I don't believe that she had nothing to do with this. Dante stares at the ground. He knows his life is hanging by a thread.

I grab him by the collar of his shirt and shove him against the wall. "What's the plan?"

"I don't know—"

"Save it. If you want to live, you got thirty seconds to tell me the truth."

The little weasel can't even look me in the eyes. "It was my dad's idea. He didn't want the other Maine packs to find out what we did to Raelyn, so he felt it was best to bring her home. Otherwise, that might've prompted a war."

"You had left her out on your territory to die. Explain to me why this couldn't have triggered a war?"

"Raelyn was always breaking our rules. A few times, she wandered the woods on her own. My dad was going to blame her death on a rogue attack."

Clever. Killing a pack member is still a no-go, but a cover-up like this could've worked like a charm. And by leaving her here with me, the truth was bound to come out. Cowardly bastards.

My gaze flicks to Cassum. "Did my sister know about tonight?"

"No way, man." Dante shakes his head. "She's a freaking female. My dad would never discuss pack business around her."

At least she wasn't lying. Still, she might've inadvertently helped them by closing her eyes to the obvious. "How did your friends get through my check points?"

When Dante doesn't immediately respond, I shake him like a misbehaving pup. He struggles in my grip, but when he can't break it, humiliation flushes his cheeks.

"Your mother's claiming ceremony. So many wolves are invited that it was easy to slip by with one of the traveling convoys."

Again, clever. I underestimated his father's deviousness, a mistake I don't intend to repeat. Until I figure out the best way on how to crush this whole Goddess forsaken pack, I'll have to ensure they don't spring any more surprises on me.

I turn to one of my fighters. "Shackle him. We are taking him with us."

"And Cassum?"

My glare drills into my sister. She doesn't break eye contact, even when I try to bring her to her knees. That shows she has nothing to hide. Dante might've pulled the wool over her eyes, but since he did the same to me, I can't hold that against her. "For now, she stays here. I'll deal with her when I get back."

She takes a sharp breath, but my eyes warn her to stay put. If she still wants a chance at this Alpha thing, she'll better follow my lead. As our stares fight for dominance, she catches on. With a submissive whimper, she lowers her head and bends her knee to a deep bow. A low rumble resonates in Dante's chest at this apparent disrespect I show his female, but he's wise enough not to snap his teeth at me.

Having wasted enough of my time, I signal my fighters to follow me. "Let's move out."

~~~~

© Sally Mason 2018

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