Page 39 of Wolf Bound

“And me?” I ask, stepping out from Wes’s arm and standing tall.

“You just stay safe. We can’t lose you,” Drayton murmurs, stepping close to kiss my forehead before disappearing through the front door after Penn and Alaric.

Forrester and Wes come to stand with me, talking between themselves as I stare out the door after my other three mates. I won’t just stand around while the pack is being attacked and not do anything. This is now my pack too and I’m going to do whatever I can to protect them.

“Which section do you want me to take?” I finally ask my last two mates, looking between concerned grey eyes and proud chocolate brown ones.

“If we give you a section to evacuate, do you promise to not put yourself in unnecessary danger?” Forrester tilts my chin until all I can see is him. “I won’t let you out of my sight without a promise.”

“I promise. I won’t take any unnecessary risks.”

Forrester and Wes send me off to the section of packlands where Penn’s mom lives. Once we’re sure we have the pack divided between us, we say our goodbyes and head out.

Nothing could have prepared me for the chaos I would walk into. The smell of smoke and the haunting howling of wolves sears into my memory, and I quickly realize that my promise was nothing more than a fool’s hope. I will absolutely put myself into danger to save these wolves. They’re my pack. My family. I won’t lose any of them to keep myself safe.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Drayton

Rage that burns hotter than the fires of hell simmers in my bloodstream, the stench of smoke and seared flesh in air is like fuel on the fire. I shift before I get too close to the carnage at the front of the packlands. I need to be able to connect with the pack and scent the intruders breaking onto my land.

Strong emotions slam into me the moment my four paws hit the earth running. Fear, anger, disgust, and pain assault me from every angle, some from the intruders, but far too much comes from the wolves in my pack. The pain from my pack mostly comes from the direction of the explosion which means the intruders must not have made it farther onto our lands yet, or they aren’t trying to hurt anyone else.

The scent of humans hits me square in the nose as I sneak my way over to the chaos by the gates. Penn is already in the fray, taking out people in black tactical gear before they can take more than a step inside our walls. Two of my wolves that were on patrol tonight lie motionless, their bodies burned and bloodied in the debris of what was once the gate.

Marcus would never reveal shifters to humans which means the intruders are most likely the same group we rescued Talia from all those weeks ago. The Croises are not only our enemy for what they did to Penn, Talia, and who knows how many others, but they’re also the enemy of our goddess.

Alaric comes up on my right still in human form and does a double take when he sees me. I huff in annoyance when his face goes back to neutral and he takes in the chaos in front of us. A mixed group of wolves and men come out of the trees behind us, ready to defend our people.

“Let’s fucking do this,” Alaric growls out, an extra vicious smile on his face. I growl in agreement and nod my thick wolf head.

Lifting my face to the sky, I release a deafening howl to our pack, calling for death and bloodshed of those who would attack us. Shouts and howls join me moments before our pack lunges into fray.

Alaric quickly strips and shifts beside me. We both howl once more then join our pack in destroying the human fuckers.

I lunge forward, attacking the arm of one of the humans holding a gun. My teeth easily sink through their pathetic excuse for armour and the metallic taste of blood fills my mouth. His scream of anguish excites my wolf, making us clamp down hard enough to reach bone. The sweet sound of his bone breaking has me releasing to go in for the kill.

The man drops to his knees in pain and I take the opportunity to lunge for his throat. His death is quick, but definitely notpainless. I can feel the moment the pain and fear disappears and his body slumps lifeless between my jaws.

Images of my father’s body fill my mind, the sudden disappearance of his emotions is still the single most traumatic part of that day. It was the moment I truly understood that I had killed my father. He was an abusive piece of shit, but I never wanted to kill anyone, even him.

My wolf has taken the driver’s seat fully, letting our instincts to protect our pack and mate drive us to keep fighting and killing. In times like this, I’m thankful to have him, the other side of me that does what needs to be done without worrying about the human emotions behind the actions.

My gift with emotions makes connecting with my pack easier, but it makes defending them harder. Killing in defence of others will always be justified as the alpha and leader of my pack, but that doesn’t make it easier. These humans are actively attacking us and have killed some of my wolves. So why does feeling their pain, fear, and anger disappearing as they die hit me so fucking hard?

“Find the fucking woman!” One of the humans snaps into a radio. “We’re being massacred out here! Fucking grab her so we can fall back.”

Stopping in my tracks, I growl menacingly at the man with the radio. I knew they were here for Talia, but hearing the confirmation from him has my hackles rising. No one will be taking my fucking mate.

I tackle the man down, tearing into his shoulder until it’s a mess of muscles, tendons, and blood before I release it. Shifting back to human, I hold him down, shoving my fist into his destroyed shoulder.

“Where are the others?” I growl out, his screams of pain dying out as I pull my hand back. “Where are they?!”

The man cries out, his voice a weak, whimpering mess. “They went through the woods around the back! We were supposed to be a distraction. Please, please don’t kill me!”

“I won’t kill you,” I tell him, a smile pulling up at the corners of my mouth. “But I won’t save you either. If you live, then I guess your god actually gives a shit about you. Blood loss is a fucking bitch, though.”

Pushing up off of the man, I turn and run towards Alaric’s pile of clothes. A blood soaked Penn still in wolf form comes up beside me, checking around me and protecting me while I’m not a wolf.

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