Page 54 of Pack Ruin
I caught her eye. “Then die fighting. Don’t lie down for it, do you hear me? If you have to die, let your death have meaning.”
Her jaw dropped, and I turned away before I could say anything else. This girl was probably right. They might all die. But the captivity and servitude that waited for them inside the dormitory was worse than death.
“Let’s go.”
It took another hour to get them all down from the rooftop and hidden in bushes and culverts nearby, rolling in mud on the way to obscure their scents. They hadn’t been lying about the guards; they came past at very regular intervals. What had my heart racing were the patrols that came at unexpected times. Whoever this Torran fucker was, he was smart.
Iris was a natural leader, and the other women, even the older ones, followed her without question. When I asked her to move to the front so I could guard the rear, she shook her head. “We can’t lose you.” She set Delia on the ground, who wrapped her arms around my waist, careful not to touch me with her hands.
I pressed a kiss to Delia’s head, then whispered to Iris, “You won’t. Just stick with the plan if anything happens.”
“The shitty plan.”
We exchanged grins. It really was shitty. If the alarm was raised, I would raise hell, too, luring the Enforcers away from the girls while Iris led them out the hole in the fence behind the remains of Lyndal, and to the forest. She knew how to do a decent barred owl call, as it turned out, and since that would get Sergeant’s attention, I figured he and Mama and their wild boys could take care of the rest. Sergeant would never let these girls be hurt, if he could help it.
“I’m a fast runner, and if I can get to the drainage pipes, I can hide. Just get these girls out. You remember where I told you to go in the forest?”
“You sure they’ll let us in?”
“Just tell Sergeant I sent you.” I’d described both him and Mama to her, and she’d been relieved to hear that the Ghost Lady was on our side.
The wind that picked up as we began our way across the compound in small groups, crouched low, rustled enough leaves that the sounds of our feet moving blended in. We made it without anyone seeing us all the way to the edge of the housing rows, with Iris at the lead carrying Delia, and me at the back. We were still far too close to the Pack House when our luck ran out.
I froze, hearing a growl. The shifter who noticed me was in his wolf form, and that was the only warning I had before he was running straight for me.
Shit.I started to run, away from the girls and in the direction of some trees I knew I could climb. But in a few steps, he was no more than ten yards away, too close to outrun. If he howled for help, the others would be caught. Even if he didn’t call for help, this was one of the biggest wolves I’d seen, other than Brand’s. I didn’t know if I could beat him.
I had to try anyway. And I had to kill him quickly. Silently.
I grabbed the pen from my pocket, popped the cap off, and crouched down just as he leaped for me. When his dark gray body was a split second from landing on me, I extended my hand, the silver blade plunging into his throat.
He fell on top of me, his claws scratching my arms, his teeth snapping too close to my face as I held him up and away the best I could with my elbow.
I didn’t see the silver blade shatter, but I saw the realization in the wolf’s eyes as he felt it. The air around us filled with the scent of blood and silver.
This close, I could see that this wolf was young. For all I knew, he was my age, or younger. The silver burned through his throat, as he tried frantically to cough it up. It smelled wrong.Itfeltwrong as he staggered and fell into my arms, his eyes begging me for something. To help him.
When I’d killed the first time, I’d been in some sort of altered state. Rage had filled me, and my mind had shut off. Van Blackside had needed to die more than any shifter born, and I hadn’t felt a second of guilt.
When I’d killed Clara, I’d known I was right to do it. She’d deserved it, too. But the way this wolf curled up in my arms, falling on top of me, made me ashamed.
Hot tears stung my eyes as I heard someone call out in the night, an unfamiliar male. “Tanner? Little brother? Brother!”
“Brother?” I repeated in a whisper. His form changed slowly on top of me, fur shifting to flesh, jaws shrinking, until all that was left was a skinny, naked young man. So young, he couldn’t even be twenty. His face was etched with terror and confusion as he fought to speak. The stench of silver wafted from his wounds like invisible, lethal smoke.
What have I done?This wasn’t how shifters were meant to fight, or kill. We’d been given claws and teeth, strength and cunning. We used knives and swords, if we were in human form.
We’d never been meant to use poisons and silver.
The moon came out from behind a cloud for a split second. Then the boy’s eyes went cloudy, and he fell limp. Sliding out from under him, I ran for the closest storm drain like the devil was right behind me.
25
A Bargain with the Devil
GLEN
The devil itself had me in its grip, but I wasn’t going down without a fight. Its claws were still tangled in my hair, its breath warm on my face, as I dug deep into my well of power and called on my wolf to answer. I couldn’t move, but fur prickled on the backs of my hands, and my claws and teeth lengthened. If I could somehow manage to open my jaws, I would?—
