Page 62 of Entangled in the Woods
“I was told the Lifestone was nothing more than legend. A scary bedtime story involving witches and the death of pack lands,” Everett said. He had also gone still, listening to his father.
“Your mother did have a penchant for telling you stories. You ate them up as a pup. Too bad your mother was so soft. She made you soft—too soft to see what’s right in front of you.”
The talk of his mother had Everett shifting further. Two black ears popped up out of his head, his human ears sinking into his skull.
His father continued his discourse. “I knew the stone would find its way back. The witches love finding new ways to trick us. This time putting the stone right under our noses, with youbeing too much in lust to find it. I’m sure Matilda is sitting back laughing, watching this circus.”
His hand squeezed harder, plunging his nails deeper into my arm. I gasped as warm red liquid dripped down my arm and off my fingers, landing in a small puddle on the ground. “I’ll save your land for you because I am a leader, one who puts his pack before anything else. Maybe this will be the tale you’ll remember instead of the ones your mother told you.”
The True Alpha turned to me. “One more chance, little wolf. Give me the stone, or I will go searching for it.”
Glancing rapidly between Everett and his father, I looked for guidance. I didn’t have a stone with me or anything else but the clothes on my body. I was wearing a sports bra, leggings, and a T-shirt.
“I don’t have it.” My eyes squeezed closed. I didn’t want to see what was coming.
A sharp claw hooked the top of my shirt at the collarbone and made quick work, slicing it down my torso. The two halves of my shirt flapped away from my body, exposing my bare stomach and sports bra. Between my tight leggings and bra, there was nowhere else I could hide the stone. I opened my eyes, looking down at my bare torso. Using one hand, I tried to collect the two flaps of my shirt to cover myself.
The True Alpha chuckled at my attempts at modesty. “Not there. I wonder if you’re hiding it lower…” He extended a claw toward the waistband of my leggings as I pulled myself as far away as I could, shrieking and flapping my arms like a wounded bird.
This was Everett’s last straw. He shifted quickly into his full wolf and leapt at his father, looking terrifying. Long white teeth dripping with saliva and foam snapped close to the True Alpha’s arm.
His father grabbed onto a chunk of black fur and threw Everett’s wolf into a nearby tree. The movement took more effort than the first time he’d swatted at Everett. I was still in his clutches, being flung around with the momentum it took to drive Everett’s wolf into a tree.
Everett let out a yelp as his head hit the tree. His body slumped over on the ground, unconscious.
“Everett!” I cried out, seeing his large, black furry body limp.
A tremor rocked my brain, and the world around me shook. I held my hand against my head, trying to stabilize myself. It felt like a warning. Maybe this was part of the mating bond that felt emotions and pain. My mate was lying unconscious on the ground, and I was having a physical reaction to his pain.
As I rebalanced myself, the True Alpha stood beside me, growling at his son. I took a moment to take stock of the situation before me. If Everett, who was an alpha wolf, couldn’t take down his father, what chance did I have? There was no blood around Everett’s head, and I hoped his lack of consciousness would only be temporary. I was on my own for now.
The True Alpha had a look of confusion on his face, his mouth set in a scowl. He looked up and down my body, trying to determine where I could have hidden the stone. His eyes followed the trail of blood that was still dripping out of my arm where his nails had embedded into my skin. With his other hand, he swiped a drop of blood off my fingers before it hit the ground. Bringing his fingers to his nose, he sniffed the blood before opening his mouth and rubbing it into his pink gums.
“I should have known. You have the power of the stone inside of you.” He paced back and forth in the clearing, dragging me along with him. “That is why you could heal my son so quickly during the tournament.”
I looked down at my body, looking for any sign of this Lifestone inside of me. I didn’t feel any different. Healing and growing plants was just something I enjoyed, something I had learned to be good at. He must’ve been just as lost as Wilder. His eyes looked like Wilder’s had—crazed and jumpy. I needed Everett to wake up.
I tried to channel my fear, though I didn’t know what I was doing. Squinting my eyes at his body, I tried to send my fear to him mentally. Maybe sending my fear along the mating bond would wake him.
“You must have it hidden in a different location. Somewhere you can take the stone out and hold it, letting the power seep into your bloodstream. I will find it, little wolf. Don’t you worry.” The True Alpha held me at an arm’s length away, staring at me knowingly. “You’re just another clue in this scavenger hunt I’m on.”
He dragged me toward the giant oak tree where the rot flowed from. I dug my heels into the ground the best I could to slow him, but it didn’t work.
“Your blood will do for now. It will temporarily heal the forest until I can find the Lifestone and replace it.” He threw me back against the oak tree.
Terrified, I watched as his index finger extended, sporting a long, sharp claw he clearly intended to bleed me with. Below my feet was a hole in the dirt at the trunk of the tree, and next to it was a black rock the size of a baseball.
“That’s where you should aim.” Everett’s father pointed toward the empty hole where the missing Lifestone was supposed to rest. “There must be balance, Elise. I apologize, but sacrificing you is necessary to restore some stability.”
I squirmed against the tree, throwing my body haphazardly around in a last-ditch effort to escape. “Everett! Wake up!” Iyelled. I only ended up tiring myself, cutting up my back against the hard bark of the tree.
“When he realizes that you have been sacrificed, he’ll be upset with me. But he’ll eventually thank me,” the True Alpha said. “It’s for the good of the pack.”
I let out a guttural scream as the True Alpha manipulated my body so my blood would run into the empty hole when he cut me open. I wasn’t willing to be sacrificed for some magical missing rock. His hand moved from my arm to around my neck, gripping it tightly. My arms dripped blood from the gashes that his had claws left. My airway constricted to where I could only draw in a thin stream of oxygen. He pushed the side of his hip against my pelvis, rendering me immobile. I grabbed his arm that was holding my neck with my hands, scratching and pulling. Anything to get him to release me.
“Keep squirming, little wolf. Your increased heartbeat will make the blood flow quicker.” With his free hand, he took a single black claw and held it to the largest artery in my neck.
I could feel my blood pulsing underneath his finger. I squeezed my eyes shut, still scratching and grabbing at his arm.
