Page 57 of Mated By the Pack
Treants. Tough, brutal, and a pain in the ass to fight. On top of that, they don’t have any meat to make the kill worthwhile. My brothers and I shift. Gideon gives the order for us to meet them head-on, so that they don’t get close to the girls. It’s the best option, but prioritizing human life is how we lost Silas. I can’t help the anger from flickering inside me.
“They’re hungry,”Gideon says across our mental link.“Keep them away from Calla and the others. Draw them off before we fight.”
The first treant crashes through the underbrush, roots ripping up the soil as it does. The bark is blackened and split with gashes that reveal glowing, purple sap, oozing from the monstrosity like blood. Branches twist and groan like mutated limbs, surrounding a face that is a mess of knots and jagged hollows.
As we get closer, I pick up an unusual scent. Rotten and vile, but different from the other treants we’ve fought when we couldn’t avoid it. Their scent is usually closer to honey. I don’t get a chance to process it before two more treants close in, just as twisted and deadly as the first.
“I don’t like that,”Jace transmits to us all.“Smells wrong, more like a hybrid than a tree.”
“Spores!”Vance yells as dust that reminds me of pollen billows from the treant.“Don’t breathe it in!”
“Get in close,”Gideon says.“Tear the bastards apart!”
Jace speeds ahead and lunges first. It’s a fast, wild, and reckless attempt. He goes for the legs, trying to snap a root off. He sinks his teeth into the bark, but he doesn’t get a clean bite. The treant jerks, sways back, and drops a limb across Jace that hits him like a fallen log. Jace whimpers, then a billow of purple pollen engulfs him.
“Jace is down!”Knox snarls, even before the pollen clears and I see Jace in the dirt.
One brother on the ground and we’ve barely made a mark on one of them. Hopefully the pollen immobilizes, rather than kills, but I don’t have time to check on my brother. We’ve got to get these bastards down first.
Vance darts in toward the same treant Jace was fighting. He follows Gideon’s instructions and tries to distract the hulking tree, drawing its attention away from the girls. He leads the treant, then circles around, sinking claws into its flank. The bark shatters and opens a wound that oozes with violet sap.
The treant roars, a haunting sound of cracking limbs and wind. It shudders violently, spewing pollen as it spins around. Gideon closes in, so I rush to Knox’s side. He’s trying to distract two of them and dodging their attacks.
“You like two on two better than three on one?”Knox asks, only transmitting the message to me.
“If Gideon and Vance can’t take one of these fuckers down on their own, we’re already screwed,”I mutter back.
Knox sidesteps a gush of pollen, drawing both treants away from Calla and the others. I attempt to snap the branches that crash into the dirt while looking for an opening so I can go for a leg. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Gideon and Vance simultaneously sinking their teeth and ripping off chunks of bark.
“They’ve got a heart, but you have to open them up first!”Gideon yells across the link, digging into the back and leaving a gash that reveals a purple, beating heart.
A tree with a heart? That’s different from treants we’ve fought in the past. If we were traveling as a pack, we’d avoid them. Not worth the fight.
“Great, if they’ve got a heart, Vance will be fascinated,”Knox sneers, circling as we divert the two treants in front of us away from the girls.
Gideon gets thrown to the dirt. Vance pulls the treant’s attention away from our older brother. That gives Gideon a chance to strike. The large golden wolf slams into the tree, claws digging into the outer shell until his fangs can grab the heart. He jerks it out of the chest cavity with a gurgle and spits it in the dirt.
“Spores, Gideon! Careful!”Vance calls out.
The treant spews a torrent of spores as the death gasp echoes. Gideon is right in the line of fire, but Vance charges forward. He knocks Gideon out of the way, but he gets engulfed in a purple cloud.
“Vance!”I yell, but it’s too late.
“Fuck, fuck!”Knox says, circling in the other direction.
The two treants in front of us react to the other’s death. One screams with rage and starts swinging wildly at Knox. The other peels off and goes after Gideon. I have to make a choice, and I make it quickly. I sink my teeth into the back of the one attacking Knox, tearing away pieces of bark that taste like rotted earth.
“We’re still too close to the girls,”Knox mutters, going on the defensive instead of the offensive.
Knox holds the treant’s attention, so I keep attacking—until I hear a howl behind me. I spin around, just in time to see Gideon engulfed in a purple fog. His face emerges for a moment and his eyes are wild, but then they dim.
“Gideon, no!”Knox yells, going after the treant that took out our brother.
The treant I’ve been nipping at spins toward me. Knox catches a branch aimed for Gideon’s head in his teeth and wrestles the treant down. It’s a flurry of bark, growls, and clawing, but he’s successful. Unfortunately, he gets caught in a violet death gasp as soon as he rips the still-beating heart out of the treant’s chest.
One on one. These are terrible odds and the treant is already after me. I’m not sure if I’m strong enough to take it out on my own. Retreating, so I can draw it away, is the best option. It’llprotect my brothers. And the girls, but I’m more worried about my family than the humans—even if one of them is going to be my mate.
The treant gives chase, roots cutting through the soil as it advances on me. I pull it away from the chaos, but a root catches my leg. I spin to get away, but it jerks me off my feet. I’m thrown for a somersault and hit the ground hard enough to feel the earth shake beneath me.
