Page 19 of Untamed

As I shake him mercilessly by the scruff, I take in his scent. He smells of eastern wolves, of the pine forest. It's familiar. This scent burned into my psyche forlife.

I shift back to feet and replace my canines with a hard hand. Fingers digging into fur and sinew, I demand confirmation of what my wolf and I already know. "Who are you?" I snarl.

The wolf whines, twisting futilely in my grip. I hear two of my patrols approach. Ash, and Thjis, my brother, make a ring around me and the trespasser.

Good. Asher has loose lips. I want my actions to travel back to RustClaw ears. Let them know I take the protection of our land seriously.

I tighten my grip on the wolf's scruff and twist his left foreleg, pulling it to an unnatural angle until a cracking sound can be heard. The wolf screams, his body jerking uselessly. The sound is mixing with the scream that haunts my nightmares. Death and destruction, for a moment, it's all I see.

"Answer," I bark, snapping my teeth in his face. Eyes roll, whites all around, his panic evident. I shake him again. "Answer," I snarl. I break his other foreleg. I hear Thjis curse softly under his breath before he disappears into the underbrush.

The wolf is screaming, the high-pitched whine drawing more and more attention. A voice shouts out through the trees, "leave him alone!"

I watch as Thjis marches a female up to us. Stringy light-brown hair hands over dull brown eyes. She stares at me with fear mixed with hatred.

"Break her arm," I order Thjis.

He takes her arm between his hands. She's screaming before he even touches her. "No! Stop! I'll answer any questions!" she says, hysterical.

I shake my head at Thjis, and he nods, releasing her arm and taking a step backward.

"Who are you, and where are you from?" I ask her. The male has gone limp in my grasp. A short bark splits the air. The female jumps, but I don't react.

Rhet has captured another trespasser. That leaves one more free.

"F-from the Mauja pack. I-I'm Caryn. That's Job. We're just trying to-"

"Try again," I cut her off. She's not from the Mauja. Her lies are making my wolf's snarls even louder in my head. He wants blood, and I'm seconds away from complying.

She starts to shake. I nod at Thjis, and he steps back to her, reaching his massive hands out towards her thin arms.

"The FeraxMaw!" she blurts out.

I grin, my bloody lips sliding easily over sharp, white canines. "That's interesting." Another bark. The last of the trespassers have been captured. I drop the male and kick one of his broken arms in a smooth motion.

The female immediately mimics his howls and screams of pain. "Why?" she screams at me.

"Because," I grin at her. "You slaughtered my family." I nod again at Thjis. When he steps forward, it's just one thumb he lays on the she-wolf, pressing the pressure point right at her neck. She wobbles on her feet only a moment later. We let her fall to the ground with not an iota of concern. Her eyes stare up, flooded with tears, whimpers pouring from her mouth as she fights to regain control over her limbs. I feel nothing for her.

Ash is wide-eyed, watching Thjis as he strolls over to the sobbing male curled up at my feet. "Fuck, In. Now I have to set two broken arms? Damnit," he kneels by the wounded male.

"Set the bones, but no painkillers. This pack is a bunch of violent dogs. Make sure they understand that RustClaw isn't kind to invaders."

Thjis sighs but nods in acceptance.

Turning, I meet Ash's eyes. "We're checking the crossings."

He nods, the slightest hint of sympathy in his eyes. I leave Thjis and Ash to sort out the two wolves. I know I can trust Thjis to make it as uncomfortable for the invaders as possible.

I go towards the river. It's treacherous in most places, too dangerous to cross, but in a few spots, it's manageable. The crossings are all a few miles apart. Patrols check on them, but the river is at the farthest edge of our territory, and with the recent incursions, we've pulled our patrols back to send them north, where the threats tend to come from.

The scents of the four trespassers are heavy at the northernmost crossing. I scent the ground carefully, examine the marks in the dirt from their clumsy paws. These four assholes stood no chance against RustClaw. It makes no sense to send them here. What is the FeraxMaw alpha doing?

Does he know that I am Tarkik, the supposed dead Alphason of their enemy? We've kept it as quiet as possible, but I suppose word of some unknown alphason in RustClaw has sparked rumors that have gone to FeraxMaw ears.

I turn south with a heavy sigh, trotting along the riverbank with Ash at my heels. I swear he scents of glue and crayons even as a wolf.

The river washes away the scents of the four wolves at some places. The smell weaving in and out of my territory. I deliberately cross over their path, again and again, making sure that the scent ofalphacovers every inch of the land that their filth touched.

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