Page 9 of The Wolf King's Demand

The child turned her face toward her, and Addison noticed a birthmark across her cheek, a strange dark stain in the shape of a crescent moon. She brushed the girl's hair aside to look at her. The girl squirmed in her arms and tried to hide her face.

“Hey, it’s okay,” she said. “Everyone thought I was a freak when I was growing up because I couldn’t shift. I used to get bullied even though I was a princess. I get what it’s like to be different.”

The child looked up at her shyly, then buried her face into Addison's neck, crying. Addison’s heart melted for this poor, neglected child, and she was consumed by an overpowering need to protect her. “Hush, child,” she said. “You can come home with me. I’ll look after you. Don’t fret.”

Just at that moment, the enforcer returned, dragging the child's mother behind him. “You will not take my daughter away,” she screamed at Addison, overhearing what she had told the girl. “Cassia is my child, not yours.”

Cassia flinched away from her mother as the woman reached to grab her out of Addison's arms. “No,” the little one cried, clinging to Addison tightly.

“You don’t deserve this child,” Addison told her.

“Who are you to come around stealing other people's children?” the woman snarled. “You’re the shifter princess who can’t shift, aren’t you?” she said, disgust in her voice. “Some queen you’ll make, you half-blood. You’re pathetic.”

That was it. Addison had had quite enough of this woman. “Take the child,” she said to another of Tyler’s enforcers. “I don’t want her to see this.”

The enforcer took the little girl and carried her away to join the other camp children who had been taken to a ramshackle shed nearby while everything was being sorted out.

As soon as the child was out of sight, Addison leapt at the woman, taking her to the ground. She didn’t mess around, landing on the woman’s chest and punching her in the face. The woman struggled to shift and fight Addison off at the same time. But Addison was strong and lithe. She wasn’t about to let the bitch get away with such disrespect and hate.

The woman landed a lucky strike, raking Addison with her claws, but in doing so, left herself exposed. Addison slammed the woman’s head so hard she lost consciousness.

A cheer went up, and she realized that half a dozen of Tyler’s warriors were standing around her watching the fight. She smiled inside as she stood, shaking the pain out of the hand she’d landed the punch with.

SIX

TYLER

Do we have them all? We’d better check. Tyler was trying to focus on the task at hand, which was subduing this rogue group of shifters and fending off any further problems. Still, he knew Addison was nearby. She had come to check out the report of women and children who were being kept prisoners in terrible conditions in the rogue camp.

While fighting, it was hard not to worry about Addison, who was out of his sight. He had left her with a crew of guards, so he just had to assume everything was fine.

Louis nodded his agreement, put his muzzle down, and sniffed around, searching the camp. He knew the way already, but by his demeanor alone, Tyler knew he wasn’t taking any chances. Louis was the best beta Tyler had ever had and the pack’s best tracker. He knew they could walk into their deaths if they didn’t have Louis leading the way.

Tyler followed behind his beta and watched the tracker’s every move. Even a twitch of his ears could be significant. There were other signs, too, such as Louis stopping in his tracks or letting off a flow of infrasound that would signal for the pack to attack. The last thing they wanted was to be surrounded on their flanks by the outlaw marauders.

Near the back of the camp, Louis and Tyler hunkered down in front of a dirt berm and observed a group of shifters. The men felt sure they were readying for another attack. The rogues had already shifted and, as a group, were now headed straight for the alpha and beta.

Louis looked at Tyler, and Tyler looked back. The alpha gave the paw signal, and they leapt. The avenging pack moved swiftly and dangerously before the blink of a rogue wolf’s eye.

Growling, howling, and gnashing fangs filled the air. Tyler’s adrenaline peaked with his rage for their attack on Addison, spurring him on. He heard yelps and yowls. Tyler and his wolves were winning the battle. Blood spurted and flew high in grizzly sprays.

It felt like it took forever as Tyler’s energy stores depleted, but they took down what was left of the pack one by one. Although they did keep two alive, those they thought were important members of the pack, to glean whatever intel they could from them.

The encampment was a shambles. Tyler, Louis, and the entire pack slipped and slid over the blood brew covering the ground. The enforcers cinched the prisoners and dragged them into a nearby outbuilding. Louis and a few select enforcers would get the confessions.

Tyler left them to do their hair-raising deed. He had other things on his mind.

The alpha shifted back when one of his enforcers came by, distributing clothes they had all removed before the fight. Nervous exhaustion gnawed at him. Yet, amid the fatigue and muscle pains, he continued toward his mate.

Tyler headed to the side of the camp, searching for Addison, but she was nowhere to be found. For a moment, he lost his breath. Panic set in.

Had that skirmish been another ruse? Had remnants of the rogue pack flanked us and taken her under my nose?

Tyler ran through the camp, trying to catch sight of her. He asked shifter after shifter where they had last seen her. He couldn’t find any of the guards he had left with her either. His panic rose higher and higher each time someone shrugged, saying they had no idea where she had gone.

The alpha continued his search, thinking Addison must be close. He hit the middle of the moat bridge when he saw Louis ambling along. The tracker had shifted into his two-legged form. He looked tired but calm as he made his way down the well-trodden path toward Tyler. Obviously, the interrogation of the prisoners went well. But that supposed success didn’t help him now.

Tyler furiously waved and called out. “Louis! Addison, she’s gone! I can’t find her anywhere.”

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