Alpha's Hunt

Chapter 2-1

Chapter 2

Oldie didn’t go for Luke or Ruth. No, that would have been too obvious. Instead, he aimed for Michael...or tried to. I struck him broadside the instant all four of his paws came off the ground.

Human, I was slower than any of the skinless. Lupine, I matched them step for step. So when Oldie twisted midair to go for my jugular, I lashed out with one paw. His existing wound was a mass of exposed nerve endings. Four claws ripping into raw flesh was bound to slow him down.

It didn’t. Instead, Oldie ignored the pain. Wrapped around me so we came down on the ground tangled together.

His teeth fumbled through fur, seeking my windpipe. But it was the rock biting into my hindquarters that made me yelp.

Then Luke was between us. Human, he grabbed the old wolf’s tail, ignoring the stupidity of such an action. One hand on the tail then the other on the ruff, he shook the injured wolf so hard his teeth rattled.

A single word was all Luke uttered, but it was harsh as any wolf’s growl. “Mine.”

So many blue eyes struck me at once that I took a step backward. The old wolf’s nostrils flared. Ruth’s eyebrows rose so high they got lost in her bangs.

Michael was the one who demanded: “Introduce us.”

“No.” Now Luke’s n***d calves blocked my vision. He was standing between me and his siblings just as he’d tried to do when we first scented werewolves. The gesture should have seethed with protectiveness, but instead it made me feel like our relationship had taken one long stride back.

Especially when Luke changed the subject entirely. “How close is the pack?”

Misdirection didn’t ease the ache in my belly, but it worked on Michael. The boy swiped hair out of his eyes as he rebutted Luke’s assertion. “No one followed us!”

An almost-smile from Luke. Calming words. “Will you check for me? Scout your back trail? Howl if you see anyone?”

The boy was being sent away from the upcoming conversation for his own safety, and the scuffing of his feet among old leaves suggested he knew it. Still, he nodded. Forced himself through the laborious return to wolf form then slunk back into the trees he’d emerged from not long before.

“You can see the problem,” Ruth said once the boy was too far away to hear her. “He doesn’t look like it, but Michael has what it takes to be alpha. He puts the pack first. He just needs to finish growing up.”

“And you want me to be alpha in the interim.” Luke nodded. “I told you when we were kids that I’d come back any time you asked me to. Just....”

Now he did step out from in front of me. “You can shift now, Honor,” he told me. When I hesitated, he added: “I trust Ruth with my life.”

And his father? I spared another glance for the old wolf, noting the depth of his gut wound and the laboriousness of his breathing. I saw Luke’s point now. He hadn’t mentioned his father because the old wolf didn’t have long to live.

So I shifted. Inhaled wolf and exhaled human. My pelt slid off my back, but I caught it before it hit the ground.

And Ruth exploded. “You really are an i***t, Luke. What were you thinking?” Now she was the one advancing on her sibling, but with fists raised instead of a hug offered. “A woelfin as a sword maiden? They’ll gut her then the pack will fall apart.”

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