ATTENTION RADISH READERS! Please don't leave any spoilers in here or you'll be getting a spanking from Iona. Or Kole. Or Konnor. Whoever you'd prefer. 😘
T.W. This chapter contains scenes some readers may find distressing.
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Blood.
My world was full of it.
My nose, my mouth, my fur, it soaked in the pads of my paws.
My latest victim lay dead at my feet and next to me, my father tore out the throat of a Gulf wolf, the blood spattering me.
Our green eyes connected. I saw my father looking back at me and wondered for a moment if he could still see me looking back at him or if I appeared all wolf. There was so little of me left now, but I was still here, clinging on until the day Iona could bring me back.
Iona.
If Siobhan had followed my orders, my mate would be safe in our room. The centre of the battle seemed like a stupid place to put her but any Gulf wolf would have to fight through every Maclay wolf to get to her. It was the safest place she could be.
Outside, a half mile from the pack house in the open field that surrounded it, battle raged on around me. I could see my pack slowly wearing the Gulfs down. They'd attacked sooner in the night than I'd thought but we'd been ready. We'd caught them off guard with our surprise attack and we had them outnumbered, not by much but enough to give us an advantage.
The ring of females and warriors around the pack house was holding for the most part, only a few Gulfs had got through and Siobhan could dispatch them with ease I had no doubt. My family and the rest of my warriors were scattered across the field.
I turned my nose up to the sky, searching out my opponent by scent.
Alpha Carson.
Where was he?
I'd lain in wait tonight, wondering if our plan would work. If the Tourkes had run along to Alpha Carson and whispered in his ear that I was leaving my mate unattended for the night. I knew it must be them, no one else hated me enough to risk my life. Except Iona. But she would get over that and the Tourkes were tomorrows problem. Tonight, all I could see was the blood.
The fur on my spine rose as I found his scent, bitter and old, but before I could move, a different scent hit me.
Iona.
She was outside.
How?
Panic rose inside me but before I could set off after her, I heard a yip at my side and watched as Kallum made for the treeline. He would keep her safe. I wanted to follow but my eyes fell on Alpha Carson. I saw him across the fields, heading for the treeline, two wolves flanking him. He was going after my mate.
My wolf snarled in rage and he caught it, his ears pricking. He paused and a glance to the wolves flanking him sent them into the woods alone as he turned to face me. Two wolves. Kallum could take two wolves alone.
I itched to follow after her, but I had to have faith in my brother. He would keep her safe. For now I had to end this.
Carson ran, picking up speed as he grew closer and with a growl I took off. I'd been waiting a long time to be rid of this threat but this wasn't what I wanted, my wolf however, couldn't wait to rip his throat out.
My wolf was younger, stronger, but he had more experience, was far crueller than I and had one advantage I didn't. His wolf was stable, he could let him loose to tear me apart. I had to hold mine back or he would swallow me whole.
We met in a vicious clash. His grey wolf was a fearsome beast, his teeth snapping at my own as we fought. He tackled me, bowling me to the earth but I threw him off. He rolled, standing again and snarling. I lunged and he dodged only to pounce on me, biting the back of my neck. I roared and threw myself to the ground, hearing his ribs break under my awesome weight.
We fought a bloody battle. I felt every fracture, every cut and tear but adrenaline and rage pushed me through. My wolf delighted in his enemies blood on his tongue, ecstatic to assert his dominance after I had kept him on a short leash with our mate.
Carson was beginning to tire, paws slipping in the mud, but mine only grew ever more manic. Fierce and powerful I felt my wolfs madness licking at me, clouding my vision. It wanted to be free. To kill, to mate and claim and my clinging hold to Iona's humanity was all that held him back. I had to hold on. Despite the pain I had to hold on, for my family. For her.
Iona.
The woman who had no idea how deeply she was rooted in me now. Fighting my wolfs surge for dominance I searched for the place at the back of my mind. The place I had built over the last ten days, at night when she lay in my arms, sleeping and unaware of how her body turned into mine. I'd breathed her in, touched her skin, admired every one of her features in a way she would take offence to if she were awake. I built the safe place out of her, out of her smell, her sighs, the feel of her skin and when my wolf went wild, I went there and she calmed me. She despised me but she calmed me. She was my safe place. My sane place. My anchor.
I held onto that place as I fought, willing myself to hold on long enough to end this beast, to keep my family safe. With Carson gone, maybe I could give her more time. I wouldn't have to -
My thoughts cut off as he threw himself at me again. This was my weakness. He could focus on the fight. I had to focus on her.
I spun, ferociously delivering one attack after another until finally tackling him to the ground. My jaws closed around his neck ready to tear his throat out when pain lit me on fire. His rear claws raked down my side, slicing me open. I snarled, enraged.
I stared down at my opponent, the man who had haunted my pack my entire life. He was almost done and he knew it. My gums ached with the need to sink my canines deep in his flesh. He struggled but I had him pinned, ready to end it, ready to kill him when a scream pierced the air.
I froze.
I knew that voice.
I looked up, disbelieving I saw my sister on the ground, her neck bloody, her body limp as a Gulf wolf stood over her, her blood on his muzzle. I hadn't met this wolf before but the scent of a new beta was unmistakable. Alpha Carson's beta. The battle grew still and Carson used my distraction to throw me off him. He turned and ran but in that moment, I didn't care.
My sister.
I pushed to my feet. My world slowed as I tried to take in what I was seeing. My blood rushed in my ears, her metallic scent on the air. Her body limp under the moon.
My little sister.
Then, the world sped up again. The battle broke out once more, my mother howled in grief and Konnor launched himself at Kara's killer. They tumbled and if the wolf had been lesser Konnor might have won, but the beta's black wolf made short work of my brother. He tossed him away, the crunch of Konnor's ribs deafening on the air.
I was salivating, preparing to tear him apart when, to my surprise, the beta returned to my sister, snarling at those around him. Horror shook me to my core as it dawned on me what he had done. He hadn't killed her. He'd claimed her. Brutally.
I felt a shift inside me as his claim sped through her system. My wolfs death stare spread from him...to her.
"No!" The human voice was strange on the wind. My mothers bare skin shone in the moonlight as she knelt on the ground, just shifted. "No! You can't!" But she wasn't screaming at him, she was screaming at me. My wolf snarled.
No, no, no...
Panic lit up inside me as I knew what he would do next.
My mother looked at me, her eyed round with shock. With fear. She knew, just as I knew, that all must die in an Alpha challenge. Alpha's mate, offspring, gamma, beta...and their mates.
Kara stirred on the ground, stunned from the claim. She looked around and I watched as it dawned on her what had happened. She was my wolfs enemy. He had no choice now...and neither did I.
"Kara, run!" My mom's voice was broken, desperate with grief for her daughter.
Kara looked stunned, her hand pressing to the broken flesh, her new mate mark. Her mate snarled at my mother. My father tackled him, pinning him to the ground, leaving Kara open to my wolfs attack but I dug my claws into the earth, searching for Iona. I sank into that place, forcing my wolf away I filled my mind with her instead of him.
"Run!" My mothers scream pierced the air. Kara looked at her, her pretty face twisted in anguish before shifting with a cry and sprinting away south.
The beta threw my father off and he took off after his new mate.
I let them get a head start, knowing that I was only delaying the inevitable. My wolf wanted her blood, seeing her as enemy only now. I had to kill Alpha Carson and when that happened, she would have to die too. But I didn't have to do it in front of my parents.
I wanted to throw my head back and howl at the loss but instead I paced, snarling at the chaos around me.
My bloodlust was up and my wolf wasn't close to satisfied.
With the Alpha and Beta gone, the Gulfs were starting to retreat. My father pinned my screaming mother to the ground, the only one capable of keeping her from going after her daughter. She screamed at me, pleading with me not to go after Kara, but she knew I didn't have a choice. My heart snapped inside. My world was falling apart and I was helpless to stop it.
I needed to gather my warriors and go after them, end this now, tonight.
Before I could call them to me and lead the attack, a pain shrieked through my body. The air felt static, every member of my pack had frozen almost as one. I looked at my father, the way I had as a child when I'd been afraid but his own fear stricken face did nothing to comfort me. He'd felt it too and he knew what it meant.
Iona was gone.
***
Eeeeek Kole's POV!!! Were any of you expecting it?
Poor Kara! Did any of you see that coming? What do you think will happen to her now?
Question out of curiosity: What other werewolf books are you all enjoying on WP right now?
See you all in the next chapter!
AJ
❤
P.S. Early chapters are available on Radish if you can't stand the wait 😉