Page 44 of Reformed Wolf

I was so fucking terrified. I had no idea what to do! “Dylan, come back to me.” I cupped his cheek, and he snatched my wrist in a bruising grip, his eyes flaring wide and wild, the pupils dilated so wide his irises looked black.

“Hyenas!” he shouted, before he sagged back, limp, eyes closing.

“Dylan!” I caught him up in my arms, checking him over, but beyond his heart thundering in his chest, he seemed unharmed. Now, if only he would wake up.

Setting him back against the pillow gently, I raced to the door and threw it open, shoving my head out into the muggy night. “Shan! Jude!” I didn’t wait to see if they’d heard me before I returned to my mate.

Not even a minute later, Jude lunged into the cabin, his hair in total disarray, not a stitch of clothes on. Just as well, since I had a feeling we would need his wolf sooner than later, and clothes would just get in the way. “What is it, what’s wrong? Is it the baby?”

I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”

Right behind him, Shan ran in. He’d taken the time to throw on some pants but nothing else. Brody was a jealous mate, so it was likely for his sake more than ours. His nostrils flared as he took in the scene, and I was suddenly aware that the room likely still smelled like sex. “What’s going on?”

“Dylan had a… vision? I don’t know, maybe it was just a dream, but I don’t think so. It was exactly like when Vesta has visions. He said, ‘they’re coming,’ and told me we had to hurry. He said hyenas.” My throat tightened as I took Dylan’s hand. “And now he won’t wake up.”

“Hyenas…” Jude said ominously. “Like the ones from Fairhome?”

We shared a dark look. “That’s what I was thinking too.”

Shan was dragging a hand back and forth through his hair, agitated and confused. He hadn’t seen Merlin Cant, and neither of them had witnessed his father swearing vengeance on Joseph Caruso. “What if Merlin’s father decided the best revenge was to take a son’s life, in exchange for the loss of his own…”

“How much time do you think we have?” Jude asked, already inching out the door.

I shook my head. “He just said to hurry—and south! He said they were coming from the south,” I shouted after him, remembering that detail just before he disappeared, shifting to his wolf before he was barely over the threshold. His dark fur flashed once in the square of light spilling out into the night, and then he was gone.

“I’ll wake everyone else. You stay here and—” Shan began.

“Like hell!” I snapped, my teeth already growing sharp in my mouth. This asshole thought he could exact revenge on my mate? On my son?! Hell no. I protected what was mine.

Shan huffed, his lip pulling back to show his own lengthened canines. “Okay, carry him to my cabin and put him in with Brody. They can barricade the door, and Mary and Sasha can help keep them safe.”

I nodded, satisfied, and as Shan ran out to get everyone awake and ready, I gently cradled my mate in my arms. He moaned gently, but his eyes remained closed. “It’s okay, kitten. I got your message. Everyone will be just fine.”

Brody met us at the door wearing a blanket wrapped around himself like a cape. “Come on, I’ve got him.” He helped me get Dylan into bed. Behind me, a bleary-looking Mary joined us, and I heard Sasha outside talking urgently with Dawn.

I stood looking down on my family and felt a longing so strong, it threatened to tear me in two. I wished I could stay here with them, hold Dylan until he woke up, but the danger was out there in the woods—and as much as I trusted my Alpha to tend to the threat, my wolf wouldn’t stand for it. He was baying for blood. “Take care of him for me,” I told them. I pressed one last soft kiss on my mate’s forehead, then turned toward the woods.

I’d barely stepped out of my clothes before my wolf burst forth mid lunge, already tearing across the camp and into the trees. Even with our superior eyesight, the night was dark, the inky blackness among the trees making me wary. I could scent Shan, along with Damon off to the right, Dawn trailing behind. My wolf paused, lifting our nose to the breeze, parsing through the woven scents of nature. Jude’s trail led off to the left, his scent already beginning to fade since he was so far ahead. Tara and Stuart were smaller wolves, but they were fast and agile, and they’d headed off to join Jude.

Let’s cut right through the center, I told my wolf, hoping to close up a gap in our line of defense, and he wholeheartedly agreed. It was a likely spot for their Alpha to be, surrounded by his cackle.

Hunt, he growled with bloodthirsty glee, like a living nightmare, taking off through the woods at a fast lope. It didn’t matter that it was pitch-black because this was our home. We knew the lay of the land, the logs and rocks and wide, ancient trunks draped in ivy and moss. Our muscles warmed up and loosened, and it brought me a small bit of peace to be taking action.

This… this was what we were made for. The woods were our territory, and these intruders thought they could trespass on our land, could take something from us, from me. Hyenas weren’t native to North America, or to forests at all, for that matter. They were no doubt fast when on the open savannah, and their teeth were sharp, but they would be like a fish out of water here. They would be clumsy among the uneven terrain, their senses unaccustomed to the sights and smells. We had every advantage—including advance warning.

I heard them first. There was a brief whoop, haunting and out of place, followed by a returning call. My wolf crouched down among the ferns, listening. Waiting…

I knew why they’d chosen to come at us from the south. The terrain was easier, and what little wind there was between the trees was blowing in their favor, hiding their sounds and smells. For a very brief second I was worried they’d caught scent of us from downwind. Please, Gaia, protect us, I thought, sending the message out into the ether. The element of surprise was important, since we were likely outnumbered, but then… as if the very forces of nature were working in our favor, I felt a change.

The temperature began to drop, the wind gusting, swirling, tugging at our fur, then changing direction to blow hard from the south. A shiver ran down our spine, the sudden shift like an electric charge. It felt like a storm was coming. A current zipped through us, sharp and tingling, and it had my wolf lowering further, belly down to the soil. My white fur acted like a beacon when the moon was out, but in the dark and hidden as I was, they wouldn’t see me unless they tripped over me.

My rage urged me to run headlong into the fray, to maul and tear and rend muscle from bone. My wolf, however, pushed me back. Patience, he soothed. They’re coming.

He was right. There was a muted snap of a green branch being broken. It was nearly impossible to hear them the way the branches overhead creaked and rustled in the wind, but they moved with the clumsiness I expected. A bird was startled from their roost with a cacophony of alarm. My attention was not on the bird, however, because from between the shadows, I saw movement.

They were spread out in a line, far enough apart that they could cover a good distance, ambling with an awkward gait, though their dark, mottled fur blended well. The wind picked up with a howl, and the clouds above shifted, letting a sliver of moonlight shine through the boughs like a spotlight. The lead hyena turned his head up, and I knew.

Avi. It had to be him. He was the largest of the beasts by far, and his eyes were like pools of oil, greasy and stained with something I was afraid to name.

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