Page 47 of Savage Trap

And she leaps at him the moment he’s free, throwing her body against his so they tumble to the ground. I’m pretty sure Rory is breaking a rib he’s laughing so hard, but my wolf has no interest in his teasing. She rolls Nate to his haunches, flattening him with her smaller size, and bites her way around his muzzle. He lies still, his throat exposed to her sharp nips, and I’d cringe at her dominance if he didn’t seem to like it.

And it’s not like I can do anything about it, anyway. My wolf is firmly in control of us now. She poses only long enough for Cam to snap a few pictures on his phone, then she’s dragging Nate up by his scruff. They’re not that different in size, but I cringe again when she pokes him in the rump with her nose, pushing him into a trot. I’m pretty sure all the guys are laughing now, but she just waves her tail at them and then we’re leaping through the trees.

Nate might be a little submissive, but he’s fast and agile. We whip through the woods, dodging and jumping, and he’s a blue-black blur at my side. I feel Kelly hanging back while the guys shift behind us, but my wolf isn’t interested in them right now. She lunges uphill, pushing Nate to meet her step for step. And he’s glued to her side, yipping and grinning, right up until a huge black wolf crests the ridge.

Her first thought is mine.

But even though he looks like Arben, and his power feels like Arben, his scent is all wrong. And the way he stalks towards us is the opposite of a lover’s greeting.

My wolf whirls around, knowing better than to take on a beast of his size. But Nate drops to his belly, a frightened whine escaping his throat.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Even a mouth around his ruff doesn’t get him back on his feet, and my wolf gives a desperate yelp. I try to push her to a half-shift, every instinct screaming to take control, but she thrusts me back, harder than she’s ever handled me. Images flick through my mind; of my torn body, of Nate dead in a heap, of this beast picking off my mates, one by one. And as the massive wolf stalks towards us, she plants her feet, every hair on her body raised in warning. The growl that rips out of her chest hits me on a visceral level. If the wolf dares to touch us, she will fight him to the death.

While she faces off with the giant beast, I try to push past my fear to study him. His size, his coloring, the strange sweet scent that hangs in the air. Instead of an SOS, I hurl impressions down the bond. Not to anyone in particular, but to everyone in the pack. If we’re going to die on this hill, they’ll know exactly who to hunt down to avenge us.

And then there’s a blur of gunmetal gray and Link’s wolf is at my side, his chest heaving and his fangs dripping. He snarls at the monster, daring him to take another step. But then his head lifts, tracking the rest of my pack as they sweep up the hill; Cam and Rory, with Kelly wedged between them, all snarling and ready to fight.

And then a howl rips through the woods, more monster than wolf.

Arben!

I can feel him hurtling towards us, smashing through the trees like a force of nature. My pack presses closer, their snarls now peppered with taunting yips. The beast is off-the-charts powerful, but not against a pack of seven. And not against mjeku i vdekjes when he’s on a rampage.

Those dark, dangerous eyes lock on my wolf one last time, and then he’s gone. Melting back down the hill like he’s more shadow than beast. I can feel my alphas straining to give chase, but they circle us instead, Cam nudging Nate back to his feet while Kelly hurls himself at me. Our wolves crash together, far more violently than we do in our human form, but our joyous howls lift into the sky.

Until I feel Arben’s wolf circle the hill, bypassing us altogether as he chases after the beast who dared threaten his pack.

Arben! It’s part scream, part howl.

But he doesn’t stop, flooding our bonds with his alpha command: Back to safety!

My wolf sways, torn between charging after him and obeying her mate.

Arben! Leave him! Come back to us!

But he slams the bond shut between us, even as I feel him reach for the others. Link snarls, planting his feet and staring down the hill, but the other guys turn as one, herding Kelly and Nate back to safety as commanded.

My skin itches, the need to obey my alpha crawling through my blood. In a wolf pack, dominance is everything, and Arben has it in spades. But he’s never used it like this – a whip to drive me away, pitting my instincts against my heart.

We limp down the hill. My pack is waiting – minus Arben – and we trot back to the car, our wolves on autopilot. I can feel the turmoil in our bonds, same as the battle waging inside my wolf. But we shift back in silence, finding our clothes in the glare of the car headlights. We don’t speak until we drag ourselves into the back of the car, and Nate is the first one to whisper, “I should have run. I don’t know what happened…”

“It was your first shift,” I tell him, my voice a raspy creak after howling after Arben. “And that wolf isn’t normal. I don’t know why, or what it is, but it spooked us all.”

“But you stayed. You defended me. Why?”

I meet his gaze, a little of my numbness fading at the swirl of emotion in his eyes. Reaching out, I thread my fingers through his. “Because we don’t leave pack behind.”

He jolts, a shock I feel through our joined hands. I’m not sure if he’s really pack yet, but my wolf chose to stay and defend him, just as I chose to help him at the club. Something in Nate calls to us, and it’s enough to want to keep him close.

“Do we wait?” Cam asks quietly, clearly speaking for the others. They’re pale and tense, just as shaken as I am by what happened on that hill.

I stare out the window at the dark woods. It’s on my tongue to say yes – because we don’t leave pack behind – when my phone rings. I dig it out of my pocket, right as Nate’s phone beeps with a notification. We both fumble to answer, his eyes going wide as I hear his dad say, “Elvana. I’m sorry to tell you this, but Lucas has collapsed. You need to get to the hospital right now.”

Elvi

I don’t remember the drive to the hospital, just the quiet whispers of my pack and the press of their bodies, as they try to force some heat into my frozen limbs. Arben has gone dark – every link locked down while he hunts his prey – and if I wasn’t so numb, I’m sure I’d be furious. But all I can think of is every scenario in which my dad – one of the most powerful shifters on the east coast – can collapse.

---