Page 62 of Wolf Sacrificed

The tires squealed as I brought the car to a stop. I shoved it into park and got out, leaving the engine idling as I raced into the woods. Lincoln hollered as he chased after me, and the car doors thumped shut as my men followed.

My wolf wrestled beneath the surface, wanting to come out. We were too close to the town to do that, though, and judging by the yelling echoing through the trees, Alpha Charles’s men were still in their human form, too.

I pushed myself faster, the trees and brush whipping against me, leaving welts in their wake. I had to get there to help them.

A blur of bright orange caught my eye. It wasn’t hunting season, so it had to be one of the guys we were after.

He stood over someone as he jerked, like he was wrestling with them. I had the advantage of coming up on them from behind.

I leaped over a log, pumping my arms faster. He had the guy in a chokehold, and instead of punching and flailing to get free, the guy’s movements grew weaker by the second. He was running out of time.

I charged faster. I wouldn’t lose him. I couldn’t.

Roaring like a banshee, I barreled into Alpha Dane’s man, knocking him off his feet. I shifted my hand into a wolf’s paw and slashed at his chest and throat.

My nails dug deep, catching him right in the jugular. Blood spurted out and hit me in the face, making me flinch.

The guy didn’t stand a chance. He gurgled, his eyes going wide as he bled out in a matter of a few seconds.

I recognized the guy on the ground as one of Alpha Charles’s sons. He stared at me as he gasped, trying to catch his breath.

I got to my feet and offered him a hand as my enforcers finished dispatching of the other three guys.

I pulled him to his feet. “Are you all right?”

He rubbed his neck, where a bruise was already beginning to form. When he spoke, his voice sounded hoarse. “I think so, Alpha Sloane.”

I clapped him on the arm. “You’re safe now. We’re going to escort you back to the pack.”

I stepped away, but he caught my arm, making Lincoln growl low in his throat.

When he saw Lincoln looking at him, he took his hand off me and held both up in a show of surrender. “I’m sorry. My dad… He should’ve listened to you.”

My face fell, and I looked at the ground as I nodded. A heavy weight pressed down on me even though I’d done everything I could.

“Did he make it?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No, he gave his life so that the few of us here could escape. We barely made it out alive.”

I offered him my hand. “I apologize, but I didn’t catch your name earlier.”

He eyed Lincoln for a second before taking my hand and giving it a firm shake. “It’s Leo.”

I inclined my head at him. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Leo. I wish it was under better circumstances.”

I took in the other four men that were with him. A pack of thirty, and only five had made it out. That was disgraceful.

“Is there any chance that anyone else made it?” I asked.

I gazed at the trees and held my breath, hoping that someone else might appear. They didn’t.

Leo looked at the ground and dragged his foot across it. “No, no one else made it. I wish that they had. We lost a lot of good men.”

I let out a heavy sigh. It was awful to lose so many wolves when we could’ve protected them. “You have a spot in my pack. You and your men. We have a long road ahead of us, but we have every intention of seeing this war through.”

Leo’s eyes blazed. “Good. Because I intend to make Alpha Dane pay.”

He would have to get in line behind Willa and me, and probably Lincoln and Sawyer too. I didn’t even want to begin to imagine how far back that line went.

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