I stopped only for a moment, taking his face in my hands. “You did nothing wrong, I promise. But my brothers need me. Resort emergency.”
“Oh…”
I saw him glance over at my phone that was still sitting on the bedside table. From his perspective, it looked like I was flat out lying to him. There was no way I could have gotten a message from anyone inside the bathroom.
“I promise it’s nothing to worry about, okay?”
“If you say so…”
I leaned down and kissed him without a second thought, hoping it would reassure him. With one last nod, I slipped on a pair of shorts and headed for the door.
“What about your phone?”
“I won’t need it. Don’t wait up for me.”
Before he could answer, I was out the door and heading for the stairs. Pushing through the exit door, I took the stairs three at a time, practically leaping from landing to landing. In a matter of moments, I was on the bottom floor and out the back door. There I quickly lifted my nose to the air. I could smell wolves on the wind. And blood.
Someone was hurt.
Tossing my shorts to the side, I called up the wolf as I leaped into the night. I hit the ground on four paws and took off like a shot, rounding the side of the mountain as I followed the scent of blood. It wasn’t hard to track with the damp night breeze keeping everything so fresh. Within a matter of minutes, I was over the top of the mountain and heading down the other side, the scent growing stronger with every step.
But there was something new mixed in. I could pick out traces of fear, sweat, at least two of my own pack, and four or five strangers. However, the most prevalent smell belonged to him. The Skoll Alpha, Tyr, had been in my territory again. That fucking bastard.
I put on a burst of speed, crashing through the underbrush with little care as to who heard me. If Tyr was brave enough to kill my father, I had no doubt he’d take out my patrolling wolves. I didn’t need any more deaths on my hands and tensions within the pack were already high enough. If someone was dead, which I couldn’t determine just from the scent, then I would have an all-out war on my hands from both sides.
Thirty seconds later I burst out the other side of the woods into a clearing. My eyes immediately came to rest on a wolf lying on the ground covered in what I presumed was his own blood. There was a man leaning over him, muscular and completely nude, but covered in wounds. My gaze lifted and I saw the hind ends of at least four wolves running into the forest on the other end of the valley and disappearing into the night.
They got away.
The moment I broke through the brush, the man looked up and recognized me immediately.
“Alpha! I need your help!” he begged.
By the time I reached him, I was back in human form, my body drenched in sweat as I kneeled down beside him. A quick glance showed me that the wolf on the ground was in a bad way. His rear leg had been nearly torn off and was still bleeding freely. The rest of him was completely covered in lacerations and even his werewolf healing was having a hard time keeping up with the blood loss.
“Put your hand here,” I said, grabbing the other man and forcing his hand onto the leg wound. “Keep pressure on it so he doesn’t lose any more blood.”
Lifting my forearm to my mouth, I let my wolf fangs extend, sinking them into my flesh. The pain shot through my body, but I pushed it aside. Alpha blood had the power to speed up the healing process. Grabbing the wolf by the scruff, I hefted him up into my lap. He let out a low whine.
“You’re gonna be fine,” I said, holding my bleeding arm to his lips. “Drink this. It’ll help.”
The wolf lapped at my arm weakly, but he managed to get enough to make a difference. Within a matter of seconds, I watched several of his wounds close up. He was still beat all to shit, but there was a very good chance he’d live. Somehow, I’d managed to get there just in time.
Pulling my arm away, I placed him gently back on the ground and turned to the other man. “What happened?”
“They snuck up on us,” he trembled, his eyes wide with fear. “Tyr and his goons. They stayed upwind from us the entire time. We never knew they were coming!”
“Did they say anything? Demand anything?”
He shook his head. “No. They just attacked us… It was like they only wanted blood. Like they were feral or something…”
There was a snap in the bushes to my left and both of us looked up. I thought it might be one of the other patrol groups, but as my gaze came to rest on a figure, my heart skipped a beat. My eyes widened in fear and the hair on my neck stood on end.
It was him.
“Tyr…” I growled under my breath, getting to my feet.
“Me,” he said with a cocky smile and a wave of his hand. “You know Thor, you’re almost as easy to lure out here by yourself as your father was. All I have to do is hurt one of your little wolves and you come running.”