Page 76 of Dawn of the Pack

The energy is like a living connection to all of them. It bolsters me, filling me with power like a bright light that radiates out from me to each of them. I can’t touch them with my alpha senses off of our pack land, but this is almost the same thing; I feel them, every one of them, deep in my core somehow.

Now out of the main part of town, the street grows darker, the street lamps fewer and farther in between. Our crowd has quieted somewhat, but it’s not as if we’re stealthy; it’s still a complete ruckus.

The guys have assumed the ‘flying V’ position we walked in at the outset of classes, what seems like eons ago now. It was just a few weeks, but feels like an absolute lifetime since I first manifested. Back when Amber was my enemy, and I barely understood what I’d fallen into as the Harridan heir. I wish I had something to say, something special for each of them, but it’s as if my words have dried up; I can’t force a thought from my brain to my tongue to save my life.

We turn a slight corner, and finally I can see the alpha house ahead. It’s lit up like a prison complex, floodlights glaring over every square inch of the house and property within the tall green hedges that stretch down the drive. Dozens and dozens of people stand in the drive, filling the road up to the house as far as the hedges reach.

Blocking the road between us and them stands the rest of the Montrose pack.

JARED

The energy rolling off the mob ahead of us is like a brick wall in front of an ocean wave. Smoky Falls is flooding down this road and Montrose is formed up, waiting to break us.

My muscles tighten and flex, adrenaline coursing through my blood as I size them up. No matter what happens, we have to get Lily through that crowd and face to face with the Montrose alpha. Milo, Landon, and I all agreed that is our one job—to protect her at all costs. We have the pack, but ultimately it’s our responsibility to be her last line of defense.

So when we’re scarcely ten yards from the front of their line, we come to a stop and size up our opponents.

Their faces are mainly in shadow; they’ve stopped just beyond the pale ring of light from the streetlamp, and we’re on the other side.

Without a word, Lily steps forward into the pool of light, and the guys and I move forward with her.

“If you don’t know already, I’m Lilliana Harridan,” she begins in a clear, powerful voice. “I’m the alpha of the Smoky Falls pack, heir to a legacy I knew nothing about a few months ago. My mother left Smoky Falls and raised me in the human world, hoping when I returned I’d be able to reunite our packs and restore the unity we had before.

“I don’t know what your leaders told you, but I’m not here with ill intent. Your alpha came to Smoky Falls and claimed one of my mates as his son and heir. It was through him that my mother hoped I’d join the packs. But your alpha intends to kill him if he’s unable to manifest as a wolf. From what I understand, he has some pretty terrible methods for getting the results he wants.”

Low murmurs rumble through the opposing pack, but no one speaks out.

Lilliana continues. “I’ve come to claim my mate, and challenge your alpha, if I must, in order to save us all. If you feel you have to fight for your pack, believe me, I understand. I won’t hold it against you. Just know that my only fight is with Avery Nielsen. If you step aside and let us pass, we will not harm you.”

The shocked whispers fly around us when Lily reveals that Derrek’s her fourth mate. We’ve digested the idea, but it’s obviously quite the surprise to everyone else.

The talking eventually quiets down, and we wait in a silence so tense it prickles on my skin.

Finally, one man steps forward from the Montrose crowd: Jeff, the guy who was a friend of Dom’s that insisted Lily fight him to earn her respect.

“Our pack has been slowly dying for decades, and our alpha’s methods to save it have grown detrimental to the wellbeing of our families. More people leave now than stay; we’re in danger of not even existing in another decade or two.” Murmurs of assent rise from the crowd behind him.

“We’re not here to fight you. We aren’t able to help you, but we won’t stand in your way. The alpha has a couple hundred wolves who are loyal, who will fight you, and they’re waiting for you already. We wish you strength and success in your challenge.”

With an incline of his head, he steps aside, and the crowd parts down the middle as if by some invisible cue.

Fully lit thanks to the floodlights, the faces of our opponents are clearly furious at this unexpected betrayal. It’s plain as day they expected the people now standing aside to take the bulk of the attack, and their emotions roll over their faces.

To my complete surprise, the waiting Montrose loyalists drop to their knees and start shifting, apparently unable to help themselves in the face of such powerful emotions.

Suddenly, we’re a group of unarmed humans, facing down a pack of slavering, snarling wolves.

And then, as if it’s the ringing of an angel’s bell from on high, a cell phone alarm goes off.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Lilliana

With everyone’s emotions this high, it’s no surprise that we shift the second the clock strikes midnight, shredding through our clothes without even a conscious effort to do it. We’re facing down a couple hundred snarling, slavering wolves, who fill the path ahead of us completely.

So there’s no time to undress; within seconds, the shift is over and I’m on all four paws, my hackles up and snarls rumbling in my throat. Before I can even take a step, the wolves around me surge forward, and the fight begins.

I don’t know what I expected; I’ve never been claustrophobic, so perhaps I didn’t even register what this would be like. However, my first sensation is that I’m being crushed. Members of my pack press from behind, and the Montrose wolves are pushing downhill with the advantage of gravity on their side. My mates have formed a furry wall between me and the oncoming wolves, and it’s all I can do to move forward inches at a time.

---