Page 1 of Resisted

Chapter 1

SILAS

“You will take him with you,”Roth ordered, and though he held no anger in his voice, the sheer power behind his words made my spine tingle.

“He’s barely grown,” I argued, but it was useless and we both knew it. I might’ve been alpha of my subpack, but Roth, well, he ran the entire town with just the slightest of mumbles.

“He is part of your unit, and you will treat him as such, Silas. You were a pup once, just like him, and if I remember correctly, you were a ruthless little bastard with no care for authority. Not much has changed.”

That was different. That was thirty years ago, not that I looked a day over twenty-five. It was the plus side to living a life that spans the length of time as ours—age was just a number once you were an adult. Your years blended, your memories meshed, and by the time you reached the point where you were showing any signs of age, you welcomed it with open arms, begging the change to take you.

“I just—”

“You will take him, and that’s an order.” Roth crossed his arms, and I urged myself to not look away from his gaze. “You need to learn to get along.”

Learn to get along? I didn’t even know the kid, not really, but that didn’t stop fate from tossing us together into a pack, gifting us with the same birthmark that marked our unit and probably laughing until its throat was hoarse. Fate was a hilarious bastard, after all.

“It could be dangerous for him,” I said, trying to stop this one last time. Honestly, it was dangerous. It was a brutal job, and if you weren’t careful, the consequences could be dire. Not every shifter had the power and strength to be a poacher hunter, and dragging a kid along this young wasn’t only dangerous for himself, but for the rest of the team.

“He’s the perfect age to begin training.” I groaned before I turned on my heels to leave. I couldn’t argue more, especially when deep down, I knew Roth was right. I didn’t want to bring Boyce with us, but there was absolutely no way I could avoid it forever. I had just touched the door handle when Roth’s voice broke the silence. “And, Silas?”

“Yes, sir.” I hadn’t turned around. A risky move, for sure.

“You will show more respect the next time we meet. Am I clear?”

I rolled my eyes, thankful he couldn’t look directly at me. “Perfectly, sir.”

The wind blewagainst my skin, and the rain pelted down, slamming into us at a slant, making it nearly impossible to see. Beside me, the other members of my subpack sat, looking equally uncomfortable. We had been out here for hours, going solely on a tip that if we waited here long enough, a poacher carrying a shifter would mosey by us. So we sat and we sat. We sat so fucking long that I swear my ass was asleep and my wolf suddenly thought he was a bear and had decided to hibernate for the winter.

“The tip is bullshit,” Boyce complained.

“Shut the fuck up, pup,” Vincent growled out, and if I were Boyce, I’d do it. Vince was already surly. No use adding to it by complaining.

“It’s just…” Boyce paused and shivered. “It’s so fucking cold.”

Like we hadn’t all noticed the frigidness outside. I gave a fleeting glance in his direction before turning my attention back to watch the trees. “They will come. The poacher groups always take backroads.”

“Surely they wouldn’t come out in a storm like this.” He wrapped his arms around himself.

“Actually, it’s the perfect time to come out. No one else is going to be out in this storm unless they’re insane. Less visibility, less chance of getting caught,” I explained and hoped he wouldn’t talk more. I wasn’t so lucky, though.

“So say we catch a poacher, what do we do with the–the…”

“People? What do we do with the people? Well, if they’re victims, we help them find a way back home. If they’re the ones poaching, well…” I let the word hang in the air for his imagination to fill in.

Only it didn’t fill in shit. “Well, what?”

Vince grunted. “We tear their throats out with our teeth before leaving their guts spilled on the forest floor.”

The pup next to us gagged. Fucking gagged. “Never teared out someone’s throat?”

He made a heaving sound before answering. “Never wanted to.”

“That’s about to change,” Vince replied. “You can’t hunt poachers, then offer them tea.”

“I didn’t think we offered them tea.” Boyce sounded offended. “I just thought we arrested them or something. Something a little more civil.”

“Civility is for the humans. We are beasts deep down, and it’s best that you remember that.” Vince tossed a cigarette to the ground, a disgusting habit of his but one that didn’t kill us. “If they don’t die, they won’t stop. The moment we release them, they’ll be back at it again, and you know it. Poaching makes them too much money not to.”

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