Page 102 of Wolf's Mark

There was a hush that crossed the room. I found it interesting that the Elders weren’t commenting about any of what was occurring. It seemed as if this was a test.

Not only of our strength, but also our desire to live.

“So these werewolves are really planning on attacking us?” Eliza asked.

“Yes,” I told the group. What else was there to say?

“They will be hungry.” Marla’s statement was haunting. “They will need a lot of food given their exponentiated changes.”

“Then how the fuck do we stop them?” Jacob asked, a young man who’d never attended one of our pack meetings before.

“We rekindle our skills. We become stronger,” Riker answered for me. “We work together in smaller packs. We guard what we own and others in our community. We stay together. We fight together.”

“We are the strongest creature in the world.” Danton was so certain of himself. “You’re all fools if you dare follow this man’s advice. He believes himself to be a leader, our leader. We don’t need anyone telling us what to do.”

My reaction was swift. I leveled only two punches at his jaw and he was down, fighting the pain enveloping every muscle.

I stood over him, shifting my gaze from one to another in the pack. “Weareweak as a species. We must work together and train or all we know and have come to love will be gone. We also need to remain in groups as my brother recommended. As one you will never beat even a single werewolf.”

“Well, shit,” Jacob whispered.

“How many in numbers at this point?” someone else in the group asked.

“Unknown but growing. They are killing humans to boost their packs,” I told them.

“Which will grow exponentially,” Chase finally chimed in.

All I could do was nod in acknowledgement. “Take a deep whiff, Eliza. You of all the Alpha wolves have kept up with your skills. Look at you. I can sense your wolf clawing at the surface. Rely on your instincts.”

The entire group was waiting to see what he would do.

Eliza finally took the suggested deep breath before addressing me. “There is blood in the air. Death. Decay. I don’t know what to believe, Jax, but I feel a beast walking the night. Not our own. What is our timeframe before there’s no chance we can win this war?”

“If what your medical examiner says is true,” Marla interjected, “the changes in their DNA will continue to increase quite possibly so that once they are killed in human form they will immediately return as a wolf.”

“She’s right.” Sedona’s voice was even softer than before. “I was forced to deal with two bodies. The first took several hours before beginning the transformation. The second only a few.”

“Shit,” Riker hissed.

“They are likely all around us,” I said as I polished off my drink and needed more. The meeting was as tense as I’d expected.

“I’ll second the question from before. How in hell can we beat them?”

I glanced at Riker, hating the expression he wore. “I don’t know, brother, if what our mother suggested is possible, but we’ll need to find out.”

“That’s highly dangerous,” Chase said as he studied my eyes.

“As I said before, we must be willing to die to protect our freedom.” I could tell my words and explanations were finally sinking in.

“We could damage their DNA, causing the cells to regress.” Sedona’s suggestion was met with additional laughter. “There are drugs that can do that.”

Marla shifted to the front of the group. “I’ve heard of that although I have yet to work on a project allowing me to explore the idea further. However, that could be possible. Dangerous to administer, but possible.”

“What? We inject the nice creatures with a needle? You’re out of your fucking mind.” Danton managed to get the group to laugh once again.

“She’s right in that what I suggested will be dangerous,” Mother snarled. “We will find a way, but it’s what we need to do or everything we have will be lost. We have rules, including protecting human lives. Do not forget your vows as Wolfen.”

I could tell at least a few of the wolves in the group wanted to defy my mother by walking out, but were smart enough not to piss me off.

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