Page 39 of Wolf's Mark

He slumped against his chair.

I studied her pensive face. There was much more to the story from yesterday.

Wolf shifters had several attributes that would be coveted by any human, including superhuman strength, hearing, and eyesight. Those abilities had diminished over the years and through the heavy interbreeding with humans. A sixth sense, knowing what others were thinking as well as seeing aspects of the future, had been just another trait to our ancestors.

Sadly, over time, those attributes had become more selective. Chase had been born with a very limited sense of knowing or reading minds.

I was no fool. If we had an enemy, our evolution would be used against us.

“We’re going to be attacked by a much stronger species of wolf. The creature has been lying in wait, salivating at the mouth as we continued to develop weaknesses and lose our abilities given our lack of use and training.” I issued the words like a statement of intent on a contract.

“Bullshit,” Chase chortled. “We are the strongest creatures alive.”

Riker was watching me, not turning toward his brother. “Not true.”

I shook my head in response.

Parker studied the various family members, his expression unreadable.

Our mother looked at me directly. She was challenging me as to if I’d felt the change in the atmosphere. “You knew that we could be facing an enemy.”

Sighing, I drummed my fingers on the table. “I’ve suspected. I gathered a whiff of something unusual.”

“Then they’re here,” she said. I rarely heard her voice crack, but it did this time.

“Knew what?” Chase insisted. “Who are they?”

Riker half laughed. “Are you trying to tell us that another wolf pack has decided to start what could be a bloody and violent war to gain what? Territory? Clout? Why the fuck would any of them across this country do that now? Why didn’t you tell us that yesterday? Why the cloak and dagger routine?”

“Imagine if every wolf heard there was a chance we’d face extinction,” she said as she looked around the table. “What in God’s name do you think would happen? We have become weakened by our love of sin and sex, the need for power and our basic greed. There would be utter chaos, violence in every city. The council refuses to allow that to happen.”

“Extinction. Can someone explain this to me?” Parker asked. He was looking from one to the other around the table.

“Most of the wolves I talk to are living a damn good life, much better than crawling around in a forest searching for food. Being ridiculed by humans, hunted like bad dogs. They developed humanity,” Riker insisted.

Mother sucked in her breath. But her eyes never left mine. “Have they really? Are any of us willing to risk all we have on a guess we won’t regress to our old ways, our primal ways?”

Ah, fuck.

What I’d suspected was true. “We’re not talking rogue pack wolves. Correct?”

“You are correct, son,” she said. “Although there are reports a few of our own have gone to the dark side.”

It was her way of saying they’d betrayed us.

Chase leaned forward, his eyes narrowing. “What the hell am I missing? What other enemy do we have that has a chance of pushing us into extinction?”

“Just listen, Chase. Maybe you’ll learn something about a history you never wanted to learn or be a part of.”

Mother’s comments pissed him off as usual, but she was right.

Chase wanted no part of hearing about the legends or the methods to improve our way of life that had taken generations to do so. He’d hated his required training, missing more classes than he’d attended. For his refusal to follow the rules, even though he was Alpha by birth, his rank had been reduced to a lower class. That had started his spiral into loathing who and where we were now.

“Supreme beings capable of killing wolves and humans.” Riker was remembering the ancient stories our mother has insisted we hear.

Granted, the old folklore that we’d been cursed to walk the earth as hybrids around the time of the Vikings was grueling to stomach. It was almost like a ghost or horror story humans told or made into movies.

From what I knew scientifically, we’d been created like any other beast. Only we’d managed to find a way to evolve.

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