Page 9 of Claiming Lyla

Lyla groaned. “This is why you need a woman. The vamps will leave. They’ll want no part of this. Make it a little hard and they’ll run. They can find easier prey another time. The six wolves with my brother are mostly loyal but stupid. All brawn no brain. They rely on brute force and intimidation to win a fight, not fighting smart. If we have a plan, we have a fighting chance. But we have to protect the women.”

Duncan nodded. “Fine. You protect the women. Try to get them up and moving if you can. We’ll distract the shifters and scare off the vamps. Okay?”

He slid backwards until no one could see him from the clearing, Ryan and Lyla following. He stood and cupped her face. “You need to stay in human form, for the women. We’ll shift. It will be easier to fight in that form, create maximum chaos.”

He rested his head against her forehead, every fiber of his being wanting to beg her to stay behind, to be safe and protected. But that wasn’t who she was and if he wanted a true mating with Lyla, he had to accept her on her terms. Something told him she was the perfect mate for him, the warrior partner he would need in the years ahead. And their pups would be the stronger for her genes.

“Be safe, my love. You are more important to me than anyone else. You hold my heart, my soul.”

She held his face in her hands and pressed her lips to his. “You are my heart, my strength. We will overcome together.”

After one last kiss, he quickly stripped and shifted to wolf, Ryan following him. They melted away into the woods in separate directions.

* * *

Lyla slowly made her way down the hill, carefully making sure no one could see her. The lead vampire and her brother appeared to be arguing over something, possibly the price for the women. Her brother was demanding more money since the women were younger than the last batch and, as she drew closer, she felt sick. At least three of the women were girls, barely out of their teens. Her brother was truly a monster, as bad as the vampire illegally buying them for his underground blood den. But because he was an alpha, the Council would ignore his role.

Not on her watch. Not this time. Not anymore.

She was grateful to have found an honorable mate, a decent male, who felt as she did. They might be censured by the Council but they would fight together. She had hardly dared hope for such a future for herself thirty-six hours ago. Now she had to make sure other females had the same opportunity.

Gleaming gold eyes from two opposing sides of the forest indicated Ryan and Duncan were in position. It was go time. Now or never.

With a loud howl, both wolves burst from the forest and darted through the crowd of vampires and wolves, startling them all. The women, while drugged, roused themselves enough to scream, adding to the chaos of the moment, which was exactly what they had hoped for. The vampires, as expected, disappeared into the night, not wanted to be caught in dealing illegally in human blood donors, leaving the wolves distracted by everything going on. Duncan and Ryan weaved and dashed about, nipping and slashing at everyone to inspire additional pandemonium. It only proved what Lyla had told them. Her brother’s wolves weren’t the smartest and Scott kept trying to focus them but he was struggling to control the situation.

Once everyone was distracted and the women seemed roused enough, Lyla crept in and took a hold of one of them, putting a hand over her mouth so she wouldn’t scream and draw attention. At the same time, Lyla dragged her toward the forest, staying low. The girl seemed to understand what she was doing, but pulled away. She gestured to another girl and Lyla let her go. She took a hold of the other woman and pointed to the forest, murmuring something in her ear. The woman’s eyes were wide with fear but she nodded, ducking low and heading for the forest.

They worked together to get the rest of the girls away and when Lyla scanned the clearing, only one girl remained, held in front of Scott, his beefy forearm across her throat, as he glared at her. “I should have drowned you when we were kids. But dad would never allow it. He favored you over me, would have even given you the pack if he could. Well, the joke’s on him. I took the pack from him. He was weak, lame. I’ll show him and you how a real pack should be run.”

Lyla froze, his words only confirming her worst fear. “You killed dad, didn’t you?”

He sneered at her. “Of course I did. It’s the way of a pack. Only the strongest survive. When the leader is no longer able to lead, the next strongest male will take him down, defeating him and taking over.”

Lyla advanced closer, feeling Duncan and Ryan at her back. “A challenge can occur but in honorable combat, in a true Alpha Challenge. You were too cowardly to do that. Instead, you set up a car accident.”

He laughed. “It doesn’t matter how you win, only that you do. It shows that I’m smarter than he was.”

The wolves surrounding him shuffled and eyed each other uncomfortably. Clearly they had never heard this story either and didn’t like the implications. The tide was changing and Lyla could push him over. “No, you weren’t smarter or stronger. You were just lazier and impatient. You cheated to get ahead. You probably had someone else tamper with the vehicle too because you have no clue how to work on cars besides drive them.”

He flung the girl aside and she tumbled to the ground with a cry. She remained still in a fetal position but Lyla couldn’t help her because Scott was racing toward her, rage in his eyes. Duncan lunged to intercept but two of Scott’s wolves also joined in to block Duncan and Ryan, leaving Lyla and Scott to face off.

Lyla ducked and slid to the side, watching Scott go past her, his weight and momentum carrying him a few steps behind her. The sounds of Duncan and Ryan fighting faded as she focused on the true threat. Her brother.

He glared at her, hatred radiating from him. “I shouldn’t have trusted those alphas to take care of you. I should have just killed you, saved myself the trouble.”

“Why didn’t you? You had two years to do it.” She had to know, had to know if there had ever been any family connection between them.

He shrugged. “I owed money. Figured selling you would be the biggest prize of all. And you fucked that up, you bitch. You killed my biggest lender and scared off the vamps. I’m totally fucked now and it’s all your fault.”

She shook her head, sadly. “No, Scott. It’s all your fault for looking for an easy way out. You killed our father, destroyed our pack, and caused your own ruin. You don’t deserve to be alpha.”

“And you think you do? Not as long as I’m alive, bitch,” he snarled and lunged for her.

He half-shifted, not being able to get out of his clothes fast enough for a full shift. His claws reached for her but he had always been slower than her and she evaded him easily, sticking her leg out to trip him. Unfortunately, he only stumbled then whirled faster than she expected, slashing out with his claws, catching her on the upper arm, leaving four thin lines of blood.

Duncan roared behind them, but he was fighting two wolves who had shifted, and Ryan was similarly occupied. Besides, Lyla wanted her brother. This was a battle that was a long-time coming. She cleared her mind like her father’s Beta had taught her and focused on Scott. They circled, with Scott jabbing at her, trying to get her to react, but the calmer she remained, the more agitated he seemed to get. That had always been the way since they were kids. He would antagonize and she wouldn’t react until he would explode. A strategy that would hold her in good stead today.

She stepped back, pretending she was retreating, then another and another step, luring him away from the crowd fighting behind him. But she misjudged and her foot wobbled on a rock and she went down on one knee. Scott roared in triumph and rushed her, hoping to catch her off guard. But, like all his actions, he came on too hard and overshot her a bit. She remained low and reached up with her clawed fist, stretching her claws to rake from his throat down his chest to his belly.

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