Page 29 of To Challenge a Wolf

In a zippered pocket, Rhett’s sat phone vibrated. Concealed somewhere on Malachi’s person, another vibration sounded at the same time. Rhett handed the roasting sticks to Vivian and grabbed his phone as Malachi, Robert, and Aaron checked theirs.

ARChapman4:Motion has been detected.

Along with the text message came a night-vision snapshot. A wolf with hair as curly as Jeremy’s. He was looking away from the camera, unaware of it.

Malachi’s breath caught. A low growl began in his chest, and his eyes began to blaze with their own golden light.

“That him?” Rhett said.

“Yes,” Malachi snarled. He was on his feet in a flash of movement. “Council. Quickly.”

A few wolves had wandered out into the dark yard, their vision unaffected by the falling night. They reached the campfire within seconds. The rest of the pack were near enough to hear Malachi’s words, but even so they crowded closer to him. Danger was here. The humans could see it in Malachi’s posture, in the blur of his movement. The wolves could smell it as their alpha’s gingery musk essence grew overwhelmingly thick, as his authority swelled around him with almost tangible force.

Malachi raised his voice so human hearing wouldn’t miss a word. “Arlo and Jeremy, go with the mates and pups to Rhett’s. Robert and Aaron, give them your sat phones. If Drew brought allies, if the phones show they’ve gotten too close, everyone goes down to the safe room. Questions?”

There were a few head shakes.

“Go and end this,” Arlo said.

“And be careful,” April said.

“We will.” Malachi’s rasp held grit and growl and a little thunder as he said, “Wolves, this is the night we trained for. These rogues willnotget past us.”

“We’re ready, Mal!” Trevor called out, and multiple wolf voices growled agreement.

“Then come.”

A second later, alongside his alpha at the head of the V formation, flanked on both sides by strong wolves he trusted, Rhett was running headlong for the forest. At the edge of it, still out of the range of the rogues’ senses, their formation drew up for final directives. Rhett checked his phone again. It had vibrated several times while he ran.

ARChapman5:Motion has been detected.

RJones1:Motion has been detected.

RJones2:Motion has been detected.

They were on his land now. His personal property, violated by the wolves who had abused April and tried to murder Malachi. His blood felt like liquid fire in his veins, and his teeth were bared in a grimace of rage, the kind he hadn’t felt since he’d escaped his father. His body shook with it. Though they couldn’t know it, the trajectory of the rogues took them even closer to the pups, to Ember who carried the most vulnerable member of the pack, so tiny and waiting to take its first breath.

“Malachi?” Robert said quietly.

The alpha was studying the security images from his own phone. “Six wolves total. He did bring allies, but not as many as I feared.” He turned toward Ezra. “We have a good numbers advantage, even without you.”

“No,” Ezra said. “Please, you promised you wouldn’t order me out of the fight.”

“And I won’t.”

“I can do this, Mal.”

Malachi nodded, then looked in the direction the rogues were slowly traveling. “They’re not baiting this time. They don’t know we’re close. They think we’re unaware of them. But they’ll be armed, no doubt. I want none of you shot.”

“Anybody smell firearms? I don’t,” Patrick said.

As one the wolves turned to Rhett. He shook his head. “I don’t either. But remember what they did last time—got Malachi to follow them to the place the weapons were hidden and then turned them on him when he got within scent range.”

“You think they’re pretending not to know we’re here?”

“If Ezra can’t hear them, and I can’t smell them—no. Plus on the cameras, they’re moving like they’re clueless. Just be smart.”

The alpha rumbled agreement. “Wolves, are you ready to defend your territory and your pack?”

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