Page 1 of Blade's Battle
Chapter One
BLADE
“Get in, grab the woman, get out clean.”Damien’s words rang through Blade’s head as he crouched low, held his breath, and waited for the two wolves patrolling the area to pass. The white wolves stopped, scented the air, and tipped their ears in Blade’s direction. He’d already ventured eight miles deep into Drake’s territory, far enough to upset the fragile truce between Damien, Drake, and Liam, the three alphas whose territories bordered one another.
The clouds blocking the moon were thick, as in getting-ready-to-soak-the-woods-thick. The wind picked up, and a sense of doom swept through Blade, perfectly matching the dark conditions. Running through the mud in a storm was one more complication he didn’t need.
The patrol moved down the ridge far enough that Blade could allow himself to breathe, but not far enough that he could move. He really hated the timing of this op. The wind was constantly changing, he had no back-up, no clear exit point given how unpredictable Drake’s patrols were of late, and no idea if the woman would be in any shape to walk, let alone run if necessary.
While Blade loved Tess like a sister, the timing of when to infiltrate Drake’s territory should have been Blade’s call to make, not hers. As if having Tess on his back wasn’t nerve-racking enough, a few days after Hayden assigned this op to Blade, Damien had reclaimed his position as Alpha and had ordered Blade to go inimmediately.
Whether Blade was ready for this op or not was moot. He’d been ordered in, and he always followed Damien’s orders, even if he didn’t agree with them. Infiltrating the enemy—or in this case an ally—required careful planning.
For a minute, Blade wondered if Damien really didn’t want him to succeed. Blade quickly shook off the notion and shoved his old fears down deep. Damien was reacting to his mate’s fear for her friend, nothing more. The alpha had accepted Blade into his pack six years ago when he didn’t have to, and Blade had become part of Damien’s inner circle. Technically, Blade wasn’t an outsider anymore.
A howl pierced the woods. The two wolves on patrol ran east. Not one to waste a distraction, Blade headed to the caves where Drake kept prisoners. Less than a mile away, raucous sounds of drunk male shifters filled the woods.
Blade’s wolf began biting Blade, trying to force a shift. This was not the time for Blade to lose control to his wolf, but his wolf didn’t care about the danger. The opportunist would pressure Blade, trying to steal control any way he could. If his damn wolf wasn’t trying to take over, he was pushing Blade to fight, to move, to do anything but remain still.
Whatever you do, don’t let Drake know it was you.Damien’s words played in his head again. Blade really needed to focus. One slip up and Drake would know Damien had violated the already shaky treaty between the packs.
Maybe after this assignment, Blade would spend some time getting to know Henrietta better. Or Stephanie. Or that brunette with the blue streak in her hair. What was her name? Maggie? A blood-bond would permanently calm Blade’s wolf. Dating, let alone blood-bonding, would have to wait until he finished this damn rescue mission.
Blade crouched behind a large pine near the cave. The guard leaning against the cave entrance had his arms crossed over his chest, legs spread out on the ground, and was snoring away. Blade had finally caught a break.
As Blade was about to move in, another guard approached. This one, tall and broad, kicked the sleeping guard’s feet. “Go. My shift.”
The guard on the ground opened an eye, glanced at the shifter, and then the moon, assessing its position in the night sky. “Got another hour still.” His nose flared in disdain. “And you’re drunk.”
“Fine, stay.” The shifter stripped naked.
“Going for a run?” The guard repositioned himself to go back to sleep.
“Maybe after I finish partying. Give me the key.”
“Drake ordered she not be touched.”
“He’ll never know.”
The guard hesitated at first and then tossed the key to the naked shifter. “Want company in there?”
The first guard shrugged. “The more the merrier.”
“I’ll join you in a few.”
Ice filled Blade’s veins. Tess had said conditions were bad here, but he never thought the shifters would be so depraved as to rape a prisoner.
Blade’s bones started to shift as his wolf sensed his desire to tear both shifters to shreds. He pushed his wolf down. He needed to shift, but it had to be on his terms, not his wolf’s. As his hackles rose, fur sprouted from his body unbidden.
The woman’s scream pierced the quiet. Blade’s insides twisted. There was no time to be neat about this or to wait until his wolf was fully under his control. Blade shifted and leapt at the guard.
Blade’s wolf clamped his jaws down on the shifter’s neck and snapped it. Quick and easy. Too easy. Blade had never killed another shifter over a human before. What’s worse, his wolf didn’t care about his prey or the reason for the kill, but he sure enjoyed it. A perverse pleasure at having ended that life rode through Blade. That was worrisome.
The twists and turns in the cave obscured the light, throwing the cave into near-total darkness. By the time Blade reached the row of three cells in the back, he was straining to see, but what he saw sickened him.
The shifter was circling the woman, lunging and grabbing at her breasts and ass, making her jump and scream. With a blade only slightly larger than a pocket knife, she tried defending herself. The woman was naked, filthy, terrified and effectively blind in the dark. She was no match for the shifter, and yet she was fighting with everything she had.
“Get away!” she screamed, tears streaming down her face as her wild swing nearly slashed the male’s arm.
