Page 29 of The Vampire's Thirst
The commander was right. He was on the fence. Was his loyalty to pack or the Firebrands? No better locale to think than his Montana ranch. But first, he was swinging by to visit his brother.
He suspected where Luka might be hiding. Hence, he and his truck were tooling along a dirt road in North Shelters, heading for a favorite spot they’d often used when their old man was on a binge. Safe in their secret cave, he couldn’t use them as punching bags.
Thorn patted the dashboard of the Ford Super-duty F-450 Platinum black beauty, dubbed the She Beast.
A good female. Reliable. Beautiful. What more could I ask for?
When Mickey Lamantia’s “Tough Mudder Trucker” came on the radio, he blasted the volume. With the window rolled down, he lit a cigar and sang along to the tune. The wind blew through his hair as his tires hummed on the way to freedom.
When he reached the foothills of the Clawtooth Range, Thorn pulled under a grove of trees. He snubbed out his Blazing Dragon, the most expensive smoke sold on Scath, opening the door before he toed off his boots. He put them on the seat bench after he removed and neatly folded his clothes.
A few easy stretches out of the way, he expanded his chest with a deep breath. Muscles snapped, bones popped, flesh tightened. The air sizzled with magic energy, a touch of pain along with a lot of pleasure.
Thorn pawed the ground, his nose bombarded with scents. Damp earth, old leaves, pine pitch, a rabbit. With a shake of his thick chestnut brown fur, peace settled over him for the first time in a while. He padded up the mountain, unfettered, wild as Gahya intended.
The wolf’s steps landed lightly on the forest floor as he leaped scattered boulders or prowled around trees. When he neared the cave, he dropped to the ground, creeping forward on his belly, his animal senses alert.
Head high, he sniffed. Luka was in there with his mate, Sati. And blood. Thorn did not smell any other wolves.Strange. He expected the entire pack to be hiding here.
With his nose to the ground, Thorn followed the familiar scent to the entrance where he shifted to human form, nakedness not bothering his kind. Deep inside the cave, someone whimpered.
Still no whiff of anyone other than Luka and Sati. He hunted from one chamber to the next, following the twists and turns the brothers had explored long ago.
In a large domed cavity, Sati, the source of the weeping, sat in human form before a fire. Luka, bloodied, his fur matted, and, at least, one leg broken, rested his head in her lap.
Though she glanced at Thorn when he entered, she did not acknowledge him. He moved closer, eyeing his brother’s mate since she could turn feral at any moment.
“What happened, Sati?”
“You happened, Thorn.” She growled as she cradled Luka tighter.
“What do you mean?”
“After you came with your talk of drugs, Luka was shamed. He tried to rally the pack, but Karth challenged him for leadership.” She nuzzled her mate’s fur. “He lost. They left him lying bloody and broken in the dirt. After what he has done for them. For the pack.”
“He’s my brother, Sati. I love him, but he hasn’t had control of the wolves for a long time. You can’t lay this problem on me. He let them down, blinded to what was happening. Perhaps he finally tried to straighten shit out. Too little, too late.”
Thorn noted some of Luka’s wounds had knitted closed, but not all. “How long has he been this way?”
“A day.”
He should have healed. “Set the bone in his leg, Sati. He needs to feed.”
“Don’t tell me what to do. You always wanted to be alpha. You were jealous when the pack chose him, jealous because he was stronger than you.”
Thorn ignored her rant, knowing he was more powerful than his brother, also aware the wolves had begged him to defeat their cruel father in a domination match after Luka failed. So he challenged their father.
Afterward, the decision was simple. Luka wanted to be pack leader. Thorn did not. Since he was content to be a Scion Firebrand, he passed the leadership to his brother.
“Set his leg, Sati.”
“No. If he heals lame, he can’t fight Karth again to take back the pack.”
Thorn approached to lift his brother into his arms. Sati snarled, shifting in an explosion of color, attacking with canines bared.
He had no choice. Thorn backhanded the female wolf, sending her flying into the cavern wall. He crouched, growling a warning when she attempted to rise. She mewled, curling into a ball, no longer challenging his right to care for his brother.
“Never provoke me, sister. I am an alpha.”
