16. Jace

Waylan's group moved out ten minutes after Kirsten left with Langston, heading to the first of two pick-up locations. Stephanie had said there were too many kids for them all to gather in one place. Half would be waiting in the backyard of a house in a residential neighborhood, close to the edge of the forest so the wolves patrolling the streets wouldn't see them—and preferably upwind. My team would get the rest from a clearing beside the municipal building. She had assured us that she and Byron had managed to smuggle the kids from their homes undetected. I could only hope that was true. There was too much that could go wrong.

My team arrived and hunkered down, waiting. I growled softly out of frustration. We were sitting ducks out here. God knew how many shifters Eren had out patrolling the streets. My only solace was that the lights of the municipal building a hundred yards away were all dark. At least no one was there to see us out here.

Ivy, Reese, and Abigail looked equally worried as the minutes ticked by. Finally, I heard Waylan's bird whistle—our signal. It was distant, well away from our location, but I'd know it anywhere. It meant he was good. Byron had handed off the kids to him.

Where the fuck was Steph? Worry began to worm its way into my chest. Had she betrayed us again? That would be a kick in the balls.

Another five minutes went by, and I was almost ready to call it when the sound of rustling grass snapped my attention away from my own doubts. Abigail and Reese both shifted, stepping forward and growling.

"It's me," a familiar voice hissed. "It's Stephanie. I've got them. All of them."

From out of the shadows, she appeared, blond hair askew and sweaty, a backpack on her shoulders. Behind her, a group of six women and twelve kids emerged.

"You brought their mothers?" Ivy asked, gaping at the other women.

"Would you trust your babies with strangers?" Stephanie asked. "The other group had moms, too. Most of the fathers are either locked up, following Eren or being forced to follow Eren."

"Do we have room for them?" I asked Ivy.

She shrugged. "Vans are eighteen seaters. Might have enough room, but some people may have to double up, sit on laps. It should be okay."

"Fine," I said, waving at them to come forward. "Let's go, guys. I'm Jace, this is Ivy, Reese, and Abigail. We're gonna get you all out of here. Come on."

Ivy and Reese took the lead, Abigail stayed amongst the women and children, and I took the rear with Stephanie. The last thing I wanted was for us to be caught from behind. As the alpha, I was the strongest and had to be there in case something happened.

"Go up to the group," I hissed at Stephanie. "Get with Abigail and stay with the women and children. They know you; you can help comfort them."

Stephanie glanced up, eyed Abigail, then shook her head. "I don't think that would be a good idea. She's not my biggest fan right now."

We'd made it back to the outskirts of town and had begun to walk through the woods when I sensed it. I froze mid-step, the hair on the back of my neck standing on end. Thunderous butterflies of fear shivered in my stomach. I sniffed the air, and as I did, my eyes went wide.

"Run!" I screamed.

At the sound of my bellowed words, howls erupted behind us, a half dozen at least. Ivy shouted for the others to follow. Several of the children had yet to make their first shift. Those kids sprinted after their mothers and older siblings as they shifted to their wolf forms, Abigail hustling them forward. Behind us, the rapid patter of wolf paws on leaves and twigs grew louder, along with the snarls and yaps that came with feral madness.

"Go!" I called out and turned to face what came.

I could buy them some time. Even a few seconds would be enough. I wanted nothing more than to see Kirsten again, to kiss her, to watch her hold a child that we created together, but sometimes duty had to take precedence over desire. I was an alpha—and by God, I would be an alpha, even if that meant my death. The lives of those children meant more than mine. A price well paid.

"Are you ready for this?"

I'd been so absorbed in my own thoughts that I had lost track of Stephanie. She now stood beside me, ready to fight.

"Get out of here," I snapped. "Before it's too late."

Another howl, closer now, shredded the night. Less than a hundred yards away.

"Not a chance," she said, and I could see tears in her eyes, lit by the moonlight filtering through the canopy of trees above. "If he released all of them, you'll never survive. Even the great Jace Stone can't hold back that many ferals on his own. And I'll be damned if I let those ferals get those people. So shut the fuck up, and let's do this."

"Fine," I grunted as I shifted.

Even as my body transformed, the first feral wolf exploded from the underbrush. Steph had been right. These wolves were bigger, maybe teenagers? These weren't the pup-sized beasts that had attacked our land. Behind the first wolf, more wolves came sprinting, each varying in size from pups up to what appeared to be almost adult. They all had the same mad gleam in their eyes.

The first one leapt at me, but Steph slammed into its side, snapping her jaws at him. Three more wolves descended upon me, two latching their teeth onto my flank while the third lunged for my throat. Using my massive bulk, I threw off the smaller two at my back and bit down on the muzzle of the one in front of me, twisting my head and tearing gouges of flesh from its face. It tumbled aside, yelping in pain.

I had a second to see Steph rolling on the ground with two smaller wolves before another of the beasts slammed into my shoulder. The blow sent me crashing to the ground. In a flash, ivory-white teeth, dripping saliva, appeared above me and bit down hard toward my neck. I managed to twist away at the last second, and the fangs clamped onto the meat of my chest. Better than my windpipe.

I howled in rage and kicked out hard with my hind legs, shoving them into the wolf's belly. My strength sent the creature nearly fifteen feet into the air. It twisted and kicked comically, trying to land on its feet like a cat, but instead, it ended up spinning upside down. I watched in horror as it crashed headfirst onto a small stone outcropping. Its skull split on the rock, and it slowly slid to the side, the life leaving its eyes.

A wave of horror washed over me. This wolf had only been a kid, maybe sixteen or seventeen. I pushed that thought aside as quickly as it came. We were fighting for our lives and the lives of the other children trying to escape. Eren would pay for this.

Steph had bitten and clawed the two wolves she was fighting until they lay in bloody heaps. They were still alive, but the fight had gone out of them. She had taken severe damage in the fight, though, and lay on her side, back legs kicking out, whining in pain.

I turned to glare at the remaining wolves. They bared their teeth and snarled. I let out an earth-rattling howl and took a heavy step toward them, releasing every ounce of my alpha aura.

Even through their madness, they sensed that they were outmatched, and they tucked their tails and ran. Once they vanished, I shifted back and rushed to Stephanie's side. When she saw me, she shifted as well. Blood pulsed thickly from her neck.

"Pressure," I hissed, grabbing her hand and pressing it to her neck. "Hold pressure."

"Jace." She gave a feeble shake of her head. "I'm done." Blood oozed from her lips as she spoke. "Leave me. It's over."

"The fuck it is," I growled and picked her up—one arm under her legs, the other behind her back—and sprinted toward the meet-up spot.

I ran, moving nearly as fast as my wolf could run, dodging tree branches and leaping small streams, not looking at Stephanie for fear that it really was too late. Her betrayal had been gut-wrenching—I'd hated her. Yet, I was not a monster like Eren. She'd risked her life to save innocent children, and now she was dying because she'd them—helped me—to survive. Her penance had been paid, and I'd be damned if I let her die on my watch.

I could smell the others. We were close, fucking close, but Steph wasn't doing well. She'd begun to make strange rasping sounds as she breathed, and my right bicep was slick with her blood. Her hand had dropped from the wound, no longer putting pressure on it. If she bled out too fast, there wouldn't be time for her healing powers to kick in.

When I burst out of the trees into the open area near the trailer, a shout of excitement rang out from the group. I could see Waylan and the others hustling people into the vans. Kirsten saw me and rushed forward.

"Help me!" I screamed, heedless of the noise we were making. I could sense Stephanie slipping away in my arms. "I need help."

I collapsed to my knees in front of Kirsten as the others ran over. "Shit," Kirsten murmured.

Reese appeared at her side and paled before hitting the ground beside me. "Lay her down, Jace, hurry."

I did as he asked, and Kirsten knelt beside him. I stood back, staring down at Stephanie in worry, her blood tacky on my arms and hand. "Is she gonna make it?"

Reese probed her side, his hand pressed to her neck. "Ribs on this side are broken, lung's punctured. Fuck, I don't have any tools to work with. She's lost a ton of blood, too."

"Brother, we gotta go," Langston urged me, staring back at the woods. "We don't have time for this."

"We've got time for her," I snapped, pointing at Stephanie. "Without her, I'd be dead. Those fucking kids would be dead. We have time."

Langston looked pained, like he wanted to argue, but he kept his mouth shut in deference to his alpha.

"Stephanie," Kirsten's calm and cool voice broke through the chaos as she leaned over the other woman. "Stephanie, can you hear me?"

Stephanie's eyes fluttered open, and she tried to speak, but all that came out was a bubble and trickle of blood. Her chest rose rapidly and erratically. I bit down so hard on the inside of my cheek that the coppery taste of blood filled my mouth as I watched.

"She's going," Reese said, panic lacing his words as he kept pressure on her wound. "Pulse is erratic as shit." He looked at Kirsten. "You've gotta do something. I can't help. She's got seconds, at best."

Kirsten shoved his hand away and pressed her palms to Stephanie's neck and her side. "Steph, I don't know if you can hear me, but you need to focus. Stay with us, okay?" She bowed her head and started murmuring under her breath.

Movement in the crowd caught my eye. Tinsley, stepping forward to come help. Before she reached them, though, a pulse of magic flashed out of Kirsten so strong that it pushed us all to our knees. Once the initial shock of it faded, a familiar scent hit my nostrils.

Turning my head, I saw Eren and two of his betas strolling out of the forest behind us. I clambered to my feet, snarling at the sight of the asshole who had caused all of this.

"Oh my, what is this?" Eren said, seeing Stephanie lying supine on the ground. "Looks like my little fuck buddy didn't follow the rules. What a shame. But then, she was a traitorous whore." Eren tapped a finger to his head. "I shoulda known. Once a betrayer, always a betrayer." His wicked grin matched the gleam in his eyes. "You ever get a taste of that pussy, Jace? Gotta say, I didn't have high hopes, but once she got going, she really knew what she was doing."

Bile crept up my throat. The thought of Stephanie sleeping with this pig disgusted me, though I could see he wasn't lying. She'd kept the truth from us to prevent us from knowing her shame. She'd done it to get close to him so she could help the people of Scottsdale. Help us.

That alone made me feel almost as guilty for her injuries as the ferals who attacked us. If she survived, she'd need to live with the agony of what he'd done to her for the rest of her life.

"I challenge you, Eren Miller! Here and now, I issue an official challenge."

Eren chuckled. "An official challenge," he mocked. "How quaint. Don't know if you noticed, but it's just us here, fuckwad."

"Not true," Dustin said, stepping out of the darkness. Beside him, Ivy, Noah, and Hollis stepped forward.

Eren's smile remained. The only suggestion of his worry was the subtle narrowing of his eyes and his nostrils flaring. He'd been outplayed.

"We acknowledge the challenge." Dustin shrugged. "Since you've shut your borders, we couldn't come tell you in person. Sorry."

"You're an unfit alpha," Ivy said. "As proclaimed in shifter law, once the other alphas in the area have acknowledged the challenge, you need to accept or deny Jace's challenge."

"I know the fucking law, you bitch," Eren hissed. "Fuck the law. Do you think I give a damn about some stupid ceremonial fight? Fuck you. I want a war. I'll fuck all of you up. I'll decimate you and take your lands for myself. When I'm done with you, I won't just be the strongest alpha in Missouri. I'll be the strongest alpha within a thousand miles."

I should have been surprised, but I wasn't. Not in the least. A true alpha would never put his pack at risk if he could settle things with a one-on-one fight. Of course Eren would want a war. He thought he had the advantage. His iron grip on his pack, the lone wolves he'd brought in, the ferals he'd created? He thought he was untouchable.

"Fine," I said, feeling the finality of the word as it left my lips. "My people will be ready."

"Good." Eren sneered, then looked over my shoulder where Kirsten was still working on Stephanie. "Jace, do you know what I'll do first after I kill you and these other prick alphas? I'm gonna take your little witch and slide my dick right into that tight little body. Then, while I fuck her brains out, I'm gonna claim her. Put my mark right on that pretty little neck. Make her mine. Hell, I might even do it over your dead body. Make her look at you while I take her. How does that sound?"

Snarling, I took a threatening step toward him, ready to tear his throat out before this fucking war could even begin, but Kirsten's voice stopped me.

"I would fry the shit out of you before you ever managed to touch me." She stood and stepped up beside me, lacing her fingers through mine. "I have every faith that Jace will take care of you, but if for some reason he doesn't? You won't survive the day. I will kill you where you stand, and that's a promise." She glanced at me. "Steph's going to be all right, by the way."

Eren, seeing that the odds were against him here, backed up a few steps. "You may have won tonight, but this is just a single battle. I fully intend to win the war. This won't happen again." He sent Kirsten a lecherous wink. "We'll see how you feel later, gorgeous."

Kirsten flicked her hand and sent a flash of purple lightning at him. It slammed into the dirt less than a yard from Eren's feet. He and his betas leapt back, shouting in surprise. Eren glared at having been made to look like a fool yet again.

"Let's go," he ordered his betas, and they melted back into the surrounding forest.

"We gotta move," Langston said as he gingerly lifted Stephanie.

She was unconscious, but the tear in her neck was healed, and her chest rose and fell in an even rhythm. Kirsten had saved her life.

Langston carried Stephanie to the waiting truck where Tank was waiting in the driver's seat, tapping his fingers anxiously on the steering wheel.

I nodded at him. "Move out."

Kirsten looked ready to collapse, and I put my arm around her waist to lend her some support. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Healing Stephanie took a lot out of me. She was almost gone. Another few seconds, and she wouldn't have made it. I did everything I could to save her."

"Thank you. It meant a lot to me. She proved herself out there." I said. "We'll get you home soon."

She leaned against me, letting me take most of her weight as we walked to the truck. She and Tinsley climbed inside, and Tank sent them a worried look.

"Are you okay?" he asked Tinsley.

"I'm fine," she said with a smile. "We did good."

Langston tilted the passenger seat back, then buckled the unconscious Stephanie in. He set her backpack on the floorboard between her feet.

Dustin took one van, and Ivy took the other. The rest of their shifters transformed and followed their alphas back to their pack lands. My people shifted and headed for Crestwood.

Rather than shifting with them, I got in the back of the truck with Kirsten and Tinsley. The whole drive home, I stared out the window, wondering if we'd be as successful the next time.