Chapter Forty

June

Tess. Vernon. I'm coming!

Paws to the ground, I thundered across the distance to where the call for help came from.

What pissed me off the most was Evander's response to the call for help. Apparently, the ass was going to come himself and take care of any threat, no need to involve the warriors.

Fuck Evander. Where was he when we were attacked the other day? When Dom and I were attacked in the car?

I pushed my legs as hard as they would go. I could tell I was getting close; my ears twitched with the hint of a fight.

I see them , Tanner said. Terry, Ben, June, when you get here circle wide and check for more before you jump in.

Right , I agreed, and the link dropped.

As I ran hard into the faint sounds of the scuffle, my eyes darted around to look for more as Tanner had asked. The rogues were nearby. The stink of them burned in my nose now, and a small growl escaped me as me and my wolf fumed over their presence in our lands.

I ran a wide circle around where I could hear the fighting. I saw nothing, so I jumped right in. Pushing through some low-hanging branches that scratched along my back, I came out of the evergreens in a burst of speed, scattering pine needles behind me.

There! Tess's smaller wolf was pretty much cornered by a rogue, and Vernon and Tanner were dealing with two others. Vernon had a nasty gash on his side.

I'm coming, Tess! I called.

Something overcame me. I charged, furious. My rage at the rogues, that they dared step their feet on Moonpeak soil and attack our trackers. . . . My eyes were wide and burning with hate as I launched myself at the spine of the rogue that had cornered Tess.

The big brute sensed me at the last second, though, and as I landed on him and sank my teeth into his neck with a light crunch, he turned on me, throwing me down and slashing his claws across my belly. I howled in pain rolled away from him.

Now he was circling me, but I could see Tess in the corner of my vision, ready to attack. She looked much more timid, but brave and willing to try for my sake. It put into perspective that I'd only seen very strong wolves fight these rogues. Their wrongness irked me, put my wolf on edge and made her angry. But what they seemed to do for the trackers was make them scared and overwhelmed.

Which just made me angrier.

The stinging of my belly was nothing compared to other injuries I'd seen from these rogues. I needed to keep my head on my shoulders and get through this fight until help arrived.

June, your left! Tanner snapped at me.

I whirled to see it at the last second as another rogue came in and pounced. I managed to roll away, but it gave the first rogue an opportunity to swipe at me again, catching my shoulder with his claws.

Shit! Where had they come from? I ran the circle around the fight as Tanner had asked. There was no scent at all, no sign of more, yet here more were. On top of the two that Tanner and Vernon were already fighting, they had gained another, and so had Tess and I.

We're here! A voice I hadn't heard yet, but that I recognized as the two sleek trackers Terry and Ben came into the fight. They were still so small compared to the vicious rogues that circled us, though, which strained my heart. I didn't know how to watch them all at once.

The fighting ensued again; this time it was five of them and six of us. Much better odds, but still not enough of us to safely do this.

I shook my head, clearing it and getting back into the fight. I could marvel at the power of Dom and the others later, right now there were sick, twisted rogues on my packmates, and I couldn't let that go.

The fight was vicious and dirty. I ripped into rogue flesh when I could, tried to dodge where I could see. But even then, I caught a lot of claws and teeth sinking in and slashing at me. The other trackers were not doing well either. The stunning contrast of a pack of trackers trying to fight and a pack of warriors . . . we needed backup.

Dom, where are you? I asked.

Just about there , he answered. How many?

Five—ah!

Crashing into the fray was another three rogues. Shit! Eight on six.

All my attention was then consumed by staying alive. I pushed Tess out of the way of an attack, then bit into the side of another rogue. If we made it through all this, I wanted to train with Smokey like how he trained Dom and the others. What had Dom said about him when we first arrived? Smokey used to be some kind of Master at Arms who kept the whole pack in shape?

I growled at Evander's arrogance. Or perhaps it was stupidity to only keep the warriors trained up. If . . . when Dom became alpha, Smokey would be back in business.

A big gray wolf rushed into the clearing. My heart soared! Dom was finally here! I turned to the newcomer in a brief window of opportunity between attacks, only for my heart to sink as I laid eyes on Evander.

It took a lot to keep my wolf from growling at him, we were so mad.

Gather behind me , Evander ordered. I won't let anything happen to you all.

Was he serious? This time I did growl at him. Alpha Evander, we need to work as a team to take them down!

But the trackers were all listening to him. Ears down, posturing behind Evander as they each submitted to his will. The rogues lined up before Evander, then began circling.

My chest tightened. This was bad. If the rogues all attacked at once, our wolves were all clustered in a neat little bundle for killing.

I growled, snapping at the closest rogue to get it away from the fight.

Juniper! Evander called . Stand down.

The command startled me, and a part of me wanted to listen. Maybe it was my wolf listening to the alpha, maybe it was something else, but it was Dom who erased the urge completely.

June! Dom called.

Dom!

And then he came into the space where we were fighting. Was Dom's wolf always this big? He stood shoulder to shoulder with Evander, but instead of getting behind the alpha wolf, Dom came to stand at my side. With him next to me, all the pressure of Evander's order melted away.

Then the rogues attacked.

We had three, Evander had the other five.

I tried desperately to watch what was happening to the trackers that Evander protected, but I was too busy with the rogues in front of me to really see.

Dom on the other hand was performing brilliantly.

They weren't getting near me, unless I had perfect opportunities to attack while they weren't looking. It was as though Dom was orchestrating the moves to a dance, and my part was much safer than his.

Evander made fighting look as effortless as Dom. We were in control for several minutes before another charging through the forest underbrush brought us three more rogues.

What? I exclaimed. Dom, more!

I see them , he growled.

Two of them ganged up on us, and one more for Evander. I watched as the trackers stayed back as they had been told.

And it pissed me off.

Tanner! You guys going to just sit there while we fight for your lives? I snapped. What kind of wolves are you?

June, watch your side , Dom growled.

Suddenly, we were back in a fight, albeit an even harder one than before.

We're here! Aaron called. My heart lightened as I saw Amelia, Aaron, Jack, and Carson race into the fray, and then it was chaos once more.

Evander was either too busy or didn't care anymore about his little formation and show of power. We were fighting for our lives and the lives of the wolves of Moonpeak.

Amelia was terrifying. I hadn't gotten to see her fight last time, but it was very in line with her character. She held nothing back as she tore into her enemies.

Smokey came into the field shortly after. He was vicious as well, his attacks precise and destructive. I was so happy to see him joining us at first that I didn't notice the extra couple of rogues who had also come into battle.

Dom was more strategic, positioning and pushing the enemy around as he told the others what they could do or where they could attack from to help our odds.

I was physically exhausted, and turned to help our injured wolves. I helped Tess lay down so I shove her hip joint back in place. I had to shift to do that, but she was more comfortable, so it was well worth it.

Evander roared in pain as he got a nasty gash down his ribs from two rogues attacking at once. It was open and bleeding freely, but he kept up his end of the fight.

Finally, several rogues were down and new ones had stopped entering the battle scene, and we could all relax a little. The pile of bodies at our feet was disgusting meat by the time things calmed down completely.

Panting and exhausted, everyone was in terrible shape, and as Evander bit down and crushed the throat of the last rogue, the pack laid down and got our first moments of rest.

What the fuck was all that? Amelia snapped, the first to her feet after it was all over. I could only assume she was fueled by her ever-burning anger.

Enough, Amelia , Evander replied. Now is not the time. We need to see to the injured and get everyone back into the village. We're on lockdown.

I froze. Lockdown?

Evander looked at me, sighing through his nose. You were very brave today, June. You fought well for a tracker.

Dom growled slightly but cut himself off. I could tell he was supremely annoyed.

But , Evander continued, my trackers should not be seeing any battle. Nor should the other wolves of the village. Right now, I'm issuing a command for all to stay within the village until I and a select group of warriors run through these lands and clear out the rogues.

Alpha . . . Smokey started.

Smokey . Evander cut him off. Y ou are to run a wide patrol and share my wishes with any who are outside my reach. Trackers, hunters, any who might wander in and out of the edges of the pack lands. Go tell them to come back in for now.

Yes, Alpha , Smokey said, and he rose to his feet and trotted off. He sounded irked, but he did as his alpha told him to.

Dom, you and Amelia did well today too , Evander said. Please take your group back to the village and I will call on you later. We need to have a talk.

Evander rose to his feet before any of us could ask more questions. I will personally handle a patrol around this area. Tanner, help get the injured back. Can you all walk?

I think so, Alpha , Tanner answered . Come on, you heard him. On your feet, let's get to Doc and see to that hip, Tess. Vernon, your side is looking pretty bad too.

Dom rose to his feet as well. Come on, June.

But!

I know , he answered softly. Come on.

We stood—Dom, me, Aaron, Amelia, Jack, Carson—and walked the long trek back to the village. Into Moonpeak, and into a lockdown.