Chapter 19

Chapter19

Daphne boltedwith a pack of wild wolves hot on her heels. Meanwhile, Circe remained, looking all too smug. She glanced at Baptiste and smirked. “Guess no one’s coming to save you.”

Fuck his life. He was more concerned about Daphne.

Circe grabbed the dagger she’d used to slit his uncle’s throat and sauntered closer. “It’s amazing to me how greed blinds people. Look at your uncle. He was so desperate to take what you have that he listened to a stranger.”

“You won’t get away with this.”

“I already have.” She waved a hand to show the bodies of the wolves felled already by the moon madness. A few might recover, but the trauma of what they’d done would linger.

He would know, given he’d done a terrible thing not of his choosing. A memory that would live on forever. “Your plan will fail.”

“Seems to me like it’s going quite well, actually.”

Stop wasting time chatting with the witch and do something,Garou admonished. Our mate will die if you don’t.

Exactly what could he do? He remained fucking bound in silver. No amount of straining loosened the chains, and he doubted Circe would set him free.

She ran the tip of the dagger against his chest. “One thing I didn’t lie to your uncle about? Eating your heart will pass on the Garou god’s essence.”

No, it won’t. I’d rather let this part of me die than join with that witch.

The bullet that struck Circe in the chest took them both by surprise. She glanced at the hole and screeched even as a second bullet came flying.

It struck a rapidly erected magic shield and missed its mark, but that didn’t stop Nelly from exiting the woods and firing nonstop, each impact making Circe retreat a step. A fireball came shooting from the forest as well.

They’re forcing her to use magic in the hopes she runs out.

Baptiste didn’t question how Garou knew. He watched as Clive emerged from the woods to join Nelly, hands upraised and glowing. He was joined by Marissa. Together, they flung a large electrical ball at the witch who hissed before whirling to run.

His friends took off after her rather than take the time to free him. In their defense, they had no idea Daphne was in grave peril and went after what they deemed the greatest threat.

Since they’re busy, we’d better go and save her. Time to break free. Now that the moon is up, we can use it to our advantage.

Use it how? The silver prevented the shift.

In ordinary wolves. But we are more than that. You have the essence of a god running through you, and the full moon puts us at our strongest. Add to that, our mate is in danger, our Pack is being destroyed, and the pups will be slaughtered unless we act.

He wanted to do something. He wanted to save them all.

Then be angry. Be the Alpha they want. Be the protector they need. Be the mate she deserves. Accept what you are.

Hadn’t he done that already?

No.

And it wasn’t Garou that shattered that lie. He’d spent his life trying to be something more than an avatar. He wanted people to respect him for the things he did not because he carried part of a deity within.

And they do. Haven’t you noticed? They don’t respect you because of me. They respect you because of the example you set.

What respect? His own people left him bound.

Out of fear. Your uncle is gone now, though. You can show them a different way. But you don’t have much time.

Garou was right. He couldn’t afford to fight his other side, not with so much at stake. Baptiste closed his eyes and took deep breaths. The moonlight bathed his skin and tingled. The silver still burned, but he took that pain and shoved it aside. So what if it hurt? Many things hurt. Using that pain, overcoming it, made a person stronger.

In that moment, as the pain of it disappeared, it hit him. How could silver, a common metal, bind a god?

It can’t. It’s your own belief that’s holding you back.

Because he refused to accept.

No longer.

He huffed and pulled deep within, tugged at the primal part of him that he liked to keep separate, but which remained wound around the very core of him. Time to join them and stop pretending he wasn’t special.

I am the avatar of a god. It’s time I acted like one.

With that realization he tilted his face to the moon, the full glow enhancing his innate power. With his acceptance, change ripped through him. The sudden bulk broke the chains that he’d been foolish enough to believe could hold him. He roared as he finished shifting, sprouting course fur and sharp claws, but the best part? His senses magnified.

There were two scents that interested, one being that of the witch he hated, but the more important one? That of his mate, being chased and in danger.

He went on a loping run, his long stride eating up the forest floor as he raced for her. Through their bond, he felt her annoyance—not fear or pain. How like her. At the same time, he sensed her exertion as she fought off those that attacked.

Luckily, she’d not gone far, but managed to put herself in a precarious place. She stood on the edge of a ravine, the bottom of it a rough landing since the creek only ran high in the spring. Daphne danced on that dangerous edge, arms whipping out like vines to wrap around a snapping wolf and toss it into the forest, bending almost in half as another leapt for her throat. The wolf missed and would have plummeted, but she shot a hand to grab it and slow its fall.

Even in deadly danger, she tried to not kill, and he knew why.

Because she knows it’s my Pack.

At seeing how she thought of others before herself, he howled, a strident sound that startled the wolves into halting their attack. They whirled and stared as Baptiste stomped in their direction, seething and glaring, his displeasure clear.

Faced with an Alpha who was also part god, they bowed. Front legs folded. Bellies dipped to touch the earth. They crawled to him and whined, begging for his forgiveness.

He growled. Do not touch my mate.

They whimpered but obeyed, except for the same cocky bastard whose scent he’d identified before. That wolf dared to lift his head. Baptiste made an example of him. He grabbed the wolf by the scruff and threw him into the ravine.

The wolves remained plastered to the ground as he strode past them for his woman, who cocked her head and said, “Hey, Beast. About time you joined the party.”

His voice emerged in a low guttural growl, “Sorry I’m late.”

Her lips quirked. “At least you didn’t miss all the fun. Where’s Circe?”

“Being chased by our friends.”

“In that case, we should go help them. Care to lead the way?”

“Follow me.” As he began loping, Daphne kept pace by his side and the Pack fell in behind them.

In short order they found their friends holed up in a tree, the base of which had a dozen wolves pacing around it and another handful lying on the ground snuffling with sleep. The moment they scented Baptiste, the wolves whirled, but whatever snarl they started to emit got choked as they recognized him. Bodies hit the ground and crawled, the moon madness leaving them as their god-Alpha straightened out their minds.

Daphne paid the whining wolves no mind as she stepped through them to reach the base of the maple tree. She patted its trunk. “Thanks for keeping them safe.”

The branches quivered.

His mate glanced upward. “You can come down now.”

“We lost Circe!” Nelly grumbled. “She sent some of those mutant forest animals after us, and then next thing we knew, the wolves were on our asses, so we climbed.”

Clive grimaced as he hit the ground. “I actually ran out of magic. This place is remarkably bereft.”

“No shit,” Marissa huffed. “I’ve not been this weak since that time I went on a cruise and had to fend off a kraken attack.”

While Baptiste’s friends stiffened and warily watched his approach, Daphne didn’t flinch when he put his paw-like hand on her shoulder. In a low rumble, he stated, “These woods are safe now. The Pack recognizes you as friends.”

“I wouldn’t say safe quite yet,” Marissa remarked, nimbly leaping down. “If your Pack is in the mood to hunt something, send them after Circe’s mutants. They’re all over the forest.”

He glanced at Gordy, one of the older pack members. “Find the intruders.”

A mottle-furred Gordy dipped his head before yipping to the others.

Before they all ran off, Daphne interjected, “Don’t send all of them. Some of the wolves should check on those felled by the mighty oak, and we need to protect the children.”

“I’m almost out of magic, but I can still fire a gun, so I’ll go,” Marissa volunteered.

Nelly shoved at Clive. “You’re out of juice too. Take this and go with her.” She handed him a revolver. Some men might have argued, but Clive had always had the greatest respect for Nelly, a fighter who didn’t need a man to protect her.

As the wolves and the magic users moved off, Daphne flipped back her wild mane of hair and with eyes gleaming said, “Time put an end to a witch.”

He couldn’t help a wolfish grin that turned into a howl that filled the sky.

Time to hunt.