Chapter 18

Ruby was stunned at the sight of her former best friend’s body laying crumpled on the sand. The light inside of Mack’s eyes that used to hold mischief and adventure was now gone. Ruby was torn between feeling anger and relief. On one hand, this she-wolf was her friend and betrayed her in many ways during the last year. All of the good memories they shared were all a lie. Mack had kept so many secrets from her and created an elaborate plan to ensure her victory on the Western Sanction’s throne. On the other hand, Ruby did not have to worry about another stab wound in her back in the future now that Mack was gone.

Ryker screamed for Ruby to run several times while she stared at Mack’s body. She could hear him, even feel him gently tugging on her to move. It did not bring her out of the daze she was currently stuck in. She remained there until Scarlett pushed on the walls of their bond hard enough to force a shift.

They’re coming! We have to get back inside the barrier!

The noise of thundering paws echoed in the forest as Scarlett ran toward Wolf’s Den. There was another set of paws chasing after her, but Scarlett did not seem afraid of this wolf. It must have been Ryker’s wolf behind them. Scarlett’s heart settled down at the thought of her mate being close by.

AWOOOOOO!

That sound sent a chill down Scarlett’s spine. Without a second thought, she slammed down her paws and halted. She threw her head from side to side, trying to locate where the howl came from.

We are in big trouble.

A “howl of the hunt” was a very specific sound that an Alpha could use to call every wolf within the vicinity to join in the hunt. It could even rally up wolves that aren’t even tied to the Alpha, such as rogues, if the Alpha was dominant enough.

And it was Tyson who made that howl.

Tyson could manage to call every wolf within the sanction to do his bidding if he put enough of his power into the howl. Ryker was a formidable opponent and never lost a fight, but that was in a fair fight one-on-one. Granted, Ruby and Scarlett were sure he would be able to handle himself in a fight with a few opponents just as well. But a few hundred? Not so much.

Rainer’s white coat looked out of place in the luscious green forest around them. His silver eyes were scanning the area, just like Scarlett’s were, trying to judge where the attack would come from. There was no telling since Tyson would be able to throw his voice for this particular howl, a hidden feature within an Alpha so as to confuse their prey. Rainer was fairly close to the ground, ready to lunge into a fight when he needed to.

Scarlett nor Ruby had any way of talking to Rainer or Ryker without having a connection through a pack bond or a completed mate bond. Scarlett looked over to the large white wolf with pleading eyes in hopes he understood that they needed to continue running regardless of not knowing from what direction the wolves that were coming would attack. Rainer’s massive head bowed for a moment, and he leapt into a run. Scarlett ran along beside him, sneaking glances in different directions and avoiding roots as her paws hit the dirt.

I hope the entrance to the town is close!

Only Ryker was able to lead them to the right place and get them through the barrier due to the spell that encased the town. Even though they left together to go to the beach, there was no memory that Scarlett nor Ruby could rely on to get them back.

I definitely need to talk to Ryker about that when our lives are not in danger.

Ryker was heading towards two trees with a gap in between them. It looked out of place within the forest with no other trees seeming to be as close, and nearly identical, like these two.

THE ENTRANCE!

There was a sensation as if static was clinging to Scarlett’s fur, and it caused her fur to even pull in different directions. A trickle of vibration spread across her fur as well when Scarlett was only ten feet away from the trees. Just before Scarlett was able to run in between the trees, and possibly into the town, she felt something collide into her side. Scarlett yelped in surprise and landed hard on the forest floor. Instinct took over, and Scarlett rolled until she was able to get back onto her feet. An all-black wolf stood before her with saliva dripping from his snarling teeth. Its green eyes were locked onto Scarlett’s in a challenging manner.

This is Darnell. Tyson’s Beta.

Is he strong?

Very. Natural born Beta. His father was a Beta under Ryker’s father. More skilled in fighting with his wolf than his human form.

There was snarling behind Scarlett, but she did not dare to look. There was no way she would give Darnell and his wolf, Sombra, the advantage by taking her eyes off him. Scarlett heard a crunch and a wolf yelp and whimper, and she hoped that it was not Ryker. She had no idea if he was fighting one wolf or multiple. Her heart rate returned to pounding into her chest, her nerves nearly making her shake. Sombra was known to be patient and studied his opponent so he could predict what could happen next. With Scarlett having very little experience fighting, Ruby was not sure if this was going to go her way at all.

Sombra took a step to the side and walked in a circle around her. Scarlett moved accordingly to make her body line up with having him directly in front of her, not giving him any kind of advantage. There was no chance that she would even take her eyes off him to look at Ryker’s situation or even to see if any other wolves would be running her way. That would give Sombra the opportunity that he was searching for within the fight.

The wolf must have grown tired of waiting for Scarlett to make the first move. Sombra moved with lightning speed toward her in the blink of an eye, completely catching her off guard. Sombra managed to bite down on her shoulder and forced her onto the ground. Instead of yelping, Scarlett snarled, then rolled into Sombra. The move caused Sombra to break his hold, and Scarlett had the window to bite down on his front leg. With no qualm, she flexed her jaw until she heard a snap. Before she could throw her head to the side to break the bone more, Sombra swiped at her face with his paw. It connected but did not cut in keep enough to draw blood.

Good call! Now he will have trouble with his attacks because he can’t use his leg!

Sure enough, Sombra could not put weight on the leg that Scarlett had broken. He held the leg up close to his body and stared at Scarlett as he assessed the situation. Scarlett herself was having trouble holding her shoulder up from his attack, but at least they were still at even odds. At least she hoped so. Sombra could pull from the pack bonds to heal himself faster. Scarlett had no connection to a pack bond to do the same.

The entrance to Wolf’s Den was behind Sombra. Scarlett was not going to be able to rush past him with her shoulder, and he could still manage a decent attack with all of his training with a broken leg. There seemed to be no way around it. Scarlett had to move first and possibly jump through the barrier into safety.

What about a fake out? Seems like we are going to one side and then change direction?

I think he would see that coming.

With your shoulder, we can’t jump over him.

Agreed. He is as large as we are. That wouldn’t work.

I’m out of ideas. I didn’t get a chance to train in the tactical shit before I left Red Cove.

Ruby thought back to a time that she was training hand-to-hand with Jeremy. They had been in a wooded area just like this, and Jeremy taught Ruby to use her surroundings to her advantage. Jeremy had initiated a fight and then ran toward a tree. Ruby thought he was insane as it looked like he was going to run right into it and thought for sure he was throwing the fight to allow her to win. Then, he ran up the tree and flipped himself to be behind her. Then he grabbed the back of her to push her into the tree and won the fight when Ruby tapped out.

Scarlett…

Heard you loud and clear.

There was a tree next to Sombra that would give Scarlett the perfect advantage to push off of and toward the entrance. Scarlett charged toward Sombra at full speed. The wolf did not expect it. Pain exploded in Scarlett’s shoulder, but she ignored it as she ran. When she was at the right distance from the tree, Scarlett pushed her momentum into her front legs at first, allowed her back legs to come down hard, and then leapt over Sombra. It confused the wolf, and he dropped to the ground. Scarlett soared over him and landed on the trunk, and then she twisted her body and pushed herself against the tree to project herself toward the two trees.

The sizzling of the magic across her fur was not a feeling she wanted to get used to as she crossed the barrier. Scarlett’s paws connected with the ground, and she managed to tuck and roll so she did not harm herself. Pain radiated from her shoulder into her body as she did, and this time she let out the yelp. There were a few tumbles before Scarlett came to a stop. Her body laid on the ground as her breathing went from erratic to calm. Her head was in between her paws with her eyes closed as she caught her breath.

Well. That was more excitement than I ever want to endure ever again.

Just when Scarlett and Ruby thought they could relax, they remembered that Rainer was fighting other wolves while she fought Sombra. Panic raced through her, and Scarlett jumped to her feet to go back through the barrier to help. Just when she did, Rainer tumbled through it and landed on his side. Scarlett held her breath as she waited for more wolves to come through, but thankfully, none did. The breath let loose that she was holding and trotted towards Rainer. His white fur appeared to look like a canvas of different shades of red and brown as he laid on the ground. Then it hit Scarlett and Ruby.

He isn’t moving.

Ruby pushed for the shift back and Scarlett happily accepted. Once Ruby was on her feet she dashed toward the white wolf with tears stinging her eyes. She had to keep her left arm close to her chest from the shoulder wound, and it caused her to think of the fact that she would be of no use to getting Rainer to Nick with it.

“HELP! SOMEONE HELP! NICK! I NEED YOU AT THE ENTRANCE!” Ruby shouted as she ran towards Rainer.

She had no idea if the doctor would be able to hear her, but she did not want to push her luck at running to get him instead of going to Rainer. If anything, she could assess the wounds and maybe apply pressure to make any bleeding stop.

That’s if Rainer will allow me to touch him.

Ruby dropped to her knees next to the wolf, throwing all caution to the wind as it could have alarmed him and caused an attack. When she looked him over, she realized there was no chance of an attack. Rainer was breathing erratically, and there were several open wounds in various places.

Oh my Goddess… how the hell can I put pressure on all of these wounds at once? This is impossible!

Ruby looked toward the town and let out the loudest scream she would ever conjure in her life, “NICK!”

There were a few people wandering around, and they looked in her direction after the scream. A woman pushed the man beside her, and he quickly ran off deeper into the town. Ruby hoped that meant that the man would be getting Nick as she turned back towards Rainer.

How the hell can I help? He’s going to die!

Mark him.

Now is not the time for that, Scarlett!

It’s not what you think! The mate bond can give him something to hold onto!

Ruby looked down at Rainer’s neck, and blood was caked where she would have to bite into him. Before she could be grossed out at the idea of biting into blood and fur, Ruby realized that she would not get through it all to his skin to leave the mark.

Scarlett…

On it.

Scarlett pushed for the shift once again. This time, it came slower due to the injury and running out of energy between the last two shifts and the fight. When Scarlett’s paws were on the forest floor once again, she bent her head down to Rainer’s neck. There was some strain from the shoulder wound, but Scarlett managed to get low enough. She hesitated for a moment, and Ruby was unsure of why.

What are you doing? He can die at any minute! He is losing too much blood.

I just hope he will be okay with us doing this while he is unconscious.

Now is not the time to second guess this, Scarlett!

Scarlett shook the fear away and then bit down onto Rainer’s neck. The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth but had a hint of spice to it. It was a weird experience since she had never heard of blood tasting different than normal when marking someone, but Rainer moving brought that thought to a close. Rainer stirring was the only movement he made underneath Scarlett before returning to motionless. Scarlett wanted to howl in remorse, but then Nick was on his knees next to them.

“What the hell happened? How was there an attack this close to the barrier?”

Ruby pushed on the walls of the bond and managed to shift once again. Nick was pouring a liquid onto Rainer’s wounds and seemed to be almost done by the time Ruby was through the shift.

“It’s a very long story. No time for it right now. What can I do?”

Nick pulled a vile out of his bag and poured it onto the wounds. “Did you mark him?” He asked in confusion.

“Yeah. My wolf said it would help save him.”

“Smart wolf. But that only works between True Mates.”

A soft glow emitted from Rainer’s body. Nick and Ruby jumped back in surprise. When Nick looked over at Ruby with wide eyes, it was clear he understood what just happened more than Ruby did.

“You two… you’re his mate?”