26. Flint

“Sure you wanna come tonight?”

My mate was close to his due date. His belly was so big he’d almost tripped a few times. I’d had a new bed delivered, and we slept in the living room as I didn’t want him climbing the stairs.

Tonight was the full moon. La luna for my great-grandmother. The moon shining light in the darkness. Noir for her mate. It was a pack tradition. La Luna wolf shifters were superstitious, and we believed the goddess herself was looking over us on this night.

“You might have to take me in a wheelbarrow,” he said as I helped him out of bed after his early-evening nap.

Our mate can not sit in a wheelbarrow!My wolf was indigent.

“Ummm—”

“Joking, babe.” He staggered into the first-floor bathroom to pee. “Besides, I have a big strong man to hold my arm and make sure I don’t go face first into the ground.”

“That would be me.” I did a little shoulder shimmy. It was hard to imagine me doing that before I met my mate.

La Luna Noir pack started their run a few minutes before midnight and ended it an hour later. Tony ate a late dinner, and I packed snacks for him to nibble on. When I looked at what I’d prepared, maybe I should have gotten a wheelbarrow—for the snacks, not him. But a backpack would do.

The woods on our estate were perfect for a midnight run, but this was our private domain, and so we drove thirty minutes into the countryside to pack land, accompanied by the usual security detail.

During Tony’s pregnancy, I’d doubled the security that accompanied us everywhere, remembering what had happened to Grandpa and Papa. Though Emilio assured me he and his men had found nothing between Foley and Sewell, I wasn’t taking any chances with my mate and child.

“It’s so beautiful in the moonlight.” Tony pressed his face to the window.

“You used to be frightened of the woods, especially at night.”

“Now I know that the scariest thing here is… you!” He giggle-snorted.

We drove through the gates into pack land. There were small buildings scattered about, the first being the security checkpoint. The rest were cabins. They were for pack members who wanted a vacation or to retire in the countryside. Our shifters never strayed too far from pack lands.

Many of the pack had arrived before us, and flaming torches surrounded the clearing where the run began and ended. Hunter and Ranger were here with Dad. Uncle Arnie was unfolding a deck chair, as he was sitting out the run. He’d hurt his back gardening and was considering retiring. I doubted he would. He loved his job.

I couldn’t see Emilio, but he’d be around somewhere, sniffing out possible trouble.

The crowd swelled, and people gathered in small groups.

“I can stay with you and have my brothers lead the run.”

“No. I’ve got Uncle Arnie to keep me company.” I eased my mate onto the lounger I’d brought and gave him the snacks, leaving my gun in the car.

Two of the bodyguards would stay with my mate. They’d get to run on the next full moon.

“It’s time.” Ranger and Hunter flanked me as the pack undressed. I folded my clothes and left them with Tony, while most everyone else left them in piles. I blew him a kiss before moving to the middle of the group.

“Take your fur.”

A flurry of dust and dirt filled the air as men became wolves, and my beast loped toward the trees. We would run around three quarters of the land perimeter and then cut through the woods until we reached our starting point.

Dad’s wolf preferred to stay at the back, while my brothers often raced ahead of me. There was no rule that I always had to be in the lead, except at the beginning and end of the run. I often lagged behind with my dad’s beast, though usually Arnie was at the rear.

We ran under a cloudless sky, the moon shining on the path and bathing us in her light, giving us strength.

We had reached the three-quarter point and turned into the thick forest. My wolf was bounding along when I picked up a familiar scent of one of the bodyguard’s beasts who should have been with Tony. My wolf skidded to a halt, and I took my skin. The bodyguard also shifted.

“The Alpha Omega is in labor, Alpha. He is asking you to come back. He’s in a lot of pain.”

“Go to him. I’ll be there shortly.” I had less than a minute to find my brothers, as one of them would need to end the meet according to tradition.

But as pack wolves passed me, stragglers going at half the pace of the leaders, Dad’s beast leaped over a bush, and he shifted, landing on his two human feet.

“We have a problem.”

“It’s under control.” I explained Tony was in labor.

“No. Foley and friends…” He panted and bent over. “They detoured into the woods at the halfway point and… maybe others.”

Every Alpha had probably been faced with a choice of the pack or his mate. Tony needed me. It was my duty as his mate but also as the one that held my heart in his hands. I wanted to support him as our little one entered the world.

“It’s a trap, Flint. I’m sure they’re planning an ambush.”

Of course they’d use my mate as an excuse to get me out of the way. But what if the baby was coming? What then? How could I face Tony if I ignored him when he needed me most. Fuck, if both bodyguards were in on it, Tony and our child were in danger.

I had to go to my mate, but Dad grabbed me, telling me he’d go to Tony. “You and your brothers deal with Foley and his friends.”

I had to put my mate first.

“If you’re with Tony and they kill your brothers and other pack members, they may kill you too. You have to stop them so Tony and the baby will be safe.”

Every sinew in my body longed to be with my mate and child. “You and Arnie can’t fend off two strapping bodyguards.”

Hunter and Ranger bounded up and shifted. “What’s going on? You disappeared, Bro.”

I filled them in, but the seconds were ticking by. As Alpha, I dreaded having to make a choice. “Dad, you and Hunter go to Tony. Ranger and I will be with the pack.”

Foley would not be stupid enough to rely on only him and his friends, so there would be others waiting for us.

Dad and Hunter shifted and were gone, taking my heart with them. Ranger and I huddled, discussing strategy. He would catch up to the pack, warning each group, while I went a roundabout way. There was a section in the deepest part of the forest, where vines dangled from the tall trees and the smallest amount of light penetrated through the canopy.

“I hope Emilio has scented Foley and his traitorous friends.” I needed him and his wolf, both scarred from former battles.

My wolf was in fight mode as he took his fur. Like his wild cousins he knew how to move stealthily when hunting. Only this time, the prey were shifters. I didn’t want to be the third Durand killed after a war with another pack.

Tony and our unborn child were my world, but if I went to the goddess, my family would look after them. But I dreaded what would happen if Ranger or Hunter had to fight a challenger for the role of Alpha.

My beast slowed as we neared the place where Foley and his buddies probably waited, hoping to catch us unawares. Other shifters often underestimated Dad, thinking he was too scattered to pay attention to their antics. That was their first mistake. Let’s hope it wasn’t their last.

My beast crouched low behind a log. The universe was on our side ‘cause the breeze was blowing toward us. I scented Ranger and the others close by pounding through the forest. Before they reached this place, they’d spread out and surround it.

My beast also scented Foley and companions, but he was too hot-headed to plan a rebellion. He was all bluster. We’d be fighting shifters more shrewd than him, and my beast sniffed the air for the scent of Nightfall shifters. There were scents but from La Luna Noir beasts. My heart rate kicked up a notch, fearing there were more traitors from our own kin than just Foley and co.

I counted the seconds until Ranger led the pack into the shadowy darkness. Foley and four others leaped out, creating a diversion.

But foolish Foley and companions were fodder, a distraction, and they went down, one by bloody one, their throats slashed, their beasts crying out as they sacrificed themselves and took their last breath.

More wolves joined the fight. I’d been prepared for the Nightfall shifters who’d been in skirmishes with other packs over the years. What I wasn’t expecting was La Luna Noir pack members, battle-hardened from those early years of fighting the Silverback pack with me. With me, not against!

The forest floor was covered in blood, the metallic smell mixed with moss and soil while Ranger and the others battled. My wolf was tempted to join in, but I urged him to be patient. There was one waiting for me, not caring he’d sent other La Luna Noir men to their death. The one person other than family who’d been with Grandpa, Papa, and me. One whose fighting skills had been honed from many shifter wars.

Now.

My wolf leaped. Flying through the air over at least fifteen feet, saliva dripping over his canines. A threatening growl silenced the forest and he attacked Emilio’s beast. His teeth penetrated the flesh covering his throat. Blood gushed over my beast.

He was wounded but not fatally.

Both wolves charged at one another, and the other beast’s teeth penetrated my wolf’s flesh. Blood flowed, mingling with his as our beasts’ snapping and snarling was the only sound in the forest. They lunged again, each clawing at the other.

A gunshot rang, and Emilio’s wolf twisted around toward the sound, allowing my beast to attack him again, tearing at a huge chunk of flesh.

The shot was followed by a howl. Uncle. A warning. The scent of fear mixed with blood, and my wolf almost paused the fight and raced to our mate. But we had to finish this.

My beast was drained of energy as he hurled himself at his opponent, tearing at his throat and leaving a gaping hole. Emilio’s wolf fell back as my beast lay on the ground, enough energy for one last attack.

Emilio shifted, blood streaming from his wounds and out of his mouth. He mumbled, “You… never… knew… how I hated… what you stood for… and then… and then… you mated a human,” before his eyes closed.

I took my skin and examined my wounds. I’d survive, but my wolf was spent.

The pack shifted. Bodies lay scattered on the bloodied ground, and I told my brother to burn the conspirators. The rest of La Luna Noir dead, the ones who gave their life for our pack, would be given a proper burial.

I limped toward Tony, blood and sweat dripping into my eyes.

I’d been assured the danger came from outside the pack. Instead, the rot was festering from within. I’d have to purge any remaining traitors.