Secret Worlds (358 page)

Aiden’s transformation from human to wolf was almost poetic in its beauty. Where I felt clumsy and odd, he shifted with a graceful motion, and before I knew it, the large dark gray wolf stood before me, my Alpha and my mate.

He lifted his head and his tail and walked next to me, brushing the length of my body with his. Instinctively I lowered my head to him. He must have approved of my gesture. Aiden butted me with his head and lapped my muzzle with his tongue.

He yipped at me and then took off into the woods. I didn’t need to be told twice. I took off after him, determined to stay on his heels.

The freedom of running through the forest with the crisp winter air blowing through my fur was amazing. I could’ve run forever, it felt so good. I felt like I belonged there. Truly belonged. I was bounding over rocks and ducking low-lying tree branches with ease. No longer unsteady on my new paws, I kept right in pace with Aiden. He’d occasionally peek back at me and let out a snort or a growl. Though we spoke no words, I didn’t need them. I knew what he wanted, for us to keep going, faster and faster.

We ran for miles before heading back to the wolf preserve. When we returned, I was winded and a little worn out, but completely in love with my new body. The stamina, the enhanced senses, and the warmth of this fur coat were wonderful.
So far, so good. I think I could get used to being a wolf.

I flopped down on the ground near the bonfire pit and caught my breath. Aiden trotted up next to me. There was a hint of electricity in the air. Aiden was transforming back. The fur fell from his body and he began to grow back into his human form.

I hoped he’d help me transform back, after the run.

Just as before, he seemed to do this effortlessly. In moments, my man was standing in front of me, naked. Seeing him au natural, in all his glory, ignited something inside of me, and any exhaustion I might have been feeling left. I jumped to my feet and barked excitedly.

“Relax, babe. We’ll get you back to your old self too.”

He reached out and placed a hand on my head, then stopped and turned away from me.

I smelled something familiar coming from my left: patchouli and Aqua Di Gio cologne with a hint of peppermint.

I couldn’t see him, or hear him moving through the bushes, but I definitely had his scent.

Aiden smiled approvingly. “Your nose is good. I smell him too.”

“You did it? You actually went through with it?” Brady sounded shocked as he walked up the path that led to the cabins. “And look at her!” He whistled. “What a fox!”

“Why have you come, Brady?”

Brady held his hands in surrender. “I’m sorry, brother. I was wrong to doubt you. I knew you would follow her if she decided to leave. Micah seemed the next best choice for leader, but he’s a thousand times worse. He’s coming and prepared to execute his challenge.”

Aiden scowled. “You should have had more faith in me … in us. But we will deal with that later. I want to end this now. Where is Micah?”

“He’s coming. There.” Brady pointed.

Then Aiden’s brow furrowed and he glared into the darkness beyond the trees. “Come out, Micah. Your Alpha requires a word with you.”

“You’re not my Alpha any longer.” Micah laughed as he emerged from the darkness. “In fact, you never really were anyone’s Alpha. You claimed the title but never earned it.”

More smells assaulted my nose, and then I saw them. Diana walked up behind Micah.

She’s supposed to be in lockup!

Behind her, more members of the pack were following.

My heart stopped. This had all the makings of a coup d’état.

Aiden stood his ground. “I’ve warned you, Micah. You make this challenge; you will not walk away from it.”

“I’m not worried.” He smirked. “Unlike you, who have only your bitch, I have the backing of the pack. They were quite interested in the concerns I brought up about your mate and her alliances.”

Aiden eyed the crowd beginning to fan out all around us. “How many of you wish to follow in the lead of this wolf? Has he promised you freedom from the threat of the Acta Sanctorum? No doubt he’s poisoned you against any supernatural alliances. He claims the vampires will be our end. How quickly you all forget that they too laid their lives on the line when our preserve was threatened.”

Murmurs and chatter buzzed around us.

“How many of their lives were taken, and how many brave wolves were lost in the last battle? Where is Connor?” Micah was playing that Connor card a little too often. He was beginning to sound like a broken record.

“And remember, it was the vampires who brought the Acta Sanctorum to our doorstep,” Diana chimed in.

“And you think you can protect this pack by alienating us from any other supernaturals in the area? What will you do when the Acta Sanctorum attack again, and you have no one to call on for support?”

“We will come to Aiden’s aid,” Alyssa’s voice preceded her entrance into the circle. She and Lysander walked up to Aiden and each placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Our clan respects the sacrifices you have all made in the fight against the Saints. We’ve all lost family in the fight and each one, whether wolf or vampire or witch, has been sorely missed,” Lysander said.

“Get out of here, vampire,” Micah spat at my friends. “Your kind are the root of all our troubles.”

“So you have said. Loudly, ad nauseum, from what I gather.” Lysander’s tone remained businesslike, though I caught the hint of annoyance. “And we will leave you alone, if Aiden is no longer Alpha. As long as he is head of the Olde Town, you can count on us for support.” He turned to Aiden and bowed. “We would gladly lay our lives on the line in your service.”

“Thank you, friend,” Aiden said, and there was no mistaking the pride in his eyes.

“Rest assured, vampire, that this will not end in Aiden’s favor,” Micah’s words were pure venom.

“So be it.” Aiden addressed the surrounding wolves. “You can all bear witness, and when this is over, I expect you all to reaffirm your loyalties, or be cast out of this pack for good.” As quickly as he said that, he crouched and transformed back into his wolf form.

Micah unzipped his pants and let them fall to the ground, then ripped his shirt off and crouched as he transformed as well. Where Aiden was a dark gray wolf, Micah had all the shading of a Siberian husky, with the light eyes to match.

The two wolves circled each other, ears pinned back, snarling.

Alyssa and Lysander backed away to the outer edge of the circle of wolves.

Brady pushed me backwards with him. My heart raced furiously. This was it. A no-holds-barred fight to the death. Aiden was a strong and accomplished fighter, but Micah was too cocky. Either he was a superior fighter himself, or he had something tricky up his sleeve.

The rest of the pack members widened their circle around the two snarling wolves. They jeered and cheered, creating quite a ruckus. I was glad we were so far removed from society here on the wolf preserve; otherwise all of this noise would surely have brought unwanted attention.

Seeing all of the posturing and snarling and feeling the animosity all around had an unexpected effect on me. I don’t know what came over me, instincts or something otherworldly. I lifted my head and did what felt right. I howled at the top of my lungs. Brady joined me, baying at the moon while still in his human form. A few of the other pack members followed along too.

Both wolves turned toward me and nodded as if we’d just signaled them to start the battle.

Diana found me too, and there was no mistaking the look she gave me. Her hazel eyes appeared obsidian under the moonlight. Cold, calculating, and cruel, the expression on her face clearly called for my death. Our fight would come soon, I just knew it; but not before Aiden and Micah finished theirs.

A high-pitched yelp had me turning to see the two dominant wolves going at it. Micah was a good fighter, narrowly dodging Aiden’s deadly teeth as he lunged for the neck. Once or twice Aiden looked to have Micah pinned, but as the thinner wolf, Micah was able to squirm and tuck himself out from Aiden’s hold. Still, I could tell that Aiden was the better of the two. He appeared to have overpowered Micah. That gave me some relief.

The death glares coming from Diana though were enough to keep me on pins and needles.

A part of me feared that I might not be able to take her. I felt fine in my new body, but Aiden had warned me I wouldn’t be at full strength yet.

The yelping, snarling, growling noises and cold slushy mud being kicked up by the fight didn’t seem to matter to her. She was locked on me and only me. Her pace deliberately slow to prolong the tension, Diana sauntered toward me, disrobing with each step so that by the time she reached me there would be nothing to hinder her from shifting into the killer wolf she was.

Ready or not, it was about to be my turn.

“I was planning to let you watch your mate die, but it seems he’s too good a fighter. Let’s give him some distraction.”

She crouched down and began to shift.

It was now or never. I had no hope against an accomplished killer. I lunged at her mid-shift, but even in her vulnerable state she was able to dodge and deflect my attack. Still a little clumsy on four legs, I overcompensated and ended up tumbling into the fight between Aiden and Micah. A set of sharp fangs dug into the back of my neck. I felt myself being pulled upward and then tossed.

I hit the ground hard, knocking the wind from my lungs. It took me a second to catch my breath and get back up on all fours. My neck ached and there was a sticky wetness dribbling down my fur. I hoped the wound wasn’t too bad, but with my heart racing and the adrenaline pumping through my system, I doubted even the loss of a limb could stop me. I had only a moment to spot Diana barreling toward me and full speed. No rest, no time-outs in this fight. She wanted me dead at all cost.

I braced for impact, baring my fangs at her and snarling. She might have been bigger and stronger, but I wasn’t going to show one ounce of fear.

Just as expected, she slammed into me, knocking me to the ground. I threw my paws up as I rolled onto my back.

All of her sharp white teeth were showing. Her lips were pulled back as far as they could go and a line of saliva dripped down on to me.

Her two front paws dug into my chest, sharp nails breaking through my thick coat of fur and slicing into my skin. She pressed down hard, stamping me into the ground.

Still I growled and snarled. My ears were pinned back against my head. She had the upper hand, but I was a scrappy little thing and that might work to my advantage. I looked for a way to squirm out from under her grip.

She bent her head and lunged for my neck. I twisted and jerked sideways, tossing my paws up and pressing them against her with all of my strength. That worked, and I was able to roll onto my side. I tucked my back paws and tail and tried to twist around as quickly as I could and roll onto my paws, but I wasn’t fast enough. I felt the brush of teeth again, catching my paw. I yelped as I felt the skin rip open but did not stop my momentum. Twisting my head to nip at her, I threw my legs around and flopped over, quickly pulling myself up, and then used my back and tail to block. Her teeth were sharp, but I’d much rather she hit my hind quarters than find the sensitive or vulnerable spots up front.

She was vicious. I didn’t have a prayer in the world of winning this fight. As I blocked more of her attacks, I glanced around, hoping to find someone who might help. Then the reality hit me. No one would dare interfere in a fight like this. I caught a glimpse of Aiden and Micah still tangled in their own battle. You couldn’t tell on Aiden’s dark fur, but Micah’s lighter coat showed many bloody stains.

I should have stayed focused on my own fight. That brief glance over cost me, and I felt the sharp fangs plunge into the side of my neck. Diana clamped down hard, forcing my head sideways. Currents of pain ran through my body. I yelped, but her clamped teeth cut off most of the sound. From the corner of my eye I saw Aiden turn toward me, and Micah, not missing a beat, took that opportunity to strike and lunged for Aiden’s neck.

I didn’t get the opportunity to see what happened next. Diana began jerking me side to side. Her teeth firmly entrenched in my neck were ripping and shredding my skin with each movement. Stars danced in my vision from the pain, but I held firmly to consciousness, my heart pounding with the desperate need to stay alive.

It hurt more than words could say, but I managed to maneuver out from her toothy grasp. The cost was high, though, and as the blood began running down the side of my neck, the lightheadedness set in.

I had to stay alive. That was it. Death was not an option.

But I was too weak to really put up much of a fight now that I was losing so much blood. There had to be another way to defeat her.

She lunged again at me.

I barely got out of her way in time. I felt a tug on my tail and realized she had a mouth full of fur.

Like a common cat fight among drunken women. I realized then that Diana was bluntly attacking me, pulling hair and taking swings at me. She had no real skill. Lunge and bite, lunge and bite. She’d been lucky so far in catching me off guard and using my disorientation against me, but after a few moments of this, her moves were becoming predictable.

It was then that I decided to stop avoiding the fight. I turned and faced her, snarling and baring my teeth. She met my eyes and if I wasn’t mistaken, smiled. Blood coated her white teeth. My blood.

My heart pounded. I hoped I was doing the right thing. If I was wrong, this would be the last mistake I would ever make.

I lunged forward, aiming for her throat, mouth open, teeth bared, and snapped them shut at the first sign of fur. She dodged and turned her tail toward me. I wasn’t missing that opportunity. I clamped down on it and tore out a chunk of fur. She turned and snapped her jaw at me, but I did not retreat. I clamped down on the closest bit of fur I could find, and when my teeth sank into tender flesh, the taste of blood invigorated me. Warm and salty, rather than repulsive, it seemed to give me a boost as well as satisfy some deep-rooted instinct inside.