44
BRANDON
The sound of a crash jerks me out of sleep.
My wolf alerts quickly, roaring to the surface before my human mind can process the shards of broken glass on the floor around the window and the curtains whipping inward in the summer wind. By the time Alicia sits up, I’m out of bed and at the window, scenting the air and looking for the danger.
“Brandon,” Alicia says urgently. “Lonnie.”
She got there faster than I did. I don’t know if she’s more used to his scent than I am, or if she’s just a little more human than I am at the moment. It’s probably a combination of both. She jumps out of bed, Emmy cradled in her arms.
“Go.” It sounds more like a growl than a word, and I hope she understands me, because there’s no time for a conversation. My wolf is barely contained. My fingers are already curling into claws, my chin jutting forward, my lips pulling back away from teeth that are closer to fangs.
Alicia doesn’t need to be told twice. She runs out of the room, holding Emmy tightly.
I launch myself through the broken window, and I’m wolf by the time my paws hit the ground.
The scent of other wolves in the air is thick. Lonnie isn’t the only one here. They’re all around me, and in the dark I can’t make out the shapes of them. I can’t tell how many there are. I only know that I’m outnumbered.
A snarl rips out of me. I will kill anyone who comes near this house. This isn’t like the need I felt to fight back in my old bad boy days. This isn’t about proving I’m the toughest or the smartest or the fastest. I don’t give a damn what any of them think about me. This is about Alicia and Emmy. My mate and my daughter.
I will protect them if it kills me.
And it probably will, because there are so many of them.
Behind me, I hear the front door of Vern’s house bang open. I can’t afford to turn and see who it is. If I lower my guard for even a moment, the wolves will attack and this standoff will be over.
And then I hear a low snarl at my side, and a wolf steps into position.
It’s a female. Not Alicia-I know her scent as well as my own. It has to be Kayla.
A moment later, on my other side, I perceive the familiar steadying presence of my alpha. Vern has joined the fight.
I still don’t think the numbers are even. The scent of my enemies in the air is too thick. I’m standing with a woman whose fighting skill I don’t know and an old alpha who’s way past his prime, but at least our odds are a little better now.
One of the wolves opposite me steps forward into the light, and I see that it’s Lonnie. I know his color and markings, because we’ve run together plenty of times in our life.
He’s crouched low, positioned for attack.
My lips peel away from my teeth and I snarl at him. My tail is ramrod straight, and my ears are laid back against my head. I know he’s the one I need to worry about. He’s the leader of this band. None of the others will move unless he gives the signal.
Beside me, Vern moves a little. I don’t know what he must be thinking. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to square up against your own child like this. He’s protecting his daughter and his grandchild, but it still puts him in a terrible position.
Fortunately, Lonnie is ignoring him, keeping his focus on me. I think he’s aware that I’m the biggest threat to him, just like he’s the biggest threat to me.
Honestly, this might as well be a one-on-one confrontation. Everyone else here is just a distraction.
Lonnie moves to one side, as if he’s going to circle me and look for an opening to attack, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to allow him one step closer to the house. I leap sideways and forward a little, growling at him.
He steps backward. I think it’s reflexive, but it’s still progress. I’ve driven him back.
Now a few other wolves come into view. I don’t have time to count-I can’t afford to take my eyes off Lonnie-but I’d say there are about five or six of them here. Growls go up from all around me.
Kayla slinks forward. I wish I’d fought with her at my side before. I wish I had any idea what to expect of her.
I’m about to launch myself at Lonnie and force the inevitable showdown, but suddenly his ears perk up and he turns away.
I would jump him right then and there, but I can’t. I’m frozen, because I
heard it too: the wail of a small child.
Emmy.
It’s not coming from the house. It’s off to our right, toward the river.
Alicia must have taken her and run. It’s the only thing that makes sense. She left us to hold the wolves off and got Emmy out of here. It was the right decision, of course it was-but now Lonnie knows.
There’s not even a moment for me to process all this and come up with a plan to stop him.
Immediately, he turns toward the river and starts to run.
Vern shifts. “Go,” he gasps. It’s disorienting to see the wolf give way to this old, worn out man. “They’re going for Alicia. Stop them.”
He doesn’t have to tell me.
I break into a run, following Lonnie and the rest of his friends into the night.