Maddie, realizing that her mistress may not understand the situation and inadvertently kill the woman, crawled towards her mistress.
Sam, seeing the injured young woman growled, barring her bloodied teeth.
“Sam? It’s okay; I’m okay, you need to let Gertrude go.”
Sam was having none of that; she knew exactly what she was doing and she was prepared to deal with the consequences of letting the woman die. In fact, it would be a good lesson to anyone else that would disrespect her. Growling, she started backing up towards the entrance of the mountain, dragging the near unconscious woman with her.
Maddie followed her mistress, the only one willing to get near her. “Sam, she’s been punished enough. Please, Sam don’t kill her because of me. I couldn’t live with it if you did.”
It was her plea that finally got through. Maddie was such a kind-hearted soul. It was one of the reason she was considered weak by the rest of the pack. Every member was expected to help hunt for food but otherwise Maddie stepped back from anything involving violence. She didn’t engage in the usual power struggles within the pack and whenever there was a conflict between packs she stayed home and watched over the children.
Sam released her hold on Gertrude but continued to stand over her body effectively preventing anyone from coming to her aid. “Arrrre youuuu alllrighttt?”
Maddie gave her a small smile. “I’m fine.” Maddie looked up and saw Nafarius standing just inside the entrance.
Nafarius stood unmoving watching as his mate nearly ripped the throat out of one of his pack members. He’d come running when he heard the screams and shouts. His first thought had been for Sam afraid something had happened to her. Immediately, he recognized Gertrude as one of the females that Sam had been having problems with. He’d told her to take matters into her own hands and while it would seem she had he was surprised by the violence. Not yet knowing what had caused the confrontation he reserved judgment until after he had a chance to talk to those involved.
“Samantha.” Nafarius spoke softly not wanting to startle her while giving her time to calm down.
Sam looked up and watched Nafarius walking towards her. With a violent shudder she changed instantly moving from animal to human.
Surprised, Nafarius stopped. Never before had he seen someone change with such speed. Unlike anyone else, Sam seemed able to move from human to animal form without going through the long process of readjusting her body. It was a tremendous power and not one that many werewolves possessed. He wondered what other surprises she had in store for him.
“Get her out of here!” Sam didn’t spare Gertrude another glance as several men stepped forward and picked the injured woman up. “Let her heal herself in human form, if she can.”
Sam stood completely naked, her clothes in tatters, in the center of the common area surrounded by the pack. Most members stood silent, unmoving while others crawled forward. She was breathing hard, the taste of blood still fresh in her mouth. Reaching up she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and came away with her knuckles covered in blood. Rage still coursed through her body. The desire to kill was so strong that she struggled not to lash out at those that sought to appease her. It didn’t escape her notice that those women previously led by Gertrude were among the first to come forward. Both women knelt at her feet, clinging to her legs with their lips pressed against her shins.
She had been right; the retribution bestowed upon Gertrude would go far in ensuring she received the respect she deserved as Nafarius’ mate. Instinctively, she knew that while there would no longer be any serious problems there would be times when she would be required to reassert her dominance.
Right now she needed to work off some of her anger. Turning, she ran out of the mountain and into the forest. She changed back into animal form and raced through the trees sending animals scurrying. Sam tried to think, to understand what had happened back there but couldn’t make heads or tails of it. One minute she’d been patiently putting up with Gertrude and her followers’ insolence and the next she had the woman’s neck between her teeth. Understanding that she had finally reached the breaking point didn’t help her to understand the viciousness of her reaction. After a while Sam decided that there was nothing she could do to understand her reaction and chalked it up to animal instincts.
Back at the clearing, Roland watched as Nafarius paced back and forth. Looking much like a caged animal Nafarius seemed a thousand miles away. Actually, his thoughts were much closer to home. He had spent the past several hours talking with various members of the pack. There were many that had witnessed Gertrude’s uncalled for attack on Maddie and Sam’s quick response and not one of them faulted their mistress. In fact many voiced their unfailing loyalty and approval stating that it was about time Gertrude was put in her place.
That left Gertrude herself. Despite remaining in human form she was healing quickly. Sam had damn near torn the woman’s vocal cords out but that didn’t stop her from trying to explain what had happened. At first she seemed to think that Nafarius was sympathetic to her complaints but a simple snarl of warning was enough to remind her that she was speaking of her leader’s mate.
Nafarius had listened to her hoarse explanation regarding her inability to change. Gertrude had gone on in length describing the sensation of Sam reaching into her body and preventing her animal from surfacing. Having been ordered to remain in human form Gertrude was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to change once she healed.
Nafarius listened and wondered what it all meant. There were stories, past down through the centuries, of other types of lycanthrope that had powers beyond those of their animals. But there had never been stories of werewolves possessing these abilities. Perhaps there was something about Sam, something in her past that would account for the abilities.