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“No harm done, Gad, you can stop groveling before I put you on your rear.” Riaz shrugged. “Either way, when we’ve figured it out, you’ll be the first ones to know.”
Accepting the deferral, they moved on to lighter topics, their impromptu meeting soothing a piece of his soul. Wolves were pack animals, and spending time among his most trusted always proved beneficial.
Half an hour later, the sneaky vampire made it her goal to approach them entirely without alerting them to her presence. She clearly hadn’t realized yet that his wolf would never allow another predator to get the jump on him. Casting the camouflaged vampire a mischievous leer, he asked, “Come out, come out, wherever you are.”
“When did you hear me?”
By the looks on his betas’ faces, none of them had known she was there, which made him even more arrogant. “When you stomped into the hall by your room.”
“Liar.”
She rolled her shoulders, muttering something about ridiculous alpha males, but Riaz’s attention was suddenly caught elsewhere. He went deathly still, a predatory silence overtaking him.
Deep in the bonds that connected him to his pack, darkness bloomed. And with it, he knew that one of the members of his pack had been compromised. Instantly, his wolf leapt to the forefront, assuming control as he dived into the pack’s bonds to uncover who’d succumbed to rabidity.
Around him, he was vaguely aware that his betas—and Cortana—had frozen when he did, reacting to his sudden caginess. With each passing moment, frenetic energy pooled in his gut as adrenaline swarmed through him.
There.
On a dime, he shifted, tearing off toward the boundary of his territory where the other wolf struggled for control. Behind him, he barely heard Ava’s plea.
“Cortana, follow him! The rest of us can’t keep up!”
As his paws connected with the earth, he sensed her trailing behind him. Riaz was drawn by his ailing pack member, driven to the height of his speed and Cortana was keeping pace. She ran as though the fires of hell licked her heels, darting alongside him as if to deny him any opportunity to send her away.
Deep within, icy tendrils of fear for her fisted around his heart. The vampire who was to be his mate was likely sprinting into a dangerous situation out of determination to provide him backup. The thought of her being injured or killed was a blade against his throat.
Vampires were blessed with speed where wolves had been gifted with strength. Though each species boasted abilities far surpassing those of a human, a similarly aged werewolf would never outpace a vampire, and a vampire would never win a contest of strength against a werewolf. Despite his blistering speed, she’d completely caught up by the time they reached the edges of his territory.
A snarl split the air ahead of him and he slid to a stop.
The grey wolf, lined with reddish brown and white undertones, snapped his frothing teeth at Riaz. Though he held his ground, he hesitated to attack, his need to save the other man from his rabidity nearly overpowering the urge to eliminate the diseased wolf.
And then the rabid wolf noticed Cortana.
Riaz used the split second before the wolf lunged for her to leap. Before feral teeth could sink into Cortana’s flesh, he’d barreled into the other beast, using his full weight to pin him to the ground. Dominance would be of no use here.
As they met in a flash of fang and claw, he realized the rogue wolf was bleeding from a gunshot wound in his hind leg. A trail of crimson bled down to mix with the dirt below. Though Riaz was the stronger fighter, he was held back by his desire to do only minimal harm. The grey’s teeth viciously sunk into Riaz’s foreleg, leaving him howling in pain. The alpha needed the element of surprise, and the sudden shift from wolf to man would have to suffice.
The moment of hesitation on the part of the grey wolf translated to Riaz’s win. His arms coiled around the rabid beast’s neck, cinching until the animal couldn’t move against his immense strength.
“Stop!” Desperation and anxiety filled his hoarse voice. “Please, don’t do this!”
He struggled against the raving creature through the feral snarls leaving a mouth filled with bloodied teeth. Once more, the animal scored his nails down Riaz’s flesh, the iron-rich tang lacing the already laden air.
“Please, please Benny.”
Another failed lunge toward the vampire made the rabid wolf paddle his paws against the ground, foam flinging in her direction as he fought against Riaz’ hold. Benny made his intent clear: he wanted Cortana’s blood. Riaz could never allow him to escape his hold, as much as it tore him inside to realize.
He could no longer hold off. The boy he knew was gone.
An audible snap sounded in the clearing. The snarls stopped; Benny’s struggle ended.
Lifting his voice to the wind, he howled in rage, defeat, and misery: the lone howl. He poured the pain of the loss into each mournful note, knowing he’d never see Benny’s smile again, and that only hours previous, he’d made the decision to deny the younger wolf the protection of the vaccine.
Tonight, he had no assurance his pack would echo back.
He cradled the beloved young member of his pack to his chest, the wolf still in death. The pack didn’t know yet what had befallen their brother. Benny’s soft reddish fur tickled over his skin, the scent of his own blood saturating the clearing while it gushed from his injuries.
