AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Nope.
Halfway across the abandoned, empty stretch, the pungent scent of wolf males slams into me. It’s a mixture of musk and piss and dirty fur. That should’ve been my first clue that they weren’t Gem and Ryker’s packmates, but instead of turning tail and running back to the safety of the vamp city behind me, I kept jogging forward—
—until a small pack of snarling wolves dart out of the woods that border the road.
Technically, that’s still part of the no man’s land. Accalia doesn’t actually start until you hit the base of the mountain they’re built on top of, and the woods are just a few feet outside of Ryker’s territory. It’s the perfect spot for a group of strange wolves to hide. Far enough that his alpha wolf wouldn’t sense them from the mountain’s peak, but easy to watch the open space that exists between Muncie and Accalia on the odd chance a lone wolf passes by.
Because I am alone. There are five of them, only one of me, and as they fan out, they’re blocking my path ahead.
I stop short, hoping that they’re just passing through. There’s no way they were waiting for me, right? I’m just the unlucky she-wolf who ran into them. This has nothing to do with me being Elizabeth Howell, a Luna-touched female who’s been hiding out in Muncie for these last couple of months.
And maybe if I keep telling myself that, I’ll believe it. It kind of makes it difficult, though, when the grey wolf in the lead snaps his jaws at me before throwing his head back in a triumphant howl.
The four flanking him join in the howl, all while my wolf begins to tremble. Because that howl? Both of us recognize what it means.
These five were on the hunt and, look at that, they finally found their prey.
Ah,Luna.
CHAPTER7
ALEKS TO THE RESCUE
If there was ever a time I wished that my goddess would answer me, it’s now. But, just like the last two months, she’s silent. I’m completely on my own right now.
Even worse, with my connection to her severed, I can’t tap into her power. Sure, I can still sense bonds—all five of the prowling shifters are fully bonded, though three of the four have shaky mate bonds at best—but I can’t do anything about them. My silver eyes have probably bled to black by now, fear overwhelming me. That’s about the most impressive thing about me right now. No Luna means I can’t use her strength to warn these males back, and without my ability to snap bonds, threatening to take their mates from them won’t work.
It would only be a bluff, and despite these five being an obvious mix of delta and gamma wolves who can’t sense deception, I’m a terrible liar. They’ll be able to tell regardless.
Besides, if they’re really here because they’ve learned I’m Luna-touched, I don’t think admitting that I’m not any longer will work in my favor. It just erases any advantage I might have.
They’re here for me. No doubt about that. I just… I don’t know why. They’re not alphas, so they can’t be part of the Alpha collective that makes the laws for the rest of us shifters, and they’re not Mountainside wolves. Every one of Ryker’s wolves carries a bit of his scent with him, the mark of a pack’s Alpha, but I don’t recognize any of these guys.
There goes any hope that they’re heading down from Accalia for some reason. Whoever they are, they’ve risked coming this close to both another pack’s territory and a Fang City. Considering they’re all in their fur, I’m thinking they’ve traveled a bit, plus they’ve been waiting for an opportunity just like this.
I haven’t left Muncie in two months. Until an hour ago, I had no plan to leave today. How long have they been here?
And what are the odds I can cross back into the Fang City before these five wolves are on me?
Someone must have seen me leave. Even if Aleks didn’t see my text yet, one of the Cadre patrollers would have to be passing by sooner or later. The wolves can chase me into vamp territory, but they won’t get too far.
Right?
I’ve never been the bravest of females. Given the chance to fight or flee, I’m going to run every single time. That’s how I ended up being trapped in the Wolf District for so long. I was too afraid of the Wicked Wolf and what he would do if I attempted to leave that I never tried.
From the moment Roman first gave me a fang to wear, I didn’t have anything to be afraid of in Muncie. He might not have marked me as an intended mate, but the fang meant I was under his protection. A vamp had to have a death wish if they tried to go about the Cadre leader, and that was before Aleks actually started to press his claim that I was his beloved.
Now I have Aleks’s. It’s a mark of possession as it is protection, and though more than a few vampires had targeted my mate since he took over for Roman, I’ve been safe. The most I’ve had to deal with is curious looks and catty comments that I overheard. To supes, mates are sacred. Their issue is with Aleks, not me.
Of course, if they want Aleks to hurt, the easiest way to do that is to go for my throat. I have two knocks against me: I’m the leader’s beloved and a shifter. I’d be a naive idiot to believe that they’d never come after me, but with the number of pro-Cadre vamps vastly outweighing the rebels, I’ve been safe so far.
I should’ve remembered that, with my “gift”, it wasn’t just the vampires I had to be afraid of gunning for me.
It was my own kind.
* * *
It all happens so fast.
