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“We could shift,” Ryan suggested. “Scare them off with our real strength.”
“We can’t risk exposure so close to home, no matter how tempting. He could have planned for that.” Byron stared into space for a moment. “This is the plan. We’ll split into groups and shepherd these men away from the pack. One jeep will stay here and block the road. The other will use the main road to get ahead of them and be ready to follow if they flee.” He looked over us with a stern gaze. “We intend to get them out of here not to engage. The rest of us will go ahead on foot.”
He handed out more instructions. Vira and I would approach the harbingers with Ryan and Byron while a couple more pack members led by Jeremy kept their distance, ready to run to us if we needed assistance. They would cut off any harbingers who got past us.
I hoped we wouldn’t need any help. As we followed Byron’s confident stride, it didn’t feel as though anything in the world could touch us. The backroads were peaceful and close to the woods. If we had lingered in the woods and remained in wolf form, it would have been easy to attack the harbingers and rip them apart. My wolf’s bloodthirsty thoughts startled me. She seemed to truly despise the harbingers. Did that mean she hated me on some level?
“Know them?” Byron asked Vira when the first two harbingers came into our sights. We held back for a moment to see what they were up to.
“I don’t know them,” she said after a moment. “Neither of these men are from my compound.”
“What are they doing?” I asked, horrified as I watched them muster up death, send it towards the other, and then let it go again. Over and over. Neither of them was as strong as Eli, but that didn’t mean they would be easy to fight off. “Is Eli teaching them?”
“He doesn’t know what you are now,” Vira said. “He might be using them to try to hurt you. From this distance, he thought he was safe.”
“Let’s get this moving,” Byron said, nodding at Ryan.
Ryan whistled loudly, drawing attention from the pair. They took one look at Vira and ran. We followed, taking our time. It wasn’t long before Eli approached us instead, surrounded by his little groupies. They gathered close, whether to protect him or themselves, I couldn’t tell.
Byron stopped walking. “This is our territory,” he called out in a misleadingly friendly voice. “Time for you to move on.”
Eli pushed his way to the front of the group. The others seemed nervous. Most of them looked young. How much of a threat could they be? “Do you think the likes of you can threaten me?”
“Go home, Eli,” Vira called out. “Once the Elders find out what you’re doing, they will punish you.”
“They’ll thank me,” he said with a sneer. “Or they’ll fall. But we both know they’re too lazy to do anything about me or these animals you’re wasting your time with. Somebody has to step up, Vira, before it’s too late.”
“This is your final warning.” Byron’s voice sent a chill down my spine. “You had your chance. We won’t go easy on you again.”
Eli spluttered something incomprehensible then swung his arms out. A roar sounded in my head. I saw something even stranger than hands clawing at his face once he sent his power towards us. I didn’t have time to think about that.
Death shot towards Byron like a knife. I had never seen it more clearly. I stepped towards the alpha, gripped his elbow, and imagined a shield rise before him, one made by death but fortified by wolf.
Byron flinched as though he felt the strike, but it never fully reached him. I saw death bounce off the shield, though the barrier cracked and sent a ricochet of pain through my body. The wolf could withstand it. I trusted her, and she felt proud of me for protecting her pack. She didn’t hate me at all. We could be a team, too.
“I can do this,” I whispered. “I still have the power. I’m stronger now.”
“Careful,” Vira warned. “Don’t push too far too soon.”
Eli barely acknowledged his failure. He struck out at Byron a second time, and once again, I saw it all. The other harbingers lent him their power, merged theirs with his. Like a pattern, layer upon layer of death connected, though none of the harbingers had the same power as Eli. He was the strongest by far.
For a reason.
Every time he drew death to him, he drew spirits, too. They were connected to him, in pain as he stole from them, as they struggled to break free. That was why he was so strong. That was why he was so dangerous.
But I didn’t have time to consider the implications. I was busy working to reinforce the barrier in front of Byron. Eli tried another attack, but again the barrier took the brunt of it. I saw the moment that Eli realised what was happening. He hadn’t seen it happen, unlike me. He could only guess, could only feel. His eyes grew wide with rage, spittle flying from his mouth as he swore at Vira.
“Did you lay with dogs and expect to be anything other than an animal?” He shot her a scornful look. “I can still save you. I’ll take you back today and fix all of this.”
“She’s not going anywhere with you!” I cried out.
“You,” he said in disgust. “I’ll put you down right now.”
He lashed out, but he lied. He didn’t aim at me. He aimed straight at Vira. But the wolf’s instinct was faster, and she knew even before it registered with me. I instinctively grabbed Vira at the same second as I threw up a barrier, but something about Vira’s power collided with my own. Before my eyes, our power merged and expanded, fuelled by anger and magic and instinct. The barrier exploded outward, towards Eli’s harbingers. I wasn’t sure what they experienced, but they hurriedly backed away, some of them falling to their knees as they cowered from it. Only Eli stood strong, making his defences, though he looked as though he had tasted something rotten.
Vira and I glanced at each other in surprise. And then she smiled, a genuine smile, and reached for my hand. Together, we were stronger, too.
Eli fixed his gaze on me, expecting me to fall with the effort. To weaken before his eyes. But I kept standing, though panting and sweating heavily. It hurt, but I could hold on for longer now, and the wolf made me look strong even when I felt weak. Eli’s expression changed as he realised that I was different.
