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“That was one hell of a trick,” she said before turning toward Mosa. Justine’s lips quivered slightly as she wrapped her arms around her daughter. “Forgive me love. When I buried your wolf, I knew there was a chance I was also burying your alpha. You were magnificent!”
Mosa blew past the trembling lips phase straight to a ragged sob as she tightly returned her mother’s hug.
“Everybody loves everybody,” Mallory said, his tone dry as he checked his weapons. “Now let’s see if we can stop a pack war before it starts.”
“Our own wolves should be in front,” Onyx said, her gaze on her mate to stall his immediate protest. “It can’t be cats against wolves or bears against wolves. This isn’t going to spread beyond today if we can help it.”
Pausing, she looked at me. “You think you can do that again, but without knocking all your allies on their collective asses?”
My mouth moved like a guppy suddenly deprived of water. Mosa filled the silence.
“One of you could just shoot me again.”
My face and extremities turned to ice at her words.
“Let’s hope he doesn’t have to find out if he can do it again,” Mallory said. “With wolves in front, maybe we can negotiate.”
"Wolves and the leader of the claw," Justine countered.
“Yeah,” I agreed as I walked over to the bodies of Kitka and Henric. “Justine with us, but wolves up front.”
Stooping, I slung the corpses of Henric and Kitka over my shoulders. “And these two.”
CHAPTER37
DOONE
With Clover coordinating our route,we beat Kalchik's wolves to the southeast section of the leap’s residential area. They had switched from traveling in their vehicles to approaching the leap on foot, but Henric’s perimeter sensors fed Clover all the information she needed to guide us.
Mallory stopped the van. I jumped out first, slid the side door open, then shouldered my rifle before grabbing the corpses of Henric and his bat-shit crazy lover.
“Wait here,” I said as the others got out of their vehicles or off their bikes.
Mosa didn’t listen, neither did her hard-headed parents.
“It’s our mess to clean up,” Mallory said, his gaze turning all black as his alpha state shimmered just beneath the surface of his skin.
“My mess,” Justine corrected, her voice far away and heavy with a deep guilt that wasn’t truly hers to bear.
“I can’t carry the three of you back at once if I have to knock them out and you’re in range.”
Checking the clip on her rifle, Onyx shook her head. “Look, Big Guy, you don’t know that you can pull that trick again. And I know some of these wolves.”
“Don’t they hate you?”
She shot Mallory a dark look, but didn’t deny the truth of his question, just looked at me and gestured with her hand for me to get moving.
“Hang back, Papa Bear,” she whispered as we started forward, Axel and his sons spreading out alongside us as a low grizzly growl vibrated with displeasure.
“You, too, cougar,” Clover said as she slipped into line next to Mosa.
Mallory grunted at her appearance. From what I had witnessed between them, the young she-wolf was like an adopted daughter after the trouble with the hyenas in Buckley that had happened before my arrival. It was hard enough for me to let Mosa come with us, I couldn’t imagine facing a confrontation against a much larger force in the company of the three shifters I held most dear.
“Stop,” I ordered when I caught the scent of Kalchik's wolves. “Everyone take cover.”
They flowed out from me at the command—everyone but Mosa.
“Everyone,” I growled, pushing my alpha at her.
