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His eyes squinted, picking up movement in the distance. The foul stench of the bastards grew heavier, the hint of death coming with it. Derek swore to himself, there and then, that death would come to the aggressors.
Mason led the charge from the ground, joined by some of the scouts. They pounced on the rogues approaching the house.Derek watched from above momentarily, fighting off the fury inside him at seeing the enemy invade his stomping ground.
He glanced at the front yard, seeing Elias had joined the fight. He tackled a rogue and snapped its neck. The enemies were so close to the children. Derek would never forgive himself if something were to happen to them.
Snarling, he reared back and howled, causing friends and foes to cease fighting for a brief moment to look at him. He leapt for the nearest enemy and sank his teeth into a hunk of flesh.
With sheer ferocity, he fought, clawed, and scratched all invaders in his sight. In a matter of moments, all the enemies on the rear side of the house were defeated, slain as they lay across the ground.
Mason and the others looked to him for their next command. Derek telepathically ordered everyone to move as a unit to the front, where a fresh wave of enemies had emerged from the woods.
He led the charge, flanking the enemies from behind as they clashed with Elias’s group. In the heat of combat, he glanced around for Iris, wondering if she was safe. He didn’t know if she could fight.
The mating bond will tell me if something happens.
Derek turned his attention back to the task at hand, leading his pack in revolt against the assault on their territory. He had the head of an enemy in his mouth when he heard Casey yelp and whine in agony. Turning, he saw a rogue trying to tear off one of Casey’s rear paws.
At that moment, time seemed to freeze. His vision widened, and in those dire few seconds, he saw Elias just barely holding his own against three rogues, Larissa limping as she charged weakly to his aid, and Agnes’s face covered in blood.
A horrible vision of their corpses came to him, and it was all he needed to spring back to action. When he took over, he hadmade a promise to always look after them, and he wasn’t about to let them down when they needed their alpha the most.
A fiery rage took over Derek as he flashed to their aid, an inferno that could only be put out by the defeat of the invaders. With a coordinated effort, he gave orders and fought bravely until all his comrades were back on solid ground once more.
The neck of the last enemy twisted with a violent snap that echoed through the chill forest air. With that, the attack was defeated, and the pack stood tall over the enemy.
Derek shifted back to his human form, with the others following suit, some of them falling to the ground as they clutched their wounds. The pack leader peered down at his hands, noticing a few scrapes and cuts, but he brushed it off.
“Just a scratch, literally,” he whispered, smiling coyly at himself. “Elias, are you okay?”
“Nothing I can’t walk off,” remarked the enforcer, dabbing blood off his arms.
“Let’s get the wounded inside. Has anyone seen Iris?”
“She went inside to check on the kids.”
“Very well. Let’s move.”
Derek slung Casey’s arm over his shoulder, helping the man hobble his way to the house. One by one, the pack members retreated inside. They were never happier to sit down.
Iris burst out of the first aid room, back in human form and dressed. Behind her, one of the kids poked their head around the corner.
“Iris!” said Derek, rushing to her side. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I took out a few of them before coming inside. I heard the kids screaming and was worried.”
Iris blushed and averted her gaze upon noticing he was still nude. Though the pack was used to seeing each other shift in and out of wolf form and the temporary nakedness that came with the change, Iris seemed to have forgotten that matter in hertime as a shifter without a pack. Derek would have laughed if he wasn’t so tired.
“She fought well,” Elias commented.
“Not a mark on you.” Derek chuckled.
“I have to know how to fight. It became rather important when I became a lone wolf,” Iris said. “But I haven’t had to do it in so long. You have some wounded here.”
“Yes, can you and Maria tend to them?”
Maria came out of the first aid room, already handing out medical robes so the nude shifters could regain their modesty without interfering with her coming examination. She was followed by the children. Derek’s heart ached as the children ran to their parents, worry in their eyes as they asked them about their wounds and if they’d survive.
“Everyone will be just fine,” said Maria, smiling reassuringly at them.
