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“Anna, wait!”
“Can’t,” she yelled over her shoulder. “The trailer park is on fire and your truck isn’t fast enough to race a snail.” She released the wolf inside her and charged through the gate.
I dashed across the bridge and through the gate to where my truck was parked. “Gary is so much faster than a snail,” I muttered. I removed the sheath and tossed it on the passenger seat. I didn’t need a sword poking me in the back as I drove.
Naturally, because this was an emergency, the engine refused to turn over.
I stroked the dashboard. “Please don’t make a liar out of me, Gary.”
The engine sprang to life, and I hit the gas. The back of the truck fishtailed, spraying dirt and gravel in all directions as I sped toward the woods.
In the distance, smoke billowed across the treetops like a filthy grey parachute.
Anna was long gone.
Through the thick haze, I spotted a huddled mass of werewolves by the entrance to the trailer park. Anna was among them, back in human form and gesticulating wildly as other werewolves attempted to put out the blaze.
I grabbed my sword and hurried to join the crowd, scanning the faces for West. My gaze landed on another cluster of werewolves about twenty yards to my left. I counted five. I didn’t recognize any of them, and the sight of them set my teeth on edge.
I sprinted to Anna’s group. “What’s going on?”
She skipped right over the sarcastic reply. “They’re trying to smoke out West.”
I glanced at the second group of wolves. “Those five are from his original pack.”
She nodded. “West is in his trailer. He refused to come out, so they set fire to it.”
My chest tightened as I observed the flames. “And he’s still inside?”
She grabbed my arm before I could rush forward. “He has a plan, Lorelei. He’s not an idiot.”
He wasn’t a coward either.
“Why isn’t anyone fighting them?” Wolves fought each other over much less than setting fire to the alpha’s home.
“Alpha’s direct orders,” Bert interjected. His face was smudged with black. “He said they’re only here for him. We can act in self-defense, but that’s it.”
“Wouldn’t it be considered self-defense to keep them from burning down your entire trailer park?”
“They’re not trying to burn down the whole park,” Bert said. “They made sure to contain the fire.”
And members of the Arrowhead Pack were now drenched in smoke and sweat in their attempt to extinguish it.
“Are your two friends from Monk’s in that crowd?” I asked Anna.
She shook her head. “I told you; they were the scouts. These five are the extraction team.”
“I don’t know why West won’t let us kill them,” Bert growled. “This is an act of war.”
Anna shoved him. “Because he doesn’t want any of us to die protecting him, numb nut.”
“He’s the alpha. Of course that’s what we’re supposed to do.”
“Not to West,” Anna said. “In his mind, it’s the other way around.”
Bert dragged his sleeve across his blackened face. “I’m going back over to help. If that wind shifts, all the trailers will go up in flames.”
I observed the crumbling trailer. “I hope West realizes that smoke inhalation can kill him even if the flames don’t.”
