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“We need to find their weakness and take the battle to them before they wipe us out, Galen.” Marcus squatted down at the edge of the massive crack in the ground and stared into the black depth in its center as if he could see the demons within it.
“Don’t you think I’m working on it?” My lips curled, barring elongated canines.
My wolf paced just beneath the surface, ready to force the shift and burst through my skin in a terrifying display of fur and fang. But there was no one left to fight. Our enemies did what they came to do and fled the scene.
I held onto my rage by a thread and I feared if I lost control I would never get it back.
“Easy boss.” David moved to stand between Marcus and I.
With no enemies to fight, my wolf sought out the next best thing. Marcus was the strongest of my betas. My wolf sensed the inherent strength that made him a perfect choice to act as my second in command, and directed all of our anger and frustration at him in the form of a challenge.
Marcus was wise enough not to accept.
“Alpha.” He took a submissive stance, bowed his head and spoke soft and slow. “We need to bury the bodies.”
“Some of the pack members are afraid the dead will attract more demons.” David mirrored his partner’s posture when he drew the ire and attention of me and my wolf.
“That’s ridiculous.” I sounded more animal than man as I battled my wolf for control of my body. “If that were true, the town’s morgue would be ground zero for demon activity. The families need to be notified and given time to arrange a proper burial.”
“Galen, we’re don’t-” Theo dropped to one knee when I fixed my partially shifted eyes on him.
“We are not fucking savages.” I slammed my eyes closed, chest heaving as I sucked in deep breath after deep breath of air, and forced my wolf to back down. “Notify the families.”
All three moved, but at a snail’s pace. They knew to tread lightly when I was in that condition.
I knew what needed to be done to keep the peace among the pack, but that didn’t mean I liked it. The problem with near immortality is that the age gap amongst our wolves was wider than the grand canyon. Some wolves clung to the old ways and superstitions.
With demons roaming the earth it was hard to blame them.
“We’ll prepare a mass grave. Let their families know that a memorial will be erected in their honor once we’ve eradicated the demons.”
I gave my instructions and left it up to my betas to decide amongst themselves which of them would carry it out while I put in a call to Marguerite.
The coven leader agreed to bring members of her coven to repair the breach in the ward and help us with a funeral pyre worthy of the wolves who sacrificed their lives to protect the rest of our pack.
Marcus and David sprinted across the field, breaking into a full run when they reached the road that led back to the meeting hall. Theo stayed behind, to keep an eye on me and make sure I didn’t wolf out while I waited for the witches to arrive.
Within seconds, Marguerite, Sarah and several other witches appeared and set to work repairing the ward. Once the tear in the magic had been patched, they knelt before my fallen wolves and offered up a prayer to their Goddess for the protection of their souls beyond the veil.
“I am sorry, Galen.” Marguerite bowed at the waist and offered her condolences. “You and your wolves have given so much to protect us all from the demons. But they’re getting stronger. There’s only so much my girls and I can do. Our magic is not without limits.”
“No one blames you, Marguerite.” I wanted to reassure the high priestess, but fell short with clipped words and harsh tones.
“Alpha.” Marguerite lowered the hood on her cloak and met my gaze. “If you wish for me and my coven to leave your land, there will be no ill will between us. We have each repaid our debts to one another in kind.”
“I’m not rescinding my invitation any time soon, Marguerite. You and the coven are welcome here.” I raked my fingers through my hair and sighed. “I hoped my father’s funeral would be the last one for the pack. At least for a little while, you know?”
“All too well, my friend.” She clasped a hand on my shoulder and shared in the burden of my grief, one leader to another. “All too well.”
Faced with the death of several more pack members it was easy to forget that Marguerite had suffered more losses than I had.
Marcus and David returned with the victims’ families in a caravan of vehicles. The four of us stayed by their sides, steadfast as words were shared and tears were shed while Marguerite and the coven tended to the bodies of their loved ones.
I waited until the last ember lost its reddish glow and turned an ashen black before driving across town back to my apartment above the bar where Talia awaited my return.
It wasn’t the greeting I expected.
But she’d been on an emotional rollercoaster since joining my pack and had hardly a moment to herself to grieve the loss of her own father - let alone mine. She sat on the floor sobbing curled up in a ball with her thighs tucked against her chest and arms locked around her shins. She buried her head behind her knees when I opened the door.
