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Talia stripped out of her clothes, tugged on our bond, and the magic inherent in all werewolves, and shifted into her wolf. Her change came faster and with less effort or signs of physical pain than I’d expected.
“It’s going to take a lot more than red eyes to mar that beautiful wolf standing in front of me.” I’d seen Talia’s wolf on a number of occasions. Red eyes didn’t change my opinion of her or her wolf one bit.
She circled in front of me a couple of times, and curled up at my feet. I squatted and ran my fingers through her thick, snow white coat from tip to tail.
“You need to stretch your legs and go for a run, don’t you?” I thought back to the last time Talia and I went on a hunt together. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it? How about I drive us out to the perimeter checkpoint and you run the woods while I stalk the property line? No one will bother you.”
Talia turned those big, round eyes at me and pulled me into their ruby depths. All of the obstacles she had to face, that we had to face together, made me love her that much more. She was my warrior wolf and gave new meaning to my life.
She opened her mouth, tongue lolling to the side as she panted her approval of my plan.
“Afterwards, we’ll swing by the apartment and pack a few things. I can’t ask the pack to hunker down on the property and not do the same.” I stroked her fur and scratched behind her ears. “We’ll stay at my dad’s.”
Talia turned her head, bathed my palm with her tongue, and nuzzled closer against my shins. She knew I’d avoided going home since the funeral and how much staying at the rancher would cost me.
But if I wanted to lead, I needed to lead by example.
“All right.” I gave her one last scratch behind her ears, and gathered up her clothes before heading out to my truck parked around back. “We better get going. I want to make sure you’re in the woods before the shift changes on the watch detail.”
I dropped Talia off at the tree line, waited until she disappeared under the cover of the evergreens and shifted into my wolf. To my relief there were no signs or smells of any demons while I was on patrol.
The hour spent running the length of the western border passed without incident. I checked on Talia through the pack bonds, ensuring she hadn’t run into any trouble before covering the half mile between the property line and the massive pit that opened up in the ground during the last demon attack.
Marguerite and the coven worked to close the canyon but a crack large enough for a horde of unholy creatures to climb out still scarred the pasture. Sarah assured me that wards would be put in place to seal off the demons’ entry point before the night was out, but I wanted to check the progress before I left for town.
The once tall, green grass was charred and black. Sulfur and smoke overpowered the smell of the wild clover and heather that dotted the landscape. The field resembled a dystopian nightmare.
It would take years for the area to recover, if it could recover at all.
The witches had formed a circle around the jagged opening and stood arms outstretched, heads back, chanting to the moon. Small tremors could be felt underfoot as they called on the Goddess to aid them and channeled their magic.
Satisfied the coven had things well in hand, I doubled back in search of Talia. Her energy in the pack bond changed, which meant her physical form had as well.
“Everything okay?” Talia popped up from her stretched out position in the back of my truck, slid to the edge of the bed and dangled her legs over the tailgate. “I was starting to worry that something happened.”
She was forced to wait for my answer until after I shifted, but seemed relieved by my presence all the same.
“As good as can be expected.” I strolled to the front of the truck, enjoying the way she ogled my naked body when I walked passed. “The coven was almost finished casting the spell to seal off the demon pit when I left them.”
“It’s a good thing you’re working trade with Marguerite for staying on the property. If they were still in town, they might not have been here before another demon made its way through. If they came at all.”
“You don’t think they would have helped us if they weren’t staying on the property?” Her comment surprised me.
My father and Marguerite had a working alliance based on a stipend for years. While I no longer had the coven on retainer, it hadn’t occurred to me that she would have said no.
Of course, Talia was right. Even if she had chosen to honor the allegiance, the coven’s residences were too far away for them to have come to our aid during the battle.
“Oh, she would have helped you, but at what cost? I don’t think the pack could afford it.” She offered a lopsided grin and shrugged. “But, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that when this is all over. You’ve earned each other’s loyalty.”
I grunted in agreement, grabbed my clothes stacked on the driver’s seat and got dressed while Talia’s words rang in my ear.
Had I done enough to earn Marguerite’s loyalty and if not, at what price could she be bought by an enemy of the Long Claw pack?
Between the demons and the Northwood pack battles, our numbers were a fraction of what they were a year prior, but I refused to raise dues on the pack. Our business ventures and investment holdings were tied to the local economy and suffered right along with us thanks in part to the demons.
The pack’s finances were on the same downward spiral as our luck. But luck can change with the wind and I had a feeling ours was about to turn.
It could have had something to do with the sapphire eyes beaming at me from the back of my truck. No matter how bad things were, I felt like anything was possible with Talia at my side.
