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Chapter Four
GALEN
The alpha died, but the world kept turning. It seemed cruel that time marched on without my father, but I found solace in the imprint he left behind in our pack. There were glimpses of him everywhere around me. If I knew where to look for them.
Talia made sure that I did.
She learned to use the expansion of the bond between us to sense my mood and searched for examples of my father’s guiding hand among my wolves whenever I needed it most. We fell into an easy rhythm. Each day that passed solidified my belief that Talia and I were meant to be.
It was fate. It had to be. Whether Talia believed it or not.
I had my work cut out for me convincing her. A mark had yet to appear on her arm and she seemed to take that as a bad omen. I wished I’d never mentioned a fated mark to her at all, but the fact that she never had one with Maddox felt like more proof she was meant for me.
If only she believed the same. But we loved each other and that was enough - for the time being.
We had our hands full with the increased demon attacks. Things amped up after my father’s funeral. Almost as if they were connected, but for the life of me I couldn’t understand how. My father hadn’t conjured or ever been marked by a demon.
Still, there was no denying a correlation to his illness, the demon attacks, Talia’s arrival and her mark. It felt like the pieces of the puzzle were spread out before me, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make them fit.
My phone danced across the bar with an incoming call from Theo.
“There’s been another attack.” Theo shouted orders to secure the property line to a wolf talking in the background, whose voice I couldn’t quite place through our shoddy cell connection.
“Think of the devil and a demon will appear.” I muttered, reaching behind the bar to grab my keys, before sliding off my stool.
“What?” Theo asked, sounding confused by my remark.
“Nothing. I’m on my way.”
I spent more time working and sleeping at the bar since we buried my father, but it was a short drive back to the pack land.
Eight minutes and three tripped red light cameras later, I pulled up to the gate that separated Long Claw property from the rest of town. Two wolves stepped out from the cover of the evergreens that lined the property provided, unlocked the heavy chain and swung open the metal gate.
“Theo and Marcus are waiting for you at the northeastern marker.” Darius raised two fingers to his brow in mock salute and moved to secure the gate once I drove through.
A plume of dust kicked up behind the truck as I veered down the dirt road at double the posted speed limit for the main drag that wound through our small community. My trio of betas came into view as I rounded the bend toward the property marker.
“Shit.” The cab jerked forward and back when I slammed on the brakes and threw the truck in park. I hopped out of the truck, headlights glaring and engine still running, ran at a full clip to join my betas at the scene of the attack.
Fallen trees and broken branches littered the ground. It looked like a tornado ripped through the woods that created a natural barrier between our property and the Northwood pack’s land. The ground was mounded in some places, splintered and cracked in others as if the demons has burst through the soil in a surprise attack.
The witches had crafted a magical ward around our property to keep the demons out. They reinforced it on a weekly basis, rotating through members of the coven to ensure their magic wasn’t depleted and the ward remained intact. They worked hard to keep us safe and honor our alliance.
But the demons worked harder.
They were relentless in their attempts to destroy the magic shield around our property and occasionally those attempts were successful. This was one of those times.
“Casualties?” I rushed to join my betas, leaping over a narrow section in one of the chasms that ripped open.
The smell of blood and brimstone hit me the second my feet hit the other side of the crevice. My eyes, nose and back of my throat burned from the combination of copper and sulfur that coated the inside of my mouth and clung to my sinuses.
“Pam took at least half a dozen with broken bones and lacerations up to the meeting house to recover.” He wiped blood and dirt from his eyes with the hem of his charcoal gray t-shirt. “The rest...”
I followed his gaze to the bodies strewn beneath the trees.
“Damn it.” I growled; partially shifted claws piercing my palms as my hands curled into fists at my side. “The witches plug one hole in the ward and the demons make another.”
