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“Liam,” I said.
Shaw let out a triumphant hoot of a laugh. “He’s really coming into his own, isn’t he?”
Stone gave Shaw a withering look, but Shaw seemed too happy to notice.
“I have some real questions,” Stone said, grabbing the keys to a truck. “We’ll talk later.”
I couldn’t wait. Shaw gave me a faint smug smile with raised eyebrows that I hadn’t seen on anyone’s face since I got called to the principal’s office in sixth grade.
Come to think of it,thatincident was also Shaw’s fault.
We drove out to the edge of the Longroad pack.
Then made our way through the forest. The only sound was the light rustling of leaves and the occasional chirp of the crickets. The air seemed to crackle with tension.
Coming onto Longroad pack territory was an act of war.
“Where did they hold Liam?” Shaw asked.
Stone’s jaw flexed. “He said it was the storm cellar under the alpha’s house.”
A sudden flare of protectiveness made my fists itchy. I’d gotten close to Liam when we were training, in our own way. Neither of us talked much, but there had been comfortable comradery between us. I couldn’t stand the idea of anyone hurting him.
We’d dosed ourselves in scent blockers. And we moved as humans, which meant we were more difficult for other wolves to detect. But we would have to change in a hurry if we encountered Longroad defenders.
Stone didn’t want all out war with the Longroad pack again. Or rather, he didwantit, very much. But he wasn’t going to start that trouble if he could help it.
The fresh air soothed my headache, but not my offended feelings.
But as we neared the alpha’s house, I glimpsed figures through the forest. I raised my fist, calling a halt, but Stone had already seen them and done the same. We all froze, watching the four figures threading their way through the trees.
Stone signaled for us to hide. Within seconds, we had all taken cover, crouching behind bushes and trees. My thighs ached as I held myself still, crouched behind a tree with one hand braced against the rough bark, ready to leap to attack at any moment.
Or to stay still and silent, if Stone wanted us to wait.
The tension of not knowing whether we would fight or hide burned through my muscles, and I longed to leap up and fight. To release the adrenaline. To hurt someone.
They were almost to us.
Then Stone signaled to attack.
We all leapt into action. Shaw lunged forward to take out the leader first while Teresa and I moved in tandem to attack the other two from both sides. Stone had already leapt toward the biggest one.
As I charged forward, I felt the adrenaline pumping through my veins, my heart pounding in my chest. The wind rushed past my face as I dodged the first attack, feeling the whoosh of a blade as it arced through the air where I had been a moment before.
I countered with a swift punch to the gut, driving the air out of my opponent's lungs. He doubled over, clutching his stomach, and I followed up with a vicious kick to the side of his head. He crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
But the fight was far from over. I spun around just in time to see Shaw land a devastating blow on the leader, sending him sprawling to the ground. Stone was locked in a fierce struggle with the biggest one, their muscles straining as they grappled for dominance.
Teresa was holding her own, ducking and weaving as she fought off the other attacker's furious strikes. Determination flashed in her dark eyes, the fierce will to win that dominated Teresa's life. She'd risk anything to never be a victim again, and it made me want to leap to protect her--and yet know that I shouldn't.
"So much for keeping it quiet," I said.
“What’s bothering you?” Stone demanded, pushing the man away from him.
I caught the other guy as he staggered back.
“Nothing’s bothering me.” The man let out a scream as I braced my hand on his jaw before snapping his neck. I let him go and he fell at my feet. “I’m fine.”
