I spun around. A wolf had sprung at me.
Scary. But I had Dumbell (aka Mate Wolf) spring at me in last night's dream so I knew exactly what to do. I simply dropped down to the ground. Actually, I meant to just miss his jaw landing on any part of me, but I was lucky, and the wolf flew over my head completely. There was a crunching sound. I turned to see my dad wolf with the rogue's neck in his mouth.
Good Dad.
A Beta wolf (Beta Lucas), a Gamma wolf (Gamma Harry), and a large pure white wolf appeared. I did a double take—Mate Wolf? No, this wolf had brown tea-colored eyes. Oh. Alpha James. That's right, the Lorent Pack was known for white wolves.
Those rogue wolves didn't stand a chance.
I scrambled over to Savy, and with Shannon's help, we managed to completely free her.
"Let's get out of here," Shannon said. I nodded, completely meaning to go with, but suddenly noticed the two rogues with the pups, they had backed away to the side, and were suddenly making a run for it.
The first one dropped the kicking and screaming Chris onto the ground. I guess he figured Chris wasn't worth the trouble. The second one didn't drop Brenda. She certainly wasn't giving him any trouble anyway.
I did an about-turn to grab Chris and shoved him into Shannon's arms. Then I took Savy's hand and put it into his.
"Get them back—now!" I alpha-commanded. I had no time to discuss this.
I ran after the rogue with Brenda.
It wasn't hard to catch up with them. The rogue was standing in a clearing with the little girl still over his shoulder like a rag doll. I hoped he didn't hurt her.
His eyes were wild and frightened. All around us echoed the sounds of howling. The hunt was on, and he was the hunted.
"Just drop the girl and run," I told him.
He didn't immediately, but I could see he was sorely considering it.
"Do it!" I all but alpha-commanded him.
He did. He'd have to be an idiot to hang around any longer. But the moment he hightailed it off, someone dragged me off my feet from behind.
"Brenda, run!" I shouted. But the girl just sat on the ground looking at me.
Something nicked me in the shoulder. F***.
Oops, that was probably unladylike. I mean, "Ouch! That hurt a lot."
Like hell. It hurt like hell. It burned.
"Oops," the idiot holding me muttered.
"Be careful with the merchandise. At least we got this one back," a second idiot said.
Wait—they thought I was Savy? Seriously? We were wearing different colored cardigans! Idiots.
"I think this is a different one," the first idiot said.
I didn't wait. I needed to make a noise to alert my dad and the others. I could scream, or the idiot behind me could do the screaming for me. I headbutted him in the chin and elbowed him hard. He grunted; his knife slashed down my arm.
It burned and made a sound like scissors cutting through silk. But I was out of his arms.
"F*** you, bitch," the second idiot screamed at me.
Okay. I guess his friend decided to do the screaming for me. Fine with me. I wasn't picky.
I ducked just as Idiot 1 tried to stab me with the dagger again. Both idiots were naked? Oh, wait—no, they had shorts on. WTH. They thought to put on their shorts mid-run? Did they not know who was on their tail?
My dad and Beta Lucas and Gamma Harry… I didn't know about Alpha James, but just those three were enough to hunt down twenty rogues.
I ducked again and missed another swipe. My arm felt wet. Oh. So much blood. For some reason, even though my wound was really shallow, it wasn't healing. Why?
I ran for it, stumbling over to pull Brenda up. She didn't move, but I noticed she hugged me tightly, which was good, since one of my arms hurt. I stumbled a few more steps.
"Don't cut her anymore!" Idiot 2 was yelling. "We need her alive!"
I heard Idiot 1 grunt and felt my foot being pulled out from under me.
"Brenda, please," I whispered into her hair. "Be a good girl and run."
I tried to pry Brenda off, but she wouldn't let go. She was too scared.
Okay. I got it.
"Brenda, let go. I need to fight. Please." I alpha-commanded the last word. She let go of me and fell back like a rag doll again, her eyes glassy with unshed tears, her expression blank as if she was trying not to see this.
She thought I was going to die.
I felt myself become angry. So, so angry. As if I was going to die because of two idiot rogues.
I kicked at the hand on my ankle with my other foot and made contact with a face. Nice.
Idiot 2 had finally decided to get his hands dirty. He stalked over. I threw a handful of dirt and stones in his face. I didn't want him to think about grabbing Brenda and running. The longer I kept them here, the higher the chances of my dad rescuing us.
I could run without Brenda. I know.
But I know—and you know—that I won't.
I was growling. The power surge I had been suppressing till now had somehow taken over. If I could shift, I was sure I would.
I got up to my feet and smelled wolves. My dad was here! The woods were suddenly completely silent.
I smiled at the two idiots. They had no idea.
They were both on their feet now too. They stopped short at my smile. They were pretty big. I could take one, but not both—and definitely not with my left arm hurting like this.
Why were they just standing there looking at me? They didn't look scared, just a bit confused.
Then I remembered my dress, my light pink cardigan, and the ribbon in my hair—oh wait, I'd lost my ribbon.
But they thought I was Savy. Savy, my cute, pretty little sister.
In their eyes, I was just a cute girl? Hahahaha. Unbelievable. But I needed to work with what I'd got.
I looked at the half-red cardigan now. Savy would wear this color. Who knew knitwear was so absorbent?
"You!" I pointed my good hand at Idiot 1. "You ruined my dress!"
Idiot 1 looked confusedly at me, then at Idiot 2.
"Don't worry, girly. Where we're taking you, you don't need no dress," Idiot 2 told me.
I wondered when my dad was going to show up. Really, anytime now would be good, Dad Wolf.
I was seriously trying to stall for time, but I didn't really know what cute girls said in such situations. "Where are you taking me?" I asked. And I don't know why—maybe because I was remembering Alpha James' son—"Will you take me to Ventali's Coven?"
"Eh?" Idiot 1 said.
"What do you know about Ven's girlie?" Idiot 2 sneered.
"I know you sold someone there." It was a shot in the dark, I know. But I didn't really have scriptwriters for this. I was winging it, just stalling. Waiting for Dad Wolf to appear. I could smell him so near me.
"Boyfriend of yours?" Idiot 2 asked sarcastically, so I couldn't tell if he knew who I was referring to.
"Yes," I lied. Then I realized Alpha James was probably in earshot and changed my mind. "I mean, no. I never met him before in my life."
Idiot 2 laughed. "He's probably dead by now." I think he thought the news might make me break down and cry or something. But I wasn't that great an actress, so I couldn't play along.
"Did you see him die?" I asked.
"No, but—" Idiot 2 answered.
"If you didn't see it, then it didn't happen!" I yelled at him. Wait. I think that came out wrong. It was supposed to be, if you didn't see it, then how did you know it happened? Or something. How did Laura say it? Ah, WTH. This was a stupid conversation.
"Wow," Idiot 1 said. "You really loved him, huh?"
"Shut up," Idiot 2 told him.
"Young love," Idiot 1 said. "I was young once… I was in lo—"
"Shut up!" Idiot 2 hit him over the head with a shotgun. Great. He had a gun. When did rogues get guns? When they sold an Alpha's son to "Ven's," I suppose.
Dad Wolf, why are you not coming out? My wound wasn't healing. Did you know that your baby girl is bleeding out here?
"Hey," I asked the two idiots, "why isn't my wound healing? I'm bleeding dry here, guys!" The second part was an exaggeration—and directed at Dad Wolf. Why did it feel like he was just hanging back waiting? What was he waiting for?
The idiots laughed. "Wolfbane on a silver blade, girlie," Idiot 1 told me.
Idiot 2—whom I realized was the less idiotic one—suddenly realized, "Why are you still able to stand there? How are you even still conscious?"
I'm not bleeding that much, idiots.
But before I could reply, loud growls ripped through the air around me.
Dad Wolf and the others had surrounded the two idiots.
"You want to know why?" I couldn't resist throwing it in their faces. "It's because—"
I wanted to say I was the Alpha, but Alpha Dad Wolf was next to me, and I could see Alpha James' wolf—a bright white fluffy splotch—behind Idiot 1. White wolves didn't have camouflage or fear factor the way darker wolves did, I'd realized.
"You know what, forget it. You guys aren't going to live long enough to appreciate it."
Then I walked over to collect Brenda off the ground, but Shannon was there now. He looked like he had been running nonstop, but he recovered in a second and picked up the small girl before I did. We headed back to the house together.
Once in the house, a woman ran over and ripped Brenda out of Shannon's arms. She was crying loudly, her mascara streaming down her face. I saw Shannon's mum grab him in a bear hug, crying. Was everyone just sitting here waiting to waylay us with crying this whole time?
Savy bolted toward me, but I put my good hand out to hold her away. "Don't touch me. I'm all bloody." I looked up. My mum stopped in front of me. She had been crying too. I'd never seen her make that kind of face before. Mrs. Beta, Laura, Esther… oh crap. I felt like I'd messed up big time here.
I tried to think of the coolest possible way to reassure them. "Don't cry. I won't die from this."
Really? My coolest line was borrowed from my Dumbbell mate? In my defense, I'd lost quite some blood. Don't judge me.
Ah, never mind the lines. I probably didn't look cool at all. I just looked like a very pathetic, bloodied girly girl right now. I should just forget about being cool for now.
The men came into the house. They had T-shirts and sweatpants on. So much for all the nice suits they'd been in earlier.
Dad and Alpha James came over to me. "Come, let me take a look," Alpha James said. He touched my arm. "Okay."
Then he turned to my dad. "They were not deep cuts."
The pain was gone. I pulled off the red, wet cardigan, using the clean side to wipe the blood off my arm as much as possible. Oh. My arm was healed. It was as if it had never happened. Déjà vu. Like in my dream last night.
"It might be a bit tender, since they used Wolfbane, but that should clear in a day or two," Alpha James told me.
Mrs. Beta handed me a sweatshirt. It was really big, but it covered all the blood on me. And it was warm. I shivered a little.
"She will be okay," Alpha James told my dad.
"Thank you," Dad said.
"No, I should be thanking you," Alpha James replied.
Everyone started moving back outside then. Savy took my good hand, and I let her lead me along.
I could feel a tenderness on my arm every time it brushed against the rough inside of the oversized sweatshirt.
Outside was really bright. It was still midafternoon. There were a lot of men about. Our men. I saw Hank, I think, and Delta Simon for sure. And Lorent warriors in suits, and the row of white cars. There were also a couple of white armored trucks… with rogues in them. Eh, don't we usually kill them? I saw the Lorent warriors push Idiot 2 into one of the trucks.
I started shivering. No one could see it because of my giant sweatshirt, but Savy was holding my hand. I tried to pull free, but she held on tighter.
I hoped Brenda was okay.
The shivering stopped by the time we reached Gamma Harry's car.
I heard Beta Lucas tell Gamma Harry how these rogues were going to "get it" at the Lorent Pack. They thought the rogues were the same ones who took Alpha James' son.
Really? That was lucky… or not. I wasn't sure. What did they plan to do with the rogues? Torture them to death? But even that wouldn't bring their son back.
I hoped Alpha James knew that I was just stalling when I said his son was my boyfriend. I had never met the guy before. If he thought I was secretly dating his son… I didn't think he would, but if he did, I would just die from embarrassment.
We were still standing outside the car. We couldn't get into the car because Mum was hugging me. She didn't let go. She just hung on to me and cried.
Dad, Alpha James, and Luna Edith walked over to us. Dad pulled my Mum off me and held her close.
"I never dated your son, honest! I'm too young to date! I was just—" I blurted out at Alpha James and his Luna.
They looked somewhat stunned, and then Alpha James chuckled gently. "I know. Because if he were dating you, I'm sure he never would have left."
"Thank you," Luna Edith said to me. She was still tearing up. I didn't understand why she was thanking me. I didn't save her son. He was gone. I looked from her to my Mum. I couldn't stop any of their tears. I choked up inside.
Alpha James and Luna Edith returned to their car. Savy pushed me into ours. I let her, suddenly feeling too heavy to move.
I wanted to cry, but I couldn't.
Nothing came out.
Mum hugged me on one side, and Savy hugged me from the other. Dad sat up front with Gamma Harry, who raced through the forest roads home. For once in my life, I wished he'd drive faster.