A Girl and Her Wolf (Howl, #7) (18 page)

Chapter 29: Colby

Troy pinned him to the ground, staring menacingly into his eyes.
You really think I would have let you take him back? I’m going to end this whole thing right now
, he told him before sinking his teeth into Colby’s chest.

Pain tore through him
as Troy ripped a chunk of skin and fur from his body.

Colby fought against Troy, but it didn’t make a difference. His weight pushed down on him, forcing him to remain on the ground and under the stronger wolf’s attack.

You should have just given Davenport up, Colby Jack. It wasn’t worth ending your life over . . . was it?
Troy questioned.

Anger washed over Colby, giving him the strength he needed to push Troy off of him.
For a split second, Colby had the upper hand, with Troy pinned beneath him. It didn’t last for long.

Before he knew it, Troy had
flung him off of him and was attacking him again, this time harder and angrier than before, and going straight for his neck.

When he felt Troy’s teeth biting into his throat, he knew that was it
. The other wolves he’d been fighting had been a piece of cake. But Troy was a whole different ballgame. It wasn’t just that he was stronger than him. It was that nothing slowed Troy down—not even the bite he’d given him on his front leg.

The
pain Colby felt was unbearable. His vision was blurred and his breaths were coming out in ragged gasps. His whole life began to flash through his eyes, though he struggled to hang on.

Luke appeared in front of him, a look of urgency in his eyes. “Colby, you need to fight back. You need to stay alive. Davenport needs you. Emma needs you. Samara needs you. You can’t die on them now.”

“But it’s a losing battle,” Colby said. Somehow, in his dream-like state, he was in his human form again. “Troy is going to kill me. I don’t stand a chance.”

“Hold on, Colby. Just hold on.”

Colby hesitated for a few moments. “Okay. I’ll try.” He frowned. “What are you? A spirit?”

“Something like that,” Luke replied. “I haven’t gotten the hang of appearing in front of everyone yet, but you need t
o know that I’m watching over you all. I need to go now.”

“But I want you to stay,” Colby insisted.

“If you don’t stop talking to me right now, you’re going to die, Colby. You need to wake up and fight back. Everyone’s counting on you—including me. It’s the only way.”

“Okay. Goodbye, Luke,” Colby murmured, even though he could feel himself growing weaker.

His eyes fluttered open . . . or did they flutter
shut
? He didn’t even know.

Chapter 30
: Emma

Emma ran faster than the wolves that bit at her heels. She hoped the Trusted Ones would continue to hold back the rest as she raced forward, biting Troy hard on his hip.

It made him snarl, but he didn’t let go of Colby’s throat.

Holy shit. If she didn’t do something else—something worse, her mate was going to die. And it would be all her fault.

She flung herself onto Troy again, this time biting down hard on his back.

It seemed to infuriate him long enough to tear him away from Colby. She breathed a tiny sigh of relief, even though she knew that this wasn’t over yet. Now, she had an angry wolf that was ready to focus his attacks on her . . . and her mate didn’t seem to be moving from his place on the ground.

Was he dead? No. She’d witnessed enough werewolf deaths to know that if Colby was dead, he would have already changed into his human form. But why wasn’t he moving? Oh god, oh god.

Do you know how easy it’ll be for me to kill you?
Troy asked, snorting amusedly.
You’re such a weak wolf. It’s not only because you’re a girl. You were just as weak when you were human.

Emma let out a low, defensive growl.
I was never weak. The only weak one I see here is
you
. You were so weak and desperate for power that you had to change me just to trade me for a stupid talisman! Well, guess what, Troy? It didn’t help you. You never got to use its powers. What you did—changing me? It was all for nothing
, she spat at him.

His nostrils flared angrily.
You’re right. It was all for nothing. Your life as a wolf is just as worthless as it was when you were human. I had the honor of bringing you into this world, so I’m more than honored to be the one to end you.

Just as he
threw himself on top to her, sinking his teeth into her throat, he was quickly pulled away and lifted into the air.

Emma knew it was the Trusted Ones who were
dangling him off the ground by his hind legs, but she couldn’t exactly bite his throat unless she wanted to risk him biting her eyes. That meant that there was only one other way to kill him.

She had to pierce his heart.

Emma, now
, a voice told her. She knew it was Meagan. She really
had
visited her.

She swallowed hard. She’d never pierced another wolf’s heart before. How was
she going to pull this one off?

One of the Trusted Ones must have been able to rea
d her mind, because a sharp stick—which looked more like something she should use on a vampire—was pushed in front of her. She realized what she needed to do.

She picked
the stick up with her teeth, turning to the side so that the end was level with Troy’s heart.

She t
ook a few steps back before she stopped. It seemed so much worse than killing with her bare teeth. Tentatively, just to test it out first, she stepped forward, touching the stick to his chest. She tried to memorize the exact spot where she needed to stab him. Now that she was closer to him, she was fairly sure that the Trusted Ones were holding his head in place. Any wolf would’ve taken that chance to defend themselves.

He laughed.
If you’re going for my heart, you should know that you’re way off, honey. God, this is so amusing.

Angr
ily, she rammed the stick into his chest where she thought his heart was.

He howled in pain. He
sucked in breaths as he fell to the ground whimpering.

Good job, Emma,
one of the spirits said.

To her astonishment
, he pushed himself to his feet.

I wonder what your Alpha is going to think of
you after all this. You know I’ve always been very cooperative with your pack
, Troy said.

Maybe everyone else sees you as cooperative, but I see you as an asshole
, Emma replied before pouncing on him.

Their shoulders hit at the same time.
She sensed his mouth near her back, but she was faster than him. She dodged away from and latched onto his throat.

He was already so weak, he barely fought.
Within seconds, he slumped to the ground.

Emma watched until his
human body appeared, feeling pleased by the fact that he was gone for good.

She turned to the rest of his pack members, who all stared back at her in shock.
I just killed the strongest member of your pack. If you think I won’t be able to kill you just because I’m a girl, then think again.

None of them argued with her.

And, since I just killed your Alpha, that means that I’m your new Alpha. You will do as I say, unless you wish to have the same fate as Troy
, Emma continued.

When none of the other Ariel pack members said anything and it seemed obvious that they weren’t going to attack, she rushed
over to Colby’s side. It didn’t look like he was breathing.

Colby? You need to wake up,
Emma whispered. When she got no response, she nudged against him with her head.
Colby, please wake up.

She was beginning to think that maybe he really
was
gone, lost to her forever, when he cracked one eye open.

Emma?

You’re alive!
She nuzzled her head against his chest as joy and relief flooded her body.

I am.
He sat up.
Did we win? Is Davenport still able to be a Tala?

I don’t know
, she replied, shaking her head. She turned to the Ariel pack members, who were still watching them.
As Alpha, I ask that you allow Davenport to remain with his parents and be a member of the Tala. If you can agree to this, I will give you back your pack.

One of the girls from the pack morphed back into her human form and then asked, “What do you mean you’ll give us back your pack?”

The other pack members changed back into their human forms, too. Emma and Colby both followed suit.

“I mean, if you let us have Davenport, I’ll step away from this pack. I won’t be your Alpha anymore,” Emma explained. “However, if you don’t agree to these terms, then you’ll all be members of the Tala pack.”

“I want to stay an Ariel,” Rocco announced. “And maybe we could even go back to being the Shomecossee now that Troy’s gone. I know this might sound surprising to you, but I’m actually sort of relieved you killed my cousin. He was on a major power trip.” He grinned at Emma sheepishly. “And it’s okay with me if you want to keep that baby. Babies annoy the hell out of me.”

She smiled at him. “If it’s okay with everyone, I’ll appoint Rocco to be the Alpha of this pack when I go.
If
I go, that is. Why don’t we all take a vote? If you’re willing to let us have Davenport, then please step forward.” She thought that fate would’ve chosen him anyway. He seemed much more mature now.

Simultaneously, all of the members of the Ariel pack took a step towards her.

She breathed a sigh of relief, happy that the rest of the pack didn’t seem to care about having a McKinley be a part of their pack as much as Troy did. “It’s all settled, then. Rocco is your new Alpha.”

“And we’re now the Shomecossee again,” he chimed in, grinning at her.

Chapter 31: Colby

Samara and Declan came back home a few days later. They both looked really sunburnt, but they were glowing with newlywed happiness. Colby couldn’t help but notice that they looked happier and happier every time he saw them. It made him smile.

“How was he?” Samara asked as she took Davenport from Emma.

Emma glanced over at Colby with a sly grin. “He was wonderful, as always.”

“Yeah, we really can’t wait to babysit him again,” Colby piped up. And he was being completely honest about that, too. Ever since Davenport had become a part of their pack again and the symptoms of the virus had left his body, he’d been so much fun to have around. That wasn’t even to mention the fact that he seemed to be warming up to Colby, too, which made him feel relieved. He wanted to be able to tell him, one day, about some of the fun times he’d shared with Luke.

“I’m glad you guys had fun,” Declan replied, beaming. “I hate to cut this short and we have some souvenirs to give you later, but I think right now we’re just ready to be home.”

Samara laughed. “Yeah, and I bet the two of you are ready to get rid of him by now. You probably need to rest. Chasing after this this little man can be exhausting,” she said, bouncing Davenport in her arms. He squealed with laughter.

You know she would probably be so pissed off if she knew how much sleeping he did this week, since he’s always hyper for her,
Colby told Emma through mind-speak.

She burst into laughter and grinned at him.

“There you two go keeping your secrets again.” Declan chuckled.

“Yeah. You know it’s not polite to keep secrets, right? Especially from the Alpha of your pack,” Samara said playfully. 

“Oh, please. You can’t tell me that the two of you don’t have some secrets of your own,” Emma said pointedly.

Samara and Declan exchanged a glance. “You’ll never know,” they said in unison. 

“Actually, there
is
one secret we really need to tell you about,” Colby said, exchanging glances with Emma.
We have to tell them about what happened. They’re going to find out Troy died on their own, anyway.

I thought we said we were going to keep it between just the two of us
, Emma protested, glaring at him.

We did, but . . . I think they deserve to know. We would want to know if one of our future children gets kidnapped by another pack.

True
, Emma agreed.

He glanced over at Samara and Declan again. “When you were gone, Davenport developed this really rare virus that caused him to be a member of the Ariel—which was the new name of the Shomecossee pack
before they went back to being the Shomecossee again. So, to win him back, Emma and I, with the help of the Trusted Ones, went there and fought their whole twenty-seven member pack. Emma ended up conquering Troy and made Rocco in charge of the pack again. He seems to have grown up a little since the last time we saw him. Oh, and the most important part is that Daven is going to remain a member of the Tala, and he doesn’t have the virus anymore,” Colby blurted.

Samara laughed loudly. “Did you tell Daven a lot of stories while we were gone? Your imagination is getting
really
vivid,” she said.

“Yeah, maybe you should become an author one day,” Declan joked, patting Colby on the back. “That would make for an awesome movie or something.”

“But it’s true!” Emma protested, placing her hands on her hips. “You can even ask Bennett if you don’t believe us.”

“Bennett has a pretty vivid imagination, too. But whatever you say, Em. We know that you two can handle yourselves. You don’t need to make up stories to prove it to us,” Samara replied with a wink. She yawned and turned to Declan. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, we’ll see you guys later. Don’t go after any packs without us around,” Declan joked again before heading for the front door. They piled the baby into the car.

Emma stared out the window at them angrily. “I can’t believe they don’t believe us!”

“I know,” Colby agreed with a sigh. “Oh, well. I guess it will just stay between you, me, and the Trusted Ones for now. Maybe we’ll convince them it really happened one day.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Emma agreed, turning to Colby. “You know, as much as I love Davenport, it’s nice to have you to myself again.”

“You know what I think we should do for the rest of the day?” Colby asked, lifting her into his arms. That was the benefit of being a werewolf; even though he was sort of puny by human standards, being a wolf gave him the strength he needed to be able to carry Emma up ten flights of stairs without even feeling a thing—not that they had ten flights of stairs.

“What?” Emma asked, glancing up at him.

“I think we should go spend the rest of the day in bed.” He said, pecking her on the lips.

“That sounds good to me,” Emma replied, wrapping her arms around his neck and allowing him to carry her into the bedroom.

Once they were lying under the covers, Colby kissed her deeply. When he pulled away, he said, “It’s going to be our last day of privacy, really. The rest of our pack members are going to be home from their vacation tomorrow, too.”

“I know,” Emma replied sadly. “In fact, that was something I wanted to talk to you about. I know that we both love living here, and it will always be a second home to us, but I was thinking . . . Maybe we should look into getting our own place soon.”

He rested his head against her chest and looked up into her eyes. “Our own place, huh?”

“Yeah, I mean we get no privacy around here,” Emma replied. “Between the rest of the pack and Bennett . . .”

“Ah, don’t let me be the reason for your sad, albeit necessary, departure,” Bennett said from behind them.

Emma glanced over at where he was hovering behind them. “I wouldn’t have to blame you if you weren’t constantly appearing out of nowhere, just like you did right now. You’re always listening in on our conversations and always interrupting
something
.” She rolled her eyes.

“Okay, okay. I’ll admit it. The past few days, I’ve been rather annoying,” Bennett agreed.

“The past few days?” Colby laughed. “You’ve been annoying ever since we’ve known you, Ben.”

“Actually, Colby Jack, that’s where you’re wrong. I will admit that there was a period of time when I was always spying on you. And I’ve been spying on you for the past two weeks, too. However, here’s what you need to understand: the only reason I’ve spied on you is because it was requested of me,” Bennett explained.

Emma narrowed her eyes at him. “By
who
?”

Even Colby had to admit that it creeped him out a little that someone had asked Bennett to spy on them. Who would want that?

“Joe McKinley,” he replied. “Back before anyone knew he was still alive, he requested that I watch after this old house. That’s the reason I live here . . . and it’s the reason Nadia and Dante live here, too. I guarded this place for years. When your pack moved in, he asked me to watch after you.”

“Okay, but now we know he’s alive, so why have you been spying on us over the past two weeks?” Colby pressed.

“Since the rest of the pack was gone and Joe went away to visit Alaska, too, he wanted me to make sure that the two of you didn’t get yourselves in any trouble. And to be frank, he wasn’t wrong for that. It turned out that you really
did
need the help of the Trusted Ones,” Bennett said matter-of-factly.

“I don’t understand something, though,” Emma said. “As much as I appreciate knowing when you’re spying us, if your job was really just to watch us, why do you always interrupt us and then use what happens between us as blackmail? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Honestly? It’s been rather nice having you around. Aside from Nadia and Dante, who are usually too involved in each other to pay attention to me, I didn’t have any contact with anyone,” Bennett said sadly. “But then you two came along, and you’re both full of so much life and energy. Don’t tell anyone else, but you’re my favorite Tala pack members. I show up sometimes just to have someone to joke around with. That’s the only reason I’ve blackmailed you or interrupted you when you were in such compromising positions. It’s fun to make you feel uncomfortable, but I never meant any harm by it.”

“Hmm,” Emma murmured. If that was the real reason, she felt really sorry for him.

“I do understand, however, that the two of you must move out into your own place,” Bennett went on. “It was bound to happen eventually.”

“Will you come visit us at our new place, at least?” Colby asked, feeling sort of bad about getting so annoyed with him all those times he’d intruded on them. If he’d only known that it was because Bennett was lonely, he might not have minded so much.

“Yeah, we would love to have you,” Emma agreed, glancing over at Colby with a smile.

A wide grin spread across Ben’s face. “Why, I’d love to. For now, however, I need to be going. You two enjoy your last day together alone. I won’t intrude on you at all. I promise.” He disappeared into thin air.

As they rested back into the bed, Colby glanced over at her. “I was a little disappointed that you’re not pregnant,” he admitted. “I guess I sort of got used to the idea of possibly having a baby, even if I only thought about it for one night.”

“Yeah?” Emma asked, kissing him softly. That was just what she needed to hear—that if and when it happened, he would be there to support her.

“So, maybe we could think about it now. I mean, you said it’s what you wanted, right?” he asked, nuzzling his forehead against hers.

“Well, I
did
say that, but after all the commotion that went on with Daven this week, I think I changed my mind. I don’t think I want them for a while.”

Colby frowned. “How long?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe another ten years,” Emma said as she slumped against the bed, exhausted.