Leader of the Pack (64 page)

“Protect the circle,” he said.

“They’re not here yet.”

“They will be.”

* * * *

Screaming and growling drove Cullen through the trees. The smell blood assaulted his senses and warned him that he was nearing the perimeter of the fight. When he burst through the trees and caught sight of the actual battle, rage seared though him. A thing that could only be described as a monster, surrounded by eight or more lycans, tore them apart, and tossed them into trees as if the lycans were pups. The dire wolf was head and shoulders taller than the largest of the lycans surrounding him and twice as wide. Lycans clawed at his back and face and ripped chunks of flesh away, with no effect. He didn’t seem to have a neck beneath all the muscle. That made it difficult for the lycans to take his throat out.

As the shock wore off, Cullen charged in with the rest to take his turn. The lycans instinctively attacked as a team. Cullen growled in rage as one of his men was thrown bodily into a tree. Even in the chaos a sickening crack could be heard and, the man didn’t stand back up. Cullen charged again as the beast turned to claw at another lycan. Cullen managed to knock the dire to the ground, and instantly the other lycans swarmed it. The amount of damage that had to be done in order to kill the dire lycan was frightening. They all stood over the monster on the ground breathing hard and waiting to see that it didn’t stand back up. Somewhere in the woods Cullen could hear gunshots. That meant the lycans who had been in the cabin were involved, if someone was using real weapons. Cullen turned toward the nearest sound of hand to hand fighting and darted through the trees toward the next target.

One at a time,
he told himself in frustration.

* * * *

Mack caught up to Keith as they charged north through the woods. When they came across the gigantic wolf-beast Keith couldn’t help himself.
Which one of the human Hollywood makeup artists came up with this one?
He followed his comment with the closest thing to a snicker that his hybrid form could manage through a muzzle.

Mack growled his annoyance at Keith’s attempt to be humorous.
Not funny,
he growled back. Together the two of them joined the group which was already futilely swarming the monstrous lycan. Bloody, broken bodies littered the ground around the thing’s feet. Keith vaulted over one of the bodies, straight at the dire’s head. Mack’s lunge was aimed at the thing’s chest. Keith hit it first and Mack’s weight added to the tackle, knocking it backward into a tree. Keith’s claws raked at its head, and Mack’s jaws crunched down on its arm.

The dire roared in pain as Keith managed to take out an eye. The others were going after its legs and stomach. The dire flailed for anything and managed to get its claw’s on Mack. Keith was thrown to the ground, as the half blinded dire lycan lifted Mack in its massive claws to bite down on Mack’s shoulder. Blood gushed from the wound while Mack screamed in pain.

Keith tried to stand, but found his leg wouldn’t hold him. Forcing himself up, he tired to go to Mack’s aid, as the dire lycan ripped at Mack’s stomach with one viscous claw. The other lycans managed to get its arms and the dire dropped Mack’s bleeding form to the ground. Keith grabbed his friend by the arm and pulled him back from the frenzy, just as the other lycans brought the dire to the ground.

Mack coughed up blood and read bubbled from his nose as he lie on the ground. He closed his eyes as Keith begged him to hang on for just a little longer.
We only need to get back to the cabin. Mack!

* * * *

Cullen burst into a small clearing in the woods where one monster was fighting off six or more lycans. In his peripheral vision he caught sight of a group of Tairneach sneaking around the fight, working their way toward the standing stones. Cullen started toward the strange group when Maon appeared in front of him. He hadn’t changed yet.

Cullen knew Jenna’s favorite lackey well.
Maon,
Cullen said.
Jenna must be somewhere nearby. She never let’s your leash out too far.

Maon growled, but continued to smile. He nodded toward the fight with the dire lycan, taking place nearby. “You gonna let your men die so you can banter with me Arnauk?”

Cullen’s head snapped around. The dire had two men pinned under its gigantic paws and the others couldn’t get in close enough to do anything about it. Without another glance at Maon, Cullen charged the dire lycan, barreling hard enough into its side for one of the men to crawl free. Still the wounded wasn’t getting back up to join the fight.

Cullen’s teeth tore into the dire lycan’s side, causing the beast to roar angrily and swipe at Cullen with a blow hard enough to crack a rib or two, as claws slashed a gash in his side. Cullen ignored the pain and charged back into the fray. One of the lycans who had been thrown from the fight panicked and ran off into the woods. Cullen watched the man flee, regretting the loss of number, but understanding the feeling as he watched the monster’s jaws shred the lycan he was holding down. The man screamed in pain as his arm was ripped from his body and thrown into the bushes, leaving a trail of blood behind. Cullen howled his fury, jumped onto the creature’s back, and with all his strength grabbed hold of the dire’s head. Cullen threw himself bodily to the ground, using his weight and strength to try and break its neck. For a brief instant, Cullen felt the world flash, as the beast swiped at his head and only barely missed his eyes, leaving a gash along his forehead and cheek. Then came the cracking of bones, and the beast crumbled to the ground. Cullen knelt bleeding, chest heaving as the others ripped into the limp body to finish the dire off. The massacre continued long after the body stopped twitching.

* * * *

Jenna sauntered into the clearing entirely pleased with herself. The Arnauk and their guests were all in the process of dealing with her new army. There were only two people standing in the circle. It was as if someone had given her a present. Maon could deal with the druid. She planned to kill Aislinn personally. The idea sent pleasant chills through her body.

Maon led the druids and their guards into the stone circle behind Jenna. He took the bag of supplies off of his back and set it down. So far the plan was going as it should. Still, he felt as though something was going to go wrong.

Aislinn turned to Malik. “Do you know what I’m supposed to do yet,” she growled, as they watched Jenna’s troops walk into the clearing. Aislinn guessed that Maon was at least a beta. She had never seen him fight, but she knew that Jenna was rarely without him. She also figured that the others had to be decent rank as well, just in case Jenna found a fight at the circle. It certainly appeared as though the circle was their goal.
Why else bring druids along?

Malik didn’t answer her. He seemed to be waiting for something.

Aislinn was getting pissed. “I guess I don’t make a very good druid,” she spat. “I don’t like waiting well enough.”

Jenna tilted her pretty blonde head and smiled at Aislinn. “Maon,” she cooed. “Kill the little man.”

Instantly, Maon dropped his clothes to the ground, shifted, and attacked Malik. Jenna stood there watching Aislinn with a wicked grin on her face. “I dare you,” she taunted.

Aislinn glared defiantly at Jenna and shifted into her hybrid form as Malik backed away from Maon into a stone. Fear filled his wide eyes as he stared at the oncoming lycan. Malik found that he couldn’t think straight. He thought he was prepared for this. His brain searched desperately for the words that would save him and started to speak in Gaelic. He hesitated as some of the words seemed to blend in his mind.

Maon single-mindedly charged the confused druid and missed Aislinn’s attack. She hit Maon hard in the side. He never expected her to actually attack him. He soon discovered that she wasn’t as incompetent as Terrick made her sound. Her claws bit into his flesh, and Maon growled angrily, turning his attention from the apparently harmless druid to Aislinn. Jenna motioned for the other guards to grab Malik. While Aislinn was busy with Maon, Jenna made the druids begin setting up the circle for the transformation.

One of the lycans grabbed Malik and stuffed some waded cloth in his mouth to keep him from saying anything that could impede their progress. Malik frantically scanned the woods and clearing for other druids, only to find that they all had gone into the woods to aid the wounded. He couldn’t remember ever feeling this trapped and helpless. He watched as Aislinn fought with Maon. She was doing well. Maon bled and growled at her wickedly. He limped on one leg as crimson seeped from a gash on his hindquarter. Aislinn had taken a few hits, but she didn’t look nearly as bad as he did.

“Enough,” Jenna shouted. “Kill the druid if she doesn’t submit.”

Aislinn turned to see what Jenna was doing and Maon took advantage of her shifted attention. He knocked her roughly into a nearby stone, and her head cracked against it with a disgusting thud. Aislinn felt a wave a nausea as the stone circle spun around her, and the world went black.

Pleased, Jenna stepped up to Aislinn’s limp form. She scrutinized the cat with jealousy. Cullen had given Jenna a simple gold anklet for their mating. It was nice, but nothing like the jewelry that adorned Aislinn’s unconscious form. Jenna had a strong urge to scar her pretty little face.

“Mistress,” someone called, and Jenna turned from her musing to see what the voice wanted. “We’re ready for you.”

Jenna accepted the fact that she could have company any moment and this could suddenly get harder. “Get her body out of the circle. I’ll deal with her after this is done.”

One of the Tairneach came over and dragged Aislinn roughly out of the circle. Maon limped to join Jenna on the slab in the middle of the stone circle, as Jenna stripped out of her clothes, and Maon shifted down to his human form. With a nod from Jenna, the druids began drawing symbols across her chest with blue woad. They spoke softly as they drew each symbol, and all around them energy began to crackle in the air.

* * * *

Drake felt Sarah fading. She lie on the ground nearby, blood poured from her nose and one ear. Her leg was bend at an odd angle and she didn’t look like she was breathing. Drake roared his anger and charged the dire lycan. He didn’t know if he wanted to die or kill it. One way or the other this fight wasn’t over.

The monster accumulated quite the body count. Dead and dying lycans lie scattered about the clearing. Drake and two other Arnauk were the only ones left fighting the beast. As Drake jumped at the dire, it grabbed him out of the air. Pulling Drake to its open maw, the dire bit down on his throat. Drake screamed and coughed blood as the other lycans tried futilely to free their friend. The beast seemed to be indestructible.

Out of nowhere, the lycans heard someone speaking Gaelic. The voice wasn’t making any sense. The words didn’t seem to go together correctly. Suddenly, the tree next to them began to move, and vines slithered like snakes out of the woods. The strange green plants twisted around the monster’s legs. The two Arnauk tripped back away from the nightmarish scene. The tree appeared to come to life, and the vines lifted the struggling dire up into the branches. It dropped Drake to the ground slashed manically at the vines, trying to free itself. The dire made short work of the plants and was nearly through the mass of vines when the tree shoved a number of branches through the it’s contorted body, impaling it. Then the tree went still, blood dripping from the branches.

Three druids walked out of the wood from behind the tree. They looked tired and pale. One of them vomited at the sight of the body in the tree branches. The other two began walking amongst the bleeding lycans on the ground.

* * * *

A number of omegas tried desperately to keep Celia inside the cabin. She could feel Mack fading from her mind. He had been there for so long that she didn’t realize what was happening at first. There was pain and confusion, a torrent of pain and confusion. She tried reaching out him, but he was too far away. Their bond wasn’t complete and was never really strong enough for communication out of visual range. Even so, she tried over and over again. Her panic was working up some of the others. Celia wasn’t the only one feeling the loss of someone, but she was the only one going crazy over it.

“Celia,” Rissa insisted calmly. “What do you think you’ll be able to do if we let you out of here?” She was standing in front of the door and there were a couple other omegas at the nearby windows.

Celia paced. Tears welled in her eyes. “I don’t know,” she cried and fell to her knees on the floor. “I don’t know Rissa. But something.”

Rissa came over to Celia, sat on the floor next to her, and wrapped her arms around her. “It won’t help if you get yourself or the babies hurt,” she said softly. Rissa rocked back and forth as Celia cried in her arms.

* * * *

Cullen felt it the minute Aislinn shifted. He knew that she was in the middle of a fight. Fear coursed through him, and he prayed that it wasn’t with one of the dires.
I shouldn’t have left her alone,
he cursed himself, as the lycan he was fighting collapsed, his windpipe crushed in Cullen’s jaws. Shoving the man aside, Cullen darted into the trees, following his senses toward Aislinn. His head-long rush brought him to a clearing where another dire was destroying a small group of lycans.

Cullen recognized the group as one of the packs from Cadifor’s territory. They were losing ground fast. The dire already had several of them down and was working on disemboweling one he held up by the neck. Cullen forced himself to go to their aide. His wolf was howling at him to go to Aislinn, but he couldn’t just pass the men up. Aislinn didn’t seem to need him yet, these men obviously did.