Untamed (Wolf Lake) (26 page)

Nafarius nodded in understanding. "See to your mate."

Roland turned and went to find Natasha, her sadness a beacon for him to follow.

Nafarius watched his beta disappear inside. Alone, he wondered if he really was doing the right thing.

****

"Where's Dimitri?" Craig demanded, scanning the gathered pack. Sitting close together, they were more sheep than wolves.
 

William cursed silently. Looking at Kate, he saw the same disappointment reflected in her eyes. The pack had gathered outside, everyone enjoying a rare sunny day. Craig's appearance cast a cloud over all of them.

"Where's Dimitri?" Craig repeated.

"Gone," William said, stepping forward, his shoulders tight with guilt over the relief he felt. Dimitri was growing worse by the day, and there wasn't anything William could do to stop it.
 

"What do you mean gone?" Craig's voice was soft but no less lethal.

William felt Craig's voice slide chillingly down his spine, his beta's eyes glowing with an unhealthy light. Perhaps, Dimitri wasn't the only crazy one around.

William dropped his eyes. "He said something about hunting and took off."

Craig clenched his teeth so hard he heard them creak. He was growing tired of sitting on the old alpha, an aging werewolf required more care than green Jello and a six pack of Ensure.

"Find him," Craig snarled.

William stiffened. He didn't like Craig. The male was a snake, slithering around running errands for Dimitri. There was no missing the cold, calculating gleam in Craig's eyes that warned William that Dimitri wasn't the only one to fear. "Dimitri ordered - "

Movement over Craig's shoulder caught William's eyes, a sudden avalanche of dread slid down the pack bond, seizing the air in his lungs.

Dimitri stepped from the forest surrounding the pack house. For a minute, William thought Dimitri had hunted in human form and was still wearing his clothes. It was only as the old alpha drew closer that he realized what he'd mistaken for clothes was actually blood.

Thick, black blood covered Dimitri from head to toe, the whites of his eyes the only thing breaking up the cover of violence. Blood and gore caked his hair to his head, returning the pale gray strands to their once glorious shade of red.

"Dinner." Dimitri said, and dropped the doe carcass at Craig's feet.
 

Craig fought to keep from gagging. There was a lot he could stomach, but the smell coming from his alpha was enough to bring the bile up the back of his throat.
 

The pack watched silently as Dimitri let himself into the house.
 

"There's no blood," William said.

"What?" Craig looked up to find William's eyes fixed firmly on the dead animal at his feet.

"There's no blood." William said again.

"What are you talking about?" Kate whispered, wide eyes darting to where Dimitri had disappeared inside. "He was covered in it!"

"Yeah," William said. "But the doe's neck was broken."

"So where did it come from?" Craig asked.
 

****

Sam was standing inside the den when she felt it. White hot agony lanced down the pack bond. Collapsing to her hands and knees, Sam panted as pain washed over her.
 

"Nafarius," Sam whispered, frantically searching for the mate bond, relief at finding it whole momentarily beating back some of the pain.

"Sam!" Nafarius appeared, his eyes wild as he scanned the room. He'd been outside when the pain started, fear sending him running to find his mate.

"Here," Sam croaked, climbing slowly to her feet. Everything hurt, her body screaming in protest as she moved. Bracing herself against the wall, she moved to the nearest pack member.

Jude, a recent friend of Maddie's, lay curled up on her side. Pain-glazed eyes rolled up and watched Sam approach, pleading for help. "It's okay," Sam cooed, not sure what she should do.

"Nafarius," Roland staggered in from the pack's private quarters. It had taken everything he had to leave his mate. Natasha was withering in pain, the need to find answers and make it stop the only thing driving him from her side. "Who?"

"I don't know," Nafarius gasped as he tried to pinpoint the source of the pain. "Who do we have out there?"

Everywhere Sam looked, pack members suffered, some staggering to their feet while others withered on the floor in pain.
 

"Jack, Declan and..." Roland's body bent forward, involuntarily curving in on itself as a fresh wave of pain speared through the pack bond.

"Marcus," Nafarius ground out, his back teeth clenched.

Snnnaaaapppp!
 

Roland felt the pack bond stretch and snap, the place where the pain had been suddenly cold.
 

"NO!!" Roland roared, staggering with dread.
 

Roland's cry echoed deep into the den, the sound fading away and leaving an unnatural silence in its wake.

"Nafarius?" Sam whispered, trying to make sense of it all. The pain had cleared, replaced by an aching sense of emptiness.

Once again able to move without pain, Roland dashed out the entrance.

"Roland!" Nafarius called, following his beta outside.

"Sam?" Natasha limped out from the back. She could feel her mate's pain, disjointed emotions skittering across the mate bond. "What...?"

"Come on," Sam said, grabbing Natasha's hand and dragging the female behind her.

Roland frantically circled the clearing, searching the tree line for Marcus' scent. The male had gone out early to check the territory. The wind shifted, blowing the hair back from Roland's face and bringing with it the heavy scent of blood.

"Roland!" Nafarius yelled as his beta took off. "Everyone inside!" Nafarius ordered before diving head first into the trees.

Roland ran, arms and legs pumping as he tore through the forest. His heart pounded in his ears, the only sound in the sudden silence left by Marcus' snapping the pack bond.
 

It doesn't mean he's dead
, Roland told himself, pushing himself to run faster. His legs burned, his lungs struggling to provide the oxygen his body needed. Leaping over fallen logs, he veered to the right and broke through a small stand of trees.
 

Skidding to a stop, Roland jerked back, falling on his ass and skittering backwards.
 

"Roland!" Nafarius broke through the trees, spying his beta first. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?!"

"Marcus," Roland whispered, his eyes fixed on something over Nafarius' shoulder.

"What...?" Nafarius turned, following Roland's gaze. "No. No. NOOO!!"

Slower than the others, Sam and Natasha stepped into the clearing in time to see Nafarius fall to his knees. "Nafarius?"

"Stay back!" Nafarius ordered, raising a hand to ward off the two females.
 

Too late.
 

Sam spotted Marcus, her hands going to her face as horror flooded her eyes with tears.

Marcus had been strung up by his wrists, his arms pulled apart and dislocating at least one shoulder. The ropes had cut through flesh as he struggled, eventually cinching tight to the bone. His head hung loose on his neck, his chin resting on his chest.
 

He'd died trying to shift, his body a mangled combination of wolf and male. But that wasn't what had Sam staggering to her mate, her arms wrapping around his shoulders as he rocked gently.

Marcus had been skinned. The flesh torn from his body in strips and left at his feet.

Roland forced himself to look, his eyes traveling over the horrifying remains of his friend. He committed every cut to memory, promising himself that he would have vengeance for every one of them.

"Cut him down," Sam whispered. "Please, cut him down."

Natasha stepped forward to help.

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HIM!!" Roland roared, his eyes wild as he turned away from her. "I don't want you anywhere near him!"

Natasha staggered back, stumbling as red hot rage radiated down the mate bond. "Roland," she whispered, reaching for him only to drop her hand when he turned away.

Roland didn't answer, couldn't answer his mate. Putting one foot in front of the other, he forced himself to cross to his friend. It was only then that Roland realized it wasn't the skinning that had killed him. Marcus' chest had been ripped open and his heart removed.

Keening softly, Roland reached up and snapped the ropes, catching Marcus as he fell. Cradling him carefully, Roland turned and laid the male out in front of their alphas.

Sam sobbed, her hand shaking as she reached out and brushed the hair back from Marcus' face. Surprisingly unmarred, she wiped dried blood from his lips, tears falling to his cheek as she bent forward and pressed a kiss to his closed eyes.

Across from Sam, Roland stopped keening. Tipping his head back, he howled out grief and rage, the sound cutting through the forest.
 

Nafarius was the first to join him, adding his voice to that of his beta in a hauntingly beautiful duet. It wasn't long before they were joined by others, the pack calling out the loss of one of their own. Sam was the last to join in, her cry completing the song.

****

Natasha hurried through the forest, swatting tears from her face as she ran. She had to get home. She could feel Nafarius' rage, a mirror to that of her mate. Grief held them immobile, but it wouldn't be long before they came looking for blood.

****

Nafarius eased out from under Marcus, setting the male gently on the ground. Standing, he stared down at his mate. Sam sat with Marcus' head in her lap, her fingers shaking as she brushed the hair back from his face.
 

He had ordered her inside with the rest of them, but for once he was grateful she hadn't listened to him.
 

"I have to go," he said quietly. He was numb, grief and rage having burnt out his insides, leaving him empty of everything except vengeance.

Sam nodded. "I'll stay with him." Nafarius wouldn't want to leave Marcus here alone.

"I'm coming with you," Roland growled. His eyes glowed yellow where they stared down at the remains of his close friend. Clenching and unclenching his fists, Roland's skin rippled as he fought shifting, holding his wolf back by the barest of threads.
 

"Where's Natasha?" Sam asked, looking for the female.

Roland's head snapped up, fear at finding his mate gone the only thing strong enough to break through the haze of rage. Closing his eyes, he groaned at the memory of yelling at her, his rage no excuse for the hurtful words.

Reaching out through the mate bond, he felt her fear and her sadness. He also sensed she was moving quickly, driven by her need to get home. "She's headed home," he told the others.

Sam looked up at him, her eyes wet and red from crying. For the first time that he could remember, she didn't reprimand him for his less than gentle handling of his mate.

"Find him," Sam said, her eyes darting back and forth between alpha and beta. "Find him and kill him. Slowly."

Nafarius shook his head. "It will be a quick death," he said. "This is my fault, I should have acted sooner."

"I don't care whose fucking fault it is!" Sam snarled, her fist pounding the ground beneath her as the last of whatever humanity she possessed slipped away. "Find him and KILL HIM!"

Nafarius responded to his mate's demand, her need snapping the last of his control. His wolf surged, Nafarius' body contorting painfully as he shifted and his wolf tore its way free.

Bending his head, Nafarius nuzzled Marcus' neck, the animal whimpering softly before lifting his head and howling. Beside him, Roland completed his shift, the white wolf adding his voice to that of his alpha.

"Kill him," Sam ordered, her eyes glowing green with the need to shift. Her skin rippled, her wolf so close to the surface that Sam felt fur. The animal wanted to run down Dimitri and rend his flesh. She would have a strip for every piece of flesh that had been torn from Marcus' body.

Nafarius studied Sam's face one last time before bolting into the trees, leaving his mate in the center of death. Roland charged after his alpha, shadowing the male as he barreled through the forest.
 

It wasn't long before they crossed into Dimitri's territory, the first time Nafarius had been this far north in nearly fifty years. The fact that he hunted a male he once called friend didn't stop him, didn't even slow him down.
 

That male was gone.

The path to Dimitri's pack house was easy to follow, the scent of death and sickness lay thick on the ground, sticking to trees and bushes as the old alpha passed by. The two wolves ran in silence, eventually making their way up a shallow rise. The pack house was tucked up above them and surrounded on three sides by thick trees. Like any good den, there would be only one way in or out.

Nafarius headed for the front door, pulling up short when it opened and Natasha stepped out. What the fuck?

"Talking would be a lot easier if you shifted," Natasha said, addressing Nafarius and studiously avoiding looking at her mate.

Roland eyed his mate before giving Nafarius a low gruff of agreement. He would guard his alpha while he shifted.

A few minutes of tense silence later and Nafarius unfolded to his full height. "Where is Dimitri?"

"I don't know," she said, steeling her spine against her alpha's displeasure. Not an easy thing to do when he stood naked and pissed.

"You warned him we were coming," Nafarius ground out.

"No," Natasha said, shaking her head. "He was gone when I got here."

"You'll understand if I don't believe you," Nafarius said, moving to step around her.

Natasha jerked back at the verbal slap but held her ground. "He's not here," she said, putting herself between Nafarius and the door to her father's pack house.
 

"What are you doing Natasha?" Nafarius asked. She was strong for a female, nearly equal to Sam in strength, but she was no match for him. A battle between the two of them would be over before it began.