Discovered, p.28
Discovered, page 28
“You wanted the girl. You’ve grown to care for her, have you not? I’d questioned your commitment until today. Until you grabbed the human and brought him as bait. It was a brilliant idea, and it worked out perfectly. They’re both here, just like we planned. Do you think she will forgive you now? Do you think they will welcome you into their pack after that? You’re no one. And you need me.”
“I did that for you! B-because I trusted you! You said nobody would get hurt… that the threat was all it would take. You promised it was all to bring our family together again!”
“And you truly believed I meant that human scum of a mother and son? My only family is the one that serves me. My pack.” He reached out and wrapped his hand around Ben’s throat, lifting him so his feet dangled inches above the ground, and Ben had to claw at Vincent’s fingers, fighting for breath. “I chose you, you fucking idiot. Out of both of my sons, I chose you. Was that a mistake, runt? Because you’re either with me, or you’re not.”
Ben stopped fighting and choked out a laugh, and Vincent’s face contorted with rage.
“Kill me. I don’t care anymore. I’d rather die than be in your pack… Dad.”
He spat the last word. And that was all it took for the last shred of control, the last bit of the mask that Vincent hid behind, to fall away. He pulled his arm back, claws poised, and then slashed them down towards Ben’s throat, ready to make the killing blow.
I lunged from my hiding spot, clearing the space between us in one leap and ploughing into Vincent’s side. The impact knocked him off balance, and he dropped Ben at such an angle I was certain he’d broken at least one bone. I couldn’t stop to check though; he’d heal soon enough, and I couldn’t let anything distract me.
Vincent turned his snarl on me, his eyes flashing yellow and fangs swirling with saliva as he snapped the deadly points in my direction. Then he backed up, before turning and running through a thicket and out of sight. I made to run after him… but yelped as something sank into my hind leg.
Spinning, I came face to face with Johnny, blood dripping from his muzzle as he growled at me. Behind him, Henry lay on the ground, panting. Johnny watched as my gaze flitted over his shoulder to my packmate, and his eyes glinted with amusement.
He thought Henry was down and out. But I knew better. I let my eyes widen in an expression of mock horror at Henry’s condition and, when Johnny’s focus was on me, on basking in my apparent fear, Henry winked to let me know he really was okay. Wounded, sure. But alive and breathing. And while Henry still had breath in his body, he’d keep fighting.
If Johnny thought it was just me and him, we’d use it to our advantage. As Henry pushed himself quietly to his feet, I made sure to not meet his eye again, so Johnny’s attention wouldn’t turn back to him. But I could still see him on the very edge of my peripheral vision, and he gestured with his head before slinking off through the trees.
When he was safely out of sight, I snarled at Johnny. Then I lunged, knocking him to the ground. I raised my paw and swung it down at him, red hot blood running out from under his fur where my claws made contact. He howled and snapped at me until I fell back, allowing him to scramble to his feet. Then he lunged, but I feinted left just in time, his fangs closing around thin air instead of the flesh he’d aimed for. He paused in confusion, just for a split second, before turning a glower on me, his lips parting in another snarl.
The brief hesitation was all we needed. I caught sight of Henry out of the corner of my eye. Johnny had arrogantly trusted he’d won, that we were no match for him, and now he was growing furious at my dodges… and that allowed Henry to skirt undetected around the perimeter of the clearing, and come up right behind us. Fighting the urge to look over at him, I feinted left again, drawing Johnny closer to the edge as he made another lunge for me. He snarled in frustration as he missed again.
Henry lunged, hitting Johnny in the flank. Horror flashed over his eyes as he realised his mistake, but it was too late. Henry’s jaws clamped around his throat, and I flinched at the sound of flesh tearing as his fangs sunk into the skin. He pulled back and…
Johnny’s body dropped to the ground, limp, blood seeping endlessly from the gaping wound on his neck.
Henry turned and spat out the pound of flesh that was hanging in his mouth, his muzzle soaked and dripping with Johnny’s blood. Then he caught my eye, and the question was clear in his gaze:
‘Are you okay?’
I responded by a dip of my head. He huffed, satisfied with my answer, and then came to stand at my side.
When a groan permeated the sudden silence, I spun, surprised to see Ben still on the ground where Vincent had dropped him. I loped over to him, sniffing around for injuries, and thankfully only finding superficial ones – cuts and bruises mostly, which would heal soon enough. I nudged him with my muzzle, and he gave me a weak, pained smile.
“I’m okay.” He promised, although his voice hitched on the words, like it was painful to speak. “I just need to stand—”
He tried to push himself up, but then he screamed in agony and collapsed down again. That’s when I noticed his leg, bent at an impossible angle. Broken.
I glanced over my shoulder at Henry, but he just shrugged and gestured with his head, as if to say, ‘just leave him.’ But he didn’t know what’d happened between Ben and Vincent. He didn’t know that Ben had fought with us.
To Henry, Ben was still the enemy. But I knew differently. And I couldn’t just leave him there.
“Henry’s right.” Ben said, still breathless. “I can’t read your minds exactly…” He chuckled, and then hissed in pain. “But I know you guys well enough now to know Henry wants to leave me behind. Right, Freddie?”
Henry huffed again, and Ben let out another low chuckle, clutching his stomach in pain as he did. Then he looked straight into my eyes and gave me that weak smile again.
“You should listen to him, Maddie. I got you into this mess, and my dad is still out there somewhere. Believe me, he’s just catching his breath. Vincent Lavoie doesn’t give up that easily.”
I shook my head, nudging him with my snout to force him to his feet. I knew it was useless; he’d need to be carried out of the forest, considering the state of his leg. But I couldn’t just leave him behind. It was too dangerous.
“Madison.” He said after a long, agonising moment of silence. “Forget about me. I can’t go anywhere right no—”
The distant sound of a howl cut him off, and my head snapped around, following the direction of it… straight along the path I’d dragged Carter.
“Go.” Ben commanded again.
And I did.
Twenty-Seven
I barely even looked at where I was going. Overwhelming panic led to a surge of adrenaline, and I just bolted through the forest in the general direction of the howl.
Before long, Henry nipped at my heels, and I turned my head to snap at him before continuing forward. He just nipped again, forcing me to slow to a stop. I growled as I ground to a halt, twisting to face him. My paws itched to run again, but he dug his claws into the earth, refusing to move.
I just stared at him, at a stalemate, but eventually I realised what he meant. And he was right. The slight breeze that’d made its way downwind to us told me Vincent was nowhere near Carter – yet. Plus, we knew he was alone, now Johnny was dead. Two against one. We had time to plan our move. Racing blindly through the forest might just push him directly into Carter’s path. We needed to get around him before that happened.
Henry nodded at me, and then gestured east, where I’d parted from Carter. I huffed an acceptance. Henry would go west and try to get behind Vincent, while I came from the front to block him off. It was a better plan than mine. Which wasn’t a plan at all, really. Just panicked charging through the trees, hoping to run into either Carter or Vincent. Preferably before they ran into each other.
We locked eyes for a moment, the look telling each other simply to ‘be careful’. Then I rubbed my head briefly against Henry’s flank, before taking off again, muzzle low to catch the trail.
It didn’t take long to pick up Carter’s scent. I hadn’t gotten him as far away from the clearing as I’d thought.
I slowed to a lope so I could approach quietly, not wanting to startle him. The sight of Henry in his wolf form had already terrified him. A wolf approaching him when he was alone and injured… his natural fight-or-flight response might have him taking off deeper into the forest.
Plus, if Carter tried to run? I was a damn predator. As hard as I tried to control it, in this form, my instinct was to chase. To hunt. And, ultimately, to kill.
I’d never forgive myself if I did anything to Carter because I lost control. I needed to be careful to make sure it didn’t happen.
As I got closer, I could hear his deep breathing and the heavy thumping of his heart in his chest. He was nervous, and probably still scared out of his mind, but he was okay. Nothing had gotten to him in the time since I’d left him alone, then.
I poked my head through a gap between two trees opposite where he sat waiting, and his head snapped up, eyes frantically searching around him for the source of the noise. I hastily retreated and, after a moment, he sighed, deciding it must’ve been the wind, or maybe a rabbit. Nothing to be concerned with. He leaned back against the tree trunk, relaxed again.
Satisfied he was okay, I turned and backed away from him, muzzle low again, in search of Vincent’s scent this time. I wanted to put as much distance between us and Carter as possible.
I didn’t have to wait long before I caught the sounds of a chase. Extending my claws, I scratched them over the ground, feeling the leaves and dirt shift underneath as I tested the terrain. I waited for thirty agonising seconds — long enough for all the wildlife in the vicinity to sense the threat approaching and run for cover. But I had to get my timing right and, as they retreated, the ground beneath my paws vibrated. And…
I pounced, the momentum propelling me forward into a sprint just as the dark brown head of a wolf tore through the trees in front of me.
Vincent saw me, and he changed direction, swerving to the left, but he was going too fast as he tried to outrun Henry. He hadn’t expected me to be waiting for him.
The swerve knocked him off balance, but he caught himself, only mildly stumbling. But it was all I needed. The split-second slip was enough for me to close the gap between us. He feinted again, but not before I was on him. I smashed into his side, knocking him against the trunk of a tree with a thwack. He yelped, twisting it into a snarl as he pushed himself up again.
He growled, teeth bared as he snapped and snarled at me. But his attempts were wild with panic, and none of them connected.
I growled back and then, hearing Henry’s approach behind me, I fell back a little, letting Vincent stand. We faced each other, circling. He lunged first, his teeth catching my forequarters and puncturing the skin. I yelped, jumping back as a droplet of blood fell to splash on the leaves beneath my paws.
Henry burst through a thicket to my right. He glanced my way, anger flashing across his black eyes as he sniffed, catching the scent of my blood. He snarled and lunged at Vincent, but the older man was ready for him. He rushed at Henry, knocking him flying to land about a yard away from us, and then turned his snarl back on me.
With Henry down, Vincent lowered his muzzle to the floor, looking up at me with a glint in his eye. I poised, ready for his attack, just as Henry pushed back to his feet and leapt at him.
Vincent saw him out of the corner of his eye, and he flashed his teeth in a wolf grin… before he spun and pounced at him. Their bodies collided in mid-air with a crack of bone before Henry yelped, his body smashing against a tree.
He slumped to the ground, and I turned expectant eyes on him, waiting for him to stand up again. But he didn’t. Couldn’t. He tried. He tried like his life depended on it, which it did. But he was too weak from the blow, and his legs couldn’t hold his weight anymore.
Terror surged through me as I caught his eye, and his gaze pleaded with me. I could almost hear his voice in my mind telling me to go. Just go – get myself out of there. But I couldn’t leave him. The same way I couldn’t leave Ben. It felt like a nightmare. A horrible, lucid dream. Like I was watching from the outside, but powerless to intervene. Because I was frozen in fear. Paralysed. All my training with Dad, and the hunts in the forest with Ryan and Henry… none of that had prepared me for this. For facing a fully grown man-eating rogue with nothing left to lose.
Vincent prowled towards where Henry lay, and then he stepped over him, looking down at his broken and beaten body as his lips curled into a sneer.
Henry stared back at him; his eyes fiery with defiance. Unwilling to give Vincent the satisfaction of fearing death. That only infuriated him more. He drew back his lips in a final snarl, his fangs glinting, and…
The flicker of moonlight caught my eye, and like being struck by lightning, something inside me sparked. The paralysis broke, and instinct took over. The instinct to protect Henry.
I leapt across the small space between us, knocking Vincent on his side just as his teeth were mere inches from Henry’s throat. Then I pinned him beneath me, teeth bared. He tried to force me back away from him, wildly flailing his legs and snapping his fangs. A couple of his blows connected, but I barely felt them. I was too focused on my task.
Bringing my paw back, I launched it down to scratch across his face, drawing blood from around his eye socket. He snarled in pain, but the pain was like a drug to him, spurring him on rather than forcing him to give in. And he was stronger than me. I only took him down the first time by catching him off guard. He’d written me off as a non-threat. Decided Henry was the real problem, and he’d already dealt with him.
I didn’t stand a chance.
He scratched at me again and, as I yelped, he kicked out with his forelegs. I fell back, and he jumped up, switching positions so it was me pinned to the ground, his claws digging into my shoulders as I howled in pain. He drew his lips back again in another wolflike grin.
He had me trapped. There was nothing I could do but lie there and wait for the killing blow. I closed my eyes; I knew the fear would be clear in them and, like Henry, I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
A yowl pierced the air, and I wasn’t sure if it’d come from me. I didn’t remember doing it, but maybe that was what death felt like. An out-of-body experience, so you didn’t feel any of the pain.
It wasn’t until the pressure on my shoulders released that I realised the sound hadn’t come from me. My eyes shot open just in time to see Henry pin Vincent again… then he ripped out his throat.
Twenty-Eight
Almost two days had passed since Ryan’s death, and Carter’s kidnapping.
The pack came home yesterday, and Ray immediately set the guys to cleaning up. Henry and I, after seeing Carter safely home, had returned to bury Ryan the same night. It didn’t feel right to leave him, even safely inside the Manor.
As for Vincent and Johnny… we’d dragged their bodies as close to the edge of the forest as we dared, but made no attempt to bury them. That was partly because we were so exhausted. We didn’t have the energy to waste on them, and if some creature in the forest could forge at least some good out of their wretched lives, by feasting on their remains during a brutal winter, then I was more than okay with that. It seemed harsh, but I guess that was just the circle of life. And it was exactly what they deserved.
Mostly though, it was because we expected Aiden would want to come and see the bodies for himself – to confirm it was truly over. If there were no bodies for him to inspect, even ones that’d been ravaged by scavengers, then he’d have to take our word on it… and Aiden wouldn’t take the word of two teenage werewolves on such an important thing. Even with Ray’s support behind us.
And we’d been right. When the pack arrived home, they had Lincoln and some other guy we hadn’t met before in tow. Henry showed them, along with Ray, where we’d left the bodies; close by the old storage shed on the outskirts of the forest. I didn’t ask what condition the bodies were in, and Henry didn’t offer the information. But Lincoln and the other guy seemed satisfied, so they must’ve still been recognisable, at least.
At least they’d died in wolf form. If discovered, there’d be fewer questions raised about two dead wolves than there would be two dead men. Which was exactly the problem with Ryan. His murderers were dead, but he deserved so much more justice than that. It killed me to accept that we couldn’t give him it. We had to make all the evidence disappear. Starting with the hire car. I didn’t ask what they did with it, I just knew that it was still in the driveway when we left the night before but, within hours of the pack arriving home, it was gone. I doubted they’d returned it to the company, though.
Ray also tasked my dad and Dan with questioning Ben. We’d left him tied up in one of the spare bedrooms at headquarters since we hauled him out of the forest. I’d tried to talk Henry out of that, but… he wasn’t as forgiving as me. Even after I’d told him what went down between him and Vincent.
He’d broken his leg, as I’d suspected. Henry had to carry him up to the house. We didn’t try to fix it, instead just giving him pills to manage the pain. Neither of us had any medical training and, even though werewolf genes came with exceptional healing properties… we weren’t magical. His leg wouldn’t heal if we set it wrong. The very first thing Ray did, after hearing the entire story from us, was order Travis, the unofficial pack medic, to see to him. He’d reset the bone and prescribed him a couple of days of bed rest. Remarkably that, along with his broken nose, was the most serious injury out of the three of us, but Travis managed to fix that up, too.
Since the pack had been home, I’d been at a loose end, really. Which, compared to the craziness of the last few weeks, was a very welcome change. I’d spent so long arguing with Dad about me not being a child… and now I could see plainly that he’d been right all along. I wasn’t in a rush to become a fully fledged pack werewolf anymore.
