Grayslake: Furrever Yours (Kindle Worlds Novella) (9 page)

The pack gathered in the sitting room towards the back of the main house. Margaret was as pale as a ghost, and the women from the pack crowded around her, clucking with worry and shoving food at her.

“Look at her. She’s as thin as a broomstick,” Janet said indignantly. “Eat some more of this stew, dear.”

Then she shook her head at Knox. “Knox, you can’t let them take her. It’s wrong.”

“I assure you, it’s not what I want to do.” Knox felt anger and frustration roiling inside him. He believed Margaret was telling the truth, now that he’d talked to her. He’d asked her about the wedding contract, and she’d sworn to him that she’d never signed it and she’d never agreed to marry Kevin. She’d told him about what her father had done to her older sister. She’d told him how Kevin had beaten her bloody.

“You will literally have to go over my dead body to get to her,” Heather said, her tone deadly calm, and Knox was sure that she meant every word.

Margaret started to cry.

“I don’t want people to die because of me,” she sobbed, and her tears rolled down her cheeks and splashed into her stew. Every female in the room was looking at Knox was if he were a monster.

“We’re nowhere near there yet,” Knox said. But they might be soon, he couldn’t deny it. Fenris was outside on the front porch with several dozen of his men pacing around in front of the house, and he was losing patience.

“The Southeast Alpha could be our ally, but he needs to speak to Margaret,” Knox said. “He needs to hear her side of the story.”

“But you already told him what Margaret said,” Heather protested.

“I’m asking him to go up against another Territorial Alpha. He can’t just take my word for it.”

“No way,” Heather shook her head. “Margaret’s not going out there. How do we know he wouldn’t grab her and run off?”

Knox’s phone rang, and he answered it. It was as he’d suspected.

The men he’d stationed at the front gate were letting him know they had guests. There were two dozen cars there, and the drivers were demanding to be let in. Aloysius, his pack members, Kevin, Eugene, and Eugene’s pack members.

Since Knox’s men had refused to let them drive in, they’d climbed out of their cars and were walking onto the property.

“Wait here,” Knox growled, and he and Clarence hurried down to the living room, where Fenris and his men stood, watching the dozens of men walking towards the house.

“This is a declaration of war,” Knox said to Fenris. “I refused them entry.”

Fenris, a big, solid-looking man in his early fifties, hair close clipped in the same cut he’d had in the army, nodded solemnly. “I understand,” he said. “But from their perspective, you are holding a member of their pack here, and preventing them from administering pack justice. That is also a declaration of war.”

So Fenris would remain a neutral party. That meant that he and his men would potentially stand by while Knox and his men fought to the death.

Knox and his men were currently outnumbered. There were at least eighty wolves in Eugene’s group – coming from Eugene’s pack, and his son Kevin’s pack, and also the pack of Margaret’s father. Knox had forty-three adult wolves who could join the fight.

Fenris had thirty-five men with him, some in the living room with him, some standing outside. He’d bought Reid from the Redby Pack, and thirty of Reid’s men, but at the moment, the Redby pack was following Fenris’s lead and remaining on the sidelines.

The group of men marched up to the house, and then three men broke apart from the group and climbed the steps to the porch. Knox swung the door open to let them in. Eugene, Aloysius, Kevin. The air in the room felt thick with tension.

“Alphas,” Knox growled, inclining his head very slightly.

Aloysius scuttled fearfully behind Eugene and Kevin, keeping them between him and Knox.

Knox shook his head. “They don’t make Alphas like they used to,” he said to Clarence, with a look of scorn at Aloysius.

“You ready to hand her over? Or do you all want to die?” Kevin sneered. Clarence growled and bristled.

Kevin was handsome in a pretty-boy way, with gelled hair and waxed eyebrows. He had scars on his knuckles and his nose had been broken so many times that it hadn’t healed right. Knox had been asking around, and found that Kevin had a reputation as a bully. He’d been arrested for drunk driving multiple times, had gotten in bar fights on a near weekly basis. Most of the time he skated because of his daddy’s influence and money, but Kevin’s bad behavior had taken a toll on his father’s reputation. His father’s influence was diminishing, and he might not be Northeast Alpha too much longer.

But that didn’t help them right now.

“Watch yourself, boy,” Eugene growled at his son. “I’m the Alpha here.”

“I’ve interviewed her and determined that she has been abused,” Knox said. “I cannot hand her over to you.”

“Oh, good, I was hoping you’d say that,” Kevin gloated. He rubbed his hands together. “We’re going to have a fun time killing you.” He looked around. “First thing I’m going to do when I move in here is redecorate.”

“You’re going to have a fun time losing dozens of your men just because you’re butthurt that you got rejected by a girl?” Knox scoffed at him. “Pretty lousy Alpha, making life and death decisions with your dick.”

Fenris glanced at Eugene, who scowled and looked away. Eugene’s political strength was draining away by the second. Whatever happened here today, whether he won or lost, Eugene would never be as powerful as he had been before. He’d lose alliances, and soon he’d lose his position.

But he was too stubborn and stupid to see that the best thing he could do was go home before the killing started.

Kevin let out a growl, and crouched low as if to lunge at Knox. He glanced at his father, who didn’t move to help him. Here in the house, without the power of his father’s men, he didn’t stand a chance against Knox, and he knew it.

“Right here, right now,” Knox scoffed.

Kevin straightened back up, cleared his throat, flexed his shoulders. “Nope. On the field of battle. Only appropriate place to do it,” he muttered, his cheeks reddening with embarrassment. Reid openly snorted in disgust, and Eugene and Kevin pretended not to hear.

“Only safe place for you to do it, you mean. Daddy’s boy,” Clarence sneered at him.

Eugene let out a snarl. He was losing control of the situation. “Don’t talk to my son like that if you want to take another breath.” He looked at Fenris for help. Fenris shook his head.

“Fight your own battles,” he said coldly to Eugene.

“I’ll challenge you right here and now,” Knox said to Eugene. “You and me. Hell, I’d even go up against you and your son together. I have no worries.”

He’d just called them weak in front of everyone.

Eugene shot his son an angry, disgusted look and then turned to face Knox. “I will tolerate no more disrespect, Knox. I call for your head. You die no matter what. And you’ve got ten minutes to hand her over, or your whole pack dies.”

Before Knox could answer, he heard footsteps banging down the hallway from the back of the house. The door to the living room flew open, and Heather stormed in.

“Not now,” Knox snapped at her. She ignored him and marched right up to him, unafraid. While a strong Alpha’s mate was a blessing, this was not the time or place for her to interfere.

“You’re the mighty Southeast Alpha?” she said furiously to Fenris.

“So they tell me,” Fenris drawled,

“And you’re about to stand there and let these men violate a fourteen-year-old girl?”

Kevin sucked in his breath. “She’s not fourteen. She’s eighteen,” he said quickly.

“Wait, she’s fourteen?” Knox said, his eyes lighting up. “Why didn’t you say so?”

“Does it matter?” Heather asked cautiously.

“I don’t have to listen to this,” Kevin said, but he’d gone pale. “Y’all are a bunch of liars.” And he turned and literally ran out the front door.

“Get back here!” Eugene roared at his son’s retreating back, but Kevin ignored him and kept running. He started to follow, but Fenris grabbed him by the arm. Eugene let out a snarl of fury and his fangs descended; Fenris stared him down.

Aloysius was trying to scuttle for the door. Knox lunged and grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him back, wailing and blubbering.

“Hell yes, it matters,” Knox said with a ferocious grin. “Heather, you’re not the only one who’s been studying the pack laws. I’ve been studying the laws up, down and sideways. And one thing I learned is that a fourteen-year-old girl can’t sign a marriage contract. Now, she denies signing anything, so if you had any signature, that must have been forged. But it looks like it doesn’t matter anymore – even if she had signed it, it wouldn’t be legal. So, you basically tried to sell a child to a grown man, is that right, Aloysius?”

“She’s eighteen! She’s a liar!” Aloysius wailed.

“Damn you, Aloysius, this whole union was illegal from the start! Did my son know she was underage?” Eugene roared, his face flushed beet red with fury.

“She’s not! I swear!”

“Your son’s pack lived right next to hers. How could he not know?” Knox said scornfully. “What are they, the pedophile pack? You make me sick.”

“We’re going to make a few phone calls,” Eugene said to Aloysius. His furious gaze held the promise of a brutal end. “It won’t be hard to establish how old she is. And if you lied to me, then you’re dead.”

Aloysius began wailing hysterically, struggling to shake off Knox’s iron grip. He shrieked about how the little bitch was a whore anyway, who cared how old she was, and she was eating him out of house and home, and who was she to turn down an Alpha’s son, all she was thinking of was herself, and…

His shouts and screams ended on a wail of pain and then a horrible gurgling sound as Eugene shifted and ripped his throat out.

Aloysius fell to the floor with a wet thud.

Eugene was shaking with anger and humiliation. “We are leaving, and we will never speak of this again,” he said furiously to Fenris, and then he looked at Knox with hatred. “Never, do you understand me?”

“You don’t dictate my actions,” Fenris said coldly.

Janet came running into the room. “She’s gone!” she cried wildly.

“Where is she?” Heather cried in panic.

“She said she couldn’t let us all die for her, and she ran out the back before we could stop her.” Janet was in tears.

“No! No!” Heather wailed, staggering back, face white with fear.

Knox ran outside at top speed, with Clarence on his heels.

Knox skidded to a stop outside, sending gravel up in a spray, and frantically scanned the treeline for any sign of the girl. He cursed himself inwardly. A fourteen-year-old kid was in danger, and he’d stood back and let it happen out of respect for pack law. Why the hell hadn’t he gone with his gut? The whole thing had stunk from the start.

Clarence spoke from beside him. “There!”

Knox followed the direction of his pointing finger and saw Kevin on the edge of the woods, dragging Margaret away from the property. His grip on her slender arm looked bruisingly tight, and Knox felt red-hot rage well up inside him. The vicious little brute didn’t even have the brains to know when he was beaten. Whether any of them would live to see the next morning…that was yet to be decided. But Kevin would not be allowed to take the girl against her will.

Margaret was putting up a good fight – she spat and hollered, twisting in Kevin’s grasp and kicking his shins. She clawed at his face, leaving an ugly red furrow down the side of his jaw, which oozed blood onto his expensive collar. But as spunky as she was, she didn’t stand a chance against a bully like Kevin. He was a coward, but that just meant he wouldn’t hesitate to beat a little girl to get what he wanted. He released her arm, but before she could run, he swung at her and knocked her down with a vicious backhand to her jaw. She crumpled to the ground like a paper doll, obviously dazed, and Kevin reached down, seized her by the hair and started to drag her away. She whimpered piteously, feet kicking uselessly among the leaves.

Knox was shifting even before he’d finished stripping off his uniform. He pelted after Kevin and the girl, tatters of fabric trailing from his hind leg. He burst into the clearing they’d disappeared into. Margaret was still trying to fight, but she’d taken a hell of a blow – her delicate jaw was already starting to purple and swell, and she seemed groggy and confused. A trickle of blood was running from her ear.

At Knox’s rumbling warning growl, Kevin turned and released his grip on Margaret’s hair. She slumped to the ground and started feebly trying to crawl away, scrabbling at the earth and pulling herself along on her tummy.

Kevin shifted, his pretty-boy face with its perfectly groomed eyebrows turning hairy and feral, snout lengthening and eyes turning a sickly yellow. He snarled and slavered, almost foaming at the mouth with rage. He’d gone through his whole life always expecting to get his own way.

Not this time.

Kevin ran at Knox, barking hysterically, less like an Alpha’s son and more like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum. He didn’t have any form or finesse – he just charged blindly, ears back, jaws snapping and fur bristling.

Knox stood his ground and watched him come, trying to time his response just right.

As Kevin leapt, Knox simply stepped out of the way, and Kevin’s momentum sent him rolling tail-over-snout across the ground, landing in an ungainly heap.

Knox dashed across and pinned him down, one huge paw on his chest as the furious wolf snapped and writhed, too stupid to know it was over. Too pampered to be able to admit defeat.

Too dangerous to be allowed to live.

Knox made it quick.

Afterwards, he trotted over towards the edge of the clearing, where Margaret was still making slow, painful progress as she tried to get away. The girl had guts, he’d give her that. He planned to shift into human form and carry her to safety before joining the fray with the rest of his pack.

But before he reached her, a bellow of undiluted rage and grief had him spinning, hackles raised. Eugene bounded over to the body of his son, lowered his snout to nuzzle his fur, and gave a low, mournful growl.

Knox tensed but didn’t make a move. He didn’t expect Eugene to accept what had happened – his refusal to lose face had already cost him too much for him to back down now – but he wanted to give him the opportunity. If he was willing to walk away now – lick his wounds and regain his reputation – Knox would let him.

Eugene turned, snarling ferociously, and charged at Knox.

This wouldn’t be like his fight with Kevin, over before it had even begun. Kevin had been a spoiled bully who’d never picked on someone his own size before. Eugene was an Alpha – he was a powerful, experienced fighter, and he was mad with loss. They were evenly matched. And he wouldn’t be hoping for Knox’s submission – he’d be trying to rip out his throat. He’d kill him or die trying.

Knox’s body coiled like a spring, muscles bunching, and he hurled himself at the onrushing wolf. They collided, bodies coming together with a
thump
. They sprawled to the ground, and were back on their feet almost at once, snarling and snapping. They skirmished, withdrew and circled. They paced around each other, watching for any weakness, any opening that would allow them to get the upper paw.

The sounds of the battle beyond the clearing filtered through to them. Yelps of pain, furious baying, whimpers of submission. Knox could distinguish a few specific voices. Janet. Clarence. Sasha, fighting against her pack. He shook his head to clear it. He couldn’t allow himself to be distracted. That was just what Eugene was waiting for.

A brief flicker of Eugene’s eyes towards the edge of the clearing gave Knox the opportunity he needed. He leaped at the huge, grizzled wolf, fastening his powerful jaws around Eugene’s thick neck. Eugene roared and heaved with his broad shoulders, trying to throw Knox off, but he held on tight. He thrashed his head from side to side, determined either to yank his opponent off his paws or tear a chunk out of his neck.

With a convulsive heave, Knox flipped the other wolf onto his back, and before he could struggle back into a standing position he threw himself at him, snapping and snarling, trying to get at his throat or his belly.

But Eugene was strong. They rolled over and over among the dirt and the leaves, trying to stay on top, looking for a chance to make the kill. Knox knew his strength wouldn’t last forever. They were too evenly matched. And when Eugene pinned him down, teeth at his throat, he found that however he thrashed and twisted, he couldn’t buck the other wolf off.

Eugene held Knox’s eyes, growling low in his chest, exerting steady, increasing pressure on his throat. He didn’t just want to beat Knox – he wanted him to
know
he was beaten.

He thought of Heather, wondered how she’d cope with losing him. At least he’d claimed her before he died – that meant she couldn’t be put down because of her knowledge of the shifter world. He guessed maybe she’d distance herself from the whole thing. Move away, find some human to marry, pretend it had all been a strange dream or a half-remembered movie…

There was a
thwack
, a howl, and a blur of fur as Eugene was thrown off his body, teeth leaving bloody furrows on his throat.

Knox scrambled to his feet, bewildered, and looked around the clearing.

Eugene was sprawled on the floor, shaking his head groggily. Heather stood panting nearby, a stout branch in her hands and a look of fierce determination on her face. As she dropped the branch and rushed to help Margaret to her feet, Knox leaped on Eugene, knocking him back to the floor as he struggled to get to his paws.

Knox wasn’t interested in a power play. All he cared about was protecting his mate and his pack. He lowered his head, and he tore out the other wolf’s throat.

When he looked up, his muzzle matted red and the taste of Eugene’s blood in his mouth, Heather was half-supporting, half-carrying Margaret out of the clearing. Margaret was clinging to her, sobbing with relief.

Knox could hear howls and snarling, thuds and breaking branches – the sounds of the battle going on between his pack and Eugene’s men. His people were hopelessly outnumbered, but it sounded like they were holding their own.

But when he ran past Heather and Margaret, back towards the house, he could see they couldn’t possibly win. Several pack members lay bleeding on the ground. Maybe badly hurt. Maybe dead. Others were being kept at bay by groups of Eugene’s men, who surrounded them, doing little more than threatening, but winning the fight through sheer weight of numbers.

Knox trotted to a halt and took in the fight. Strategies flashed through his mind. Game plans, tactics, ways of approaching the battle…but there were just too many of them.

Sasha and Peter were tag-teaming Clarence, Knox’s second-in-command, flashing around him in a blur of light- and dark-gray fur. They were leaner than Clarence’s impressive bulk, and not nearly as seasoned as fighters, but they fought dirty. Their parents, Nathaniel and Louise, prowled around the edges of the fight, stepping in every time it looked as if Clarence might get the upper hand. Four against one – even the loyal, burly Beta couldn’t beat those odds. Knox’s lip curled in contempt at their cowardice.

He glanced across at Fenris and Reid, who stood with their men ranked behind them. Reid looked as if he wanted to dive into the fray – he was pacing, and every so often he made a move in the direction of the fight, only to be called back by a warning growl from Fenris. The older wolf was observing the action with grave, steady eyes that did little to reveal the workings of the mind behind them.

Fenris transferred his gaze to Knox, and he was certain that the Southeast Alpha intended to stay neutral. Reid would almost certainly follow his lead, against his own instincts.

But then Heather and Margaret emerged from the treeline, moving slowly, as Heather was taking most of the girl’s weight. Heather looked like an Alpha’s mate protecting her cub – fierce, maternal, and like if anyone threatened the child under her protection, she’d rip them to pieces, human or not. Margaret looked frail, exhausted, and achingly young. The side of her face was black and blue, one eye swollen closed. Her thin fingers were curled into the lapel of Heather’s shirt and the knees of her pants were torn from where she’d tried to crawl.

Fenris took in the sight, his gaze lingering on the beaten fourteen-year-old. There was no mistaking her for anything else. He turned and held Knox’s gaze for a moment, and inclined his head in acknowledgement. Then he barked an order to his men, and a furry tide of vengeance poured into the fight, fangs flashing, claws ripping.

Reid directed some of his people to stand guard over the wounded, watchful against any acts of revenge. Many of those chosen for the tasks were females, and they protected their charges as if they were their own cubs, snarling vicious threats that even the biggest and deadliest of fighters would have been a fool to ignore.

Fenris broke into the prowling circle made by Sasha’s family, turning snarling on her parents and allowing Clarence to deal with Sasha and Peter. Peter fell under Clarence’s assault. Sasha fled…and ran straight into Janet’s furious attack. There was no contest. A bitch who’d betrayed her pack was shown no mercy.

The reversal was swift and decisive. It was as if a tidal wave of furry fury swept over the fighting wolves, and when it washed back again, those of the Northeast Alpha’s men who hadn’t surrendered had been killed.

The fatalities were surprisingly few, though. Most of Eugene’s people were under guard, while those with life-threatening injuries were being tended to by the healers. They weren’t defiant or hostile. They’d followed their Alpha because he was the biggest and baddest. Now he was gone. Even the most belligerent amongst them could smell which way the wind was blowing.

Knox left Clarence to oversee the aftermath and went in search of Heather. He knew where she’d be – tending to the walking wounded and watching over Margaret.