Hot Springs Werewolf Complete Series (BBW Werewolf Erotic Romance) (32 page)

We formed up, facing them, making a natural circle. Then the crowd went quiet.

Without any preamble, Freyr stretched his arms wide like he was the ringmaster at a circus channeling a fire and brimstone preacher.

"They have attacked us! They have destroyed our businesses and injured our people. My cousin Edward is missing a hand forever because of the Guile Pack!"

Eyes turned to Edward Toulouse standing there with a bandaged wrapped around the end of a bloody stump. I hadn't noticed him. He didn't seem to enthralled to be the center of attention, even briefly. I saw him look across at me. I held his gaze and then winked at him.

"For decades they have hurt us, breaking the accord at every opportunity but always doing so secretly. I have had enough! I call you, Red Guile to end this pointless feud forever."

The murmuring of the assembled werewolves grew louder but it was nothing compared to the rushing noise of my blood. As each lie seeped out of his mouth I wanted to run forward and tear his head off. I wanted to scream back so hard the words turned back on him and choked his throat.

It seemed my emotions were back and they were sharp and shiny. I looked away from Freyr so I could calm myself and saw a shape moving on the roof of the mansion. A cold shock went through me. A man with a gun. Then I saw another move.

There was no time for thought. I looked back at Freyr and saw Talia looking at me, the same expression on her face. Like she was hungry.

I stepped forward.

"I challenge."

The crowd went silent as all eyes turned to me. The only sound then was Freyr laughing.

"She has no standing!"

Feeling small, like a single candle flame, I managed to find my voice and speak up.

"I'm a Finch. Descendant of Jack Finch, Alpha of the Finch pack. I am the last living survivor and it is my right to challenge. I challenge your mate, Talia."

"You can't have a pack of one. That's not how it works."

I ignored him and took my turn to become the hellfire preacher.

"Freyr Toulouse's father cheated the Finch and Guile packs out of their land! I have papers to prove it! Papers they tried to have destroyed!"

"No one cares what happened back then!" Freyr roared over me. "Those papers are fake."

Now it was my turn to laugh.

"Which is it Freyr? The papers are real but no one cares or they're fake? If they're fake, why do you care so much?"

Before he could answer, I continued.

"I challenge for the return of all original Finch land. All of it."

"What is your stake? You have nothing to give except your life. Stop wasting my time new Finch. You have no standing."

Here it was. The moment where I spoke it aloud to the world or stayed silent.

"I am Red's mate. He is mine. I have the right to challenge. The accord allows it."

I turned towards Red and saw him looking back at me. His eyes were glowing gold and as much as I wanted to run across to him, I held back.

Red knew no such boundary though. He stepped forward and pulled me into his arms and kissed me.

All around us the volume of the wolves increased and Freyr started shouting but it was all background. I felt the last of my old fears fall away.

I was Red's mate and he was mine.

Red brought his lips close to my ear.

"I love you too, Harper Finch. I heard you in the mansion."

"SHE STILL HAS NO STANDING! SHE HAS NOTHING TO OFFER US!"

Freyr, practically frothing at the mouth, yelling over the crowd. The worst thing was that he was right. I had nothing to offer for my challenge. I was trying to focus on that but what Red had said had shocked me. When I'd been crying over his body, he'd heard what I said.

Red, I love you.

He let go of me and stepped forward.

"All Guile land. If you and Talia defeat us then all Guile land will be yours and our pack will leave Hot Springs forever."

I saw looks of concern behind Red. He was the pack Alpha but he was risking everything.

"Or are you scared Freyr? I have a bullet hole through my hand. Surely you could defeat me."

Red pulled the bandage off his hand and fresh blood began a slow drip to the ground.

Freyr looked at Red with a scowl on his face. He could see it as clearly as everyone else: Red was baiting him into this fight. Even with blood dripping on to the ground and a bloody hole through his hand, Red was challenging him. To refuse to fight would be a great dishonor.

"To the death?"

"If you wish."

"After I tear your throat out, I'm going to take your bitch and fuck her."

Red looked across at me. In his face I saw a flicker of fear. He was Alpha and he'd fight but it didn't mean he wasn't afraid. Then he winked at me and I realized it was an act for Freyr's benefit.

"Be careful, she bites."

A smile ghosted across his lips and werewolves on both sides laughed at the unexpected humor. Freyr frowned and his eyes glowed golden.

"Enough!"

He began stalking towards Red and he moved in return. Just like we had been in the old Finch mansion - circling, looking for an opening. Around them was a sea of golden eyes - both at human and wolf level. Some were changing back and forth in anticipation. I could feel my heart thudding in time with the group.

If I'd been merely human I would have only seen a blur. With my werewolf senses, I saw it all. The two men rushed towards each other - Freyr was fast but Red was faster. Freyr's swing went wide and Red's return punch grazed his cheek, splitting it. Freyr kicked down, aiming for Red's knee but Red twisted and then was under him, shoving upwards. Freyr flying through the air. He shifted in mid-air and landed on all four paws.

He launched himself back at Red, a vicious lunge but again Red twisted out of way, remaining human and punched downwards with his good hand. He caught the edge of Freyr's jaw and two sharp teeth smashed out in a spray of blood. Freyr toppled sideways and immediately recovered, rolling over and changing back to a man. He wiped the blood away with his hand and growled at Red. Red was holding the hand he'd hit Freyr with. As we watched he pulled a tooth out of his skin and dropped it to the ground. He'd hurt Freyr but been hurt in return.

"Can't even fight as a wolf!" Freyr spat blood on the ground and began to stalk again.

I saw him glance at Talia and knew immediately that they were going to cheat. She was moving across behind the fight - and she was meant to be challenging me. But she had something in her hand, hiding it behind her back. It had to be a weapon. If she used it, Red would die and the rest of the Toulouse pack would attack and the deal would be worthless because all the Guile pack would be dead. This wasn't a just battle for land - it was a war.

I moved around the group, angling towards Talia. Behind me I heard the dull slap of flesh and Red grunt in pain. I wanted to turn, to run back to help him but I knew I couldn't.

He was my mate, my Alpha and there was no way I was letting this bitch kill him.

Intent as she was on the fight, she didn't see me until it was too late. And Red had taught me well to move without sound.

I kicked her legs out from under her and she landed on her back. In her hand she held a pistol.

I took it out of her hand and threw it away. Despite the crowd around us, it found a clear path and went flying off into the darkness.

"Play fair," I growled at her.

She was up without a sound and all I could do was lower my head as her fist came towards me. It caught on the top of my forehead and I felt a cold burst of pain. I shoved her away from me and she stumbled before righting herself. The werewolves around us moved away, forming a new circle.

"Goodbye new Finch," she snarled before launching herself at me.

She changed in the air and so the girl I was aiming for was suddenly replaced by a wolf with sharp teeth. They scraped across my ribs as I twisted out of the way, a line of fire. She landed and immediately sprung back at me. I barely managed to get out of the way, feeling her teeth graze me again. She was fast and practiced and I was a human who'd only recently become a werewolf.

Talia landed and turned towards me, a low growl in her throat. I couldn't keep fighting her like this. I shifted and immediately my senses sharpened. I could feel the thudding of hearts around me, smell the iron tang of blood. I could hear Red and in that moment I knew he was hurt.

His breathing was catching and his footsteps sounded uneven. Freyr was hurt too, sounding like he was breathing through a broken nose. I felt fear clench my heart but I couldn't look away from Talia. She began to move, stalking me, and I moved too.

We circled around and again I heard the dull slap of flesh as Red and Freyr fought. Wolf growls became human grunts of pain and then changed back again. A body landed hard and then there was a crack like a branch breaking.

This could really be it. Talia could kill me, tear my throat out and Red would die too.

Talia bolted towards me, so fast and all I saw was a flash of white teeth before an inferno of pain burst in my shoulder. She'd bitten me hard, sinking her teeth in nearly to the bone.

I snapped at her, getting enough flesh to hurt and to get her off me but then she was facing me again, growling and I knew I couldn't keep doing this. She'd been a werewolf her whole life. I couldn't win this way.

A image of me fumbling with Red's doorknob came to me out of nowhere. Werewolves had limitations. The first being that they were more comfortable as werewolves.

I knew in that instant what I had to do. I'd done it to Red when he'd been chasing me.

Talia bared her teeth at me and the leaped.

I rolled backwards in supplication, revealing my stomach and throat and before she hit me, I shifted back to human.

It surprised her. The wolf she'd been aiming for was no longer there. She hit me, a great weight at speed but her jaws closed on nothing. I punched upwards even as I twisted and pulled her down with my other hand. I caught her in the ribs and felt bones break. I moved and continued to turn and as I did, snapped both her front legs between my arm and body.

She let out a yelp but it was too late. Her forward momentum plowed her into the dirt and then I was on top of her. I hit downwards, just once as she turned human underneath me. My punch carried all my rage, all my fear, all my love for Red and sent her into unconsciousness. As I've said before, I'm a curvy girl and one of the advantages is that I can throw a punch if I need to.

I stood up, naked and panting, feeling hot blood running down my ribs. I turned and moved and the werewolves opened up before me.

Red and Freyr were locked in combat, changing between wolf and man, snapping, punching, rolling. Both were covered in mud and blood and both were injured.

I stood there, panting, knowing that if Red died, I'd be killed next.

Freyr attacked and Red countered. Red shifted to human but then Freyr's jaws closed on his thigh, ripping into the muscle. Red shifted back and snapped at Freyr, biting the tip of his ear off.

Around and around they went, both slowing as they bled.

There was no grand final moment. They rolled and fought and then a blow landed and Freyr collapsed. In an instant Red changed into a wolf and closed his jaws over his throat and one heartbeat later there was a crunch as he tore it out and dropped the flesh to the ground.

Freyr's eyes went wide as his heart beat, thudding stupidly, pouring his blood out on to the earth and then he was dead.

Red shifted back and was on his knees, trying to breathe.

I took a step to rush towards him but he looked up and shook his head.

He pulled himself up with great difficulty. His arm was broken and blood was running freely down it. He was covered in cuts and bites and the lower part of his right ear hanging off.

The roaring crowd had gone dead silent.

"I am Red Guile. Alpha of the Guile pack. I claim this land."

He wiped his mouth and I saw it come away bloody.

"It is time for peace between our packs. We had peace a hundred years ago and we can again. If not...". He waved his hand at Freyr's dead body.

"Then I challenge. I challenge any in the Toulouse pack to fight me for all the land right now. And know that when you lose, your pack will be banished from this land forever."

He glared at the Toulouse wolves, his eyes glowing an unholy golden. His arm was broken and he was covered in cuts and bruises but he was stronger than any of them. Willing to fight.

This was my mate. My alpha. Strong and powerful. Some of the body-builder wolves were looking at each other and back at Red. They looked like they were daring themselves to fight.

Then the werewolves parted and Ruby Toulouse walked through them.

"There will be no need for that."

She looked around at the assembled wolves, her gaze like steel and I saw more than one wolf hunker down and curl its tail beneath it. I felt like doing it myself. She had a natural power that radiated from her.

"I am Ruby Toulouse. Now that our Alpha is dead, I claim my right. I am the Matriarch and there will be peace between our packs. The land that was formerly Finch will be returned to Harper. The land that was formerly Guile will be returned to their pack."

She turned towards some werewolves behind her and whispered something. They immediately rushed off in the direction of the mansion. Presumably to remove the gunmen from the roof.

She looked across at me and gave a slight nod.

We all stood there in silence and then I felt the change come across the werewolves. Like a wave it swept across them. Red, the Alpha, had won and now Freyr was dead and Ruby was the new pack leader.

In silence, some of the Toulouses came forward and collected Freyr's body, carrying it away with a reverence that it did not deserve.

Red gave a short bow to Ruby and returned to me. He stunk of blood and mud and when he finally reached me, I realized how close he was to collapsing. He was trembling just trying to stay upright.

I pulled his unbroken arm over my shoulder and he leaned into me. I didn't have much left myself but I had enough for us.