Authors: Melissa Morgan
Alarm sirens blared in
the pre-dawn hours of the morning. Cole and Zara bolted awake.
“What the hell is
that?” She shouted over the noise, holding her ears.
“Attack siren.” He
shouted, jumping to his feet. He looked around for his jeans. “Get dressed!” He
said, throwing the shirt she had worn the night before at her.
“It’s shredded.” She
said, holding up the torn cloth. “I can’t wear this.”
He grinned,
remembering that he had torn the shirt in an effort to get it off of her. “Guess
not.” He ran to his closet and pulled out one of his black shirts.
He tossed it at her.
“Sorry baby. Not how I planned to wake you up this morning.”
There was a pounding
on his door. He flung it open and four of his guards piled through the door.
Zara barely had time to fit the shirt on over her head before they saw her.
“What’s the
situation?” Cole asked, slipping a blue sweater on.
“There are panthers on
the land sir.” Bryce said all business. “At least twenty of them.”
“They found me.” Zara
said. She pulled the heavy blankets back and stood up. The large t-shirt went
down to her knees.
“Ma’am” The four men
took a knee, bowing their heads to their new Queen.
“I won’t let them get
to you.” Cole vowed.
“We don’t’ have time
for this.” Zara said. “Please stand up, guys.” They stood, silently.
A second siren blared,
indicating that there were Panthers in the den.
“Son of a bitch!” Cole
ground out. “Get the young ones to the safe room!” He grabbed her hand and
pulled her to him. “You too.” He said. “Go with them.”
“I am safer next to
you.” She insisted. Her heart thudding in her chest.
“Please. Just go. You
are Alpha now. You need to protect your people. Go with the guards. Keep our
people safe if something happens to me.” He said, kissing her fiercely. He
shoved her toward the guards. “Do not let her be taken!” He roared. He ran down
the stairs, howling.
The foyer was chaos.
Panther and wolf, neck and neck. One of them lunged at him and he jumped off
the side of the railing, shifting smoothly before he landed, his jeans
obliterated. He leapt onto the back of one of the Panthers who had one of the
Omegas backed into a corner. He ripped at its neck, taking out a huge chunk of
the throat. The animal tried to snarl at him, but gurgled on its own blood.
He gave the animal a
good shake, and threw it sideways, into another Panther, who stumbled and was
quickly overtaken by two other Omegas. The Panther on the stairs was killed by
the first guard coming out of the Alpha’s rooms.
Zara and the guards
made it down the stairs. She was barefoot, nearly tripping down the stairs
covered in blood, two of the guards ahead of her, and two behind her. The blood
soaked her feet. She could feel the energy of it swarming over her skin, like
thick, inky darkness, fear like a thick oily coating, pressing in on her. The
cloud of death hung in the air amid the growling and screams of battle.
Her head swam, and she
stumbled, pitching forward. One of the guards grabbed her arm, steadying her.
“This way, Ma’am” One of them shouted. They stepped over bodies on their way
through the hallway. They had been bottlenecked there, unable to spread out. The
gunshots echoed through the den, as wolf after wolf went down.
Suddenly Zara was
alone. All the wolves protecting her had been shot with some sort of
tranquilizer dart. She ran, full speed out the front door and into the
courtyard. More were dead there, both wolf and panther.
“There she is!”
Someone shouted. “Go after her!”
She ran faster. The
rocks and twigs of the forest cut open the bottoms of her feet, leaving a
bloody trail to follow. She was only half shifted when she felt the sting of
the first dart hit her back. Six more hit her, one of them in the neck. She was
unconscious before she hit the ground.
“No!” Cole shouted,
scrambling to reach the small child running frantically through the foyer, a
panther chasing her. Cole leapt over the child and collided mid leap with the
Panther. They both went down hard. The Panther tore into Cole’s side, and he
yelped in pain, twisting away, tearing a huge chunk of skin and tissue out of
his side. Rage boiled through him, and the power swirled, pushing outward. He
shoved hard, and the large cat was thrown back by the wave of energy. “Protect
the elders!” He shouted to the remaining members of his hunting party. Half of
them were lying dead throughout the den. “Child, get to the safe room!” He
shifted again, and killed the Panther who was still stunned by the energy blow.
The cat died with one swiped of his giant paw, and he quickly turned, seeing
three more Panthers bearing down on him at full speed. Several of his hunting
party helped to take them down, and together, one by one they worked as a team,
eliminating all the panthers in the den, hunting as a pack, as one.
When Zara woke, she
found herself in a dingy, cold room. Water dripped from somewhere. She
shivered. Her feet were freezing, but, unlike her baby sister, she was still
dressed in the large shirt Cole had given her. It smelled like him, and she
took a moment to breath in his scent. He would come for her, she knew. He would
find her.
“Zara?” A hoarse voice
whispered from the corner.
“Faline!” She rushed
to her sister’s side.
“I told you…not to
come.” She whispered, shivering.
“I wasn’t given a
choice.” Zara said, she sat down and held her sister. She siphoned her
strength through her hands, into Faline. She worked slowly, carefully, touching
each mottled bruise on her fair skin. She worked methodically, healing her
sister over the next several hours, until she was exhausted and couldn’t do it
anymore. She shifted into her panther, and curled up around her sister, to keep
her warm.
She thought of Cole
and the one night they had together. The last she had seen of him, he had taken
down a panther that was after a child. Her thoughts drifted to the possibility
of their own child. She knew she was fertile this week, and more than likely,
she would birth a child in the spring. She didn’t have any more time to think
about it though. Footsteps approached. She woke her sister gently, and helped
her to stand. “Can you run, if we get the chance?” She asked softly.
“Not successfully.”
She shook her head. The motion made her dizzy enough to throw up. Zara noticed
that her blonde hair was caked with old blood and mud. Her scalp most likely
infected.
“I’ll kill them all,
if I have to.” She vowed.
Cole was making the
same vow to the remaining members of his pack. At one time there had been over
fifty of them, men women and children. Now they were barely twenty in number.
He and the surviving hunting party had made their way down to the safe room,
where some of the elders and children were huddled with their pregnant mothers.
Almost everyone had lost a loved one, and two of the elders had been killed.
Like it or not, the war had begun.
He called everyone
out, looking frantically for Zara. She was not among the survivors. He left
Cass in charge, and ran outside. She had not been among the dead in the den. He
went from body to body, hoping not to find hers, and half hoping he would, so
he would know she wasn’t being tortured by that sadistic fuck.
She wasn’t there among
the stench of the blood and the dead, and with a sinking heart, he knew that
she had been stolen from him. He howled his rage and sank to the ground next to
the bodies of the two women he had ordered bound together. In doing so he had
ordered their deaths.
They had not stood a
chance against the attack with their wrists and ankles bound together. There
had been no time for anyone to unchain them, and they died because of him. They
all died because of him, and he knew without a doubt, that knowledge would
haunt him all the rest of his days. He sat in the dirt, unseen tears flowing
down his face.
He had no idea how
long he sat there. It could have been seconds, or hours. Gavriel stood next to
him, a bandage over his eye and his arm in a sling.
“Cole.” He said
gravely. “You’re people need you.”
He stared up at the
man. “Did I bring this upon us all?” For a moment, he felt like a lost little
boy, in need of assurances.
“Why would you think
that?” Gavriel looked down at him, narrowing his eyes.
“Because I gave her
sanctuary.” He said simply. “I took her as my mate.” He said softly. “And then
I lost her.” He was surprised at how much that ate at him. In reality she was
basically still a stranger, yet…he loved her more than he ever imagined
possible. The emotion burned in his belly, swarming over him. It made him
uncomfortable, to need someone so much. To need her.
“Then take her back.”
Gavriel said. “Stand your ground. You have the full support of the entire
council at your back.” He stated. “We will all fight for you!” His voice boomed
with authority. Gavriel’s eyes glowed a piercing orange, the color of fire.
Cole nodded and stood.
He was nude, covered in blood, and other bodily fluids of the ones he killed.
He was numb. He couldn’t even feel the pain.
“I’ll call the other
local packs and tribes.” He said softly, and asks if they will join with us.”
“I’m sure they will,
when they hear that their elders have been attacked on sanctuary lands.”
Gavriel said. “And I must call the families of the elders who were slain today,
so arrangements can be made. Until then, let’s get your side looked at by that
pretty doctor of yours. You are leaking all over the place.”
Vaughn laughed at the
woman’s helpless screams. One of the panthers under his control raked his claws
slowly down her back, over her butt and thighs. Blood flowed freely and dripped
into the dirt of the ground, soaking a puddle underneath the woman hanging
there by her wrists.
“Tell me, where is
your other sister?” Vaughn sneered.
“Fuck you.” Faline
snarled.
“In time, little cat.”
He vowed. “I rather look forward to it.” He sneered.
She gritted her teeth
and didn’t dare speak.
“Hurry Sister. I won’t hold out much longer.”
She
screamed again, as sharp claws shredded her back over and over again.
Zara ran full speed
through the mountains. She could feel the energy of her sister, the pain
searing into her own back. Pure adrenaline surged through her, and she picked
up speed, focusing on gaining ground with every step, as if the hounds of hell
were after her.
By the time she
reached the boarder of her new lands, she felt like her lungs were going to
burst. She only stopped long enough to catch her breath, and began running
again. Her sister didn’t have long. She just hoped that she was strong enough
to survive until Zara could bring back help.
Within the next hour,
every pack, clan and tribe knew about the Alpha’s new mate, and violation of
sanctuary. Each tribe sent their very best hunters and some of their omegas to
help bury the dead. The Red Fox Clan, brothers to the wolves, and longtime
friends of the Black Moon Pack were the most outraged, although the Mountain
Lions were upset as well. Mostly they were concerned that retaliation would
mean an attack on all the cat populations.
The Wolverines
demanded retribution for their lost elder, as did the Eagles. The Bears offered
their protection to the remaining elders and the Ravens offered some of their
own to stand guard over the wolf pack until they could get back on their feet.
Cole welcomed the
help, and the uneasy peace between their perspective groups. He wondered
briefly, if any of them had helped plan the attacks, but he smelled no
deception in their vows to help his people.
Cassius, Ukiah,
Dalton, Teague and Matteo were the only members of his hunting party left
alive. Dalton was badly injured and no one was sure if he would survive the
night. The rest of them gathered around their Alpha, preparing their attack
strategy with the remaining elders.
“Cass, I need you to
stay behind.” Cole said.
“But…”
“No. If I am killed,
you are my second. I need to know you will be here to lead the pack if this all
goes sideways.”
The two stared at each
other, until finally, Cass nodded. “I’ll take care of them.”
“Thank you.” Cole
clapped the man on his back. They were cousins, more like brothers. Cole had
been taken in by Cassius’s father, Jarrick, when his own father had been jailed
by the council for abuses toward his mate and her children. Cole never saw his
father again.
Cass organized the
burial of their dead and the burning of their enemies, as the rest of the men
headed out, along with the remaining elders. They had barely crossed over the
bridge of the river when Matteo spotted Zara running toward them through the
trees.
“Look!” He pointed.
“She’s escaped!”