She continued to march purposefully away from him, and she didn’t hear his footsteps behind her. She found her way back to Thaddeus’s grave, and Luke and Logan were still there. Their eyes turned to her as soon as they heard her footfalls in the distance.
“Take me to Victor!” she shouted, striding long and fast in an effort to reach them quickly.
Luke said nothing as she approached. Logan’s eyes darted to and fro, undoubtedly looking for Michael.
“Allison, what are you doing here?” Logan asked with pleading eyes.
“I want you to take me to Victor right now,” she said flatly, coming to a stop challengingly close to Luke. Her hands were on her hips, and her eyes flared dangerously.
“Might I ask why?” Luke asked.
“Begging your pardon, but I don’t believe you have any right to ask now that I’ve been surreptitiously ousted from your pack,” Allison said. “Will you take me, or not?”
Luke shrugged and said, “Have it your way.”
“Luke, what are you doing?” Logan nearly whispered in Luke’s direction.
“This is her request,” Luke said. “Who are we to deny it?”
“You’re only doing this because you’re pissed at Michael,” Logan challenged him.
Luke’s face clouded and he struck like a viper, backhanding Logan with such force that Logan staggered backward and nearly toppled. Logan rubbed his cheek and lowered his eyes in submission.
“Don’t
ever
question my authority again,” Luke snarled. Then he turned to Allison and said, “Let’s go.”
Their approach was obviously heard well in advance, because Victor and his cronies were already waiting outside when they arrived.
“Hello, boys,” Victor said with a wicked grin curling his lip on one side. “What can I do for you today?”
Phillip’s hands were balled into fists, and when he clenched them, his knuckled cracked like popcorn. Earl grinned a wide, stupid grin, and his nasty teeth were riddled with cavities and a few teeth were conspicuously missing. Allison shivered.
“We’re not here to start trouble,” Luke said, holding his hand up peacefully. “We’ve brought this woman to you.”
“A gift?” Victor asked. “How lovely.”
“Not a gift,” Luke said. “Simply returning to you what’s yours.”
Victor grinned widely and said, “Finally came to your senses, eh? It’s about time. Where’s your Alpha, anyway? I sincerely hope he’s not lying in wait somewhere planning an ambush. That would be incredibly stupid on all of your parts.”
“Michael is no longer Alpha,” Luke said coolly. “I am Alpha, now.”
“My, my, my,” Victor said. “This is a development, isn’t it?”
“Anyway, she’s yours now,” Luke said. “We’ll be going, now. In peace.”
“Wait,” Victor said. “Before you go, I’d like to introduce you to our new pack member. I believe you know this person quite well.”
The door of the rickety cabin creaked open and a woman with flowing black hair stepped out, grinning even wider than Victor.
“Lydia!” gasped Luke and Logan in unison.
“Brothers,” she greeted them with mock warmth.
“I thought you were…” Luke’s voice trailed away.
“Dead? Oh, no, no, no!” Lydia chastised them. “You should know better than that. It takes a lot more than five little wolf hunters to take a girl like
me
down!”
“What are you doing with this scum?” Luke demanded.
“Scum,” Lydia commented flatly. “Let’s see. Scum is someone who abandons his sister and leaves her to die, running away like a coward. Whereas Victor here gave me a home, fed me, nursed me back to health. No, dear brother. Victor isn’t the scum here.
You are
.”
“Lydia, I thought you were dead!” Luke cried out. “I saw you… they were… I never would have left you if I didn’t think…”
“I never would have left you like that!” Lydia shouted, her cool disposition melting under the heat of rage. “I’d have torn every last one of those hunters apart or died trying! And if you were dead, at least I’d have had your body to bring home and give a proper burial!”
“I’m sorry, Lydia,” Logan piped up meekly. “I tried to come back for you, but…”
“I know you did,” Lydia softened, looking at her youngest brother through a thick veil of lashes. “I heard you trying to get back to me. But there wasn’t much you could have done on your own… considering our brother here abandoned us both!”
“Lydia, I…” Luke tried to explain.
“Enough!” Lydia shouted. “I’ve a job to do, and it’s time.”
Lydia balled a fist in front of her and blew through the opening. Then she laid her hand out palm up, and blew across it, scattering a glittering golden powder into the air.
“Run!” Luke shouted.
Luke and Logan immediately turned to run, but roots rose from the ground and entangled their feet, spilling them both onto the ground. Allison was frozen with confusion, and she watched the powder slowly fluttering through the air until it tickled her nostrils.
She started to sneeze, but an overwhelming exhaustion suddenly gripped her, pulling her into slumber and sending her tumbling downward.
*****
When Allison awakened, she was lying in a comfortable bed in utter darkness. She sat up and squinted, trying to see something… anything.
“Don’t bother,” she heard Luke say weakly.
“Luke? Where are we?” Allison asked. “What happened?”
“Victor has us,” Logan answered.
Allison tried to get up, but she discovered her feet were shackled to the foot of the bed.
“I told you not to bother,” Luke said.
“What is he going to do with us?” Allison asked. “And was that woman your sister?”
“I imagine he’ll try to break us with the intention of forcing us to join his pack,” Luke answered. “You, he will turn into the pack mate.”
Having ignored the question about Lydia, Logan answered, “Lydia is our sister, yes. She’s Luke’s twin.”
Allison sucked in a breath.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Luke said. “And I didn’t abandon her. I truly thought she was already dead. I never would have left her if I thought I could save her. But with her dead, or so I thought, I had to save Logan. I had to get him away from there. We wouldn’t have stood a chance against five hunters.”
“Five hunters? You could have destroyed five puny humans!” Allison cried in protest.
Luke chuckled darkly at her stupidity.
“We’re not talking about Bambi slayers here!” Luke shouted. “These are trained wolf hunters who seek out packs and destroy them! They slaughtered our parents when we were kids, leaving us all orphans! They killed Lyd… I thought they killed Lydia! They have every anti-wolf trick in the book under their sleeves, and we’re all but powerless against them!”
“I didn’t know,” Allison said softly.
“You might have if you’d bothered to ask,” Luke grunted.
“Stop it,” Logan said. “This isn’t her fault.”
“Ooh! Listen to who’s all brave now that I’m restrained!” Luke snarled.
Allison stared at what would have been the ceiling if she could have seen it and listened to Luke and Logan bickering back and forth. Their voices soon melded into one, and then faded into the background as she wondered where Michael was, what he was thinking, and what would happen to her if they couldn’t figure a way to get out of this situation.
Outside the room there was the sudden sound of a scuffle that startled Allison from her thoughts. Muffled shouting, grunts, slams and bangs. The sound of splintering wood made her heart jump, and light streamed through the remains of a wooden door.
“Michael!” Allison gasped.
Using a newly procured key, Michael quickly removed her shackles, and then proceeded to release Logan and finally Luke.
“Let’s go, quickly!” Michael said.
“Michael, there’s something you should know,” Luke said quickly.
“There’s no time, let’s go!” Michael ordered.
“Michael, I really think…”
But Luke’s voice was cut short when Lydia’s tinkling laughter filled the room into which they’d fled. Allison noticed Earl lying sprawled across a table, clearly unconscious. Michael turned to face her, and she smiled warmly at him.
“Lydia…” he breathed, the color draining from his face.
“That’s what I was trying to tell you,” Luke whispered, leaning toward Michael.
“What a pleasant reunion,” Lydia said. “The family’s all back together again! Except for poor Thaddeus, of course.”
She pouted dramatically, and then threw her head back and laughed heartily. Michael twitched as though he was about to fly at her in a rage, but Luke’s hand on Michael’s arm gave him pause.
“Thaddeus never did anything to you,” Michael snarled.
“Oh, are you forgetting how he forced me to leave the pack because of you, Michael?” Lydia asked. “He left me to fend for myself with hunters after me when I came to you for help. He left me to die!”
“You know why he had to do it,” Michael said.
“Because of our love, you mean,” Lydia said, and Allison’s heart began to pound so hard her hearing began to throb in her ears.
Michael glanced back at Allison, whose face was pale, but stony. She said nothing, and averted her eyes.
“That was a long time ago,” Michael reminded Lydia. “And you know how it turned out.”
“Oh, yes, I remember quite well,” Lydia said. “You dumped me like a hot potato all because your precious Thaddeus bade you to.”
“It was not within my power to resist,” Michael said. “You know that.”
“Perhaps.” Lydia clucked her tongue and added, “Or perhaps you only… go! Quickly!” Her voice had sunk to a hissing whisper as her head turned toward the front door. She pointed in silence to a door behind her, and with no further word, Michael grabbed Allison’s hand and dashed through it, followed closely by Luke and Logan.
Through the kitchen, they broke through a rickety back door and into the forest. In an instant, Michael shifted. His hulking form stood dark and twitching anxiously before Allison. Luke and Logan had shifted as well, and the difference in size between Michael and the other two was startling. Michael was nearly as tall as Allison, while Luke and Logan were only half again as large as a regular wolf.
Michael growled, and Allison was shaken from her momentary shock. She quickly mounted the massive wolf and grabbed thick handfuls of his dark fur. Off he dashed, his paws making scarcely a sound as he bounded through the trees.
Occasionally he would glance over his shoulder, but nothing but Luke and Logan followed. Soon, they arrived back at the cave they’d been hiding in originally. Allison fled instinctively into the darkness, feeling along the wall in the darkness, fumbling for the secret entrance.
She paused, noticing the door already slightly ajar. She peeked inside and gasped, flattening her back against the chilly wall, her heart pounding.
“Michael!” she hissed.
“What it is?” he asked, a bit out of breath and panting. He’d already shifted.
“Look!” she whispered.
She saw his head enter the shaft of light that flooded from the crack, and he grasped her hand and squeezed it. He was seeing what she’d seen. The place was ransacked. Their cots were ripped to shreds, food was scattered across the dirt floor. Everything was destroyed.
“Let’s go,” Michael ordered. “They’ll be here shortly. We’ve no time to lose!”
Allison and Michael left the cave and found Luke and Logan arguing outside. They turned to Michael and blanched at the sight of his grave expression.
“What’s wrong?” Luke asked.
“No time to explain,” Michael said. “We’ve got to go. They’re coming.”
“How did they…” Logan started to ask.
Michael didn’t answer. He simply shifted, and Allison jumped upon his back, ready to go. Luke and Logan followed suit, and off they went.
Suddenly, Luke and Logan froze. Michael, sensing they’d stopped, immediately turned his head and barked something. They returned with a short, sad yelp, and Michael immediately turned in go back in the direction from whence they’d come with Luke and Logan on his heels.
“Where are we going?” Allison begged, but the three wolves simply sprinted at top speed in the direction of Victor’s cabin.
Allison’s stomach churned and twisted in knots. She’d no clue what they’d spoken of. All she knew was they’d suddenly decide to go back to the place that put them all in such danger.
Before long, Allison detected the scent of smoke in the air. It grew stronger and stronger, and eventually it was nearly suffocating. Allison coughed and squinted through the ever thickening haze of choking smoke, her eyes beginning to burn and water.