Sorry, Charlie (Poconos Pack) (8 page)

Charlie followed Ted to the hollow of a tree, where he left his and her clothing. From the way his scent drowned the place he’d done so many times in the past. “Did you pee on this tree?”

He blushed bright red.

“Oh my god you did.” Charlie broke into giggles. “You so totally did.”

“It’s a Wolf thing.”

Was it sad that she found his growling cute?

When Ted started his shift she followed, allowing her cat to stretch and take over. She dug her paws into the dirt, yawning wide at the pretty red Wolf standing in front of her. Charlie rubbed her chin on top of Ted’s head, leaving her scent on him.

Ted in turn rubbed up against her, the two of them silently exchanging scent until a howl rent the air. Ted turned at the sound of his Alpha, then nudged her toward Rick.

She padded along, eager for the hunt to start. When Rick howled again, the Wolves moved, following their Alpha into the underbrush.

Sebastian and his men followed, which meant that Ted, Ben, and Charlie moved with them. It wasn’t hard to keep Sebastian in sight. His white fur stood out amongst the spring greenery. Here and there were patches of snow still waiting to melt, but for the most part the earth had that rich smell of new growth.

Ted took up a flanking position, keeping to Sebastian’s rear with ease. In front of him was Kincade, while on Sebastian’s left side were Ben and one of Kin’s best enforcers. The others were more spread out, keeping an eye out for prey. Rick, Belle, Dave, Chela, and Steve were somewhere ahead of them, either scouting or enjoying their own hunt Charlie wasn’t certain. Knowing Rick he was probably in contact with Ben, keeping an eye on the Leo through his Marshall.

Sebastian was treating this as a fun trip. His head and tail were high, his steps springy. She’d forgotten how isolated her brother was sometimes. Maybe this hunt would do him some real good.

She spotted some torn leaves, the first sign of deer she’d seen yet. A few scuffed trees, some markings that stank to high heaven, and deer scat told her that they were close to their chosen prey.

The group shifted, heading toward a meadow she could see just through the edge of the trees. There were some deer there, drinking out of a stream, their long necks exposed. Everyone but Sebastian seemed to be on board with the plan for a venison dinner. He kept going forward like a stupid, fluffy bunny rather than the huge Lion he was.

Charlie edged forward, nudging her brother in the butt.

He huffed, puffing out his whiskers, but he turned with the group. They crouched, the Lions spreading out even more. In order to take down the deer they’d need to move as one, routing their chosen prey to the one who would take the kill. It took a lot of coordination and knowledge of the people who hunted with you.

Kin and his men wouldn’t be an issue. They practically lived for this stuff. Charlie was used to hunting on her own, Ted had his Pack, but Sebastian?

Sebastian hadn’t hunted since childhood. Their father wouldn’t allow it. The Leo was above getting his paws dirty, but it was okay for Charlie to get out there and do what her brother couldn’t. Hell, she could practically bathe in blood if she wanted; her father didn’t give a crap. Only Sebastian mattered.

Once again, Charlie gave thanks for Dave and the Poconos Pack.

Ted and Ben glided forward, their smaller bodies completely hidden in the brush. The Lions followed suit, slinking after the Wolves, their golden bodies sleek and strong. Charlie kept close to Ted as he’d asked, making sure her mate was never more than a few paces away.

They were closing in on the herd, soundlessly pacing toward their prey. More than once they were forced to still completely as a sound or a scent caused the deer to pause, their noses twitching and those big ears moving. If the herd suspected they were being hunted they would take off—

And there they went, racing away from Sebastian’s group downstream. Sebastian immediately took off after them, ignoring Ben’s growl and sidestepping Kincade’s attempt to block him.

Ted shot off like a rocket, outpacing the best of Kincade’s men. He caught up to Sebastian and kept pace with him, following Sebastian’s lead like he’d been doing so all his life. The two followed the herd, stalking one of the slower deer. Ted could have easily broken off from Sebastian to take the deer down, but instead he stayed by the Leo’s side, slowly steering him toward the deer they wanted, making sure it was Sebastian who took the deer down.

Sebastian leapt, digging his powerful claws into the back of the deer. The deer stumbled, emitting a pained cry.

Out of the woods came a huge buck, the velvet still on its rack. The head bowed down and with a flick of his head the deer threw Sebastian off of the doe. Sebastian landed with an audible thump even over the sounds of the fleeing herd.

Ted turned to the buck, crouching and snarling, protecting the fallen Lion from the buck. A buck she now saw might be rabid. Its eyes rolled in its head, thick saliva flowing from its mouth as it lowered its head in front of her mate. The damn thing was going to attack him, and there was little she could do about it. Getting infected blood in her system meant she was at risk of rabies herself. Charlie yowled, hoping against hope that her mate would back down.

Of course Ted didn’t. He wouldn’t be the Second if he had, and when it was all over she’d remember that. But for now all she could do was watch as Ted baited the sick buck away from Sebastian. He snapped and snarled, darting toward the buck’s legs. He lashed out with his claws, raking them down the side of the buck’s face, weaving around toward the buck’s side to get another shot at its vulnerable belly. The buck responded by stomping its hooves, turning to Ted and jumping over him.

Ted kept after it, slowly moving the buck back and into the woods, farther and farther away from the fallen Leo. Kincade was by Sebastian’s side, licking the Leo’s muzzle and keening softly. Kincade wouldn’t leave Sebastian’s side until Sebastian was back on his feet. Kincade’s men surrounded Sebastian, prepared to protect him from the buck if Ted’s tactics failed or the Wolf fell beneath the wicked points of the buck’s antlers.

Charlie was frozen in fear, unable to do anything but watch as her mate continued to snap and snarl at the buck. The buck responded by charging Ted, but the Wolf was quick, dodging the blow and getting a good one in of his own.

He paid for his strike, though. The buck kicked back, catching Ted across the ribs and sending him scampering away with a pained bark.

Ben darted forward, leaving Sebastian to Kincade and his men and joining Ted in working on the buck. Maybe the plan was to bleed it to death? It was the only thing that made sense, because Ben began using the same tactics as Ted, darting in and out, using nothing but his claws and speed to keep his ass safe. Now facing two foes, the buck screamed, stamping and kicking out at its attackers repeatedly. Both Ben and Ted found themselves on the receiving end of a pissed off buck’s hooves more than once.

Charlie roared when the buck opened a gash on Ted’s side. An answering call, the roar of a Puma, told her that Rick and Belle were coming. She ran forward, determined to protect Ted from any further damage.

Ted snarled at her, the viciousness of it causing her to stumble to a halt. She nearly went ears over tail, but she sat her ass down and watched her mate battle the buck with his Marshal.

A red Wolf flew over her head, followed quickly by a golden Puma. Rick and the others were finally there, the Puma guarding their flanks while the Wolves worked the buck over. The melee that had been uncoordinated, responsive rather than offensive, turned on its tail. Choppy movements became smooth as the Alpha took control of his battling Wolves. She knew Rick could speak to them in their minds, but this was the first time she saw the Alpha in action, and it was glorious and frightening at the same time.

If she’d expected Ted to leave the fight now and tend his wounds she was sorely mistaken. He kept right in the forefront of the fight, keeping the buck from almost skewering a much smaller Wolf. He took another bloody gash as thanks, but the Wolf tumbled away, free from harm. Another Wolf broke free from the fight to protect the smaller fallen Wolf. The two biggest Wolves repeatedly tried to bring the buck to its knees, one of them getting a hold of the buck’s muzzle and pulling sharply down. The buck shook free, blood dripping from the wounds, and tried to gut the Wolf who’d blooded him. The Wolf scrambled out of the way but took a blow to his snout, causing him to yelp and Ben to go nuts.

Charlie was surrounded by the scent of blood, most of it either Ted’s or the sick buck’s. Both made her want to gag. But her mate, her beautiful mate, kept going, kicking the buck’s ass all the way back to the tree line. Not even Ben fought as fiercely as Ted did. Finally, the buck’s legs went out from under it. It stumbled, its head lowering as it struggled to regain its footing. One of the bigger Wolves clamped its teeth around the throat of the buck, holding on for dear life as the buck tried to shake him off. Ted attacked the back legs, forcing the buck to go down.

And that was all she wrote. The Wolves swarmed the buck, using claws instead of teeth to slash and rend the beast until it heaved one final time. One last breath and it was gone.

Ben was whining over the Wolf who’d taken the buck down. It must be Dave, his mate, or Ben wouldn’t be freaking out that badly. All Charlie cared about, though, was Ted. Her mate limped back to her, his wounds bleeding all over the place. He collapsed at her side, his tongue lolling out as he panted.

Chapter Nine

“Ow.” Ted squirmed as the first shot was administered right into one of his wounds. They’d already been cleaned with some shit that smelled faintly like iodine, and hadn’t that been fun?

“Don’t move,” their doctor muttered. They’d had to take the wounded to Halle General, where Max was able to set them up with a couple of shifter doctors who worked in an urgent care center. They just didn’t have the facilities at their tiny first-aid center to deal with rabies. It was one of the things Rick was trying to change. He wanted a full clinic attached to the Lodge for any injuries both there and in the surrounding mountains. But it would take money to get it up and running, money they were slowly gathering with the help of Steve and his magic with the stock market.

Dave was being worked on in one area while Ted was being taken care of in another. Ben would probably need shots as well, since he’d come in contact with either saliva or blood.

“I can’t wait until Tim is through med school,” Rick muttered. He’d managed to stay clear of the buck’s bites, much to Ted’s relief. The doctors had cleared the Alpha of any contamination. “Having a doctor on staff will be an asset.”

Ted nodded, in too much pain to respond beyond a grunt. “Dave?”

“Already got his shots.” Rick’s chuckles filled the room. “Belle’s with him.”

That got Ted to laugh. “How much shit is she giving him for getting hurt?”

“Almost as much as Ben is.”

“And Sebastian?” Next to him, Charlie snarled. “Down girl.”

“He’s why you’re here.” Charlie bit her lip, watching each injection the doctor gave him.

How many was he going to get, anyway? This shit
hurt
, damn it.

“Not his fault, and you know it. That buck came out of nowhere. I didn’t even scent it until it was on top of us.” Some mighty hunter he was. He should have been concentrating more on his surroundings rather than trusting others to keep the Leo safe. He’d been the closest to him, after all.

“Stop it.”

Ted looked at Rick and grimaced. “Freaky woo-woo Alpha powers.”

“Huh?” Charlie glanced between Ted and Rick.

“He’s mentally beating himself up for not sensing the buck sooner.” Rick scowled. “None of us could have been there faster, Ted. You’ve always been the quickest Wolf I’ve ever known. And as soon as you saw the danger you acted without thought for yourself. You did your job, and you did it well.”

“But it’s also my job to keep my charge safe, i.e. not let him get injured in the first place.” Another jab of the needle. He hissed. “I really need to dick-punch that deer again.”

Charlie giggled. “You’d have to resurrect it to kill it again.”

“Please don’t,” the doctor muttered.

“Speaking of which, the carcass?” Ted didn’t want any other animals getting hold of the diseased buck and spreading the rabies around the area.

“Taken care of.” Rick shrugged his massive shoulders. “I got some of ours on it. It’s being burned as we speak.”

“Good.” That was one less thing for Ted to worry about. “Now, how the fuck did a buck get rabies to begin with?” It was rare for a buck to be bitten by an infected animal, but it wasn’t unheard of. “And is any of the rest of the herd infected?”

Rick scowled. “We’ll figure out a way to check, but I doubt it. That was a young buck, no more than two years old. He hadn’t come into his full antler growth. I think he was either alone or in a small male-only herd.”

“That’s a relief.” Ted smiled at Charlie. “How do you feel about steak for dinner? I seem to have lost my taste for venison.”

“By the time we get home it will be closer to breakfast.” But instead of sounding disappointed or upset, her tone was affectionate. “Goober.”

“Aw.” He batted his lashes at her. “I think you like me.”