To Catch A Wolf: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Wolf Valley Raiders Book 2) (8 page)

“Tell me, Colin, do you have any idea who the new alpha of Wolf Valley is?” Hugo asked. “I never thought to ask before, but surely if the alpha took over, things would be so much better in town.”

Colin glanced swiftly at Bliss, his face unreadable, and then said, “I don’t know for sure. But my gut is we are going to find out real soon.”

Hugo looked at Bliss and she raised her eyebrows, questioning him, but he simply shrugged.

“Does that mean you do know, but don’t want to tell us?” she asked.

“No. I don’t know, not for sure. But I think it’s just a matter of time until things sort themselves out and a new alpha is named.” His face brightened and he pointed out of the window. “Here we go. Let the search begin.”

Bliss looked to where a big, wide mine shaft opened up before them. It had a barrier across it, but nothing to prevent them accessing it. So they got out of the truck and Colin spread his map out. “You know where that brother of yours is, Bliss?”

“Not exactly. I don’t know these hills too well.”

“Hugo?”

“Here.” Hugo said pointing to a map of the mountain range. “That’s the peak I was on. Here is the crevice.”

“OK, yes, I see it.” The map began to make sense to Bliss.

“Right. Let’s overlay this map of the mine and all its tunnels.” He took another map and then spent several minutes making small sounds of agreement as he muttered to himself. “Right. I think I have an idea. The question is, if your brother is stuck as a wolf, is he likely to attack?”

“Yes,” Bliss said. She was sure Sol would see Colin and Hugo as attackers and defend himself. It could get nasty. “My brothers should go with you.”

Hugo nodded. “You stay here, Colin. I’ll go with Bliss to get her brothers and then we’ll come back here.”

“Sure. I’ll just check inside the mine and get some flashlights,” Colin said. “Be quick, you two.”

They moved away from Colin, shifted into their wolves, and ran fast through the trees and up towards the place where her brothers were. She only hoped in the time they had been away, that Sol had not moved far. If he had, then this was going to be a long and dangerous day: a wolf on the loose was never good.

If it wasn’t for the danger Sol was in, she would have been in heaven. The day was warming up; the sun on her fur and a gentle breeze on her face made her want to find a stream somewhere and roll in it. With Hugo at her side, they could frolic in the meadow and then change back to their human forms and make love in the grass. That was a good daydream to have, But reality kicked in when they arrived to find Cole and Riley, lying on their stomachs, trying to call Sol.

Quickly changing back, Bliss went to them. “Is he still there?” she asked.

“Yes, but he keeps running away and then coming back. Each time he gets further away, one of these times we think he’ll just keep running.” Cole’s expression told Bliss just how worried he was.

“I’ll take over. You two need to go with Hugo,” Bliss said, and then added, “Don’t look like that. If you want Sol out of here, you are going to have to do this. You need to go with Hugo and bring him out, without him tearing anyone to shreds. Only you two have that kind of control over him.”

“Are you sure this is going to work?” Cole asked.

Bliss looked down the narrow gap. In the dim light, she could just about see two eyes looking up at her. “Unless you want me to go down there, then it has to. There is no way Sol is going to climb out of here as a wolf. I’m going to try to talk to him, see if he’ll change. Although I’m scared that if he does, he might try to climb out and fall.”

“Bliss,” Riley said, his voice comforting. “We’ll get him out.”

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Sol was in so much danger, and despite him being the biggest pain in the world to look after, she wouldn’t have it any other way. He was her brother, and now she knew about her mom, her family seemed even more important. Sol had been deprived oxygen and his mom’s love, all because of her father. That was a hard thing to understand.

Swallowing her tears, she simply said, “Hurry.”

Behind her, the air was charged with static electricity, more than usually occurred when they became wolves, the animosity between her brothers and Hugo manifesting itself as they changed. Before they left, Hugo’s wolf came to her, nuzzling her and licking her cheek. She kissed his head and said, “Thank you, Hugo. I love you.”

He whined and pushed against her, and she knew he was saying he loved her too.

Why had it been easier to say those words to his wolf, when it was almost impossible for her to say them to his human face? Watching them all disappear, she realised that Sol wasn’t the only who was messed up because of their father’s past. All the Merric kids had been affected; only Sol’s was displayed openly.

They wanted to tear each other’s throats out. He knew that, or at least they wanted to tear his throat out, and his wolf wanted to defend itself. It was only because of their love for Bliss, and their need for him to help them find Sol, that stopped them carrying out an attack. He wondered why they were so against him, and then he remembered what Bliss had said about the blood oath they swore to their father. He had made his children hate everyone in Wolf Valley, and that included him.

Hugo decided the best way to proceed was to keep his head down and get them to the mine shaft, there they would have to go human. If a fight then broke out, at least no teeth and claws would be involved.

They covered the ground quickly and soon came to the entrance of the mine. There was Colin, flashlights ready, maps folded, and his expression serious. Whether that was to do with the peril of the mine, or the two Merric wolves that were with him, Hugo didn’t know.

“Howdy, boys,” Colin said as the Merric brothers changed from their wolves.

“Hello. Thank you for coming to help us,” Cole said stiffly.

Colin grunted. “Least I can do.”

“Shall we go?” Riley said somewhat sullenly.

“Sure. I’ve looked inside. The mine seems stable, so if we move quickly and carefully, we should get to your brother in the next half an hour. Getting him out might be more of a hassle, especially if he is still a wolf. I have some rope.” Colin patted his shoulder where he had a long coil of rope.

“We are not tying my brother up,” Riley insisted.

“Believe me, that might be a better alternative to him running off down one of the other tunnels and being lost forever. This mine is deep. Goes a long way underground, with drops into the earth you would never come out of.”

Riley opened his mouth to speak gain, but Cole patted him on the chest, and said, “Let’s see what happens. We are wasting time here arguing over something that we might not even have to do. Bliss might get him to change back.”

With that, Colin nodded and walked into the mine, and the rest of them followed.

Hugo kept up the rear, flashlights lighting up the inner tunnels as they went. Cole and Riley walked in silence, but the animosity emanating from them was palpable.

As sure as if he was on a walk in the open air, Colin led them deeper and deeper into the mine. The air became musty, and the taste of rust was on his tongue. Wolves did not belong underground, and he longed for the open air and the breeze on his face. He also longed to see Bliss happy, so he kept following, hoping they would soon reach their destination.

And then they did.

As Colin turned a corner, he was met by the low growls and snarls of a wolf. An angry wolf. He froze in his tracks. Slowly, carefully, Cole and Riley walked past him, their hands outstretched and their voices low as they tried to comfort and calm their brother.

Hugo moved to stand by Colin, who was visibly shaken. Neither of them spoke.

Before them in the dim light, the two brothers tried to calm Sol down, and once they had him cornered, Hugo could hear Cole trying to get him to change. But Sol either couldn’t, or refused to.

Eventually Cole came back to them, talking low. “He won’t change; it looks as if something hit him on the head. We want to try to coax him out, but it’s going to be better if you two aren’t right in front of him. So if you head out, we’ll follow the light of your flashlights and herd him forward.”

“Here, have the rope. I still think that is your best bet.” Colin handed the rope over to a reluctant Cole. “Listen, son, the last thing you want is to lose your brother down here. You’ve seen what it’s like. Easy to get lost.”

“Thank you,” Cole said, taking the rope and walking back into the dim tunnel towards Riley’s flashlight.

“Nothing more we can do, Colin,” Hugo said. “We need to move so they can try to get him to leave. You’ve done your best.”

“Would hate to see the boy get lost.”

“Now we’re alone, Colin, can I ask you again if you know who is going to be the next alpha?” Hugo asked, changing the subject as they walked, mainly to keep Colin’s mind off the growling and snarling behind them.

“Not exactly. But it will be one of those kids,” he nodded back towards where the sounds of snapping jaws were getting louder. “Their father should have been the alpha of Wolf Valley; it seems to me that it skipped a generation.”

“And how do they know who it is—how do we know who it is, for that matter?” Hugo asked.

“I don’t know. But the first thing these boys have to do is get free of their father’s blood oath.”

“And how do they do that? I know Bliss still struggles with it now. Only the bond between us stops it controlling her completely.”

“I don’t know that either, Hugo.” Colin shook his head. “They deserve to be happy. I can’t imagine what it must have been like growing up without their mother and with a bitter and twisted man your only guardian. I can understand why they’ve turned out the way they have. Believe me, though, times are changing in Wolf Valley. But I’m not sure it will get worse before it gets better.”

“Great,” Hugo said, thinking of Bliss and how he wanted her to be happy.

“Your woman will be OK, Hugo. It’s those boys that worry me.” He glanced behind him. “Problem is, they aren’t boys; they are fully grown men who know how to fight. And a fight might be what it takes to prove who is the rightful leader of the pack.”

The light at the entrance to the tunnel could be seen now, and standing there was Bliss. He smiled and quickened his pace. He would do whatever it took to make sure she was happy and help her brothers too. Because he knew, she needed them in her life. His heart softened towards them when he thought back on Colin’s words. No wonder they were all so mixed up.

“They have him safe?” she asked. She peered behind him, trying to see her brothers, but there was only the dim flicker of a flashlight coming towards her; she couldn’t see if they were all together.

“Colin gave them some rope in case they had to tie him up. They couldn’t make him turn back into his human form.”

“Rope?” She felt sick at the prospect of them tying Sol up. He would be so confused over the whole thing.

“I was concerned that he would run off and then we would never find him. He needs help, Bliss.” Colin said gently.

“I know. I just hate the thought of him thinking we were hurting him.”

“He’ll be OK. We’ll get him all the help he needs,” Hugo assured her.

“I guess he’ll have to go to the hospital.”

“That would be the best place for him. I know of a woman who works with people like your brother, those who become stuck.” Colin patted her arm. “You kids need to speak to her too, I reckon.”

“About what?” Bliss said. “There’s nothing wrong with me.”

“Colin means about the blood oath. So you can be free from your father’s influence.”

“And what if we don’t want to be free?” Riley asked angrily from behind them.

Bliss turned, and saw that they had Sol’s wolf on a leash, as if he was a pet dog.

“It was the only way,” Cole said when he saw her horror. “He tried to run for it. We persuaded him to play a game. Isn’t that right, Sol?”

Sol grinned, his wolf tongue hanging out of his mouth while Cole rubbed him behind the ears. Great, her brother now thought he was a dog. Oh well, at least he wasn’t trying to eat anyone.

“What now?” she asked.

“We take him home. Check him out and then see if we can deal with this wolf thing.”

“I think a hospital would be best,” Bliss said, her hand running over the lump on Sol’s head.

“No,” Riley insisted. “No hospitals. We all stay together.”

“But his head,” Bliss insisted.

“No, Bliss, we promised Dad we would look after each other. How are we supposed to explain this?” He pointed to Sol.

“There is a place…” Hugo began.

“No. Sol is not being shut away. It will confuse him and likely make him ready to attack anyone who goes near him.”

“Riley’s right. He stays with his family,” Bliss said, although she was worried how they were going to help make him better.

“Get him in the back of my truck,” Hugo said, going to let the back down.

“We’ll walk,” Riley said, pulling the rope and leading Sol away.

“No, get him in the truck,” Bliss insisted. “We have no idea how much damage he did to himself in that fall. We take him home in the truck.”

“I don’t want his help,” Riley said aggressively, looking at Hugo.

“Damn it, Riley. Snap out of it. Whatever Dad said is gone, finished. We have to get over it and stop being like this. If you want to become the alpha of Wolf Valley, you need to start making friends. We are never going to be accepted here unless we start getting to know people.”

“When I am alpha, I will make them respect me. They don’t have to be my friends.” Riley sounded aggressive, his body shimmering as if he was about to change into his wolf. He too was losing control.

“And who said it’s you who will be the alpha?” Cole said, squaring his shoulders at his brother, fists clenched at his sides.

“Stop it. This is not the time.” Bliss stepped in between them, the peacekeeper as usual. “No one knows who will be alpha. But the oath we swore to Dad is done, finished.”