It was Saul. “Are you two coming or what?”
“We better go,” I said, but didn’t wait for Oren. I opened the door, jumped out of the van and landed in the mud. I was still wearing my old clothes and leather boots, so I didn’t care.
I stretched before double-checking my weapons—silver dagger tucked into my boot, moonstone boline strapped to my thigh, revolver, silver spikes and bullets all tucked inside my utility belt, with the crossbow dangling from it. I was geared up and ready to handle the weapons I’d spent months training with, and I wasn’t afraid to use them.
“We have to travel on foot the rest of the way,” Saul said, scanning the area ahead of us—which consisted of tall eucalyptus trees, their dry leaves and branches littering the ground.
The vampire hunter and vampire stood beside the parked Harley, waiting. When Oren climbed out of the van and made his way towards me, Conrad’s eyes narrowed. The old man nodded at him, but Conrad took Narelle’s hand and encouraged her to move as far away from Oren as they could. The vampire’s smile never left her face.
“Let’s go.” Saul stepped into the copse of trees.
I was glad to have good night vision as I followed, not wanting to lose sight of him. The demon was our navigator, the only one who knew the location of the pack’s territory—because there was now no doubt where Papan and Willow were taken.
Oren paced a few steps behind, while Conrad and Narelle hung back. With our every step, the dry leaves and bark crunched beneath our feet. I hated the sounds almost as much as the constant scurrying of animals—they both made my heartbeat spike because I didn’t want anyone to hear our approach.
No one said a word. Not until we reached the familiar black van haphazardly parked by the shoulder of a dirt road. Whoever had left the vehicle hadn’t bothered to hide it. Though we
were
in the middle of nowhere, so why would they bother? We might have left the suburbs, but I was pretty sure we hadn’t hit Katoomba yet.
I headed for the back door and swung it open. The rear might be empty but I could smell Willow’s strawberry body spray and Papan’s earthy scent. I climbed in and started searching the floor for Willow’s phone. I found it right away, but couldn’t find any of Papan’s things.
“His stuff is here,” Saul called.
“What?” He was crouching nearby, holding up Papan’s wallet, keys and phone. “You have to stop doing that, it’s freaking me out.”
“Just deal with it and it’ll make things easier between us.”
“I don’t even know what that means.”
He scurried closer and lowered his voice. “There’s no reason for you to be scared about our connection. In the end, you’ll be grateful your grandmother was smart enough to do this to us.” With those chilling words, reinforcing everything I’d been trying to deny, he handed me Papan’s belongings and climbed out of the van.
I took a minute to tuck everything we’d found into my hip utility belt, before following.
“I can smell wolf blood,” Narelle called.
“Where?” I asked.
She pointed at the ground. “There’s wolf and human blood. It gets stronger when I face this direction.”
Saul slammed the back door and locked it.
“Are you sure?” I asked the vampire.
Narelle nodded, licking her lips.
“Looks like we’re heading into werewolf central,” Saul said, pocketing what I assumed were a spare set of keys.
“Where exactly are we?” I asked, looking at him.
“We’re almost at the mountains, in an area called Wilson.”
“I’ve never heard of any place called Wilson in these parts,” Conrad said, stepping up beside Narelle.
Neither had I.
Saul rubbed his hands together. “You won’t find Wilson on any map. It was named after the wild bushman, John Wilson.”
“But there’s a Mount Wilson named after him in—”
“No, that’s a different Wilson. The one I’m talking about was a convict who arrived on the First Fleet and lived the majority of his life in the bush with the Aborigines. He was actually killed by a tribe after he tried to take an Aboriginal girl, but by then he’d already spread his lycanthropy. The pack’s been here ever since.”
“Are you talking about Papan’s pack?” Was he saying that this John Wilson had established a werewolf pack, and Papan was his descendant? At least it answered why wolves were in Australia. “Are you telling me a convict founded the pack?”
“No, he didn’t initiate it but lycanthropy spread in the area because of him. It also explains why he enjoyed the wild life so much and tried to keep his distance from the other settlers.”
“Thanks for the history lesson, but how do you know so much about werewolves?” I snapped.
Saul took a moment too long to answer. I actually thought he would avoid the question until I heard him say, “I was raised by the Wilson Pack. Hugo Papan offered me shelter when I needed it the most,” he stated. “Jason and Jeff were like brothers to me.”
“Why did you leave?”
“For the same reason Jason did.”
I didn’t ask any more questions, since I didn’t want to air everything.
“We’re not too far from the grounds.”
“Heading into
any
wolf territory is a problem, but heading into this one is suicidal,” Oren said shaking his head. “We can’t go any farther than this.”
“It’s the only way we’re going to get anywhere,” Conrad said, obviously ready to oppose anything the witch said.
I stepped between them. “I don’t care how volatile the situation gets, we have to go. I’m not risking Papan’s and Willow’s lives.”
“This is Jason’s Pack,” Saul said. “There’s no way they would hurt him. Something else is going on.” He tilted his head, staring at the dark overcast sky as if he could see what the rest of us couldn’t. “I can feel it…”
I sighed. They needed to know a few things. “Before Papan’s father died, he left him a letter and claimed that someone within the pack was going to betray him.” My mind was reeling. “He also left him a will that stated he was to ascend to alpha status.”
For the first time since I’d met him, the demon actually frowned. “They won’t hurt him, but none of the wolves will accept someone who left and rejected the pack as their leader.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” I said. “Are you saying that whoever betrayed and killed Hugo could have taken Papan back to the pack so they could judge him?”
Saul’s eyes softened, filling with sadness. “Let’s keep moving.” He took off, once again getting lost in the thick trees surrounding us at every angle.
I pushed myself to catch up, but even when I reached his side I struggled to match his stride. “I’m sorry about Hugo. Did Papan tell you what happened to him?”
“Yes.” He gave me a quick sideward glance. “Hugo was a good man and an even better leader.”
“Tell me more about the pack.”
“About thirty people actually live on the grounds, and another thirty live in the surrounding suburbs,” he said. “Their estate is more like a reservation hidden away from the rest of the world. It’s where the alpha lives and anyone else who chooses to stay close. There might be a scattering living outside the perimeter, but no one ever leaves the pack.”
“You and Papan did.”
“As you know, the circumstances were…harsh.”
“Do you have any idea who could be doing this?”
He shrugged. “Maybe, but I’m not sure.”
“If you know anything, please tell me.”
Narelle rushed past us. “We’re close. I can taste werewolf blood in the air.”
A howl cut through the still night air, and it sounded too close for my liking.
“Hide,” Saul whispered, pushing me against a tree.
I scrambled to stay upright, managed to sneak around the wide trunk of the tree I’d collided with, and crouched.
Narelle leaped over my head, scaling the tree like a monkey. Conrad squatted behind a copse across from us, but I had no idea where Oren was. The only one left in the open was Saul.
Another howl echoed the first. I couldn’t tell which direction they were coming from, or how many there were. But I knew one thing—these were wolves.
I wrapped my fingers around the loaded crossbow, ready to yank it from the loop.
Two ebony wolves stalked out from the dark, their paws splitting branches with every move. My heart sped up. They were huge, identical, and circled Saul. Their intense amber eyes never strayed from him. These wolves were taller than Saul’s waist.
“Milo, Thomas, what’re you two doing out so late?” Saul spoke to the animals, and certainly didn’t fear them. “Shouldn’t you be patrolling the grounds?”
One of the black wolves halted behind him, while the other blocked Saul’s path. He shifted into a man so quickly I missed the transformation.
“We could ask you the same thing.” The man’s hair was long and curly, as wild as his eyes. He was tall and the musculature on his body rippled as he tensed. “What’re you doing here,
devil?
”
Narelle gasped overhead and the black wolf scrutinized the canopy of trees.
“Thomas, how many times do I have to tell you I’m not a devil, I’m a demon you stupid son of—”
“I don’t care what you are, asshole,” Thomas spat. “What the fuck are you doing in our territory?”
“I’m just enjoying a night stroll.”
The man smacked his big fist against Saul’s jaw before the demon could react. “You love playing games, don’t you, Saul?”
Saul didn’t react to the punch, simply shrugged. A smirk stretched his lips.
“The boss man isn’t here anymore, so you better wipe that stupid grin off your face,” Thomas said. “There’s no one left to protect your sorry ass.”
“Oh yeah? Where’s Hugo?”
The ebony wolf growled deep in his throat, leaning slightly as if he was preparing to pounce on Saul.
Thomas narrowed his eyes. “He’s gone.”
“So Jason’s in charge now?”
“That asshole will never be in charge, but I haven’t seen him for a very long time.” Yet Thomas was smiling, broadly.
Saul stepped closer and the wolf behind him growled louder. “I’m not in the mood for bullshit. I already know Hugo’s dead. I also know Jason’s here. I can smell him.”
“Is that why you two ran off, because you were so in love you can sniff each other out?” Thomas laughed, and his rounded belly bobbed up and down.
The demon grinned. “Good to see some things never change. You never could tell a fucking joke. It sucks that you’re still hiding your homosexuality behind the pathetic façade of homophobia. I don’t know why you bother. Everyone knows you and Milo have been a couple for years.”
“You demented son of a bitch!” Thomas sneered, grabbing Saul by the collar and causing the shirt to tear. The sound echoed into the night. “Why don’t you get the fuck out of our business?”
“I’m not going anywhere,” he said with a shake of his head. “Hugo was a good friend and I’m not going to let his legacy go to a bunch of fuckwits willing to destroy everything he worked so hard to build.”
Thomas reared his head and head-butted Saul in the face. Blood gushed out of the demon’s nose, some of it squirting the wolf.
Saul was smiling a huge Cheshire smile. “You still fight like a girl. No, scrap that, you fight worse than a girl. I’ve seen children hit harder than that.”
“You fucking pansy,” Thomas said.
Saul smacked his fist against the wolf’s face so hard Thomas’s feet left the ground and his spine almost snapped a tree trunk. The other wolf—Milo—leaped into the air but the demon dodged him. The wolf landed awkwardly on his hind legs and Saul spun around in a circle, with his right hand raised above his head. When he swung it around in a curve, a smoky whip appeared out of nowhere.
The end of the whip wrapped around the wolf’s throat, coiled so tightly that when Saul yanked it backward, the shaggy animal spun in the air and landed like a twisted heap near the tree I hid behind.
“That wolf is yours, Vamp,” Saul whispered into the wind, but we all heard it.
I didn’t see Narelle move, but I heard her scurry down the tree. She landed on her feet and straddled the wolf. He whimpered as awful sucking sounds filled the night.
Saul spun around just as Thomas tried to surprise him, but he was faster and more intuitive. The whip had somehow morphed into a samurai sword glinting under the moonlight that now streamed between the clouds and branches overhead.
The wolf’s own momentum propelled him onto the tip, impaled him so badly the blade protruded from his back. Blood dribbled out of his mouth as he reached for his midsection.
“I didn’t want to do this,” Saul said.
I stepped out from my hiding spot, staring at the large sword.
Saul glanced over his shoulder, spotted me and lowered his hand. The samurai sword vanished, leaving only a wisp of smoke in its wake and throwing Thomas off balance. He collapsed in a dead heap. The demon slowly turned to face me, approaching while those piercing blue eyes never left mine.
“I definitely know who’s responsible for this now,” he said, and the internal shine in his irises lit up our surroundings. “I should’ve known these two clowns wouldn’t be smart enough to hatch any sort of uprising. I smelled them, though.”