Page 77 of Rabid
“So if this is trap one, what domino effect is it going to set off?” Tyran asks.
I chew on my bottom lip, trying to think through the options. “Burke isn’t a fighter, not a very good one at least, but he is calculating. I don’t know if it really matters which trap we spring first,” I tell them as I survey the innocent looking wood pile. “He knows we’ll be here for our people, and from what I know about Burke, he’ll use one of them as bait and the others as leverage, just in case. He doesn’t fight fair. He’ll make it almost impossible to walk away from this unscathed and feeling like we won.”
Tyran nods, clearly contemplating what I’ve said. “Okay, how do we want to spring this trap then?”
For some reason, his confident, unruffled answer about willingly walking into a trap makes heat spread through me. I adjust my legs ever so slightly, but of course, he picks up on it anyway and sends me an incredulous look. “Really?Thatgot you going?”
My shoulder lifts in a shrug, because I’m just as surprised as he is, considering the inappropriate timing. “Look, I don’t know what to tell you. The new mate bond is really intense,” I whisper, hoping like hell that the others can’t hear.
Tyran shakes his head, but a smirk crooks the side of his mouth before he clears his throat. “Alright,” he says, looking to Kier. “Two betas to check it out. One of mine, one of yours? And then the three layer approach we discussed on the way here.”
The Plummet Lake alpha nods and then lets out a soft trill that resembles a cricket.
Within seconds, two wolves emerge from the shadows, both as black as night and easily blending in. Tyran and Kier both quietly issue orders, and I hold my breath as I watch the two betas stealthily walk out of the treeline and head for the stacks of loose, forgotten wood.
Several other wolves move up alongside us, but I don’t turn to take them in. In my crouched position on the forest floor, I watch, not even allowing myself to blink as the two black wolves dip their noses to the ground. Together, they start to sniff the perimeter, going in opposite directions as they attempt to find an entry point into the underground space.
The two of them round the massive wood pile at about the same time, disappearing from our view. Beside me, Tyran is tense, head cocked, eyes glowing as we watch, neither of us even seeming to breathe.
Seconds pass.Too manyseconds.
There isn’t a sound. Not a single fucking sound. And still, our betas don’t reappear.
“Where are they?” I ask, desperately scanning, my heart pounding in my chest. Next to me, Tyran curses. “They can’t just have...we would have heard something. Seen something...”
All of a sudden, the sharp scent of blood hits the air. And then, my stomach drops with the sight that spills out. Twin Rivers betas startpouringout of a gap in the wood pile on the left side. They shoot out of the bunker like bullets, heading right for us.
Tyran shouts out a warning call for our pack, but it gets drowned out with the sound of wolves attacking us from behind.
They’re coming at us from both sides.
I hear Kier curse before he and his Second fold into their shifted wolves. Terror flashes through me with the realization that I led us right to Burke’s perfectly planned slaughter, even though we anticipated a trap. I still feel responsible. Bile rises up in my throat, and rage pounds in my pulse as time seems to slow down, and I watch enemy wolves racing toward me.
Before my emotions can totally override my much-needed focus, Tyran grips my arm, forcing me to look at him. “Don’t leave my side.” Fur is already sprouting all over his body. “Let her out, Vicious,” he encourages calmly. “Let her rip through you and show these wolves what you’re fucking made of.”
A heartbeat later, his shift is complete. His words wash over me, heating my blood and calling to the savage beast I’ve always been. I drop into myself without hesitation, and my wolf bursts through me, all claws, fangs, and fury. A Twin Rivers wolf leaps at us, but Tyran is ready for them. He unleashes in a way I’ve never seen before.
That scrapple during the claiming hunt, the way his power forced me to shift, his prowess and unwavering focus when he hunted, when he claimed, all of it isnothingcompared to the wolf before me now. This is the ruthless alpha of Ruin Falls. Tyran’s brown wolf tears through the first Twin Rivers pack member while it’s still leaping through the air. One second, the attacking male has a throat, and the next, he doesn’t.
The body falls at my feet just as my wolf shakes out her shift, and a second wolf barrels into Tyran, hoping to knock him off his feet. This one is smaller than my alpha, though he makes up for it with quick snaps of his teeth and a dodgy trick of his feet.
Tyran misses his throat by an inch, the male managing to leap backward out of range. Unfortunately, he didn’t count on me. The moment he’s near enough, my wolf lunges, teeth sinking into the back of his neck. He panics, trying to get out of my hold, but my wolf digs in harder and jerks his head up, forcing him to bare his throat. Tyran rips into it a second later, and the male goes limp.
Before my wolf even drops him to the ground, another is already on top of Tyran. Snarls tear from their throats as the Twin Rivers male attacks from the side and drags claws down my mate’s flank. My wolf bares her teeth in vicious anger, and then she’s on the male, tackling him to the ground and tearing into his exposed belly. All she feels is the need to attack, to maim, to wound. Within seconds, her mouth is dripping with blood, and spilled guts pepper the ground around our feet.
Sharp teeth dig into her flank, the scent of our blood mixing with the others already permeating the air. A howl of surprised pain escapes us, and she spins her body around in hopes of throwing the new wolf off. But there’s no need. My mate lunges, jaw clamping down on the attacker’s skull, and then he bites down.
Bone shatters between his powerful jaws, the wolf unable to even whine in pain before it’s dead. The body is just another heap on the ground, further proof of the devastation of our savagery. Glowing brown eyes lock with ours, and the bond between Tyran and me pulses in proud satisfaction at how well we work together to take down our enemies.
All around us are the sounds of ferocious battles encircling and trapping us in their brutality. For a moment, my wolf’s senses become overwhelmed by the snarls, howls, and cries of pain. All she can think of is her pack being hurt, being slaughtered by the sheer numbers of Twin Rivers, but Tyran’s massive brown wolf rubs against us, drawing our attention to where he’s pointing his muzzle.
I see two Ruin Falls wolves battling side by side, each of them watching the other’s backs and fighting off the wolves darting at them. They defend themselves with fierce precision, taking advantage of the openings the Twin Rivers create in their haste to attack.
We may be outnumbered, but Tyran shows me that our pack is better prepared, better trained, and far more effective in battle than I realized. Bloodlust pumps through our veins as I turn back to him. With a happy yip, he jerks his head to the left and starts racing that way with a clear direction to follow him.
My wolf takes off after him, her violet eyes scanning the dark grounds as Tyran heads for the pile of wood. Wolves split off from the fight and move to surround us, and the familiar smell of Ruin Falls fills our nose as the formation Tyran designed tightens in against us and we move toward the underground cells.
The doorway is half-hidden beneath a strategically placed pile of logs, creating an overhang above the cellar-style entry. Tyran’s wolf looks at us over his shoulder as if to remind us to stick close to him before he heads inside behind several of our wolves.
