Problem is that the moment I step out to join my lovers, I will reveal myself. Instead, I recoil deeper into the river of undead emerging from the woods.
Desperately, I stare at my men, imploring them to get the hell out of here, hoping they understand. I will find them. Our only saving grace is starting to see some of the zombies chasing after the Ash Wolves.
When I swing my attention back to Bardhyl and Lucien, they're gone.
My heart twists and hurts, but it's for the best. With the Ash Wolves out, better for me to remain near the undead for now... at least until I can make a clean break.
Jittery nerves rush through my veins and I jostle about following the flow of zombies heading after the Ash Wolves. They shove past me, moaning, flooding the air with their reek. I may hate them, but they have saved my ass a few times. Beggars can't be choosers.
When I can no longer see the Ash Wolves in the woods up ahead, I start to pull away from the undead and decide to keep going in the direction Lucien had been taking us initially, away from where the Ash Wolves and zombies headed. I pray that once they shake off the Ash Wolves, they’ll resume their course in this direction too.
Woods blurred, closing in around me, this part of the forest is tightly packed with trees, and sunlight barely pierces the canopy overhead.
Shivers of panic blaze over me. The farther I travel and keep looking over my shoulder, my stomach hurts. Maybe I should have tracked after my men being chased by the Ash Wolves but kept my distance? Did I make a mistake?
Pausing for a moment to catch my breath and slow my drumming heart, I wrack my mind for what to do next.
There's no one following me that I can see when a twig snaps behind me.
I whip around, teeth bared, my rage unleashing. My thoughts fly to the Ash Wolves, except my gaze lands on Jae and the three huge men by her side. They are dressed in clothes too clean, too perfect to be from anywhere in this place. Pants, boots, long black coats, and wild hair. Brutality gleams in their eyes. The sight of them scares me and reminds me in many ways of three bears rearing up on hind legs before they attack.
With their sheer sizes, these large men standing at least six-foot-five or higher look like beasts to me. They aren’t from around here, so where the hell did they come from?
"Meira," Jae says at first, stepping closer, her hand stretching out to me. "Don't be afraid."
The man with honeyed hair, cropped short, snatches her arm to hold her by their side.
Yeah, right, don't be afraid, she says.
Jae frowns and glares up at her captor, then shakes her hand free. "She's not a danger, but an Ash Wolf. She saved me from the zombies and from the rogue wolves. She is with me."
I tilt my head to stare at how confident Jae sounds, and I'm proud of her in that moment, but these three men she keeps company are nothing but danger. Does she know what she’s doing?
The man who took Jae by the arm steps forward, which tells me he is the leader of these Alphas. I can smell it on all of them in fact, feel the Alpha heat that radiates from them like fire. Just as Omegas like me give off a certain scent, so do these men.
But I'm no fool... Alphas search for two things when they hunt in the woods.
Food.
And women to claim. To trade. To rut.
I sure as hell didn't come this far to end up back in square one.
I recoil from them, Jae’s mouth dropping slightly as she sees me retreat. I am not a match for three men. I know my limits, but none have made a fast grab for me either.
"Meira, please," she pleads. "They aren't rogue. They arrived here from the north, and they’ll help me find my sisters."
North... my mind swirls with the rogues who live there, how there are only small pockets of wild Alphas working together. Fear climbs through me.
"Your friend tells the truth," the leader assures me, his voice deep and husky.
Three pairs of pale eyes study me, their expressions not concealing their intentions if given the chance. To me, there is nothing alluring about them and only fear collects in my chest for me and Jae. "Change and we can talk, Ash Wolf."
I want to laugh as I will not take his word, but Jae's I will. And for all I know, this could be her code to help her... yet again.
"Please," she insists. “Change so we can talk properly. They just want to know about the Ash Wolves.”
The fur on my back bristles. What do they need to know? Their weak points so they can attack while chaos reigns over the pack? Though this also gives me the chance to mislead them and uncover their true intentions. We are already dealing with a demon, and we don’t need the devil sneaking up on the compound to take over.
The leader unbuttons his coat, which falls to his hips and shoulders the fabric down his arms, before handing it to Jae. She dutifully takes it and holds it out like a curtain to cover me from these three men who leer at me. Her eyes plead with me, and she truly believes they will not harm me.
My skin crawls because I don't need to be dealing with this right now. But I can’t walk away if new predators stalk these woods either.
As Lucien had taught me, I exhale slowly and call back my wolf, her attention on the newcomers. With a growl in my chest, a protesting sound at these enemies, she slides into me, the pain slithering over me, making me tighten. I won’t show these men any weakness.
In moments, I'm standing naked. Quickly I take the coat from Jae and turn my back on the audience to thread my arms into the too-long sleeves. The strong musky male and perspiration scent from the fabric floods me, doing nothing but raising my hackles. Though I appreciate them giving me something to wear, where many males wouldn’t. I button up the coat that looks more like a dress on me when it falls to my knees. But it covers everything I need.
I swing around just the leader grabs my arm, squeezing, and growls. "Let's walk. We need your help, Ash Wolf."
Chapter 12
Lucien
I skid to a stop near a gurgling creek, my lungs furiously pumping for air, and whip back around. Bardhyl leaps right over the water before he pauses.
Behind us, there are no signs of the Ash Wolves. No sounds, either. The same can be said for the undead. We’ve lost them.
All I can think about is Meira and how she saved us by turning the zombies toward the wolves coming for us. Normally, I’d stay and fight, especially as I vowed to never lose her again, but I ran. And I hated myself for that, yet to remain meant our certain death among that swarm. Running is not a weakness, even if guilt now twists my insides into a knot so tight, I feel sick.
A sudden spark of electricity blazes down my arms, my hairs lifting. I turn to find Bardhyl pulling himself to his feet, in his human form, the last layers of fur vanishing into his skin.
He cracks his neck, his wry expression bursting with fury.
“Fuck!” is all he says.
Exactly my sentiment. I take his lead and summon my wolf back, my transformation clawing through me. I welcome the pain, the agony, anything’s better than the feeling of my heart rupturing.
“We need to find her.” I growl, pulling myself up. “She either chased after us or continued in the direction I was taking us up north to the mountains that neared the Savage Sector. It’s where Dušan told us to go and hide if things ever got really bad.” Wolves rarely visit the area and I figured it might be a good spot to lie low to shake off the Ash Wolves.