They stopped walking, waiting for the shifters to approach. According to the directions Casey had given them, they were less than a quarter of a mile from the pack town. Guards were expected. People loyal only to Albert.
A naked man stepped past a particularly large tree with a wolf at his side. Bel could feel the presence of two more wolves close by, attempting to circle around them from behind. Tension and anger radiated from River, but there was only a sense of calm coming from Wyatt along with a deeper feeling of purpose and determination. Nothing was going to deter Wyatt from his chosen course.
“You’re trespassing on pack lands,” the man snarled.
“Like your people trespassed on vampire lands,” River shot back.
Wyatt placed a restraining hand on River’s shoulder, but his voice was even. “I’m here to challenge Albert.”
The man barked out an ugly laugh. “You have no right to challenge our alpha.”
“Besides my right as a werewolf to challenge another, Albert also ordered members of the pack to trespass on vampire land, attacked our home, and threatened our lives. I’m well within my rights to challenge the alpha.”
The mocking laughter left the shifter’s face and he just sneered at Wyatt. “Fucking abominations have no rights.”
“And only cowards hide from their challengers.”
“Albert will meet your challenge in front of the pack. The only problem is that you have to make it to the pack square first.”
The low growling rumble from the wolves grew louder as they crept toward them, circling them so there was no escape. Bel remained calm as he watched the wolves. He gave a small nod and he waited. A couple of seconds later, the wolves yelped softly and fell over.
The human stumbled back a step in horror, his wide eyes darting from one limp wolf to the other. “Wh-what? What did you do?” He barely got the sentence out before a dart was lodged in his neck. Grabbing at it, he plucked it out and held it in front of him, but Bel doubted he actually saw what was in his hand. His eyes had already glazed over as he collapsed to the ground in a heap.
With an excited giggle, Bel hurried over to the man and placed two fingers to his neck. His pulse was slow but steady.
“Holy shit, Bel,” River breathed.
“I know! That worked even better than I’d hoped.”
“This is what you’ve been working on for the past two nights?” Wyatt asked.
Bel nodded as he hurried over to one of the wolves, checking its pulse as well. “Since I couldn’t use my banned formula, I needed to cook up something else to give us a tiny advantage. We knew the guards would attempt to attack and kill you on the way to the town, which isn’t fair in the least. You should be allowed to challenge Albert without being injured first.”
“Like we can expect Albert to be fair at all,” River grumbled.
Bel felt a slight relief that the wolf’s pulse was strong and steady as well. “This is just a tranquilizer. I made calculations based on what I was able to discover about your metabolism. The potency is somewhere between what you’d use for a male Kodiak bear and a teen black rhino. Since it didn’t stop their heart immediately, I think we’ve got at least an hour, maybe two before they wake up.”
Standing again, Bel made a thumbs up and turned in place. He could feel his brothers close by, hiding in the woods. No, the Variks couldn’t directly take part in the challenge of Albert, but they could make sure things stayed fair until they got to the town.
Wyatt’s hand shot out and wrapped around the back of Bel’s neck. He pulled the vampire in close, and Bel melted against his chest, loving the rough kiss. He could taste Wyatt’s worry and fear, but it was mixed in with his confidence and unwavering love.
“My mad scientist,” Wyatt murmured.
“I might hate your plan, but I will use all my scientific knowledge to make sure you stay safe.”
“You think this stuff would work on vampires?” River teased.
Bel huffed and reluctantly stepped away from Wyatt. “I don’t know. My brothers wouldn’t let me test it on them.”
River’s wonderful laughter rang out, and they continued toward the town. He had a feeling that River wanted to use the stuff on him, leaving him behind to the relative safety of Marcus’s house and the rest of the vampire clan. But Bel was not leaving their sides.
They walked on for another quarter of a mile. Three more wolves threatened them when Wyatt announced his plans to openly challenge Albert. And three more wolves fell to tranquilizer darts.
At the edge of the town, he felt a surge of rage and helplessness from Rafe. His twin hated this plan nearly as much as Bel did. He did not want to be left behind, but there was no way he could enter the werewolf town without causing even bigger problems. From here, the rest of the Variks would have to fall back.
Well, all of them except for Winter.
The little game in Marcus’s woods proved that Winter could use his power to sneak undetected into the town. Wyatt had reluctantly agreed to his presence so long as the vampire promised that his only job was to get Bel out safely if things went horribly wrong.
Bel wanted other things from his little brother, but he wasn’t sure what Winter would agree to. In truth, Winter tended to do only what Winter thought was best. Bel could only pray that his brother agreed with him and not Wyatt in their priorities.
Casting one glance back into the woods before they stepped onto the worn road, Bel wished he could see the faces of his family one last time, to pull strength from the people who’d loved him and stood by him for so long. But even if he couldn’t see them, he knew they were there, supporting him in everything.
And they would be there waiting for him when he left the town. He could only pray that it would be with River and Wyatt at his side.
Wyatt’s heart broke to see the town. Everywhere he looked was trash, boarded up windows, and signs of neglect. This was not the face of a thriving, vibrant pack town. Casey had said that Albert took over the pack six months ago, and it looked as if the very soul had been sucked out of the pack in that time. Streetlights were burned out and signs were broken.
The health and success of a pack could be seen in the beauty of its town. A healthy and strong pack always gave back to its own. It protected and nourished its own people first. The members of a pack would always shop and use services within a pack town first before going to the outside world. That way, everyone grew in wealth and success together.
But there were signs of decay everywhere Wyatt looked.
To make matters worse, there was no one on the streets, and all the shops were closed. It wasn’t even ten o’clock in the evening yet. A pack town had a vibrant nightlife. Even within the safety of a pack town, most people shifted and hunted at night. There should have been throngs of people on the sidewalks and dipping in and out of the various stores.
“This is so bad,” River said in a low voice as if he were afraid to break the stillness of the air.
“Not what you were expecting?” Bel asked.
“No. Not at all. We should be surrounded by pack members. Businesses should be open. There should be…life.”
Bel walked over to the telephone pole and pulled off a bright yellow sheet of paper. “I take it this isn’t normal either,” he murmured as he handed it over to Wyatt.