Blackwing Wolf (Kane's Mountains Book 2)(27)

"It's a two-seventy. Yes, I can use it fine, but we're kind of fucked if  the rainclouds open up right now. Also it's really low light, so if  there isn't an artificial source, this is useless."

Beast handed her the weapon, careful to keep the barrel pointed out the  door she'd just kicked open. "Pray for headlights. Let's go. And for  God's sake, be quiet. Fucking humans are loud as elephants in the  woods."

Emma looked down at the billowing T-shirt and pink galoshes Beast had  shoved onto her feet. This right here was a man with impossible  expectations. Shaking her head, she slid out of the truck and shouldered  the strap of the gun, then closed the door as softly as possible.

She followed Beast quietly, but not two steps into the woods, a long,  low howl lifted into the air, then was joined by another, and another,  and another, and another …

"Shhhit," Beast muttered. "Valdoro pack should only be two wolves. Axton  must've brought in reinforcements. Screw making noise, Human, move  those legs."

"What are they doing?" she whispered as she sprinted behind him on a trail he'd obviously used before.

"Hunting. Or killing."

No. No, no, no. Dustin was out here, and she got the awful feeling  something bad was happening to him. He'd chosen the side that was going  to get him hurt, or worse. Bile crept up her throat as Emma pushed her  legs harder. Beast was too fast, his strides twice the length of hers.  He was graceful like the big cat that dwelled inside of him and  apparently had fantastic night vision.

Up ahead, she could make out light through the trees. Her legs and lungs  burned, but still she pushed herself faster, squishing through the mud,  slipping and sliding and scrabbling for purchase as Beast lengthened  the distance between them. Beast disappeared into the night, and Emma  had a horrifying moment of panic. Up until the point he grabbed her  ankle and dragged her down beside him. He'd flattened down behind some  brush, so she settled the rifle on a strip of grass in front of them and  did the same. Through the branches, she could see them.

In the high beams of several cars, there was a loose circle of wolves,  ducking in and out, dodging, some lowering to their bellies before  standing again, ears erect, lips curled back. Their teeth weren't white,  though. They were red. The howling and yipping was constant.

The circle thinned in front of Emma and Beast, and she gasped at what  she saw. A massive black wolf was tangled in a vicious fight with two  gray wolves.

Emma bolted upward, but Beast dragged her down and slammed a hand over  her mouth, then shook his head and gave her the deadliest look she'd  ever seen.                       
       
           



       

Read my lips, he mouthed. There is no honor among wolves. He's giving  them hell, but they will eventually kill him. Which one is Axton?

She shook her head. Dustin never told me what he looked like.

Fuck. I'm going in. If you figure out which one the alpha is …  Beast  gripped the barrel of her rifle and shook it gently, then raised his  eyebrows. End it.

Okay. Beast! She grabbed his arm. They'll kill you.

Beast shrugged and smiled sadly. All I have to live for is the D-Team.  He hesitated a moment more, stood and pulled off his shirt, and then  strode into the clearing.

His battle cry tapered into a roar, and the massive, broken lion he kept  tucked inside of him ripped out of his skin. Some of the wolves  scattered for a second, but as Beast charged, the pack rallied.

Emma couldn't take her eyes from Dustin. He was brutal, and already  three lay dead around him. He was holding his own with two, and with  Beast taking heat off him, he was moving more freely, snapping and  snarling and connecting with flesh so fast he blurred from one position  to the next. A submissive animal shouldn't be able to do what he was  doing, but perhaps the pack had finally broken him. Perhaps they'd  finally pushed him too far.

She had to figure out which one was Axton. He couldn't be one of the  dead ones, or the wolves would've pulled off the attack. Unless the  alpha of the other pack here was calling all the shots now. God, she  wished she understood pack dynamics better, but Dustin had always seemed  to want to live in the here-and-now and forget about pack stuff when he  was with her. Now she realized he had been protecting them in a way.  She hated their hold on him.

Dustin and Beast were fighting side by side, mauling the wolves as they  lunged. More were trotting in from the woods to the east, though. Axton  had called in multiple packs, and all for what? To kidnap her? To kill  her? No. The psychopath had pulled in packs to kill his own flesh and  blood brother. She fucking hated them.

Emma pulled the hammer back and shoved a bullet into the chamber, took  off the safety, and carefully aimed the rifle through the branches. She  couldn't hit a single one or the ricochet could be catastrophic. The  scope was picking up some light, but she was limited on where she could  aim. Several parked cars had their headlights on, but even if she could  get a clear shot, Dustin and Beast were everywhere. Two killing machines  with empty eyes and blood-soaked muzzles. Dustin's fur was matted, but  if he was hurt, he wasn't acting like it. He fought without a limp,  fought without any impairment-just lethal precision.

He'd joked about being submissive, even told her about hating that part  of himself, but he wasn't giving his neck to anyone tonight.

Dustin was war in motion.

The brush rustled behind her, and with a gasp, Emma rolled over onto her  back, dragging the gun with her. The wolf that ran from the ferns was  hideous. He was a mottled black and gray wolf with white eyes and burn  scars down one side of his body. He looked like he had mange since his  hair only grew in patches. His lips were curled back, exposing razor  sharp teeth. He was lanky, but bigger than Dustin's wolf by several  inches. His face was the stuff of nightmares. Axton, she would venture  to guess.

No time to look in the scope, she lifted the barrel and pulled the  trigger. The butt of the rifle slammed against her shoulder because she  hadn't the time to position it right, but that was nothing compared to  the pain of the weight of the snarling wolf. Axton slipped on his back  leg where her shot had landed, and that injury was buying her time. Emma  fought like some wild thing, using the gun to keep his jaws off her  neck. "Dustin!" she screamed.

Desperate to live, Emma's system filled with adrenaline as she kicked  against Axton, and pushed against the gun. Just as her strength failed  and Axton lunged forward, something dark sailed over the brush behind  her and barreled into her attacker. Axton flew sideways and spun into a  tree, but Dustin wasn't done with him. He attacked viciously. Beast  roared behind her, and the air filled with the howling and barking of  wolves. Emma should've been cheering Dustin on, happy for him that he  was ending this, that he wasn't on his belly begging to be a part of a  pack that didn't deserve him. She should've been fully immersed in the  moment, but all she could do was stare at the seeping bite mark on her  hand.

Tears streamed out of her eyes to her cheeks and slipped down, down  until they made pattering sounds on the dry leaves beneath her knees.  Axton was lying on the ground now, eyes full of hate on his brother who  stood over him, crimson teeth bared and poised to finish him. Dustin  hesitated, though, and she got it. Even if he was traitorous and evil,  Axton was his brother.                       
       
           



       

Burning pain drifted up her veins from the bite mark, and she clutched  it to her stomach as if that would stop the excruciating sensation.  "Dustin," she whimpered.

His glowing green and blue eyes crashed onto her.

"I'm sorry," she said mindlessly. It hurt so bad. "I'm sorry." She held out her hand. Pit-pat, pit-pat.

She couldn't even open her hand anymore. It was frozen with pain, as if  she was in a fire she couldn't escape. As if she was a vampire in the  sun, but that would never be now. Not when the wolf was devouring her  body.

Dustin looked back at his brother, and a horrifying snarl left his lips.  Axton huffed a sound that resembled a wolfish laugh. Laughing? He  thought this was funny? Wreaking havoc on Kane's Mountains, using his  brother, planning and plotting Dustin's death, and now this? Stealing  her chance at turning vamp, stealing her chance at hearing like everyone  else. Stealing her chance to sing.

Dustin leapt onto him, and Emma ripped her gaze away when he jerked  Axton's neck. There was a sharp whine, and then nothing. The pain was  dizzying, and all around her was the barking and howling of the wolves,  as though they were calling the monster from her soul.