Reluctantly Lycan (Dakota Wolves Book 1)(23)

Without showing an ounce of fear, Jak Dakota stepped forward and  extended his hand toward the wolf. "I am pack. We are brothers." The act  of bravery would have made any ancestor proud.

The wolf sniffed his palm and calmed down a little. Jak had bought them  some time, but the hungry wolfborn could lose control at any moment.

"Stay over there, Taylor." He draped one arm over the new wolf's back and tried to remain calm.

"No argument here." Taylor held up his hands briefly and shrugged.

On the surface, the kidnapper watched the exchange. "You're a braver man  than your father. Too bad it means little at this point. If your mother  hadn't taken you away things may have been different."

"You know nothing about my family." Jak yelled and the wolf at his side  growled again, this time at the kidnapper. "You're a cowardly, rejected  pup." The usually calm teenager screamed with ferocity that surprised  even him.

The man laughed, removing his mask and speaking clearly. "I should have  been leader. I was older, your grandfather's closest friend. Your father  never appreciated any of his blessings."

"Levi …  I knew it," Jak said. "You're pathetic."

"So I've been told by my wife for years since I'm unable to give her a  child. It ends tonight. You're the last two young sons. She'll thank me  for not having to witness the others with children." He rambled on,  crazed. "Kaden and Marala will be broken. The pack will fall apart, and I  can take my wife and live as a human away from all this."

"It's not too late to stop. Let us go. We can get you the help you need," Jak told the elder wolf.

"It's almost time for the battle for high pack. Of course, if they've  noticed you're missing, that won't happen. Their lengthy mating ritual  granted me the perfect opportunity to take Kaden's spare key and sneak  inside to take you." Levi laughed. "Enjoy your night. Eat up, Mason."

The young wolf bared teeth. When Jak tried to soothe him, he snapped in  warning. Jak slowly moved to the other side of the hole and huddled up  with Taylor. The two of them might be able to take Mason, but it was a  long shot. All options left someone dead.

~*~

Marala ran out the front door as soon as Kaden opened it, following the  scent of her son lingering in the air. No one else would be able to find  him but her. She'd carried him for nine months, cut his hair, tended to  his cuts, and washed his dirty socks. All these memories melded  together and flared like beacons before her sniffing nose.

"Wait for me," Kaden called out, tripping over the gifts that had been  left on the porch by the pack members. He dropped his robe after  catching himself on the post near the steps. There was no keeping up  with her as a human. Gracefully, he jumped off the porch as a human and  landed on the ground on all four black paws.

Occasionally, she'd catch a whiff of Levi, but she wasn't as familiar  with it. Instead, she focused on Jak, tracking him like a veteran  instead of a wolf at her first moon. Behind her, she heard Kaden keeping  pace. He howled and the sounds of more paws hitting the forest floor  joined in.

Marala led the way, the pack trusting her judgment. They wound around  trees and through thickets they had to crawl through on their stomachs,  paws dragging them inch by inch. Jak's scent was strong there, where  he'd been dragged on the ground. Marala growled low, but tried to keep  quiet so she wouldn't alert the man they were after.                       
       
           



       

When she was through the brush and rock formations, she took off running  again without waiting for the others. Kaden was the largest wolf,  having trouble squeezing through the brambles and low hanging limbs and  stone. He wasn't on her heels anymore, but she couldn't stop. There was  no time to wait.

At a river, she briefly lost Jak's scent and almost panicked, but when  she crossed, she immediately found it again. It was getting stronger.  He'd been here recently. Her son was close by. She slowed down. Up ahead  she could see a figure. A quick inhale told her that it was Levi, but  where was Jak?

"Eat up, Mason," she heard Levi say. He was looking down at the ground. That's when she charged.

Marala nearly ran right into the huge pit. The fall would have probably  killed her, at minimum broken some bones. At the last second, she leapt  and hit Levi full force. Surprised, he stumbled backwards and fell to  the ground. He lifted his arm to block her. She bit and tore at it, the  large teeth ripping through his sleeve and into flesh. When he turned  his head to the side, she pinned him to the ground by his throat.

"Marala! No!" Kaden screamed from a distance.

She didn't tear Levi's throat out, but held him still, low rumbles  coming from her. The other wolves closed in, setting a perimeter.  Nashoba, Blake, Luke, and Martell were all there, along with some lesser  wolves.

Kaden stood naked like an ancient statue, watching over his pack and his  mate. "Let him go and I will take care of this. Tend to Jak." He peered  into the hole briefly, the impact of his powerful presence calmed the  new wolf in the pit.

Several of the other pack members had shifted and begun lowering a rope  to pull the captives out. Mason was first so that Jak and Taylor could  tie the rope around him. The wolf kicked at the walls on the way up,  trying to gain traction. Martell hugged him closely and Mason whimpered  in his father's arms when he was safely on the surface.

Marala's eyes were wild. She wanted to kill Levi. Wanted to gut him and  leave him for the buzzards. But Jak needed her, and she found it  difficult to go against Kaden's word. Carefully, she released her hold  on Levi and stepped back.

"This is why the pack needed to be dissolved. It took a newly transformed female to find me," Levi said hoarsely.

Kaden's calmness was unnerving. "Why did you do this?"

Marala watched at the edge of the pit, pacing back and forth as she waited for Jak to be retrieved.

He called up to her, "I'm okay, Mom. Weird calling a wolf ‘Mom,'" he said.

She listened while Kaden spoke to Levi, comprehending, but the wild anger making it difficult.

"Because my first plans backfired. Marala was like a daughter to me.  Elle found the positive pregnancy test Marala had taken. When she told  me, I decided to remove you from the picture, Kaden. Mara would be my  daughter and her child my grandson. This would allow me to influence the  direction of the pack." He rubbed his neck lightly, blood was on his  palm.

"Keep going," Kaden said.

Jak was lifted from the pit next. He wrapped his arms around the red wolf in a hug. Marala huffed a big sigh of relief.

Levi continued, watching Marala and Jak. "I paid this woman in town to  slip some drugs into your drink the night at the bowling alley. She  basically raped you. I told Marala where you were and she thought you  were cheating on her." He grinned, prideful of his deceit.

Marala knew what those words meant, even as a wolf. She looked to Kaden  who glanced at her. The relief on his face was evident, but it changed  to fury. "She was supposed to run home to you, not run away? And then  what? You would have killed me?" Kaden asked.

"Something like that." Levi nodded. "I never could stand you. Still  can't." He removed a gun from his belt and aimed it at Kaden.

Marala pushed Kaden out of the wait, narrowly missing taking a bullet to  the head herself. Reacting swiftly, Kaden shifted and latched onto  Levi's wrist, causing him to drop the weapon. Taylor had just been  lifted out of the hole. He ran over and picked up the pistol, aiming it  at Levi who had shifted as well.

The black wolf and the brown one were hard to tell apart as they fought  in the dark. Movements were fast and fierce. Luckily, Taylor didn't have  to fire a shot. Kaden won the battle, slinging the defeated wolf around  with his maw violently. Levi's body was bruised, bleeding, and lifeless  by the time Kaden stopped his assault. He panted heavily. Marala ran  over to him, bumping her head against his.

"How about you wolves all stay in form so I don't have to see anymore  dick tonight?" Taylor said. "Mara, if that's you, you're good to go  ahead and strut around naked." He walked over and spit on Levi before  grabbing him by the one arm that was still attached all the way and  dragging him toward the pit. He let go on the edge and kicked the body  into the hole that had been his prison for a couple of weeks.                       
       
           



       

Kaden lifted his head in approval and respect for Taylor. Marala stayed  by Kaden's side and Jak supported their weakened human friend as they  walked. The rest of the wolves followed as they led the way back to  town.