BAD BOY ROMANCE: DIESEL: Contemporary Bad Boy Biker MC Romance (Box Set) (New Adult Sports Romance Short Stories Boxset) (146 page)

When we reached the clearing the magic hummed through me before we stepped into the power circle.

“Is this their power circle?” I asked. Reid shook his head.

“This is the battle ground.”

I hadn’t known there was a place for that.

“What happens here stays between the wolves. Government has no say. This is wolf ground.” Ted’s voice was deep when he spoke, deeper than usual. Goose bumps marched over my skin. I didn’t know there were cases where the government turned a blind eye.

We were nine. Five of Reid’s ranger friends, Ted, Maria who looked more terrified than I felt, and me, the human. It was a small pack. I knew that, but Ted had told me more about the size of a pack. Some could be up to fifty or sixty large. The other pack was twenty, apparently.

The moon was full and round, a disk of silver in the black sky. Stars stretched across the black canvas like pinpricks of night and the lake lay to one side, a dark slice of water that didn’t seem to reflect anything despite the bright natural light.

“They’re here,” Reid breathed, and I looked around. There was nothing. It looked like we were alone. But then they started appearing from the trees one by one. First a tall, skinny wolf that must have been the alpha because he was first. He didn’t look like he could be an alpha, though. Next was Sarelle, and her power was strong. I felt it all the way over where I was standing. More wolves appeared. They were all tall, but they weren’t muscled. Not like the rangers in our pack. There were more though. When they were all present they stopped, just inside the clearing, and I counted eighteen. Two of them for each one of us.

I took a deep breath and tried to swallow my fear.

The alpha of their pack stepped forward. Reid stepped forward to.

“You’ve challenged my mate, and our pack has answered,” the alpha said. He sounded like a teenager when he spoke, but there was some power that flowed form his words. It danced over my skin but it wasn’t serious. Sarelle was the real danger between the two of them.

I looked at her and something lurched inside of me. Her eyes were black, deep and pitiless, and she was looking right at me.

“You’re mate challenged mine, and so challenged me,” Reid said. “There is no other way.”

The alpha shrugged. Reid nodded. As if summoned our pack stepped up and formed a half circle around Reid. I could feel the pull, and I followed the magic to a spot that was open. The other pack did the same. Their circle was bigger.

I tried not to focus on that.

Reid pulled his shirt off. He stood topless, wearing loose shorts. He lowering himself into the fighting stance. The other alpha did the same. His body looked small and weak against Reid’s bulk, but if there was one thing I’d learned, it was that looks could be deceiving. This man was alpha for a reason.

He took a fighting stance too, and the two started circling each other, sizing each other up. They didn’t make a move. I glanced out our wolves. They were all alert, ready to attack, but they didn’t. Neither did the others.

“First blood gives them the right to jump in,” Ted whispered. He stood a few feet away from me.

First blood? I didn’t have time to wonder. The two men attacked each other. Reid had the upper hand very quickly. His military training kicked in and he was stronger and faster. The other man seemed to realize he was going to lose this. Reid would be careful not to draw blood if it meant he could keep the fight between just the two of them.

But if that happened the other alpha was going to lose. He lashed out at Reid and somehow managed to break skin.

Power washed over me and the others felt it, too. They surged forward in an attack. Some of them started shifting. Some ran forward on human legs. With our pack pushing forward, the others responded, and suddenly everyone was running forward.

Everyone except Ted.

He stayed behind with me. A wolf came at us, with black fur and white feet like a cat. Ted forced a change and took wolf form so fast I almost missed it. The big red wolf jumped at the other and they tackled each other. Growls and yelps filled the air.

I took a step back. A woman was suddenly in front of me. She had black hair and eyes that shone red. It looked pure evil, and made me think vampire instead of wolf.

“First blood, human,” she said to me. Her voice sounded more like a hiss. I was relieved she was following the first-blood rule with me. But she was tall and strong, and I didn’t think I was up for fighting her even if she was just human.

She rushed me, and I waited for her. I fought the urge to run. I wasn’t going to desert my pack, my family.

She had her hand on my throat, and instinct kicked in. I locked her elbow with one arm and hit her chin with the heel of my hand, so hard her head snapped back and I heard a crunch. She was stunned for two full seconds. So was I – Randall’s method had actually worked. If I survived tonight I would thank him.

It would have broken any human’s teeth and caused a whiplash of note. But this wasn’t a human. She shook her head, and she was back. She pulled her lips back bearing teeth at me, and they were pointed fangs. She wasn’t completely human anymore.

If she drew blood now, I was going to turn werewolf. I had to do it first, or none of this would matter as much as it did now.

She might have recovered from the blow but her perception was a little off. It was enough for me to be able to get away when she lunged at me with hands outstretched. Her hands weren’t human anymore. They were long claws with bits of black fur covering human skin. I managed to evade them by a hair.

She flew past me, almost lost her balance. I had enough time to crouch down and I fumbled on the ground for anything that would work. I found a rock. It was about the size of my fist. I grabbed onto it and straightened myself up in time to face my attacker.

I turned to the side a little and hid the rock behind my thigh. She was coming fast, almost a blur. I ducked twice as early as I thought I should have to make up for her preternatural speed, and somehow I managed to evade her attack. In the passing I struck down the rock on her, hoping to hit something, anything. She screamed, a very human scream, and went down.

When she was on the ground I noticed blood pouring from a gash just under her hairline, and blood poured into her face.

“You bitch!” she screamed and changed.

I didn’t have a lot of time before she was a pitch black wolf. Her red eyes glowed like coals and it was disconcerting. The rock wouldn’t help me now, but I wasn’t going to drop it. She jumped for me, fangs bare, and I was sure this was the end.

Reid’s wolf was suddenly in front of me. His beige coat was matted with blood on his shoulder, but I had the feeling it wasn’t his blood. He met the wolf full on, and they tumbled to the ground in a tangle of fur and limbs. Jaws snapped and growls tore from their throats.

I heard another wolf howl and when I turned it ran closer. I wasn’t sure about the first-blood rule with humans. Was it first blood for every wolf, or just the one time and then that was that? I didn’t have time to think. I turned to face the wolf full on, but a red wolf tackled him from the side and they went down.

Reid and Ted were both watching my back. It gave me a moment to look at the rest of the fight. There were no humans left. There were wolves everywhere. Some of them were more than two, tangles of furry bodies mingled into a mess of fur. I was the only one not fighting, and if felt helpless.

There was power in the air, so thick I had to concentrate on breathing. Panting made me feel lightheaded, like I was getting too much oxygen instead of too little.

Suddenly there was a shock wave that spread through the clearing and made the water in the lake ripple. My hair blew back and the fighting came to a stop. It was as if everything had frozen. The wolves were breathing hard, some were bleeding, I noticed a few stayed lying down. I didn’t know if any were dead.

But no one was fighting. I looked around. Something felt awful. Like a part of me had been ripped out. I searched the bodies, and saw Reid lying on the ground. Ted was by him, nudging him with his nose.

My heart stopped and my throat constricted. I ran to Reid, stumbling as I went and dropped down next to him.

“Reid,” I said, putting my hands on his face. The wolf was injured badly. The golden fur was full of blood, and this time I knew it was his own. He bled from his flank, his ribs somewhere, a deep gash in his chest, and there was blood in his face.

“Reid!” I shouted and I couldn’t stop the tears. My eyes burned and I cried, shouting his name.

“Give him power!” I shouted to his wolves. They’d all stepped closer. If Reid died now the war was over. They’d won.

And I would die, too.

“Give him power, dammit, he’s your alpha!” I shouted.

But they couldn’t give it. I knew that. He had to draw it. And if he wasn’t doing it, it meant that he was too far gone. He wasn’t strong enough.

He was going to die, and I was going to watch him bleed out without a way to save him.

Ted nudged me with his nose and wagged his tail. He looked at me and then at Reid. I buried my face in the warm fur and cried. I felt like I was going to die.

“Don’t leave me,” I wailed. “Not now. You can’t go, you have Kurt. He needs you. I need you. You can’t go, dammit, Reid.”

I felt a sudden surge of power, and it was strong enough to pull me out of my spiral of misery. It was hot, and it felt like it came from everywhere at once. I closed my eyes and focused on it. I clung to Reid’s body. I could feel blood soaking into my clothes, getting into my hair, and I didn’t care.

I took that power like cord and I pulled on it. I sucked it into me, and there were seven lines of power, all attached. I pulled on it, focusing on it. It became stronger and stronger, swelling inside of me until I felt like I was bursting. That same feeling came again, where I felt like I was going to change, like a wolf was going to rip out of me. And I gave into it. I felt a howl build up, even though I would never howl, and I drew from that power until it consumed me.

All around me I was aware of our wolves, felt them through the bond, felt their fear, their concern, their determination that the alpha live. And I felt Ted. And outsider, but somehow I felt his power, too. And I took it. I took as much as he was willing to offer.

When I felt like I was going to rip apart, like the power was so strong I was going to explode, I turned my attention to Reid and shoved it into him. It was like a blowtorch, blasting into his body. I heard a scream, loud and long, and it wasn’t until I’d run out of breath that I realized it had been me.

The power in the clearing suddenly died down, and a silence took over. A silence so intense it almost had its own sound. It hissed and hummed and flowed through each and every one of the pack, and I was sure at that moment I knew what death tasted like.

But it wasn’t welcome here.

I bent over and put my forehead against Reid’s. His fur tickled against my skin. My eyes were closed. I heard a whimper, and when I opened my eyes he was squirmed. His blue eyes were open he was looking at me. His tail lifted and fell once, an attempt at a wag.

I sat back, and suddenly I felt like I was going to faint. It felt like I’d been the one to lose so much blood.

“Allegra,” a voice said behind me, and when I turned it was Sarelle. She had blood on her face and in her hair, and I noticed her hands were trembling. I didn’t stand up. I wasn’t leaving Reid’s side. She kneeled in front of me.

“You deserve to be his mate. You deserve your pack.”

I shook my head and frowned. My ears were ringing and I was struggling to stay awake, struggling to keep up. I realized none of the wolves were fighting, and some were in human form.

“I didn’t know. That kind of power… you’re not human. We surrender the war to you. Any couple that would do that for each other deserves to remain the alpha couple. You have my respect.”

The alpha appeared behind her and nodded. He was still in wolf form, and bleeding, but he could walk. It wasn’t an apology but it was as close as I was ever going to get. I nodded, and they wolves retreated. Reid wagged his tail again, once, twice, before he dropped it.

I felt lightheaded, and white spots danced before my eyes. I was aware of Ted forcing a change back to human form, but I didn’t stay conscious long enough to witness the whole change.

Chapter 9

Reid made it through. No one knew how I’d done it. I didn’t even know. But I’d managed to draw the pack’s power the way Reid usually did, and I shoved it into him. Amelia had said that if I’d waited a second longer we would have lost him.

Reid was in hospital for almost a week – a record for a werewolf. There was a lot of damage. After the war we were both taken there to the medical center and they treated me there, not only like a wolf, but like an alpha.

Kurt was fine. He’d enjoyed his time with Amelia and she offered to watch him as long as we were still in bed. I was up after three days and I spent the rest of my time playing with Kurt at Reid’s bedside.

When he finally woke up he smiled and reached out his hand to me. I took his hand, and the power that flowed through us was pure and complete. There were no barriers anymore. We were one.