Chapter 72

[ 1,291 words ]

Liar

72: 72.

Liar Kade

I swipe the taste of blood off my teeth with my tongue.

Fuck, that male has steel fists.

I’m sure more than a few bruises are purpleing on my skin, and I think one of my ribs has been cracked.

We’ve been fighting for some time now, and we’re finally gaining the upper hand.

I barely register the evening chill anymore, only the burn in my lungs, the copper on my tongue, and the relentless press of bodies crashing into mine.

The Assembly warriors were banking on overwhelming us.

Twenty warriors descended on us, and it was only the hit of confusion Quin sent to them that allowed us to take advantage and eliminate a few of them before they were able to attack in earnest.

I pivot just in time, catching an Assembly warrior’s wrist before his blade sinks into my ribs.

I twist hard, feeling bone crack under my grip, and drive my elbow into his throat.

He chokes, eyes bulging, and I finish it with a slash of my claws across his chest.

Blood sprays hot against my skin.

Human weapons, again.

There is no time to think about it.

Another comes at me.

I duck low, shifting mid-motion, bones snapping and reforming as fur ripples over my skin.

My wolf surges forward, massive and furious, and we slam into the attacker with enough force to send him flying into a tree.

The trunk splinters on impact.

He doesn’t get back up.

My hackles rise, and the sensation of being hunted makes me coil in anticipation.

Dark shapes weaving through the trees, coordinated, ready to add to the force already present.

“They’re like gods damned ants,” I shout.

“Then what do you say we light a fire?” Bret, another enforcer, says, pulling out black powder.

“What the hell is that?”

“Juju powder. Terra was harvesting it before we got the emergency message,” he says.

My eyes widened.

Juju powder was a great tool for healing, but it was also highly flammable when struck with a match.

My wolf approves of this devious plan.

Normally, I would be against anything that could be seen as dishonorable in battle, but these wolves introduced weapons first.

They attacked our pack, and if we allow them, they’ll try to wipe us out.

“You got a light?”

“Erin does,” he answers with a mischievous grin.

“Tell everyone to center up.”

With a quick nod, I head out and spot Ronan breaking the neck of some foolish warrior.

“Call everyone to the center,” I shout.

“Circle defense now!” Ronan’s voice cuts through the chaos.

I move so that I’m back-to-back with Ronan.

Every moment, more and more of our pack centers together, the weaker, more vulnerable members in the center and the enforcers on the outside.

My gaze is frantic as I look for the girls.

Come on.

Come on.

Where the hell are they?

Moments pass, and everyone else is in place, drawing the remaining Assembly warriors right where we want them.

My heart stutters.

They aren’t here.

They’re gone.

They must have been separated in the initial ambush, lost somewhere in this mess.

Find them, my wolf demands, frantic now.

I want to.

Gods, how I want to, but it’s not possible right now.

I need to focus on solving one problem before I can work on the other.

From our bond, I can feel that Aria is safe

e.

That gives me some semblance of calm, but not enough.

I see Bret moving like smoke through the tree while the remaining assembly members are being kept busy by us.

He signals to Erin.

And then Erin lights the juju powder.

The flame erupts, and a wall of fire traps the assembly warrior with us and removes their ability to use the trees to dart back and forth.

Now locked in with us.

They aren’t getting out.

Dex is the first to attack.

He moves with a fluid, lethal grace, using his claws like knives to stab into the necks of the closet enemies.

As if his movement opened an internal lock, we all move into action.

Another attack cuts off my train of thought.

Steel slices across my shoulder, pain exploding down my arm.

I hiss, spinning, and retaliate with a vicious slash of claws that sends the attacker reeling.

Ronan’s voice cuts through again.

“Kade! We have to finish them now!”

I meet his eyes across the chaos.

There is a moment when every male must set aside his morals to protect his pack.

Ronan and I both know, we survive, or we die here.

The decision hits me like a hammer.

Instinctually, all the non-fighters of the group move back, and all of the enforcers go in for the kill.

Assembly warriors begin to fall.

We work together, attacking them in twos and threes as they pay the price for siding with the assembly.

Ronan slams into an Assembly warrior, both of them crashing to the ground.

Dex dives into the fray, Shredding at his back, finishing him off with a nasty snap to his spinal cord.

When Ronan stands, blood pours from his side now.

Deep, ugly, claw marks raked across his ribs.

Minutes stretch like hours before the sounds of violence settle into harsh breaths and shallow grunts.

I look around, cataloging the damage done to the enforcers.

Thankfully, no one is hurt fatally, but the wounds will definitely be slowing us down.

I see May, one of our dominant females, helping Bret as he drags one leg behind him.

Shit.

Dex is limping, his left leg dragging slightly.

One of the other warriors has a deep gash across his forehead, blood matting his hair.

But it’s Ronan that hits me hardest.

That wound—

It’s bad.

A long, vicious claw rake stretches from his ribs to his hip, flesh torn open, blood still seeping steadily.

“Damn it,” I mutter, stepping toward him.

“I’ve had worse,” he grunts, though his breathing is uneven.

Liar, my wolf mutters.

We form a loose circle, instinctively closing ranks even in this brief moment of stillness.

Ronan straightens, ignoring the way his hand presses against his side.

His gaze sweeps over the group, counting.

“The girls are gone,” I say before he can finish his count.

Ronan’s eyes snap back to me.

“What do you mean, gone?”

“I’m assuming they got separated in the ambush,” I say, forcing the words out steadily.

“We lost sight of them when the first wave hit.”

Ronan’s expression darkens instantly.

“You lost them?”

“They were cut off,” I snap back, a flash of anger rising.

“I think it was done on purpose. By the time I noticed, I didn’t have the choice of going to look for them. I had to hold the line or everyone here would be dead.”

Silence stretches for a beat.

Then Bret steps in.

“He’s right. We were barely holding it as it is.”

Ronan exhales sharply, running a hand through his blood-streaked hair.

He looks back at the group, then at me.

“ She’s alive.”

I nod my confirmation.

“I feel it too. She isn’t hurt, just a little anxious. Quin knows the meeting point,” I say quickly.

“If they are both gone, we can assume they’ll stick together.

Quin will lead her there.”

“You’re Right,” Ronan says.

“Okay let’s head out. We need to make it to the river as soon as we can.”

My chest tightens as I think of my mate and my little cousin out there.

We don’t know how many are hunting them, and that makes my wolf uneasy.

I shove the doubt down hard.

They will be okay.

They have to be.

We start moving, slower this time.

The injured struggle, and we adjust our pace to keep everyone together.

Every step feels heavier than the last.

Every sound in the forest makes my head snap up, heart pounding.

They’re out there, my wolf says, restless and on edge.

Alone.

Images flash through my mind.

Aria’s smile, Quin’s uncertain but determined eyes and assembly warriors closing in.

My hands curl into fists.

If anything happens to them…

We’ll tear this forest apart, my wolf growls.

Damn right we will.

But fear lingers, sharp and unrelenting.

Because for all my confidence, for all the words I said to Ronan, I know the truth.

A submissive and an untrained, newly emerged wolf alone in these woods weren’t great odds.

Still, I refuse to believe the gods gave us a mate just to take her away before we’ve truly known her.

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