I’d heard they could teleport, but seeing it was something else.
Axel linked with us, fear evident in every word. Did that guy just disappear?
With the yellow-haired one gone, whatever was holding me back released. However, the raging inferno inside me prevented me from walking, and I could barely breathe.
The yellow-haired one appeared again and touched his friend. “There’s a whole pack heading this way. We’ll be greatly outnumbered.”
The blue-haired one frowned and shook his head. “Then we must leave.”
Paws pounded loudly as the pack ran toward us. I didn’t know what to expect, but having another pack come here was probably a bad thing. I didn’t want to get into a territory dispute with them. That wouldn’t do us any good, and it was damn clear that their pack was a lot larger than ours.
“Let’s take her with us.” The yellow-haired guy stepped in my direction.
“Oh, hell no,” Donovan growled. “You’re not taking her anywhere.”
Egan’s shirt ripped off him as his wings took hold. He took to the air, ready to fight.
Donovan stood on shaky legs but rushed with Egan, ready to protect me.
“We don’t have time for this. They’re almost here. We need to leave now,” The blue-haired one said as he touched his friend’s shoulder. “Don’t get too comfortable,” he threatened as he and the yellow-haired man disappeared into thin air.
“Is everyone okay?” Whatever was flowing through me soothed, but I was still too sick to move. I had no clue what was going on with me, but the fae didn’t like it.
“My leg hurts,” Axel complained as he limped over to Roxy. “Did he hurt you?”
“Not really.” Roxy smiled slightly. “I just couldn’t speak, even in my mind, or move.”
“If another pack is coming, we should get out of here.” Donovan took my hand and brushed his hand against my cheek. “Aren’t packs territorial?”
“Yes.” Egan landed back on the ground and retracted his wings into his back. “But leaving won’t do us any good.”
“Why?” Axel glanced toward the pack.
“Because they can smell and hear us.” I glanced at Roxy. Keep them behind me. They don’t know how this works yet.
Got it. Roxy nodded.
“If you can hear them, they can hear us. It goes both ways,” I explained.
“What do we do?” Donovan asked, stepping firmly beside me.
You let me talk to them. If the pack realized we’d changed them, we’d have bigger problems. The pack also couldn’t find out who I was. If they even got a hint that Tyler was my father, they’d hand us over in a heartbeat. Most packs did whatever they could to get on my father’s good side.
But … he started as Roxy came over and took his arm.
You have to let her do this. She glared at Donovan and then at Axel. If they know how clueless you are, it’ll be a red flag that something is off.
Mostly, wolf shifters were scared. Turned wolves could be mentally unstable or worse. There were so many horror stories about it.
Luckily, whatever had controlled me flowed out of my body and into the ground. I almost sighed with relief, but we were still in danger.
Ten wolves broke through the trees and stopped when they found the five of us. They sniffed the air but stayed where the fae had been.
It shocked me that they weren’t growling at us. I’d expected an attack, although they were staring at us with distrust and wariness.
“We aren’t here to harm you.” They had to know that. I didn’t want them to think we were here to take over their land.
“We know that.” The deep voice came from behind a tree, and a man who was the same height as Donovan stepped into view. “Cassius called to inform us of his visitors.”
The vampires did have our backs. That comforted me. Even though I trusted Katherine and Lillith, we weren’t always like our parents. Look at me, for example. “Good. We got here last night and were just going for a walk to get a lay of the land.”
“I’m Titan.” The man had short brown hair and a full goatee. He was muscular like Donovan, and alpha power radiated off him. “The alpha of the pack.”
“I’m … Sadie.” If I’d given them another name, they’d know I was lying. “Alpha of my pack.” I had to stay strong, and hopefully, me being an alpha would throw off any suspicions that Tyler was my father.
Alpha? Donovan asked, his words full of concern. Isn’t your dad alpha?
No, we had to start a new pack. All these semantics. Otherwise, he could find us.
“A girl alpha …” Titan lifted an eyebrow. “In the company of a dragon and recently attacked by fae.” His forest green eyes locked on Egan. “You guys are far more interesting than Cassius indicated.”
Okay …. maybe they weren’t on our side after all. “I’m not sure what you’re getting at.”
“I need to know what’s going on.” Titan crossed his arms and examined each one of us. “Your presence puts us in danger due to our close proximity to the vampire mansion. I may be a nice guy, but I can’t risk the safety of my pack.”
“I don’t know why the fae are after us.” That was the God’s honest truth. Unless my father had done something to piss them off… but I wasn’t willing to divulge who my father was yet, even though he probably already knew.
He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. “Don’t worry. There might be a way to find answers.”
“Please, enlighten us,” Donovan said protectively.
“You’re coming with us.” Titan’s jaw ticked, ready for us to argue.
That didn’t sound good, but we were at a clear disadvantage. Only ten wolves stood directly behind him in our view, but at least twenty were still hidden in the woods. Even with Egan on our side, there was no way we could get out of this. We were completely outnumbered. “And if we go willingly, do you promise that none of us will be injured?”
“Of course.” He met my eyes and nodded. “You can come willingly, or we’ll force you. The option is yours.”
There wasn’t the stench of a lie, so I nodded. However, there was always a loophole. I just hoped we weren’t walking into a situation blind.
Chapter Six
Roxy linked only to me. Are you sure this is wise? Alphas aren’t the most tolerant.
It was easy to know how many wolves were in a conversation. You could sense the consciousness of each person involved. Some say there are a few out there. I’d never met any before, but there had to be a first time, surely.
Her shoulders dropped. Let’s hope you’re not wrong.
Me too.
I opened the pack link to everyone. Roxy and Axel, stay in the back and keep an eye out. Donovan and I will stay in front. In times like these, I wished Egan could be part of the pack, but he had his own pack to take care of—if dragons were even called that.
Despite not having a link, Egan stayed behind, putting Roxy between him and Axel. He knew she was the weakest one here even with the two newly turned shifters. Though they’d never shifted to their wolves, their power was visible.
“No funny business,” Titan warned. “It’s as much of a risk for us to take you to our pack as it is for you to go. So, a little bit of trust will be required on both sides.”
“More on ours than yours.” Egan cleared his throat and pointed at his bare chest. “Do you mind if I run back and get a shirt?”
“Are you modest?” Titan chuckled.
Usually, shifters didn’t think twice about nudity, especially shirtless men, but it would give Egan the opportunity to alert the vampires of what was going on. I hadn’t even considered trying to get one of us to do it. There was so much I needed to learn to become a great leader.
Egan kept a straight face. “No, but a shirtless dragon waltzing in might add more to the buzz.”
Titan’s face tensed like he wasn’t thrilled. “Okay, you aren’t needed, really. The fae were focused on her.” He pointed at me and waved his hand, dismissing Egan. “Only these four are required. We should get acquainted since we’ll be spending time around each other for a little while.”