Opposition: Montana Wolves, Book Four (Montana Wolves series 4) (8 page)

"Me? I'm a survivor."

But when he stepped out the door, shifting into his black wolf before slipping away between the trees, she felt like anything but.

CHAPTER EIGHT

T
hey were all in the great room, each stationed by a window and waiting. The last rays of sunlight had long since disappeared behind the tree line and the three-quarters moon hung fat in the sky. There was no escaping the tension and restlessness coating the air.

Chandra sat beside her, stationed next to Liam at command. Normally, Jax would have been planted there, but he was in the security room, watching each of the monitors on the fence and waiting for the tripwires to signal the arrival of the enemy.

None would come.

Grey had told her as much. They were going to attach some new-fangled surge inducer to the wire which would also render the cameras obsolete after a few minutes, but at least when everything stopped working, they would know the enemy had arrived.

"I see something," Chandra whispered and they all leaned in as they followed her gaze to the security camera they’d wired into the television set.

Her heart kicked against her ribs as Grey came into view in his human form. Tall, heavily-muscled and menacing, she should probably feel afraid, but all she felt was the overwhelming urge to run out and throw her arms around him.

"That's Greyson West,” Chandra said. “Oh, and look, another." She pointed to the moving bushes beside Grey and sure enough a woman appeared beside him in the darkness. Rather than staring at the enclosure the way Grey did, though, the female kept her gaze on Grey, as if waiting for direction.

The thought brought on a stab of jealousy, but she shoved it away. So what. She deferred to Grey the same way Maggie would to Liam. It made sense, since, with any luck, he was soon to be alpha. It certainly didn't mean anything.

Still, she found herself asking, "Who is she?"

"Hard to see with the weird light of the night-vision camera, but I’m pretty sure it’s Willa Stone. Which makes sense since…" Chandra glanced at Maggie and back at the screen again. "Oh, and another!" She pointed through a thrush of trees to a menacing-looking brute who’d come crashing in before shifting into a massive, grey, timber wolf mid-stride.

“Ew, that was the guy they tried to arrange for me to marry when I was still in the pack.”

Amalie let out a low whistle. "He looks—"

"Savage," Chandra finished for her. "And he is.”

Maggie only barely heard the words, though.

“What were you going to say before that, though. It makes sense that Willa would be there since what?”

Vaguely, she was aware of Liam giving instructions as one enemy after another showed themselves in the clearing, but all she could focus on was Chandra, whose brows were knitted in concern.

“Willa is Grey’s intended. I thought you knew…”

Her packmate trailed off, as she must have realized by Maggie’s stricken face, she hadn’t known.

That son of a bitch.

Suddenly, everything happened at once. There was shouting, and shifting, and cries for battle, but Maggie barely heard as her gaze locked on the image in front of her. Grey turned to face his future wife and stroked her hair gently, sending the knife between Maggie’s ribs deep enough to pierce her heart.

She’d loved him.

She’d given everything to him.

Jesus, she’d contemplated leaving for him.

And she'd been played. How strange that she’d always wondered, in the back of her mind, if she would be. But never like this.

A battle cry sounded again and this time she joined the fray.

"Are you ready?" Liam called.

She was more than ready, and she only had one target.

His name was Greyson West.

B
E CAREFUL
.

Willa had shot the words at him and Grey turned to find her staring at him.

You too.
He transmitted the thought back to her and she gave a nod.

It was then that’s Joseph’s thoughts superseded his own.

It is time, my brothers and sisters. We must fight for what we know is right. Obliterate the dissenters. Find the human. And kill her.

He could feel the will of the alpha pressing down on him, as it was on all of them. It was a difficult thing, to fight off that instinct, but it only took the thought of Maggie to give him the burst of strength he needed to break the mental chains.

He only hoped he could help his pack do the same.

From the corner of his eye, he saw his father flank him to the far left and he swallowed hard, staring intently at the door. He would wait until Maggie came bursting forward to make sure she was near before he tried to run interference between the other wolves. But as soon as those doors opened?

It was as if the air itself had exploded.

Like total pandemonium as wolves toppled on top of each other, grappling and growling until the air smelled of iron and sweat and salty tears.

There was no sign of Maggie’s sable fur anywhere.

Maybe she was doing as he asked and trying to stay as clear of the fray as possible…

Even as the thought ran through his head, he knew it couldn’t be true. She would never leave her pack to fight without her. She was here somewhere.

And hopefully unharmed.

He froze in his tracks as a familiar howl rent the air nearby. He spun to find Willa pinned beneath an enormous gray beast. Fury blasted through him as he leapt at her attacker, closing his teeth over its haunches, tearing at the ligaments just hard enough to immobilize but not maim.

Willa rose to all fours, snarling as he released the yowling animal.

Remember. Fight, but no killing,
he reminded her before moving along with single-minded determination, not wanting to waste one precious second.

Got it, boss.

Grey barely heard her response as his father’s voice sounded in his mind.

Fight on! Never give up, my people. Not until every last one of them is dead.

This time, the pull of the alpha was far less compelling. Almost like a fly buzzing around in his head instead of a deep and resonating voice as strong as a wolf’s own consciousness.

Strange. Grey paused in his tracks, and looked around the battlefield. He was still searching the warring wolves for a sign of his father’s silvery fur when a movement in the woods captured his attention.

In the distance, a flash of movement…a creature, skulking away from the battle into the heart of the forest.

Willa had started heading back into the fray, but he called out to stop her.

Have you seen my father?

She shook her sandy head and he nodded toward the animal’s still retreating form. It passed through a small clearing and a moonbeam struck its fur.

Silver.

Willa’s mental gasp reverberated through him.

Search the battle
, he commanded grimly. She met his gaze for a long moment before loping off. A rush of anger warred with the wash of anticipation. If that son of a bitch had led his pack into battle and then abandoned them in secret to protect his own ass, he deserved the gravest of punishments. It would explain why his will had seemed so weak when he’d tried to command. Because, instinctively, Grey’s wolf had already known that Joseph was no longer alpha.

That meant this could be it.

The end for Joseph West.

He paced the edges of the forest, sending out mental feelers to connect with his father to no avail.

Maybe it was a mistake. A trick of the light, or a Pray wolf who resembled his father from afar. But the fact of the matter was that he knew what Willa would say before her voice sounded in his head again.

He’s not here. I looked everywhere.

He breathed deep and then let out a low, wavering call to his packmates that remained.

Big Sky wolves, I ask that you take a look around. Where is your leader?

The battle raged on, but the difference was notable. Between jumps and lunges, every wolf was turning left and right, checking every inch of the field for something they could not—and would not—find.

He has abandoned you to bleed for him. Is this the life you’ve signed on for? Is this your idea of an alpha?

More low growls joined his own.

As you fight, wonder why you’re fighting, and consider ending this. We can start anew. No longer do you have to live in fear. Let me bring this pack into the future.

He closed his speech with a snarl, and then shook his head.

Part of him expected to feel some sadness. His father was even more of a bastard than he’d thought. It was one thing to be a crazed monster, stuck in the days of old. It was another to be a coward and a hypocrite.

The only good news was that at least the pack would finally see just how bad it was. Even now, some of them were backing away, disengaging, probably feeling what he himself had felt. The hold was loosening. And clearly Maggie had done her part in convincing her pack to be merciful, because the Pray wolves were allowing them to retreat.

It was the best outcome he could imagine.

But right now, the only thing that mattered was getting Maggie in his line of sight and making sure she was okay.

He’d barely completed the thought when white-hot claws dug into his back, breaking his skin as he tumbled back into the tree line, scrambling for a foothold. Damn it, he couldn't afford this kind of distraction right now when—

Wait.

A familiar scent flooded his senses and he froze.

Maggie.

He rolled on top of her and she clawed, so he pushed in return, grappling back until she was on the defensive while he forced her step by painstaking step back into the thick woods.

She tore at his shoulder, but he didn't care. He just had to pin her down and get her to talk. Rearing back on his haunches, he rushed hard against her, pinning her to a tree. If she'd been human, the move might have broken her spine, but as it stood she only growled at him and lunged to bite his face.

He shifted to his human form, holding her in place.

“God damn it, stop. Talk to me.”

She fought him even harder then, but he didn’t relent. She slowed and finally stopped. Then she was there, naked against him, her face twisted into a mask of fury.

"What the hell is going on?" he demanded. “We had an agreement. The last thing I want to do is hurt you, Maggie.”

"Ha! That’s rich, considering," she spat, bucking against him until he released her.

"Last I checked, I was warding off an attack from you."

"You should be glad that's the worst I've done to you. I haven't gotten a clear shot at your balls, or you wouldn't have any by now."

"What? You know I couldn't have stopped this. I did my best and—"

"This isn't about the attack, or your backward people. This is about you," she screamed, her hot breath washing over his face. "And your
wife
, Willa."

He stiffened, his gut clenching hard as the ramifications of her words crashed over him.

“Maggie, I—”

“So what was it, Grey? I can’t imagine you needed me to get laid. So what, then? Just bored? Or something far more nefarious?”

"She’s not my wife," he began, wondering how he could possibly explain the situation to her in the state she was in.

"May as well be. I should have known better.” Her words were like tiny blades, each one gouging deeper. “This is just one more reason I never should have—"

"Don't say that. Listen to me, I was going to tell you."

"When? The tenth time we fucked? The eleventh? You know, there were points when I wondered if you would betray me, but I never thought it would be like this. Especially not when I was falling—" She stopped short and shook her head briskly. “I don’t have time for this nonsense right now. My pack needs me.”

She turned, but then paused, leveling him with an icy stare over her shoulder.

“And Grey? If you come near me again, make no mistake. I will go for the jugular.”

A second later, she burst into her wolf form and sprinted through the trees.

He rushed after her, trying to catch a paw or a tail, anything to keep her from leaving it like this.

She broke through the tree line and he trailed behind just close enough to see her get tee-boned by one of his packmates. The wily bastard had gone for her throat, and she’d been so intent on escaping Grey, she took the attack full on.

She yowled and snapped fiercely in the air in an effort to free herself, but to no avail. Blood ran, steaming and red, onto the ground as Grey shifted, leaping through the air, only one thought in his head.

Kill.

He’d knocked the other wolf off Maggie with a viscous swipe of his paw and was going in for a lethal bite when his packmate scrabbled wildly and sprinted away.

He was an older wolf, and a supporter of his father. One who Grey would deal with the second he became alpha.

He sucked in a shuddering breath, shoving his fury aside to focus on Maggie.

She lay in a heap at his feet, motionless, and he nuzzled her gently, panic lapping at him. Vaguely aware of the last vestiges of the half-hearted battle around him, he grasped the scruff of her neck gently in his teeth and dragged her prone form toward the house. Luckily, the rest of the wolves were far too busy to bother with them as they reached the doorway.

That was, until Willa leapt in front of the door. She shifted to her human form and pinned him with a probing stare.

Her mouth was a hard line. “So it’s like that, then?”

He tried to touch her mind, to let his heart explain what his mouth couldn’t right now, but she blocked him, opting to say her piece.

“All our lives, it was you and me. Our parents were monsters. The pack was falling apart. We were coerced into becoming betrothed for politics instead of for love. Everything else sucked, but at least I had a friend in you and I knew, some day, I would be by your side to command the pack and bring honor to Big Sky Canyon. And now what, Grey? Now what do I have?”